Social Casino Games Generated Almost $1B in Revenue during Pandemic

Social casino games generated almost $1B in revenue during the pandemic. According to Liftoff and GameRefinery’s report for 2021, mobile gamers are spending more money than ever on social casino apps. Likely, they stated, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the report, mobile gamers spent around $990 million on social casino apps during the pandemic’s peak. This peak was counted from Q3 2020 to Q2 2021. Moreover, the report states that the quarterly profits for social casino apps were higher than $260 million by Q2 2021. 

The total gross gaming revenue on the global scale of social casino mobile gaming was $6.2 billion in 2020. By 2026, according to the report, this amount could reach $7.5 billion.

The report stated that social distancing measures worldwide had allowed social casino mobile games to become more popular than ever. Besides the popularity of these games, both Liftoff and GameRefinery have noticed a significant growth in revenues. 

Their explanation for the sudden increase in popularity was that real-life casinos were closed worldwide due to the pandemic. Therefore, casino users turned to the next best thing – mobile casino games. 

Liftoff and GameRefinery based this data on ad impressions and clicks across 12 million installs and 239 apps. 

Social Casino App Report

When it comes to the different mobile platforms, the report stated that the cost of acquiring an iOS user was two times higher than Android. The CPIs on iOS have been 122% higher than on Android. At $5, Android offered the best value, coming in over two times less than iOS.

As for the highest price point of CPI, it was in November 2020, when it averaged $7.63. However, Gamerefinery and Liftoff noted the lowest point in April, when the CPI was $6.25.

Moreover, they stated that in Latin America, the users were a steal, with CPI averaging $1.43.

The ROAS performance, however, was the strongest in North America. According to the report, on the global level, Day 7 and Day 30 ROAS averaged 11.12% and 25.18%, respectively. When it comes to iOS and Android comparison, iOS D7 has higher ROAS. However, D30 Android has performed better than D7 iOS.

The report also showed that social casino mobile apps had the oldest demographic in mobile gaming. Reportedly, the user base is evenly divided between men and women, with more than half of the users being older than 45.

Wayne Qin, the co-founder of Triwin, stated that high-quality users usually meant a higher price. Moreover, he suggested that the companies shouldn’t focus solely on the cost of user acquisition. He noted that the focus should be on acquiring high-quality users, even if it took more time.

Qin stated that patience was a virtue, especially during the learning periods. More time, he says, gives you better results. 

Saikala Sultanova, the Senior Director of UA and Growth at Product Madness, shared her beliefs in the report. Sultanova states that players have high expectations since they are spoilt for choice when it comes to high-quality content. UA teams, according to Sultanova, have to match user demands by producing top-quality creatives that could tie to a story. 

Top-Ranking Casino Games

Top-ranking casino games win big, according to the report. The average value of a social casino in-app purchase comes in at approximately $11.92. When compared to the other genres, players spend almost double on casino games. 

The current top-ranking casino games on iOS, according to SensorTower – free data, are Coin Master, Jackpot Party Casino Slots, Slotomania™ Vegas Casino Slots, and Cashman Casino Las Vegas Slots. 

According to GameRefinery, Jackpot Party Casino Slots has earned more than $325 million since its release on iOS. Also, the game counts more than five million downloads on iOS of all time. 

The report pointed out Cash Tornado Slots as the “New Star”, a new and popular game on the market. GameRefinery and Liftoff also pointed out the Rising Challengers category, in which they put Poker Face – Live with Friends and Game of Thrones Slots Casino games. 

Furthermore, GameRefinery and Liftoff put Lightning Links, Jackpot World, Cash Frenzy, and Lotsa Slots™ in the “Old Masters” category. This category entails games that have become big and stayed on the top for a long time, generating high revenues.

Additionally, the report stated that games such as Bingo Party, Ignite Classic Slots, Spades Royale, and more were in the “Old Fading” category. This category covers the games that used to score high numbers but peaked and don’t perform as well today. 

Finally, data revealed that five mechanics brought the most revenue to the top-ranking casino games. Those mechanics were album collectibles, battle passes, special side-modes, piggy banks, and guild mechanics. 

The most popular feature was the album collectibles mechanic, utilized by 74 out of the top 100 ranking games. Battle passes and piggy banks were the second and third most used features.

Future of Social Casino Games

The issue occurred, as the report stated, in the loosening of pandemic measures. The traditional, real-life casinos and gambling centers opened again worldwide. GameRefinery and Liftoff explained that winning big spenders was bound to get harder in the following 12 months. 

Thus, the social casino game companies will have to adjust their marketing strategies to match the competition. 

Now, the marketing experts have to utilize their market data to adjust to the new situation. Moreover, they have to turn to new ways of providing perks and bonuses to players. Naturally, to deepen their engagement.

Moreover, no company wants to lose money, so the new marketing strategies have to keep or further boost the in-app purchases, the report states. Liftoff and GameRefinery stated that these reports would help social casino mobile game companies to optimize their marketing campaigns.

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