Nowadays, you can play video games from anywhere: on a home or portable console, on your smartphone, on your computer, or on a tablet. For many, mobile video games are a great way to pass the time on public transport, in a waiting room, or on the couch. Sometimes a silly little phone game turns into hours of non-stop play.
Every year new games are introduced, and some titles are more anticipated than others. This year, 2021, gamers will still be spoiled with titles as exciting as each other. Adventure games and games that guarantee thrills are particularly popular with the public. Find out the numbers and the latest trends in mobile video games for the coming year.
The Mobile Gaming Market Continues to Grow
The year 2020 has changed and redefined our daily life. Consumers, forced to stay at home, turned to smartphones and digital devices to stay connected, entertained, and informed. SuperData, a Nielsen company, released its 2020 Year in Review report focusing on the health of the video game and interactive media market and likely gaming trends in 2021.
Overall, video games alone brought in $ 126.6 billion in 2020, up 12% where the public was forced to stay home and interact remotely. Additionally, free-to-play games continued to generate the vast majority of video game revenue (78%), with Asian markets accounting for 59% of free-to-play revenue. Hardcore mobile games continued to attract gamers from Asia. Premium games revenue grew 28% year-over-year, outpacing the growth of the free-to-play market (9%). North America and Europe together accounted for 84% of all premium gaming revenue. As Covid-19 has heavily affected these regions, premium content spending has jumped.
The Most Popular Mobile Games in 2021
Action and combat games are particularly appreciated by the general public for the good dose of adrenaline that they guarantee to those who indulge in it. Role-playing and strategy games are also very popular, as they encourage its practitioners to exercise their tactical sense and their rage to win. Games for the general public, or casual games for insiders, are equally popular, thanks to their accessibility and ease of rules. Throughout the year, the public can experience many releases of these popular games. There is something for every taste.
The accessibility of new trends has been facilitated by the massive use of the Internet and smartphones around the world. And the global sanitary situation has increased this trend. Indeed, if we take the example of the iGaming industry, we can notice that online casinos are even more popular in the past year. Lots of tailor-made websites and applications adapted to mobiles and tablets like Betiton or MrMega, amongst others, were developed recently. And as the interest in casino games has increased, even traditional video games have included small casino games into their games, this is the case of GTA V, but a lot of video games have been implemented with small casino games like roulette or slots.
New trends are therefore always seeking to offer players improved gaming experiences, while it is on the gameplay, on the remastering of an old game, or even on the addition of new skills, for example, on the main character of a game. Every innovation adds more interest to the target audience, so we might see a lot of new things in the gaming world industry in the coming years!
