Half of Mobile Gamers Prefer Ad-Supported Gaming
50% of mobile gamers say that they would rather have ads inside of a game rather than the classic pay-to-play method. Interest in ad-supported games has grown steadily since 2017, up 138% in 2021, according to the latest Modern Mobile Gamer® report from Tapjoy.
Mobile gamers are playing, on average, over 10 hours of games on their mobile device per week. 57% of those gamers are saying they are playing more games than they did 5 years ago. Although that is to be expected with the advancements in computing power inside of the typical smartphone.
Parents (58%), Gen X (54%), and women (52%) are the most likely to play multiple times per day.
This report also found that puzzle hames were most likely to be played with 55% of gamers playing and reporting it as their favorite genre. This is a changeup from 2021 where action/adventure was the top rated genre. Seems like the parents are taking over the mobile gaming world.
The great news in all of this is that 60% of gamers say they are open to trying new games from ads they discover inside of other games. Just fantastic news for those trying to market inside of games.
And 39% will try new games if their friends are playing them or 33% find them via recommendations on app stores.
“Just in time for GDC, we’re thrilled to release the latest game developer and UA-focused Modern Mobile Gamer® report. This year marks the fifth anniversary of Modern Mobile Gamer®, and to celebrate, we’re examining how mobile habits have changed in that time while also looking to the future,” said Lauren Baca, Senior Director of Marketing at Tapjoy. “We’ve found that most mobile gamers are playing every day, often multiple times a day, sometimes switching among four or more favorites. They also discover new games from ads and, in general, are much more receptive to ads in mobile games than they were five years ago.”
Data privacy is still as big of an issue as ever, with 39% not opting-in to data tracking, while 43% say they will actively opt-in. And lastly, 64% of gamers are now enjoying progress bars in games that let them see how many rewards they earned.