The demand for video games by users has not been affected by the crisis; However, players are becoming more and more mobile.
The sales of mobile game apps registered during the last quarter of the year are better than games for game consoles. If we join the consumption recorded by the stores of mobile applications of iOS and Google Play, its figure exceeds that of video games.
During the last three months of the year, a third of the downloads from the application stores of the main mobile platforms (iOs and Android) were games. In addition, this type of content represents a large part of the user spending on mobile applications. According to the video game report released by IDC / App Annie, in 2012 over 20 billion games were downloaded for mobile devices, including tablets.
Among the factors that may have driven this trend are …
- The wide penetration rate of mobile devices, as well as increasing their consumption as the main source of information, leisure and entertainment.
- The development of technology for mobile devices, which provides a positive browsing experience to the user, facilitating the consumption of audiovisual content and games.
- The adoption by women of online games. This is a new niche market. According to an EEDAR study published in October 2012, 63% of online players via mobile are women.
App Annie indicates that, in terms of video game consumption, Apple is at the same level as Nintendo, although the App Store is available in the market half the time. IDC’s Lewis Ward wanted to highlight the fact that a year ago the market for video game consoles far exceeded that of mobile games, and yet these have grown spectacularly in just one year, suggesting that this 2013 will be decisive for the Development of games through smartphone and tablet.
Another notable fact is that the consumption of video games for console is clearly seasonal; Focusing during the month of December 60% of the total sales recorded in the last quarter of the year.
Mobile games are also a new way to reach users, who through gamification manage to provide a positive experience related to the brand. It is a new communication format, still to be exploited.