Mobile games are wildly popular and only growing in use and influence, a new study by Activision Blizzard Media and NewZoo found.
This year, the total global games market will generate revenues of $148.1 billion, with mobile contributing to just less than half this amount. Some 2.4 billion people will play mobiles games worldwide in 2019, making mobile games a necessary destination for many advertisers.
Gaming is the third most popular category of app, behind shopping (67 percent) and social media (56 percent) and tying with music (with 50 percent each). Gaming is the second most popular type of app among adults aged 18-20.
Along those lines, gaming and music apps tends to be used equally among men and women, although men skew more toward shooting and strategy games, such as Fortnite, while women tend more toward puzzles, such as Candy Crush. Gaming apps are used most in the evenings, between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Accordingly, the report found that advertisers can reach more consumers through game apps than through ideo streaming, current affairs, sport, and health and fitness apps.
Mobile gamers are 23 percent more likely than non-gamers to have purchase influence on their friends, family and colleagues. Female gamers are more influential when it comes to dining out, groceries and clothing, while male gamers are more influential regarding technology, entertainment subscriptions and mobile phone service providers.
Of the gamers studied, Candy Crush Saga and Angry Birds players have the most influence on household purchasing decisions, likely because older players tend to play these games. Candy Crush remains the most popular mobile game, nearly doubling the usage of the next most popular mobile games: Pokémon GO and Fortnite.
On the flip side, mobile gamers also tend to be more influenced by advertising and are more likely to buy things from brands with ads they like. These gamers are also more likely to turn to that advertising to keep up with current product and service offerings, and to splurge on products and services they want.
Activision Blizzard Media and NewZoo interviewed 12,327 mobile app users aged 18-65 in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany via computer between Dec. 10-24, 2018, to complete this study.
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