All you need to know about mobile gaming payments in Latin America

When it comes to gaming in Latin America, mobile gaming reigns king. With the great majority of the region’s gamers playing on mobile (89%), mobile gaming’s volume is made out mostly of low-ticket, but very frequent purchases. To give you an idea, the share of Brazilians – Latam’s largest consumer base – who play mobile games grew impressively by 146% between 2018 and 2022, now reaching 69% of the country’s population.

Mobile gaming also gathers impressive rates of in-game purchases, much more than the sale of game titles. After all, while most mobile games are free to play, publishers heavily invest in game currencies, special and customization items, and ad-free versions. Such purchases are frequently made by 84% of mobile gamers, whose average tickets range from anywhere from 1 to 50 dollars.

?? Did you know?

81% of Latin American gamers play mobile games. The most popular form of gaming in Latin America, mobile gaming is also the most accessible and varied one — and even with lower but frequent purchases, is one of the main verticals boosting gaming growth in Latin America, generating $ 8 billion in sales volume.

With data and information presented from our 2023 white paper The Payment Habits of Latin American Habits , this edition of PagNews dives deeper into the mobile gaming landscape and how you can leverage the Latam scenario in your business.

Below, check out the most relevant numbers from Latam’s mobile gaming segment and what sets it apart from other forms of gaming:

?? 87% of Latam gamers play on mobile devices, while 67% play on PCs and 57% play on consoles

?? 84% of mobile gamers often make in-game purchases, with 69% purchasing game titles — most of which are free for mobile

?? Mobile gamers' favorite payment methods are:

• Debit cards: 32%
• Credit cards: 31%
• Digital wallets: 20%
• Bank transfers: 10%
• Cash-based vouchers: 6%

Smartphone penetration opens the market

One of the main reasons why mobile gaming rises higher than consoles and PCs in Latin America is the prevalence of mobile phones in the region, alongside lower levels of PC and console penetration, compared to North America and Europe.

All Top 6 Markets in Latin America – Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, in order of total e-commerce volume – have significant smartphone penetration rates, with Peru being the lower (64%) and Brazil the highest, with an impressive 90%. For most Latin American consumers, smartphones are the main – for a lot of them, the only – internet access channel. Android users make up 91% of Latam mobile gamers, with only 19% using Apple devices.

Indeed, Brazil is a great example of mobile gaming’s Latam prevalence: as mentioned above, the percentage of Brazilians who play mobile games grew by 146% between 2018 and 2022, according to Atlantico’s 2022 Latin America Digital Transformation report. Among the over 2,200 Latam gamers that we surveyed for our white paper, 77% of Brazilians affirmed to play on mobile, higher than the 68% and the 62% shares of console gaming and PC gaming, respectively.

Casual games for a wider audience

Compared to PC and console games, mobile titles tend to be simpler and more casual – after all, smartphones and tablets have simpler hardware and less processing power than the other gaming platforms, and internet connection is not always the fastest. On the other hand, this also makes mobile games highly accessible and ideal for playing anywhere.

Thus, among mobile gamers, it’s very common to just open a favorite game and play it for a while on the bus, waiting for an appointment, etc., be it for a couple of hours or for just a few minutes. Mobile gaming is the preference among both female and male Latam gamers – among survey participants, 54% of mobile gamers are male and 46%, female.

Consequently, there is also greater diversity among the preferred mobile gaming genres. Among the most popular in Latam are casual games such as Candy Crush and Angry Birds, strategy games such as Lords Mobile, sports games such as FIFA Mobile, as well as Battle Royale games, with titles such as Free Fire and PUBG being hits in the region.

In-game purchases lead sales volume

Differently from other gaming platforms, mobile gaming makes up most of its online sales volume from in-game purchases. Frequently made by 84% of mobile gamers, in-game purchases include the purchase of currencies, customizations, game expansions, and health and strength items within games, during play. Usually with lower tickets – ranging anywhere from USD $1-$50 –, they take place during play and are often made impulsively, demanding an even more rapid, frictionless experience.

Meanwhile, game titles – the purchase of the game itself – are made by 69% of mobile gamers, and most often relate to upgrades from free to paid versions, since most titles are free, with ads, for mobile devices.

Payment variety and agility is key to unlock the market

Due to its lower average spending, mobile gamers are the only ones that don’t have credit cards as their favorite payment methods: if 37% of console gamers and 36% of PC gamers selected credit as their preferred way of paying for online gaming-related purchases, only 31% of mobile gamers agree.

Among all the payment methods mobile gamers use, not only the one they prefer (which we’ve shown above), 55% of them use credit cards, followed by 49% that use credit cards, and 39% that pay through digital wallets.

If agility and speed in payment confirmation is a must for gamers in general, the mobile platform requires it even more – with spontaneous spending and agile titles, approving payment and delivering the purchase for the user to be able to play with it as soon as possible is a key element in accessing it the wide, growing range of Latam mobile gamers.

Speed in payment confirmation is the most valued factor

Across the three main gaming platforms – mobile, console, and PC –, the majority of Latam gamers consider speed in payment confirmation the most important factor when choosing which payment method they will use to pay for a purchase – the range varies between 30 to 40%, depending on the Latam country.

This ties to the fact that, across Latin America – and especially in its #1 market, Brazil –, instant payment systems are playing a more and more important role in the gaming market. While other regions are behind in terms of enabling a system like Pix, Latin American gamers are increasingly demanding speedy payments and, thus, a strategic payment method strategy is a cornerstone to creating the frictionless payment experience demanded by this customer-base.

?? Check out also: What matters the most to online gaming payments?

Mobile gaming encapsulates many of the most fascinating aspects of Latin American gamer culture: a diversified audience, titles that are able to break the barriers of lack of access – to fast internet, to powerful PCs, to modern consoles –, varied titles that showcase the varied interests of this audience.

Click below to download our full white paper and and check out all about their payment habits and preferences:

?? Download now: White Paper | The Payment Habits of Latin American Gamers