Navigating the storm: Lessons learned from the mobile market's downturn

gamesindustry.biz:

For quite a while the gaming market was considered by some to be an evergreen industry that thrives regardless of the worldwide economic situation.

And it's no wonder such beliefs were common, as the videogames market has been growing for the last 30 years, performing relatively well even during the tough 2007-2008 crisis. In 2020, not the best time for many sectors, the revenues of video game companies increased by 23.1% (Newzoo).

However, everything changed when 2022 hit the world. According to data.ai, the size of the video game industry in 2022 amounted to $193 billion, a 5% decrease from the 2021 figures. Another "novelty" was that the leader of the fall was the mobile games segment which comprised more than half of the overall gaming industry and declined by almost 7%.

In comparison, the decrease in the console games revenue was 3.4%, while that of the PC games was just 1%. But what could possibly go wrong in a market that has been blossoming for more than a decade and that was not (or at least not dramatically) impacted by significant economic declines? Let's dive into the details.

For the last decade, the mobile sector has been a key driver of the video game industry's growth. However, as I've already mentioned, 2022 puts a pause on the mobile gaming industry's previous rapid expansion. Here are some of the factors that affected the market's decline in 2022:

These issues have affected not only small and medium-sized studios but also large players who find it increasingly difficult to launch new games in the changed market environment. From the headlines, we know that EA cancelled mobile Apex Legends and Battlefield games and Playtika suspended its new game launches until the marketing landscape improves.

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