2014 NEWZOO | NOVEMBER | V1

NEWZOO FREE DATA REPORT

SPOTTING THE MOBILE SPENDERS

An Analysis of Paying Smartphone and Tablet Gamers
GLOBAL WITH A FOCUS ON US AND WESTERN EUROPE

2014 Newzoo

KEY 2014 FACTS

This Year

Of Them

1.5bn 32%

People Will Have Played a Game

on a Smartphone or Tablet: 51%
of the Global Online Population

NORTH AMERICA: 151M (49%)

2014 Newzoo

Will Have Spent Money On

or In a Mobile Game: 485
Million Consumers
NORTH AMERICA: 42% (64M)

KEY 2014 FACTS

Paying Mobile Gamers Spend

Totaling

$4.30 $25bn

Per Month On Average This

Year For All Mobile Gamers
Worldwide Combined
NORTH AMERICA: $7.68

2014 Newzoo

In Revenue Generated by
Tablets and (Smart)Phone
Games WorldWide

NORTH AMERICA: $5.9bn

KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Share Mobile Spenders
Close To That Of Console/PC
Mobile games, dominated by the free-to-play business
model, are not as different from console or PC gaming as
one might think in terms of paying players. In two years
time, the share of spenders on a global scale has risen from
36% to 46% in Western Europe and the US combined. This
share is 67% for console gaming and 59% for gamers that
play MMO type games. This increase in paying mobile
gamers is one of the main drivers of revenue growth in
mature markets. Monthly single digit conversion rates of
individual games are often misinterpreted as share of
mobile gamers that spends money.

2014 Newzoo

Of all US & W-EU Mobile

Gamers This Year

46%

Spends Money, Compared

to 36% 2 Years Ago.

KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Amazon Best in
Reaching (Big) Spenders
Analysts and press focus predominantly on the iPhone,
iPad and Google Play app stores. The Amazon Appstore
on Fire devices, Android, and preloaded on BlackBerry is
often overlooked. A closer look not only reveals large
absolute gamer numbers in the US and Western Europe
but, more importantly, shows that gamers using the
Amazon Appstore are the most likely to spend money. In
addition, it boasts a relative high reach amongst the
valuable family-oriented demographic. Developing and
marketing games for the Amazon Appstore could prove
most effective compared to other app stores and is
certainly undervalued at the moment.

2014 Newzoo

Of all Mobile Gamers that

use the Amazon Appstore,

64%

Spends Money on Mobile

Games vs 41% on Average
and 37% for Google Play.

KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Screen Segmentation:
Mobile Can Take 50%
When slicing gamer revenue data across the four typical
screens used by a consumer, it comes as less of a surprise
that the share of mobile games has grown so explosively
towards the 29% it will take this year. According to our
Screen Segmentation ModelTM, it could grow to 50%.
COMPUTER

2014 Newzoo

ENTERTAINMENT

FLOATING

PERSONAL

In 2017, Mobile Games

Are Anticipated To Take

37%

Of Global Games Market

Revenues. 29% This Year.

KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Growth Will Continue,
Driven by Multiple KPIs
The mobile games market in mature markets is not saturated
as some analysts claim. Investigating app store revenues and
single-game metrics does not reveal the dynamics behind
growth. Understanding growth potential requires looking at
KPIs in a broader manner, revealing key local differences.
POPULATION

2014 Newzoo

CONNECTIVITY

GAMERS

SPENDERS

AVG. SPEND/MONTH

REVENUES

Of the $7.4Bn Year-on-Year

Growth of Mobile Revenues,

58%

Was Generated by Mature

Markets (NAM/W-EU, JP/KOR).

KEY TAKE-AWAYS
The Big Spender Is a Family
Man With A Full-Time Job
The majority of (big) spenders on mobile are male and have
kids. For men the share of spenders rises with age, for women
it drops. On average one in five mobile spenders is a man older
than 35. Spenders are also most likely to have a full-time job
and a large income. More than a third of mobile spenders play
together with their children regularly and spend a large share
of their game budget on their kids. Mobile spenders do a lot
more shopping, are more active on Twitter and Google+ and
have a distinct preference for certain mobile service providers.
In-depth profiling of spenders illustrates that this is a valuable
target audience also outside of their game spending behaviour.

2014 Newzoo

Of All Mobile Spenders on

iPad & Amazon Fire Devices,

51%

Have Children at Home versus

34% for All Non-Spenders.

INTRODUCTION
This year, games played on phones and tablets will gross $25Bn in revenues worldwide. With
1.5 billion mobile gamers, it is easily the most popular games market segment on the planet.
This immense audience will ensure the market share of mobile will continue to rise.
Depending on region, a specific stack of growth KPIs is at work, including rising connected
population, share of paying gamers and average spend. Analysis of data on these KPIs,
confirms that there still is enough room for growth, also in mature markets such as the US
and Japan. Mobile gaming has tapped into new game time and wallets but cannibalization of
other market segments is increasing. This does not imply that console and PC gaming are
going to disappear or be decimated by these portable screens. After all, from a consumer
perspective, these are different screens with their own characteristics and role in a persons
life.
We aim to provide our clients insights that go further than app store data and in-game
metrics, ultimately to outsmart competition. To do this, we combine financial market analysis,
primary consumer research in 25 countries, app store / transactional data and census KPIs for
the top 120 countries by game revenues. This report provides a glimpse of what we do. It also
aims to take away a number of common misperceptions, including:
The US mobile games market is saturated
The share of spenders for mobile is significantly lower than for PC and console
Overestimation of mobile games revenues in Latin America
Underestimation of the Asian market in general and Japan specifically
Undervaluation of revenues generated outside of iOS and Google Play

2014 GLOBAL MOBILE GAMES MARKET | GAMERS & REVENUES

2014 Newzoo | Source: Global Games Market Report Premium

150M
MOBILE GAMERS

NAM
MOBILE REVENUES

2014 Newzoo

Peter Warman
CEO Newzoo

MOBILE GAMERS

EMEA
MOBILE REVENUES

$5.9Bn

$5.0Bn

$0.5Bn

$13.5Bn

MOBILE REVENUES

LATAM
MOBILE GAMERS

Enjoy our latest report. Feedback is more than welcome!

450M

160M

MOBILE REVENUES

APAC
MOBILE GAMERS

740M

MOBILE SPENDERS ON THE RISE

SHARE OF SPENDERS PER MARKET SEGMENT FOR US, UK, GER, FR | 2012 VS 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Global Games Market Report Premium

Mobile

Console

MMO

Free-to-play smartphone and tablet gaming evolve

and show a similar share of spenders as console
and PC gaming.
A common misunderstanding is that a pay-upfront
business models give a 100% player/spender ratio. In
the case of console gamers in the US, UK, Germany
and France for instance, 33% of console gamers
never spend any money. The share of paying players
used to be even lower (59% in 2012) but digital
distribution and DLC has helped to match smaller
budgets. For mobile games, the ratio has gone up
from 36% to 46% in two years time, a key driver of
revenue growth in mature markets. Monthly single
digit conversion rates of individual games are often
misinterpreted as share of mobile gamers that
spends money.
AGGREGATE OF US, UK, FR, GER

2014 Newzoo

SPENDERS DIFFER PER COUNTRY

SHARE OF MOBILE GAME SPENDERS PER COUNTRY | 2014

AVG

Behind the size of a market in total

revenues, gamer behavior differs
enormously per country. Understanding
these complex dynamics can result in
smart international and marketing
strategies.
Surprisingly, Spain has the second highest
share of big spenders after the US, with
7.1% of Spanish paying gamers classed as
whales. Fellow European countries,
Germany & The Netherlands, have the
smallest share of whales with less than
4% each lower than both Poland and
Turkey.
MOBILE GAMERS

BIG SPENDERS

260M 6.8M
IN THESE 10 COUNTRIES COMBINED

2014 Newzoo | Source: Global Games Market Report Premium

2014 Newzoo

 2014 Newzoo

HOW APPSTORES COMPARE

AMAZON REACHES (BIG) SPENDERS BEST

SHARE OF MOBILE GAME SPENDERS PER APPSTORE | US, UK, GER, FR | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer

iPhone

47.7%

iPad

57.1%

Google Play

36.5%

Amazon

64.2%

LEVEL OF SPENDING AMONGST ALL MOBILE GAME SPENDERS PER APPSTORE | US, UK, GER, FR | 2014

While the world focuses on the battle

between iOS and Google Play, it is
Amazon that reaches the most
valuable crowd.
A closer look at spending behaviour per
app store not only reveals large absolute
gamer numbers but, more importantly,
shows that gamers using the Amazon
Appstore are the most likely to spend
money. These gamers also have a high
share of big spenders characteristic for
tablets such as Amazons most popular
devices: the Fire Tablets. Combined with
its more family-oriented demographics,
the opportunity might be largely
underestimated, suggesting developers
should shift marketing resources
towards the Amazon Appstore.
AGGREGATE OF US, UK, FR, GER

2014 Newzoo

SURFACE, FIRE TABLET, IPAD GAMERS EARN MOST

SHARE OF HIGH EARNERS AMONGST MOBILE GAMERS PER APP STORE | US, UK, GER, FR | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer

The app stores on iPad, Surface

and Fire tablets reach mobile
gamers with a relatively high
income.

On average, 19% of the online

population in the US, Germany and
France has a high income. Google
Play with its large and broad user
base equals the average score. The
stores that are used on tablets have
a share of mobile gamers with a
high income that is twice the
average. The Windows Surface
scores best, just ahead of the iPad
and Amazons Fire tablets
AGGREGATE OF US, UK, FR, GER

2014 Newzoo

JAPAN, WORLDS LARGEST MOBILE MARKET

IPHONE, IPAD, Google Play STORE USE AMONGST MOBILE GAME SPENDERS AND NON-SPENDERS | JAPAN | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer

44% of all spenders (aged 10

to 50, Japan) use the iPhone
App Store to download
games

Japans feature phone gaming

heritage evolves into
smartphone and tablet gaming
and results in an epic battle
between Google Play and iOS
for the market that will reach
$6Bn this year.
As it currently stands, the Google
Play Store has a higher reach
amongst Japanese gamers than
both of Apples stores. Over 50%
of (non)paying gamers are using
the Playstore store to download
games. Paying gamers are much
more likely to use the Apple App
store for iPad store than nonpaying gamers.
SINGLE COUNTRY SCOPE: JAPAN

2014 Newzoo

PROFILING THE MOBILE GAME SPENDER

2014 Newzoo

MA JORITY OF SPENDERS ARE MALE

AGE / GENDER SPLIT FOR PAYING MOBILE GAMERS PER APPSTORE | US, UK, GER, FR | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer

39%

61%

39%

61%

35%

65%

36%

64%

Mobile games equally attract

male and female players but
when it comes to spending
money, the demographic
skews male.
Across the app stores, males
make up between 61%-65% of
the paying gamers depending
on app store. The Amazon
Appstore has the highest share
of older paying gamers, with
24% male between the age of
36-50. Paying gamers using the
Apple App Store for iPhone
skew the youngest.
AGGREGATE OF US, UK, FR, GER

2014 Newzoo

TABLETS FIND A FAMILY HOME

HOME SITUATION FOR PAYING MOBILE GAMERS PER APPSTORE | US, UK, GER, FR | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer

Half of mobile game spenders

has kids at home. Tablet
spenders are more likely to
have kids at home.
A slight majority (51%) of both
iPad and Fire Tablet mobile
game spenders lives with
children at home. More than
one third of parents play games
with their kids regularly and
more than half of mobile game
spending Dads state that the
majority of their money is spent
on games for their kids.
AGGREGATE OF US, UK, FR, GER

2014 Newzoo

US SPENDERS ARE TWEETERS

SOCIAL NETWORKS / APPS USED BY (NON-)SPENDING MOBILE GAMERS | US | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer

Mobile game spenders are

huge digital media
consumers and more active
on social networks than nonspenders.
American mobile game
spenders are more active
users of social networks and
apps, particularly Twitter,
Google+, Flickr and WhatsApp.
54% is an active user of Twitter
versus 40% of non-spenders.
Facebook use is close to equal
for non-spenders and people
that pay.
SINGLE COUNTRY SCOPE: US

2014 Newzoo

US SPENDERS PREFER AT&T

MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDER USED BY (NON-)SPENDING MOBILE GAMERS | US | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer

American mobile game

spenders prefer the bigger
brands when choosing a
mobile service provider:
AT&T and Verizon.
A surprising 24% of nonspenders in the US does not
go for one of the four biggest
telecom providers but selects
a smaller player, most
probably in a quest to get a
better deal. AT&T beats
Verizon in terms of popularity
amongst paying mobile
gamers.
SINGLE COUNTRY SCOPE: US

2014 Newzoo

US SPENDERS ARE SHOPPERS AND LIKE TECH

RETAIL STORE POPULARITY AMONGST (NON-)SPENDING MOBILE GAMERS | US | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer

There is a strong correlation

between mobile game
spending behaviour and
spending outside of
entertainment and digital
media.
In general, mobile spenders visit
more different stores in a month
period than non-spenders.
BestBuy, Gamestop, Macys,
Sears and Gap are far more
popular amongst paying mobile
gamers than the non-spenders.
This shows this is a valuable
target audience not only when it
comes to digital content.
SINGLE COUNTRY SCOPE: US

2014 Newzoo

WHAT MAKES A CONSUMER START P(L)AYING?

2014 Newzoo

OPINION GETS GET PEOPLE PLAYING

WHAT DRIVES A CONSUMER TO START PLAYING (OR DOWNLOAD) A MOBILE GAME | US, UK, GER, FR | AGE 10-50 | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer

The consumers voice is

clearly the most important
in selecting a game to play.
A recommendation from
family & friends is a universal
motivator for people to start
playing a particular game.
Good reviews are another key
driver, highlighting the
importance that gamers
place on & their trust in the
opinions of their peers.

AGGREGATE OF US, UK, FR, GER

2014 Newzoo

BIG SPENDERS ARE MORE COMPETITIVE

REASONS WHY A (MINOR/BIG SPENDING ) MOBILE GAMER STARTS SPENDING | US, UK, GER, FR | AGE 10-50 | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer

The big spenders want to

feel they are special and
hope to get a competitive
advantage compared to
others. Minor spenders are
in it for the (extra) fun.

Large spenders are far more

motivated to pay by getting a
premium account & being
able to compete than minor
spenders. Alternatively,
making the game more fun is
a more important reason to
pay for the minor spenders.
AGGREGATE OF US, UK, FR, GER

2014 Newzoo

BIG SPENDERS TRY MORE GAMES

MAIN REASONS TO STOP PLAYING A MOBILE GAME AMONGST MINOR/BIG SPENDERS | US, UK, GER, FR | AGE 10-50 | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Newzoo Data Explorer

Big spenders are more

pressed for time and always
on the lookout for a new
(and better) game. Minor
spenders leave when they
are bored with the game.
Boredom is the key reason
for minor spenders to leave a
game (43%) though this is far
less important for the big
spenders (23%) who are
most likely to quit once they
have completed all levels of a
game.
AGGREGATE OF US, UK, FR, GER

2014 Newzoo

WHY GROWTH WILL CONTINUE

2014 Newzoo

GLOBAL GROWTH CONTINUES

EARLY 2014 AND FRESH GLOBAL REVENUE ESTIMATES FOR (SMART)PHONE AND TABLET GAMES | 2013-2017
2014 Newzoo | Source: Global Games Market Report Premium

Note: As part of the premium subscription to its Global Games Market Report, Newzoo updates clients on segments and
regions every quarter based on continuous industry and market analysis. Results for the first nine months of 2014 have led
Newzoo to adjust its 2014 full year forecasts, as well as the projections towards 2017. The figures below provide a summary
of the revisions relating to mobile games.

Fuelled by simultaneous growth

in emerging as well as mature
markets, mobile gaming will
surpass $25Bn this year.
Both mature Western &
emerging markets will show
strong growth this year. The
North American market is
expected to grow 51% y-o-y and
Western Europe by 47%. The
fastest growth can be found in
emerging Southeast Asian
markets and China (+86%).
Mobile is now expected to
become the largest game
segment by revenues in 2015,
GLOBAL DATA

GROWTH DYNAMICS DIFFER PER REGION

KEY KPIS BEHIND MOBILE GAMES REVENUE GROWTH | NORTH AMERICA, GLOBAL | 2014
2014 Newzoo | Source: Global Games Market Report Premium

POPULATION

358M

CONNECTIVITY

86%

MOBILE
GAMERS

151M

MOBILE
SPENDERS

43%

MOBILE
AVG. SPEND/MONTH

$7.68

MOBILE
REVENUES

$5.9Bn

As growth occurs on
multiple levels, the ultimate
end result is that market
revenues soar. For each
country in the world, the
dynamics are different.
For mature markets such as
North America, growth will be
primarily driven by an
increase in paying gamers &
average monthly spend.
Developing markets will
flourish as online connectivity
and the number of mobile
gamers continues to rise.
GLOBAL AND NAM DATA

7.2Bn

2014 Newzoo

41%

1.5Bn

32%

$4.30

$25.0Bn

WHY MOBILE CAN TAKE HALF OF THE MARKET

SHARE OF 2014 TOTAL GAME REVENUES PER SCREENS | GLOBAL & NAM
2014 Newzoo | Source: Global Games Market Report Premium

GLOBAL

27.7%

NAM

44.0%

GLOBAL

13.1%

NAM

15.2%

2014 Newzoo

GLOBAL

38.7%
NAM

25.6%
GLOBAL

20.4%
NAM

15.1%

Divide in game revenues is slowly

moving towards an equal split
across the four typical screens a
consumer has to access his or her
digital content. Global figures are
easily interpreted within the
reference of ones own country,
especially in the US.
The Personal Screen, or
(smart)phone currently takes 20.4%
of all game revenues globally and
15.1% in NAM. We expect NAM to
move closer to the global average
before 2017, and for the Floating
Screen to take an increasingly wider
share of revenues across the globe.
GLOBAL AND NAM DATA

ABOUT NEWZOO
Company
Newzoo is an innovative global market research firm with a
primary focus on games. We provide our clients with a mix of
consumer research, transactional data and financial analysis
across all continents, screens and business models. We aim to be
ahead the curve when it comes to global and local trends and
always put hard data into a broader perspective.
We work for the majority of top 25 public companies by game
revenue, many independent game developers as well as a variety
of global hardware and media companies. The majority of our
clients are based in the US, Japan and China. Our company has its
headquarters in the center of Amsterdam. We recently kicked-off
our international expansion with an office in Shanghai, China.

WWW.NEWZOO.COM

2014 Newzoo

Services
The data in this report is derived mainly from two of our products:
Global Games Market Report Premium (12 months subscription)
Global, Regional, Top 100 Countries
Annual PDF Report on Trends, Revenue/Gamer Data, Future Projections
Granular Datasets (Updated Quarterly): 2013-2017 Gamer/Revenue Data
Quarterly Updates with Trends, Mobile, Company Performance, M&A
www.newzoo.com/globalreportpremium
In-Depth Consumer Insights (12 months subscription)
Available for 25 countries
Cross-Analyze over 200 variables in the Newzoo Data Explorer
Continuous custom analysis support by our analysts
www.newzoo.com/newzoo-data-explorer

WYBE@NEWZOO.COM

 2014 NEWZOO | NOVEMBER

NEWZOO FREE DATA REPORT

SPOTTING THE MOBILE SPENDERS

An Analysis of Paying Smartphone and Tablet Gamers
GLOBAL WITH A FOCUS ON US AND WESTERN EUROPE

2014 Newzoo