Zhitong Finance and Economics APP learned that Sensor Tower, IDC, and Mistplay have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the gaming industry. According to forecasts, the global gaming user spending in 2024 will be around $165 billion, with approximately 50% coming from mobile games, indicating that this market still dominates the gaming industry, as the shares of console games, PC/Mac games, and handheld game consoles are only around 25%, 24%, and 1% respectively. In terms of user spending, mobile games did poorly in 2023, but there are signs of a turnaround. With the success of several popular games recently and the launch of new games, mobile game user spending is expected to achieve a 6% year-on-year growth in 2024, with the possibility of even longer growth in the future.

Simulation and MOBA games boost mobile game downloads, while 4X strategy games lead the growth in user spending.

This market analysis, in which three companies participated, specifically focused on the market share changes of different types of games. In the overall gaming market's decline from its peak in 2021, it is necessary to use this information to understand which types are still experiencing exceptional growth. Overall, the changes in each type are not significant (a few percentage points up or down), however, given that other signals are weakening, understanding these changes still helps to interpret the preferences of users, especially mobile game users.

Looking at the number of downloads, simulation games rank higher among the top five games. The revenue rankings are somewhat different, with 4X strategy games, Coin Raiders, and MOBA games taking a larger share, leading these three subgenres. Representative titles of these subgenres are "Last War: Survival Game," "MONOPOLY GO!," and "Brawl Stars."

Mobile games that shape the industry landscape in the first half of 2024.

In the first half of this year, many different types of games performed well, including mobile versions of classic board games, match-three games cleverly combining puzzles and life game mechanisms, and 4X strategy games with a doomsday theme. From the perspective of successful factors, these games have all made good use of famous IP, market opportunities, and real-time operation modes.

Consumer Sentiment: Emphasis on privacy, changing attitudes towards in-game advertising.

According to IDC's report, American mobile gamers are more receptive to rewarded video (RV) ads (emotional index +11%) and least like video ads (emotional index -11%). Interactive ads and native ads have emotional indices of +5% and +3% respectively, while banner/display ads are -7%. By extending the time range (from the third quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2023), the net emotional scores for video ads and banner/display ads will decrease significantly (by -24% and -19% respectively). The above data indicates that players have always been more accepting of rewarded video ads, while generally having a negative attitude towards video and banner/display ads.

Mistplay's research also reflects similar results: The main reasons players choose to interact with ads and install new games are threefold: rewards and incentives (42%), relevance to game genre (40%), and attractive gameplay (38%). However, nearly 50% of players consider "too many ads" as the main reason for not playing a game, with 14% of players giving up an existing game after seeing ads and installing a new game. To increase ad engagement and reduce player churn, it is recommended to include special incentives and other relevant content in ads, as this helps improve conversion rates and long-term engagement, thereby enhancing the overall value of the player experience.