Recently, for COVID-19, many countries and regions have started to change their epidemic prevention policies and start to return to work, which has led many people to be busy with their work and their leisure time for entertainment has been greatly reduced. What’s worse, the current global market economy is very poor. People’s income level has decreased significantly, and Apple Store and Google Play have also made great changes in their privacy policies for mobile games. Which has brought a great blow to the gaming industry. Many gaming research institutions, including Newzoo, also lowered their expectations for the annual gaming market.
The famous industry analysis blog “Deconstructor of Fun” noticed in recent days that the main categories of mobile games and the impact of mobile games have been analyzed, and provided some insights in the blog.
DOF believes that despite the overall impact, the time for mobile games to rank in the top 100 in terms of total revenue has shortened, and some categories are growing against the trend. In addition, the mobile game market will remain attractive. However, under the influence of the new privacy policy, every game developer needs to face new challenges in the industry.
The popularity has driven the mobile game market to a new high, but it will not last long. As the epidemic situation has been well controlled, the participation rate of game players has generally declined. However, the revenue of mobile games accounts for 61% of the total game running volume of all platforms. If the in app advertising revenue is included, the number is even greater.
Last year, of course, the main challenge facing mobile games was the change of privacy policy, which made it difficult for publishers to expand their business lines on the Apple Store. Another challenge that will emerge in the near future is possibly cloud gaming. With the continuous improvement of device specifications and network bandwidth, it may be only a matter of time before some mobile game types compete directly with PC and console platforms that provide great value through subscription services.
In the past year or so, Google Play has become the preferred platform for testing and launching new games, because its stores have not implemented such a strict privacy policy. The change of privacy policy allows mobile game publishers to obtain advertising related technology, thus obtaining data ownership.
The development of mobile game market can be reflected in the following aspects: the number of games launched in the market has declined for six consecutive years. Although IAP’s sales exceeded $10 million and its business model was healthy, the fact remains that the top 150 games in total revenue were higher than the 247,000 games in the past.
In the first half of 2022, although the number of downloads continues to increase, the revenue of all major mobile game types in the western market has declined. The decrease in expenditure can be attributed to factors such as targeted advertising restrictions and the global economic slowdown. The continued growth in downloads is partly due to publishers seeking confidence after launching ATT and increasing their investment in Android systems.
Although the whole market is declining, some games are still bucking the trend. These games have a considerable market share and increase revenue in a competitive environment, letting alone Android emulator on the cloud. As far as concerned, three strategies are offered according to the experience of the current leading players in the gaming industry.
Method 1: Give Full Play to Creativity
Over the years, publishers have let adaptive algorithms do some of the heavy work. After the change of privacy policy, the focus of launch has begun to shift to in-depth understanding of the target audience, unremitting market testing, and the use of diversified marketing mix.
In practice, this means making launch materials that can tap the characteristics of players rather than demography, and then testing these materials through existing market platforms to ensure high IPM.
Method 2: Leverage IP
In short, IP is again popular in the mobile field. In the past, the advantages of IP were offset by the efficient UA. Now, a gaming IP can greatly expand the top of the UA funnel. Therefore, for games with a broader marketing mix, the appropriate IP is a good tool to help you reach a large audience.
However, before signing the minimum guarantee, the issuer should still take an analytical approach. Proper market research and careful business modeling are necessary. To be more confident, publishers should test the profitability of IP through the marketing platform before signing the contract.
Method 3: Focus not only on the US market and iOS platform
In terms of players’ LTV, the English market is usually the most valuable, but usually they are also the most expensive. Therefore, there should be a good balance between these high costs and the higher rate of return on advertising expenditure.
Companies that have achieved success outside the United States and iOS should not view the international market as “the rest of the world”, but focus on growth pockets to ensure that their operating methods are localized when entering these markets.
