In brief
Mobile gaming offers substantial business opportunities, but success requires both technology and commercialisation. This 2014 article cites Tower of Saviors and forecasts for mainland China and the global market to explain the industry’s growth prospects.
In today’s society, building a substantial business with modest resources is no longer a far-fetched idea. In digital entertainment in particular, the growing adoption and development of smartphones have created enormous business opportunities for app development companies, which are increasingly focusing on mobile games and app platforms to explore new directions for growth.
However, success is far from guaranteed in mobile gaming. At the Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum held at Cyberport in April, experts analysed market trends in the hope of guiding app developers towards success.
Mobile gaming has become a hot topic among industry professionals and the wider public because of the extraordinary success stories it has produced in recent years. Perhaps the most remarkable example is Tower of Saviors: an investment from Forgame made the two brothers behind the game rich overnight, sparking widespread enthusiasm for developing gaming apps.
Although players have repeatedly accused the game of copying a similar Japanese game (Puzzles and Dragons), these accusations have not diminished its market value. Indeed, the success of Tower of Saviors has already made it a model for the industry.
Mainland Mobile Game Users Expected to Exceed 400 Million by Year-End
According to a research report from mainland China’s Analysys, by the end of 2012, the mainland mobile gaming market was worth more than 6 billion yuan, with 286 million mobile game users, up 60% year on year. The report projected that by 2015, the mobile gaming market would exceed 20 billion yuan. Smartphones also account for a steadily rising share of total mobile phone sales in mainland China and are expected to represent more than 90% of all mobile phones in the future, dominating the market. Meanwhile, mobile internet users are expected to reach 820 million, creating ever greater business opportunities for mobile gaming. In 2012, China’s mobile gaming market had already overtaken other gaming segments, accounting for 51.6% of the total gaming market. Mainland research further projected that mobile game users would exceed 400 million by the end of this year.
Mobile Gaming Industry Forecasts
App marketing platform AppLift also published an industry forecast last year, predicting that the global mobile gaming market would grow by 27.3% annually and, by 2016, reach US$23.9 billion. Players are also becoming increasingly willing to pay to play games. There are currently 3.68 million paying players worldwide, representing 38% of all players, with average monthly spending of US$2.78 per person. The proportion of paying players is expected to rise to 50%. Beyond smartphones, by 2016, the total value of the tablet gaming market is also expected to increase fourfold from its current level, reaching US$10 billion. By regional revenue, Asia-Pacific is the largest mobile gaming market, accounting for 48% of the total. Eastern and Western Europe lead the world in growth, with compound annual growth rates exceeding 33%, followed closely by China and Southeast Asia, the leading growth regions within Asia-Pacific.
To date, the ultimate goal of digital technology has been to achieve the realism of an actual person. The development of imaging technology from 4K to 8K has consistently moved in this direction. Digital entertainment currently favours smartphone platforms. Moving forward requires both technology and commercialisation to reach the public and provide a variety of entertainment experiences.