Data.ai: Mobile gaming had unexpected ups and downs in 2022

Data.ai (formerly known as App Annie) recently released a new report on the state of mobile in 2022, with a gaming section showing results for 2022 and its projections for 2023. new report shows mobile audiences are spending as much time on their games as ever - but their money? Not so much.

According to the report, mobile game downloads and time spent playing remain high, but the amount of actual spending has declined. Specifically, downloads reached 89 billion, an 8% year-over-year increase. In contrast, spending fell 5% year-on-year to $110 billion.

The report, which covers all manner of mobile apps, notes that this change in spending is specific to games. Spending in non-gaming app categories, such as dating and entertainment, remained relatively flat, even posting modest gains. Lexi Sydow, chief information officer at data.ai, told GamesBeat in an interview: "We're not really seeing a slowdown in terms of demand and consumption, but more in the wallet...most of that is happening before games. . They take more from this blow."

2022 has been widely seen as a "remedial" year, following the boom in gaming during the pandemic. Sydow also pointed out that, overall, mobile game spending and downloads are still higher than they were at the end of 2020. “We still end at a point high, but we've softened from our 2021 peaks... In some game genres, we're seeing a drop in overall spend It may have been a bit of this post-Covid reopening that's had an impact on wallets players, but individual titles still work well."

As Sydow said, the individual titles in the data.ai report have seen phenomenal growth. Several games became mobile hits in 2022. While app spending was down, some games like Diablo Immortal still ranked well - the game's microtransactions were criticized by users soon after launch, but its placement on data.ai charts shows it was effective in monetizing the game.

The party game Stumble Guys is the leader in cascading downloads in almost every market. The Wordle app was also a popular new hit. Simulation titles (a category that includes Roblox) grew in terms of time spent, while RPGs such as Pokemon Go and Genshin Impact topped consumer spending in several markets.

It's also easy to spot the decline of genres as a whole on mobile. For example, while some heavy hitters like Free Fire remain popular, shooters in general have declined in 2022. Puzzle games, on the other hand, have received a major boost thanks to Wordle. Meanwhile, action runner Subway Surfers is still going strong, a fact that Sydow says came as a slight surprise, but she attributes her success at least in part to the power of social engagement.

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