Mobile gaming statistics from a few years ago are not relevant anymore. Yet, so many sources recycle the same statistics and just put a 2024 label on them.
Find this super annoying?
We feel you.
When it comes to the mobile game industry, information that is two or three years old is already passé.
You no longer need to spend hours searching and despairing — this article gathers the most relevant and up-to-date mobile gaming statistics and game industry trends for 2024 and beyond.
Mobile Gaming Market Statistics
The global mobile gaming market saw a small dip in both downloads and revenue.
- In 2023, there were 87.89 billion mobile game downloads, which is a 2.5% decline from 2022 (data.ai)
- The global mobile game consumer spending in 2023 was $107 billion, dropping by 2% from 2022 (data.ai)
- The projected mobile game ad spend for 2024 is $102 million, increasing from $79 million in 2023 (Statista)
- Mobile gaming is the most lucrative gaming sector, accounting for 49% of the total games market revenue. It is followed by console games at 29% and PC games at 21% (Newzoo)
- From 2020 to 2023, mobile gamers spent an average of $1.5 billion on mobile games every week (data.ai)
Mobile Game Statistics by Country
What is the largest market for mobile games? Which markets dominate in revenue, and which in downloads?
Let’s take a look at the latest mobile game market rankings by data.ai.
The top markets by revenue remained unchanged, while Brazil surpassed the US in downloads.
Top Mobile Game Markets by Downloads
- China (29.32 billion downloads)
- India (9.66 billion downloads)
- Brazil (4.62 billion downloads)
- US (4.55 billion downloads)
- Indonesia (3.38 billion downloads)
Top Mobile Game Markets by Revenue
- China ($37.6 billion)
- US ($24 billion)
- Japan ($12.78 billion)
- South Korea ($6.43 billion)
- Germany ($2.6 billion)
Mobile Game Genre Statistics
Hyper-casual games lead in downloads, while games with social features dominate gaming time and consumer spending.
- The most downloaded mobile game genres in 2023 were hyper-casual games with 16.4 billion downloads, simulation games with 10.5 billion downloads, and action games with 5.5 billion downloads (data.ai)
- The leading mobile game genres by consumer spending were RPG games ($24.5 billion), strategy games ($10.7 billion), and match games ($10.2 billion), according to data.ai
- The top mobile game subgenres by time spent are Creative Sandbox (13.9% share), Battle Royale (9% share), and MOBA games (8.5%)
Mobile Gaming Statistics: Players
How many gamers are on mobile? Why do people play mobile games?
Here are the latest mobile gaming statistics that provide answers to these questions.
Number of Mobile Gamers & Demographics
Women outnumber men in the mobile gaming market.
- In 2023, the estimated number of mobile gamers was 2.8 billion, while the total number of gamers was 3.38 billion. This means roughly 83% of all gamers are mobile gamers (Newzoo)
- 51% of US mobile gamers are female, and 49% are male (Statista)
- The most common age group for mobile gamers is 18-34, with 64% of this demographic actively playing mobile games (Statista)
Mobile Gaming by Generation
Younger generations are drawn to social features and are more likely to spend on mobile games.
- The top two generations by the share of mobile gamers are Gen Alpha at 81% and Gen Z at 80%, but they are closely followed by Millennials at 79% and Gen X at 77% (Newzoo)
- 38% of Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millennials say they spend money on mobile games (Newzoo)
- 68% of Gen Alpha and 64% of Gen Z play games that allow them to socialize with other players (Newzoo)
* Generation legenda: Gen Alpha (early 2010s to mid-2020s), Gen Z (1997 to 2012), Millennials (1981 to 1996), Gen X (1965 to 1980)
Mobile Gaming Motivations
According to Google for Games and Ipsos, the top five things that motivate people to play mobile games are:
- the need to kill time (51%)
- relaxation (46%)
- excitement (27%)
- enticing mobile game ads (20%)
- good ratings in the app stores (17%)
Social Connections
People are social creatures, and mobile gamers are no different.
- 45.3% of mobile gamers believe that playing games is a great way to meet new people (Business of Apps)
- 35% of players play with their friends, 22.5% play with colleagues, and 19.9% play with family members (Business of Apps)
Mobile Game Retention Statistics
Let’s take a look at the average mobile game retention rates to find out how users engage with and stick around in mobile games, according to AppFlyer’s data.
Average Retention Rates for Mobile Games
The average retention rates for mobile games are:
- Day 1 retention of 29.46%
- Day 7 retention of 8.7%
- Day 14 retention of 5.54%
- Day 30 retention of 3.21%
Retention Rates by Genre
Match, puzzle, and tabletop games dominate both short-term and long-term retention.
- Mobile game genres with the highest Day 1 retention are match (32.65%), puzzle (31.85%), tabletop (31.30%), RPG (30.54%) and simulation games (30.10%)
- Genres with the highest Day 30 retention rates are match (7.15%), puzzle (5.35%), tabletop (5.51%), casino (4.10%), and RPG games (3.48%)
Mobile Gaming Trends Statistics
Here’s a glance at the mobile gaming statistics surrounding the hottest mobile game industry trends.
AI and Gaming
AI has had a major impact on mobile game development, and its influence will continue to grow.
- 87% of game developers use AI as a part of their development process (Pocket Gamer)
- 64% of game industry leaders believe that generative AI will become widely adopted in game development (Newzoo)
- Within the next 10 years, generative AI will account for at least 50% of game development, increasing from less than 5% (Bain & Company)
Hybrid Casual Games
There is an ongoing shift from hyper-casual to hybrid casual games.
- In 2023, hybrid-casual game revenues reached $2 billion, surging by 30% from the year before (SensorTower)
- The most popular type of hybrid-casual games are puzzle titles, which saw a 429% year-on-year revenue increase and a 9.9% download growth (SensorTower)
- Hybrid-casual games are especially popular in China, where their share among top-grossing games rose from 20% in 2019 to 43% in 2023 (SensorTower)
Cross-Platform Play
Cross-device gaming remains one of the biggest mobile gaming trends in 2024.
- Nearly 50% of gamers play games on more than one platform (Newzoo)
- Approximately 1 in 4 gamers are tri-platform players, switching between consoles, PCs, and mobile devices (Newzoo)
- The majority of tri-platform players are male (61%), and 46% of them are aged from 10 to 25 (Newzoo)
- The most popular genre among tri-platform gamers is adventure games, played by 68% of players (Newzoo)
Mobile Gaming Statistics: Downloads, Revenue, and Top Publishers
What was the most downloaded mobile game in 2023? Which games are making the big bucks?
Let’s answer these questions for you.
Top Mobile Games by Downloads
Roblox is getting more popular, and Subway Surfers remains the top game of all time, consistently getting over 200 million downloads annually.
According to AppMagic, these are the most popular mobile games of last year, ranked by downloads.
- Roblox (217.4 million)
- Subway Surfers (214.7 million)
- Ludo King (163.3 million)
- Candy Crush Saga (156 million)
- Block Blast (151.7 million)
- Royal Match (147 million)
- 8 Ball Pool (128.6 million)
- Free Fire (127.7 million)
- My Talking Tom 2 (119.4 million)
- Race Master 3D (118.7 million)
Top Mobile Games by Revenue
For the fifth year in a row, Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile continue to hold the top two positions.
These are the ten top-grossing mobile games of 2023, according to AppMagic.
- Honor of Kings ($1.48 billion)
- PUBG Mobile ($1.14 billion)
- Candy Crush Saga ($956.8 million)
- Genshin Impact ($943.8 million)
- Roblox ($868.6 million)
- Royal Match ($835.2 million)
- Coin Master ($728.7 million)
- Honkai: Star Rail ($659.1 million)
- Monopoly Go ($645 million)
- Gardenscapes ($605.7 million)
Top Mobile Game Publishers
Chinese mobile game publishers dominate the global revenue charts.
According to data by AppMagic, the top-grossing mobile game publishers of 2023 were:
- Tencent ($4.88 billion)
- NetEase ($1.84 billion)
- Playrix ($1.83 billion)
- Mihoyo ($1.71 billion)
- King ($1.37 billion)
- Scopely ($1.1 billion)
- Bandai Namco ($936 million)
- Roblox Corp ($869 million)
- Dream Games ($840 million)
- Zynga ($771 million)
Final Thoughts on Top Mobile Gaming Statistics for 2024
These mobile gaming statistics are a reflection of the biggest industry trends.
At MAF, we are dedicated to informing our readers about the latest mobile game industry news, trends, and developments.
We’ll keep this article up to date throughout 2024 and regularly include new findings from upcoming industry reports. Stay in the loop with all of this — subscribe to our newsletter!
