As 2019 is coming to a close, and we’re taking a moment to reflect on the growth the mobile gaming industry sustained this year. As a whole, consumers are expected to spend $120 billion in app stores in 2019, which is 5x the growth rate of the global economy (App Annie). Gaming app revenue in particular grew 4.27% to $41.5 billion up from $39.8 last year — which is powered from ad-supported monetization models. And the gaming app category saw the highest number of downloads across iOS and Android, at over 50 billion.
With gaming having such a large impact on mobile, we wanted to reflect on the content we produced last year that appeared to have the biggest impact on our readers. Read on to find out what our three most popular blogs are from this year, and why you should check them out (if you haven’t already).
#1 The ‘gamer’ demographic has shifted, creating more opportunities for developers
We conducted a survey with Censuswide in the US and UK polling over 4,000 smartphone owners to get an idea of what mobile gamers today are like. Over two-thirds of those with smartphones don’t identify as being a gamer, despite playing mobile games three to four times a week. This discrepancy tells us that there are still some lingering stigmas around what people think a gamer is — often people think of gamers as male, and very ingrained in gaming culture, often playing for multiple hours a day. In fact, more men than women self-identified as gamers with 36% of men vs. 22% of women. Find out what else our survey uncovered, and what this means for developers today in the rest of the blog post here.
#2 Ad Tech Deconstructed: What is in-app bidding and header bidding?
The way advertisers and publishers sell and purchase mobile ad space is shifting — and our readers are looking for the differences. Header bidding is an advanced programmatic advertising method that allows advertisers to get a simultaneous first look at publishers’ available inventory across multiple ad exchanges. Header bidding derives from desktop web advertising, and until recently, wasn’t available on mobile. Mobile header bidding, or in-app bidding is technically programmatic, and has some key differences from the traditional programmatic method. Continue reading this blog post here to understand how in-app bidding differs from the traditional waterfall.
#3 Cowboy! tests your lasso skills with unique creatures and worlds
We’re just as excited about Lion Studios’ new titles this year as our readers are! The mid-year release Cowboy! allows gamers the chance to lasso as many animals as you can (including both real and mythical creatures). A simple concept to learn, but a tough game to master. Learn how to play Cowboy! And uncover a few tips and tricks from the experts in this blog post.
Lion Studios is continuing to create free hyper-casual games that are capturing audiences and leveraging ads within the game to bolster their revenue. Free-to-play mobile games with in-game advertising grew to 94% this year, up from 87% in 2018. More developers are choosing to sell ad space to monetize their content, according to a study by game marketing firm deltaDNA.
With 2020 almost here, we’re taking a look at your most-read AppLovin blog posts, and noting your preferences. We can’t wait to continue to provide you with more engaging content in the new year!
