The average age of a mobile game user is 27 years old, or seven years younger than a year ago, based on research recently published by EEDAR. The mobile analytics firm's 2014 Deconstructing Mobile & Tablet Gaming Report is based upon a consumer survey of 3,500 North American people who said they played a mobile game within the past three months.
-
142 million mobile gamers in North America (up from 111 million in 2013) spent an average of $32.65 in the last year, generating $4.6 billion in revenue.
-
50 percent of mobile gamers play on both smartphones and tablets, vs. 35 percent who only play on their smartphone.
-
The top 6 percent of spenders generate about half (51 percent) of the mobile gaming revenue, while nearly half of all mobile gamers (45.7 percent) do not pay to play mobile games.
-
Casual-leaning gamers make up more than half of the Mobile Market (56 percent) and represent those who pay and play the least. Core-leaning gamers make up approximately 19 percent of the Mobile Market and represent those who invest heavily (both in terms of time and spend).
- 75 percent of the most invested players are also active sharers (compared to 23 percent of the most casual mobile gamers).
"The rapid rise of the Free-to-Play model has dramatically shifted mobile gamers' expectations and motivations for in-app purchases (IAPs)," the report says. "Where they were previously purchasing items that would expand their experiences (Level Packs, Permanent Items), the majority have shifted their focus toward purchases that will speed up their progression (resource replenishers, consumable wait reducers or experience boosts).
Most developers probably don't use terms like "core-leaning gamers" when they're creating their apps, but this report offers a good glimpse into why increased segmentation and a more granular analysis of your audience is really important. If there's really a small tip of the iceberg that's generating revenues, it may make more sense to design features, functions and experiences that cater specifically to their interests.
The entire report is particularly comprehensive and shows that while being too aggressive in trying to make money probably accounts for consumers abandoning many games, it's not the biggest issue. It's still primarily a matter of performance and quality, which means testing thoroughly is a must, whether you're aiming at core-leaning gamers, casual gamers or everyone in between.
For more:
- access the report here
Related Stories:
Flurry: Women make 31% more in-app purchases than men
Size matters: Study shows bigger screens lead to greater app usage