Mobile Gaming in 2024

The mobile gaming market is currently growing fast. The years of the pandemic have only pushed this segment of our lives to rapid development. People stayed home more, and accordingly, their eyes turned more and more to various games for the entertainment and leisure available at home.

Therefore, the gaming industry has made a qualitative leap in the last few years, with consumer spending growth over the top. So let's explore this biggest mobile game market opportunity to find out how advertising in popular games is happening.

In 2023, the global gaming market, including mobile and other platforms, brought in more than $187 billion. This is 2.6% more than the previous year. It is projected to grow to $211 billion by 2025.

It is already clear to us that the mobile gaming market is currently the driving force behind the entire gaming industry, but let's take a closer look at the major trends in gaming.

Hyper-casual games are still in the lead of the gaming industry

At least by the number of downloads in the US, the hyper-casual games are still in first place for the last couple of years.

If you are a big fan of the hyper-casual genre, then you will be happy to know that it is here to stay, and we can safely add it to the list of game trends on mobile in 2024. Hyper-casual games are very lightweight, which makes them suitable for most mobile devices.

Such mobile video games have very basic mechanics and provide instant gameplay. Some big names in the hyper-casual genre are games such as Base Attack, Blob Runner, Catch And Shoot, and many others.

Hyper-casual apps require very little time for app development and production. Besides, they offer a simple interface without any tutorials required.

The mobile gaming market analysis shows that an increasing number of gaming companies are entering the hyper-casual gaming area. Some companies intend to do it independently, while others focus on acquiring smaller competitors.

The competition for acquiring new casual mobile gaming industry users will be fierce. Mobile game developers who do not have the money to stay competitive will have to transition to publishing deals or selling their businesses in order to stay competitive.

Puzzle mobile games take it to the next level

Puzzles are one of the favorite subgenres of mobile games among mobile gamers (by the way, here's an interesting fact: 85% of mobile gamers don't consider themselves gamers). One of the latest puzzle genre trends is adding extra gameplay and the appearance of new meta-layers.

Such a strategy allows developers to target a broader audience. It turns out that instead of focusing on players who prefer match-3 games, they may also interest female gamers or enthusiasts of storytelling, design, or logic puzzles.

All of this is a result of mobile gaming market saturation. Many one-size-fits-all offerings make users selective, so mobile game developers should have creative teams to invent new ways to entertain players. But, thanks to this, the core games industry continues to evolve, so it's all for the best.

5G helps mobile gaming grow

5G will help consolidate the growth of mobile games. Newzoo reports that 43% of active smartphones will be 5G-ready by the end of 2023.

Among the many benefits of 5G for mobile gaming are lower latency, more capacity for a richer multiplayer experience, and more streaming capabilities for cloud-based mobile games. The simplicity and appeal of better gameplay will greatly boost the industry.

The high speed of mobile Internet will also affect the development of mobile advertising and mobile games.

There will no longer be any delay in loading apps or websites due to the loading of ads. 5G is a powerful impetus for the development of mobile apps, advertising, and everything that can be connected to mobile gadgets.

The game continues

All the mobile gaming trends mentioned above show that the mobile games industry only continues to grow. All kinds of new technologies are being created to engage the users in mid-core games and immerse them in the gameplay.

People want to play mobile games. Currently, mobile games represent half of the entire gaming industry.