Sensor Tower report: monthly mobile game revenue growth is still more than 25% after the epidemic

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GameLook report/The game consumption habits that players developed during the epidemic are likely to continue.

According to the latest report released by Sensor Tower, although the second quarter after the COVID-19 outbreak was the peak period of global mobile game revenue growth, the subsequent increase was still higher than before the epidemic, maintaining an increase of more than 25%-35%. speed. This means that the in-app purchase habits that people developed during the epidemic are expected to continue.

However, the report also pointed out that with the outbreak of the epidemic, the downloads of ultra-casual games that people prefer during commuting and performance have declined, and even after the epidemic has recovered, it has not returned to the previous increase. Therefore, the overall download growth of mobile games will decelerate in 2020.

The following is the game report content compiled by GameLook:

After the epidemic, global mobile game revenue has increased by more than 25%

Changes in monthly mobile game revenue growth by region

Before the epidemic, global mobile games grew by 15%-20% year-on-year, and in May 2020, the year-on-year growth rate was close to 40%. Sensor Tower’s statistics show that since then, global mobile game revenue has maintained a relatively high growth rate, which is between 25% and 35%.

In May 2020, the U.S. mobile games grew by a maximum of 64% year-on-year. Subsequently, the growth rate in the region was still higher than that of the European and Asian markets. As of the beginning of 2021, the revenue growth rate of each region has been very close.

Changes in the growth rate of the 10 highest-income categories in the U.S.

Among the top 10 game categories, only strategy games have a lower growth rate in 2020 than in 2019, and other categories of games in the US ushered in an outbreak during the epidemic. Simulation games represented by “Roblox” increased by 62% year-on-year, followed by action games by 51%.

Chess and cards replace puzzle solving and become the category with the highest revenue in the U.S. mobile game market in 2020. “Gold Coin Master” is the product with the highest revenue in this category, and its revenue growth is second only to “Roblox” in terms of single product comparison.

Changes in quarterly growth of the five highest-income categories in the U.S.

In the top five categories, the consumption of US users in Q2 has increased with the outbreak of COVID-19, but the growth rate is different. The consumption of analog game players doubled year-on-year in 2020Q2, followed by board games with a year-on-year growth of 75%, and RPG games with a year-on-year growth of 64%.

The growth rate of mobile game revenue dropped from its peak in 2020Q2, but the growth rate of various categories of games in 2020Q4 is still higher than the level before the epidemic. In the second quarter of 2020, the growth rate of strategy games lags behind other categories, but they have maintained a relatively stable growth rate in 2020.

The top ten mobile game revenue rankings in the U.S. 2020 Q1 and the change in average monthly revenue in the following three quarters

Among the top products in the U.S. revenue rankings, the growth rate is quite different. Many top games provide consumers with a safe play option during the social isolation period, such as “Roblox” and “CODM”. Thanks to the addition of home gameplay and a large number of special events, “Pokemon Go” has also seen a significant increase.

However, not all stand-alone games have been affected during the epidemic. For example, “Gold Coin Master” has become the second-increasing product during COVID-19, and other stand-alone games, such as “Candy Legend”, “Dream Garden” and “Slotomania”, etc. Both show slow growth from Q2 to Q4 in 2020.

The 10 games with the most revenue in the last three quarters of the U.S.

During the epidemic, the top ten mobile game revenue growth in the United States came from seven categories, and the top five were all from different categories. In terms of publishers, Playrix has two puzzle solving and decoration games in the top ten, namely “Dream Aquarium” and “Dream Home”, but the growth rate of the two games has slowed down in 2020Q4.

Two shooting games entered the top 10 revenue growth, including “Free Fire” and “CODM”. The revenue of Fortnite reached its peak in the second quarter of 2020, but then the game was removed from the App Store and Google Play in August last year because it bypassed the store payment method.

Quarterly revenue changes in U.S. head games

The revenue of “Roblox” and “Gold Coin Master” surpassed that of “Candy Legend” in Q2 of 2020. Although the revenue growth in the subsequent two quarters has fluctuated, they are still the top and runner-up in the US revenue list. Other games, such as “Candy Legend” and “PUBGM” did not have such a high growth rate during the epidemic.

The rapid growth of “Pokemon Go” continued into the second half of 2020. The game’s US revenue increased from US$64 million in 2020Q1 to US$166 million in 2020Q4, and even exceeded the highest single-quarter revenue since its release in 2020Q3, reaching 2.2 One hundred million U.S. dollars.

Global mobile game downloads decline: mainly because of ultra-casual games

Growth and changes in mobile game downloads in various regions around the world

In the first few months after the epidemic, the number of downloads of mobile games has continued to increase. The increase has increased from 26% in January 2020 to 63% in April 2020, because after the implementation of social isolation measures, players will play games as social networks. And one of the main ways of entertainment. However, by June, the growth rate of mobile game downloads fell back to the level of January, and continued to decline thereafter.

The growth rate of mobile game downloads is almost similar in the US, Europe and Asian markets. The only difference is that the Asian market continues to grow faster than the other two regions. In January 2021, the growth rate of mobile game downloads is lower than that of the same period in 2020.

Changes in downloads of different categories of mobile games in the United States

The biggest reason for the decline in downloads of mobile games in the United States in the second half of 2020 is the ultra-casual games. The number of downloads of ultra-casual games in the United States has increased from less than 800 million in 2018 to 1.1 billion in 2019, but it has fallen 4% in 2020. In addition, after the strong growth in 2019, downloads of desktop games have also declined.

Of course, not all categories have seen a decline in downloads. For example, the number of puzzle-solving games has increased by 11% year-on-year, and simulation games have increased by 13% year-on-year. The installation volume of arcade games increased by 4% year-on-year, but it is worth noting that if the head game “Among Us” is removed, the installation volume of the entire arcade game category will also decline.

The 10 most downloaded mobile games in the U.S. in the second three quarters of 2020

“Among Us” from InnerSloth is the product with the best download performance in the next three quarters of 2020. This multiplayer social game was released in 2018, but it broke out due to social gameplay during the epidemic.

In the US market, some high-income games are also products with relatively high download growth, such as “Roblox”, “Dream Aquarium” and “Gold Coin Master”. Nintendo’s “Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp” has also seen an increase in downloads in March 2020, largely due to the release of Nintendo’s “Collection!” on the Switch platform. “Animal Crossing Friends” was a big success.

Quarterly changes in downloads of different categories of mobile games in the United States

The emergence of the epidemic has caused the explosive growth of ultra-casual games in the past few years to suddenly decelerate. Due to the outbreak of the epidemic, people’s travel and commuting time has been drastically reduced. Therefore, these simple gameplay games are not in such large demand. From 2020Q2 to 2020Q4, The growth rate of the entire ultra-casual game category has declined year-on-year.

In addition, other categories have seen an increase in installs during 2020Q2, but this situation has not continued. During 2020Q4, the overall download volume of mobile games has declined.

Changes in the threshold of top 5 ultra-casual game downloads in the U.S. in the four quarters of 2020

In the first quarter of 2020, the proportion of downloads of ultra-casual games far exceeded that of other categories, but then, the download share of this category of games declined. “Woodturning” and “Save the Girl” received more than 10 million downloads in Q1 and Q2 last year, respectively. During Q3 of 2020, the best performing ultra-casual game was “Shortcut Run” with 8.3 million downloads.

The main reason for the decline in downloads of ultra-casual games is the decline in head game installations. For example, the fifth-ranked ultra-casual game “ID Please” in 2020Q1 has been downloaded 6.9 million times in the United States. Subsequently, the threshold for entering the top five has gradually decreased. , In Q2, it was 6.1 million. In Q3 and Q4, it dropped to 5.6 million and 4.3 million, respectively.

Changes in downloads by U.S. top hyper-casual game publishers

Although ultra-casual games have been affected in the U.S. market, the top publishers still performed well during the epidemic. Voodoo’s game downloads dropped from the peak period of 2020Q1, but the subsequent three quarters maintained more than 65 million installations the amount.

At the same time, Supersonic Studios also released a large number of successful ultra-casual games, such as “Join Clash 3D” and “Sort It 3D” and other products, making it quickly enter the top ten downloads by publishers in the United States in 2020.

Most of AppLovin’s installs came from the ultra-casual games of Lion Studios, but the downloads of the studio’s products in the United States plummeted during 2020Q2. Although there was a rebound in the next two quarters, the downloads in 2020Q4 still fell by 18 year-on-year. %.

Although ultra-casual games still occupy a relatively large download share, with the gradual end of the epidemic and the imminent impact of the IDFA New Deal, it is still unknown whether this category can return to the growth rate before the epidemic.

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