Mobile Gaming Industry Revenue Statistics

The mobile gaming industry is estimated to grow by 35.65% from 2021 to 2024. The $152.50 billion estimated mobile gaming market value for 2022 is an increase of $12.8 billion, or 9.16%, from 2021. It is estimated to generate $189.50 billion by 2024.

In July 2022, the global mobile gaming market generated an estimated $6.7 billion from gamers’ in-app purchases in Google Play Store and App Store, a 10.2% year-on-year decrease.

Mobile gamers usually spend their money purchasing in Mid-Core mobile games, which account for 60% of revenue in 2022. Mid-core games require more skill and strategy to master than casual games because they are more challenging and engaging. It also frequently includes side quests, multiplayer experiences, and resource management.

The mobile device has the highest gaming revenue, with $103.50 billion in the world this 2022. Console follows with $53 billion, while PC comes in last with $40.40 billion. Smartphones generate the vast majority of mobile gaming revenue, with tablet devices accounting for only a tiny portion of total mobile gaming revenue.

Mobile puzzle games top the market by genre, generating 21.18% of mobile gaming revenue, specifically in iOS devices, in North America in the second quarter of 2021.

Puzzle games lead the mobile gaming genres in popularity with 21.18% revenue share, followed by Casino with 18.9% and Strategy games with 17.17 in the US this Q2 2021.

Note: *All values are estimated.

The mobile gaming content market in the US is estimated to be worth $37.10 billion this 2023. It is anticipated to grow by 27.56% in the next year. The mobile segment has a huge share of the overall gaming software market.

Free-to-play (F2P) mobile gaming is expected to account for $14.36 billion in market share in 2022, rising to $14.94 billion by 2023 in the United States. The mobile segment is also expected to have the largest share in most of the F2P market.

Note: *All values are estimated.

This 2023, the mobile gaming market growth is expected to achieve a 12.9% year-on-year increase. Mobile gaming growth saw its biggest leap during the pandemic when it reached a 34.4% increase in revenue in 2020.

Note: *All values are estimated.

This year, mobile gaming is responsible for around 77.7% of the total digital gaming revenue in the world. From 2020 up to the present, mobile games have provided around 75% or more of the revenue share in gaming worldwide.

In this section, you will discover the mobile gaming industry’s growth in user revenue, including the number of people who play games on mobile devices, the user penetration rate, and average revenue per user (ARPU).

Around 1.925 billion play mobile games worldwide this 2023, an increase of 10.24% or 179 million more users from the previous year. It is expected to grow, accounting for 2.3 billion mobile gamers by 2027, which will mean a 20.66% growth in four years despite China’s ongoing ban on several mobile games from the West.

The mobile gaming user penetration is expected to be 25.1% in 2023. This means that around one in four people worldwide play mobile games. The percentage of mobile gamers is expected to grow to around 30% of the world’s population in 2027.

The Mobile Games segment’s average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to be $89.38 in 2023, up by $2.06 from 2022. It is forecasted that it will reach $95.41 by 2027. The Chinese market is anticipated to generate the most revenue at $81.90 billion in 2023

Tencent, the company behind PUBG Mobile and Honor of Kings, leads the mobile game revenue statistics with $27.88 billion. See below the top ten companies ranked by mobile gaming revenue in 2021, along with the year they were founded.

Tencent is the largest mobile game company in the world, with revenue generating nearly $28 billion in 2021. Founded in China way back in 1998, they are the developers of popular mobile games such as PUBG Mobile, Honor of Kings, and Moonlight Blade (Tianya Mingyue Knife).

With approximately $2.01 billion in revenue from gaming apps across the Google Play and Apple App Store worldwide, PUBG Mobile will be the most popular mobile game of Tencent in 2021. It also achieved the most downloaded mobile gaming title of the year.

In addition, Tencent’s market growth globally is because of its investments in over 40 gaming companies that developed popular gaming apps such as Fortnite, League of Legends, and Clash of Clans.

The top five mobile gaming markets in the world are the US, China, Japan, South Korea, and Germany. In 2022, the United States generated $41.33 billion in mobile gaming revenue, topping the global charts. China came in second with $34.45 billion, while Japan followed with $32.71 billion, falling 5% behind. South Korea took the fourth spot with $10.31 billion, and Germany came in the top 5 with $3.43 billion.

The United States generated $41.33 billion in revenue in 2022, dominating the mobile gaming market. It is set to reach a 7.31% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) by 2022 to 2027, projecting a market volume of $58.81 billion by 2027.

The user penetration is expected to be 44.9% in 2022 and 52.9% by 2027. It stems from the fact that the pandemic has dramatically affected the mobile gaming industry worldwide, particularly in the US. Game developers build more games, and smartphones are developed to provide a more robust user experience, attracting more gamers. As a result, the total market size will amount to $41.71 billion in 2022.

China generated $34.45 billion in revenue in 2022, falling 16.64% behind the United States in the mobile games market. The number of gamers is anticipated to grow to 737.5 million, with a user penetration of 50.2% by 2027.

Japan generated $32.71 billion in revenue in 2022, trailing China by 5% in the mobile games market. By 2027, the number of gamers is expected to reach 38.2 million, with a user penetration of 31.1%.

In 2022, South Korea generated $10.31 billion in revenue, trailing Japan by 68.48% in the mobile games market. By 2027, the number of gamers is expected to increase to 25.7 million, with a user penetration of 50.2%.

Germany generated $3.44 billion in revenue in the mobile games industry in 2022. The number of gamers is expected to reach 19.4 million by 2027, with a user penetration of 23.2%.

The United States has the highest user penetration in mobile gaming at 44.90% of the country’s population. This is followed by South Korea (43.40%). China comes in third with 36.80%, followed by Mexico with 34.70%. The United Kingdom ranks last with 33.80%.

The United States had the world’s largest mobile gaming market in the first quarter of 2022, reaching approximately 27% of consumer spending, although it falls off 2% compared to 2021. Japan has experienced a steep decline since 2016. It peaked at 30% in 2015 and will fall by 10% by 2022.