During the first nine months of 2020, India ranked first in the number of mobile game downloads globally. According to the research data analyzed and published by Safe Betting Sites India, gaming enthusiasts in the country installed 7.4 billion mobile games, accounting for 17% of global mobile game downloads from Q1 to Q3 2020.
In Q1 2020, there was a total of 1.8 billion installs. It shot up by a remarkable 50% in Q2 2020 to 2.7 billion as Indians were cooped up indoors during the lockdown. The number rose by a further 7% in Q3 2020 to reach 2.9 billion.
Alongside the increase in downloads, India is also experiencing significant growth in terms of mobile gaming revenue.
According to the data published by Statista, the market value of the gaming industry in India was 90 billion rupees ($1.2B) in fiscal year 2020 which ended in March 2020. It is set to rise to 99 billion rupees ($1.34B) in FY 2021 and further to 143 billion rupees ($1.9B) in 2022.
The report estimated that by 2022, the mobile gaming industry will create 40,000 new job opportunities. By the same year, the value of the country’s mobile gaming market was projected to reach $405 million. Considering that it was only valued at $266 million in 2016, that would mark considerable growth. The massive growth resulted from the affordability and penetration of smartphones in India as well as low-cost mobile data.
According to a KPMG report, there will be 370 million mobile gamers in India by 2022, up from 201 million in 2016. Comparatively, the number of online gamers overall is projected to reach 510 million by 2022.
Global Mobile Game Downloads Sink by 5.3% in Q3 2020
Based on a study by Sensor Tower report, the US ranked second by mobile game downloads during the first nine months of 2020. It had a total of 4.2 billion installs, accounting for 9.8% of the global total. Brazil came in third, with 3.5 billion downloads or an 8% share.
For the US, the first and second quarters of 2020 saw approximately 1.4 billion downloads each. But the figure dropped to 1.3 billion in Q3. In Brazil, there were slightly over 1 billion installs in Q1, rising by 20% to 1.2 billion in Q2, and maintaining the same figure during Q3.
On a global scale, the number of downloads during Q1 to Q3 2020 surged by 36.9% year-over-year (YoY) to 42.7 billion up from 31.2 billion over a similar period in 2019. Notably, the 2018/19 YoY growth had only been about 7.7%.
Google Play accounted for the lion’s share of downloads, growing by 42.8% YoY compared to the App Store’s 15.9% YoY growth. During a similar period in 2019, Google Play had seen a 9.8% growth in downloads, while on the App Store, there had only been a 1% increase.
Interestingly, both app stores had a sharp increase during Q1 and Q2, followed by a drop in Q3. In Q1, the two app stores had a total of 13.4 billion downloads, rising by 11% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) to almost 15 billion in Q2. However, the figure dropped by 5.3% to 14.2 billion in Q3.
The peak month for the number of downloads was April, with around 5.4 billion installs globally across the two stores.
Mobile Players Spend $7.1 Billion in August 2020
On the other hand, player spending soared by 25.7% YoY in the first nine months of 2020 to reach $58.7 billion. Comparatively, the figure had only increased by 17.5% YoY during a similar period in 2019.
The App Store accounted for a greater share of the revenue, growing by 25.3% YoY from $28.1 billion to $35.2 billion. However, while Google Play spending was lower, totaling $23.5 billion, it grew by a slightly higher rate of 26.3% from $18.6 billion in 2019.
Unlike the number of downloads, player spending kept growing through the three quarters, slowing down slightly in Q3. Total player spending across the two stores was $17.7 billion, rising by 13.6% in Q2 2020 to reach over $20 billion.
The increase in Q3 was 4.1% QoQ, driving the total to almost $21 billion. May was the peak month in H1 2020, accumulating $7 billion. For the entire nine-month period though, August was the highest with $7.1 billion.
The US ranked first in terms of revenue, growing by 38.8% YoY to reach $16.5 billion across the two stores. Japan came in second with $13 billion, while China was third with $10.6 billion from the App Store alone.
