Global Mobile Gaming Market Insights for 2023

by Andrea Knezovic, April 20, 2023

The global mobile gaming market has experienced some setbacks in 2022. However, we’re hopeful that was only temporary. We expect the mobile gaming market to reach new heights by the end of 2023.

In the meantime, keep your finger on the pulse with these mobile gaming industry statistics and insights.

Mobile Gaming Market Size in 2023

You’re probably wondering how big the mobile gaming market is. To answer this question, we need to examine several factors.

The most important ones are:

How many mobile games there are?
How many downloads do mobile games get?
How much do mobile games earn in revenue?

In 2023, there are more than 700 thousand mobile games in the app stores – about 500 thousand on Google Play and about 200 thousand on the Apple App Store. (Data source: Statista)

There are more than 3.2 billion mobile gamers in 2023, according to Newzoo.

Mobile games were downloaded almost 90 billion times in 2022 and we expect that number to grow by the end of 2023. The top three mobile markets in 2022 by the number of downloads were China, India, and the US. (Data source: data.ai)

Moreover, hyper casual is the genre that got the most downloads.

Mid-core games, on the other hand, were the main drivers of mobile gaming revenue in 2022. Learn more about it in the following section!

Mobile Gaming Revenue

In 2022, the mobile gaming revenue reached $92 billion, which is down -6.4% YoY. That tells us that 2022 was a minor setback for the mobile gaming market. However, Newzoo predicts mobile gaming market growth at +3.4% CAGR.

Mobile Gaming Revenue by Genre

According to SensorTower, these were the top genres in 2022 worldwide by gross revenue.

RPG ($20.2 billion)
Strategy ($16.3 billion)
Puzzle ($9.1 billion)
Casino ($8 billion)
Shooter ($4.6 billion)
Simulation ($4.5 billion)
Action ($4.5 billion)
Sports ($2.7 billion)
Arcade ($2.1 billion)
Tabletop ($1.7 billion)

Mobile Gaming Market Share

Each year, mobile gaming is taking an even bigger piece of the gaming pie.

According to Newzoo, the overall global games market generated more than $184 billion in 2022. It’s projected to reach $211 billion by 2025. This includes revenue from mobile games, PC, and consoles.

The mobile gaming market share is 50% or $92 billion. Console games had a 28% revenue share, PC games 21%, and browser PC games only 1%.

That means mobile gaming is still dominating the global games market.

Mobile Gaming Market Trends for 2023

What’s amazing about this industry is that it’s ever-changing. We saw many new and exciting mobile gaming market trends emerge in recent months.

Here’s what’s in store for the mobile gaming market in 2023.

For even more trends, check out our Mobile Gaming Market Trends article.

1. Mid-Core Games Will Continue to Dominate the Mobile Gaming Market

Data.ai reports that, in 2022, mid-core games were responsible for the most mobile gaming revenue. Moreover, RPG and strategy genres were the leading genres in terms of mobile gaming revenue with more than $20 billion and $26 billion respectively.

In 2023 so far, the two top-grossing games are Honor of Kings and Genshin Impact, both mid-core games.

Interestingly, SensorTower reports that “RPGs were the most popular and lucrative genre in the mobile gaming industry in Asia”. In other mobile gaming markets, there’s more variety when it comes to genres that drive revenue.

2. The Hyper Casual Genre Stays Undefeated in Terms of Downloads

The hyper casual genre is known for getting a lot of downloads, compared to other genres. Just in 2022, hyper casual games got 12.3 billion downloads, which made them the number 1 genre for this metric. (Data source: SensorTower)

We expect to see this trend continue throughout 2023.

However, it’s worth mentioning that hyper casual games saw a decline in downloads in 2022, even though they were in the lead. According to SensorTower, hyper casual downloads were up 60% YoY in 2020 and 15% in 2021, but they were down -24% YoY in 2022.

As a result of that, we’ll see more game publishers turn to hybrid casual games – what some call hyper casual 2.0. SensorTower’s research confirmed that hybrid casual games perform better for engagement metrics like average time spent per month and session duration.

3. The US Will Keep Its Position as the Leading Mobile Gaming Market

When it comes to consumer spending, The United States was the top mobile gaming market in 2022.

According to SensorTower, spending in the US was always above $5.5 billion for each quarter of 2020 – 2022. It’s safe to assume that the United States will continue to be the leading mobile gaming market throughout 2023.

Where we see a change is in the second and third places. Japan was the second mobile gaming market in terms of consumer spending up until the fourth quarter of 2022 when China took over that position.

4. IP-Based Mobile Games Continue to Rule the Top Charts

In 2023, games based on existing IPs as well as collaborations will become an even more popular choice among game publishers.

That’s not surprising considering that leading mobile games like League of Legends: Wild Rift, Crash Bandicoot On the Run, Pokémon Unity, and Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery are all IP-based games.

If we look at IP-based games from the last five years, the most common IPs are TV-based (33%), manga-based (22%), and literature-based (19%).

Games based on a well-known IP get more organic downloads because there’s a familiarity factor. Furthermore, big franchises have big audiences that game publishers can tap into. However, a game needs to fit with what IP fans like.

These games also tend to earn more in revenue. According to research done by Newzoo, a high percentage of big spenders are drawn to IP-based games.

5. AI Will Aid Mobile Game Development

Will AI take your job?

Probably not.

But it can help you develop and design better mobile games.

While it’s still early, AI tools are showing potential to help creative teams with fresh ideas and design. Moreover, these tools can make it easier to produce a large number of visual assets needed for designing a game. Not only that but updating games with fresh content can also become a less daunting task with AI tools.

This is great news for both bigger and smaller studios. Bigger studios can become even more efficient, while smaller teams can scale with low costs.

Beyond mobile game design, AI tools will also have their place in user acquisition. Those who advertise mobile games know that successful UA campaigns are based on a large number of ad creatives.

That, of course, puts strain on creative production teams. The use of AI tools may alleviate that.