Record 1.2bn new game downloads in 1 week: Report

Mumbai: Lockdowns around the world have resulted in housebound folks exploring different forms of entertainment. Besides the popularity of video-streaming services,

mobile gaming

activity has also been on the rise.

There were a record 1.2 billion new game downloads in the week starting March 29, according to a joint report by App Annie and IDC. It found the download surges followed right after countries went into various stages of lockdown. Worldwide, users downloaded 35% more mobile

games

per week in March than in January this year.

The report has also found a correlation between the time spent at home during the lockdown in various countries, including India, and the rise in mobile

gaming

activity. It provided a source of entertainment as well as a social connection through online multiplayer modes.

“In March-April, it was children who were playing games because they could not go out. In May, even parents started playing the same games,” explained e-sports company Nodwin Gaming’s MD & co-founder Akshat Rathee. “We are now looking at 335% increase in registration for our tournaments, 250% increase in viewership, 198% increase in watch times.”

The downloads also reflected user preferences towards certain game genres. While casual games were one of the most popular genres in the peak weeks as compared to Q42019, the time spent playing action games also saw a significant increase. According to the report, action games accounted for the most time spent among game genres in Q12020 by at least a factor of 8 and saw the greatest growth quarter-over-quarter.

Worldwide, sub-genres like Woodturning (simulation), Ludo King (board) and Gardenscapes — New Acres (casual) were among the most downloaded games during this period. In India, the top five grossing mobile games (iOS and Google Play combined) in Q12020 were

PUBG Mobile

,

Free Fire

,

Coin Master

,

Teen Patti

and

Candy Crush Saga

.

“In our products, we have seen time consumption shoot up anywhere between 40% and 60% per user on an average in this period,” said Rajan Navani, vice-chairman & MD of JetSynthesys, which has developed games like Sachin Saga Cricket Champions and Super Ludo.

“Before the pandemic, users used to play mainly for 2-3 hours on an average daily basis. We witnessed a spike in the time spent up to 10-12 hours in a day when offices were shut and people were locked inside their homes. Earlier, maximum tournaments were played during late evenings. However, users started to play maximum tournaments and games during the afternoon time period as well,” pointed out Yash Pariani, CEO & founder of e-sports company Indian Gaming League (IGL).

According to the App Annie-IDC report, even though games only represent about 40% of the total downloads, they made up around 70% of the consumer spend. “The spending that goes into app stores is predominantly coming from games. However, in the first quarter this year, (consumer spend) has actually grown at a much faster rate than what we have observed in previous years,” said Donny Kristianto, senior market insights manager, App Annie.

“In India, a large part of the monetisation for mobile games comes through advertising. The rates during this time have actually gone down because advertisers are fewer as there is no opportunity for the user to buy products from the market. However, time spent on games has increased at the same time, so the reduction in terms of rates have been neutralised to keep revenues roundabout with a 10-20% growth,” said Navani.

That said, there is a segment that is still willing to spend in this climate. “The total spend ability for those who pay for video-streaming services has increased. This is because they are not eating out and traveling as much. Most of these people still have jobs,” said Rathee.

“We have grown to 60% in terms of revenue till now, since the lockdown began. I believe that this is eventually going to get bigger in the coming months,” said Pariani.

Since 2014, mobile gaming has grown larger than any other forms of gaming combined. Now, according to the report, it is set to extend its global lead to 2.8 times that of PC/Mac gaming and 3.1 times that of home game consoles in 2020. This is driven by both an increase in consumers and spend per user.