Mobile Gaming Study

November 2020

Mobile Gaming Study

Mobile Gaming Study tolunacorporate.com Page 2Mobile Gaming Study tolunacorporate.com Page 2

Contents

Mobile Gaming Attitudes

Mobile Gaming Monetisation

Game Engagement

Game Streaming

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MarketCompleted

Interviews

US 1,046

UK 1,060

France 1,022

Germany 1,015

Australia 1,008

Markets studied and field schedule

Fieldwork took place between

5th – 18th November 2020

▸ We collected data from a sample of 5,151 mobile gamers, including those interested in mobile gaming, between the ages of 16-45.

▸ We collected roughly 1,000 completes in 5 markets (see breakdown to the right).

▸ We set quotas and weighted the data by age/gender (interlocked) based on a profile of mobile gamer in each market.


Gaming Attitudes


Address concerns around cost transparency to increase usage

• 1 in 4 mobile gamers are dissatisfied with the transparency of mobile costs

• And 1 in 4 also state that their perception of how fair a mobile game publisher is in monetising a game

has a major impact on whether they purchase

Make more use of interactive ads and reward task ads

• Interactive ads and reward task ads have the lowest awareness but are more liked by mobile gamers

• Reduce usage of screen-takeovers and banner ads, as they are seen more but liked less

Be fair in offering multiple ways to gain in-game items

• If asked which is more acceptable between paying or viewing ads to gain in-game items, people tend to

go for viewing ads

• Viewing ads is seen as most acceptable for gaining extra lives, while people find purchasing in-game

currency and skins/cosmetics more acceptable (but still not as acceptable as viewing ads)

• Yet when asked preference, most mobile gamers prefer to win in-app items with skill over paying or

viewing ads, so make sure you offer a fair challenge to those who don’t want to pay/view

Making the most of monetisation

Mobile Gaming Study November 2020 Page 6

High levels of satisfaction seen

about mobile games generally,

but there are concerns being

voiced around the transparency

of costs and value for money of

mobile games

NET

Dissatisfied

Net

Satisfied

27% 48%

21% 53%

17% 62%

16% 65%

15% 60%

9%

7%

4%

4%

4%

17%

14%

12%

11%

11%

25%

27%

22%

19%

24%

30%

33%

38%

42%

40%

18%

20%

24%

23%

21%

Transparency of mobilegame costs

Value for money of mobilegames

Easily finding mobile gamesyou want to play

Quality of mobile games

Mobile games offering a fairchallenge

Very dissatisfied Somewhat dissatisfied Doesn’t matter to me

Somewhat satisfied Very satisfied


▸ Satisfaction with the following areas of

the mobile gaming

Global View


Nearly 1 in 4 state that their

perception of how fair a mobile

publisher is on monetisation has

a major impact on their decision

to purchase or use a gameNET

Satisfied

61%

73%

65%

55%

48%

64%

19%

13%

17%

24%

22%

19%

20%

14%

18%

22%

30%

17%

38%

35%

43%

38%

35%

41%

23%

38%

22%

17%

14%

23%

All Markets

US

UK

FR

GER

AUS

Not at all - I only think of the quality of the game itself Barely Somewhat A great deal


▸ To what extent does the fairness of

how a game publisher handles

monetisation affect your likelihood of

buying their games?

Global View


46%Of those that think developers are

not offering a fair challenge, state

that mobile gaming developers

are making games harder so you

have to pay to win. 19%

The gaming developers aremaking games harder, so

you have to pay to win

Gaming developers don'tcare about the game, theyjust want to make money

I just want to enjoy games,not lose all the time

There are too many bugs inmobile games, stopping me

completing them

I like the challenge but amnot very good at games

Other reason

Why are you dissatisfied with the fairness of

mobile games?

Awareness of mobile ads (amongst those

that played games with ads)Extent to which like/dislike types of advertising

Rewarded ads (watch a video ad or view a static ad to

obtain in-game rewards such as extra lives or levels etc.)

Screen takeover ads (ads you have to watch or view the

ad for a certain amount of time before you can skip it).

Banner ads (a static ad that is placed within the game or

on a ticker at the bottom of the screen)

Playable or interactive ads (a mini game within a game –

usually with a link to another app at the end )

Rewarded task ads (complete a task such as filling in a

survey or giving an opinion in order to obtain rewards

within the game)21%

27%

32%

44%

17%

29%

31%

33%

26%

29%

50%

41%

35%

30%

54%

Dislike Neither Like

Game developers could make more of playable/interactive ads and

rewarded task ads as they have high likeability but lower awareness

60%

58%

53%

50%

44%

Global View



Game Monetisation


Use free games to reach the wider market – great for if you’re a smaller developer

• Free to play with ads OR with in-app purchases are the types of model that most people tend to play

• Mobile gamers tend to avoid games that use multiple ways to monetise (such as combining pay to

download with in-app purchases)

• Pay to download with in-app purchases was seen as unacceptable as a way to pay amongst 30% of

mobile gamers

You can capitalise on greater engagement with pay to play games when you’re more established

• There are fewer multi-payment, pay to download gamers and subscription gamers, but they tend to play

more of those types of games

Think about optimising your in-game purchase offering

• Only 59% of those that played games with in-app purchases in the last 12 months actually made a

purchase

• If you optimised your payment model using concept testing, you could encourage engagement and

increase revenue over time

Which models to use when


41%

41%

43%

34%

19%

25%

17%

43%

43%

42%

45%

49%

50%

48%

16%

16%

16%

21%

32%

26%

35%

I try to avoid these games

Has no impact on my game selection

I try to play more of these games

Global View

Free to

download

games

Free to download with

ads and without in-

app purchases

Free to download with

ads and with in-app

purchases

Free to download

without ads and with

in-app purchases

Pay to

download

games

Pay to download

without in-app

purchases

Pay to download with

in-app purchases

Subscription

games

Subscription to play

downloaded games

Subscription to play

streamed games

NET

Impact

19%

1%

13%

-13%

-27%

-25%

-26%

A large minority of people

actively avoid having to pay

for mobile games, while free

to play games with ads are the

most likely to encourage

people to play

▸ And which of the below best

applies to the impact the

monetization model has on your

selection of a mobile game?

Free to

download

games

Pay to

download

games

Subscription

games

Average number of games played this way in the last 12 months?

(of those that play games this way)

53%

51%

45%

25%

23%

19%

16%

Free to download with ads and withoutin-app purchases

Free to download with ads and with in-app purchases

Free to download without ads and within-app purchases

Pay to download without in-apppurchases

Pay to download with in-apppurchases

Subscription to play downloadedgames

Subscription to play streamed games

Types of mobile games played over the last 12 months?

6.3

6.8

6.4

6.9

7.4

8.0

8.2

Free to download with ads andwithout in-app purchases

Free to download with ads and within-app purchases

Free to download without ads andwith in-app purchases

Pay to download without in-apppurchases

Pay to download with in-apppurchases

Subscription to play downloadedgames

Subscription to play streamed games

While free to play is more popular, you shouldn’t ignore the paid

market, people who pay to play games or subscribe to games on their

mobile tend to play more of them than free ones

Global View



Game Engagement


There are many gaps in the market across genres

• Across all genres around half of those interested in a genre haven’t actually played a mobile game in

that genre

There are many genres where you can address unmet needs

• When asked if it was easy or hard to find games across genres, we found that Adventure, Racing,

Strategy and Simulation/Management and Music games had high interest levels but around 1 in 4

found it hard to find games they liked for them

• Role playing, Action and Location based games had slightly lower interest but many also found it

hard to find games in those genres (again at least 1 in 4)

Do research to understand how to meet unaddressed needs

• We can target those people who find it hard to find games to better understand what types of games

they want to play in those genres, and what the barriers are to finding those games

Where are there gaps in the market


Dice and Board, Trivia, Adventure,

and Simulation Management

games have high levels of people

who are interested but don’t

currently play on mobile

Mobile game companies could do more to tap

into unrealised demand across game genres

Global View

30%

30%

28%

36%

34%

35%

35%

41%

36%

39%

35%

37%

39%

39%

33%

16%

21%

24%

20%

23%

23%

27%

24%

29%

26%

31%

30%

28%

30%

42%

46%

51%

52%

56%

57%

58%

62%

65%

65%

65%

66%

67%

67%

69%

76%

Educational (e.g. Disney Junior Play…

Casino (e.g. Bingo etc.)

Sports (e.g. FIFA Mobile etc.)

Music (e.g. Piano Tiles etc.)

Role Playing (e.g. Dungeon Hunter etc.)

Location Based Augmented Reality…

Racing (e.g. Need for Speed etc.)

Dice & Board (e.g. Monopoly etc.)

Strategy (e.g. Hearthstone etc.)

Simulation & Management (e.g.…

Action (e.g. Call of Duty etc.)

Card (e.g. Solitaire etc.)

Adventure (e.g. Walking Dead etc.)

Trivia & Word (Words with Friends etc.)

Puzzle (e.g. Candy Crush Saga etc.)

Interested in playing but haven’t played Play

Engagement with each of the below mobile game genres …

Action

Adventure

Card

Casino

Dice & Board

Educational

Location Based Augmented Reality Games

Music

Puzzle

Racing

Role Playing

Simulation & Management

Sports

Strategy

Trivia & Word

Viewing or paying for items in games are

generally more accepted in the US, UK and

AUS. Mobile gamers in France were more

against paying for these items.

Creating better targeted Role Playing, Adventure, Action, Strategy, Racing

Simulation and AR games will help satisfy demand that isn’t being met

currently in those genres

Inte

reste

d in

Pla

yin

g

Can’t find the games I want

people who are

interested in or play Role

Playing and Adventure

games struggle to find a

game they want to play!

1 in 4

Interested in mobile games vs

can’t find the games I want.

High interest and easier to find

Low interest and easier to find

High interest and hard to find

Low interest and hard to find

Global View



Game Streaming


Game streaming is set to grow

• We see low levels of usage of brands such as Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Google Stadia and Amazon

Luna amongst mobile gamers

• But 1 in 5 who are aware of game streaming state they intend to use Xbox Game Pass and Google

Stadia soon, there is potential growth amongst all streaming brands

More people aware of streaming prefer it to game downloads

• Of those aware of streaming, 35% stated they prefer to stream games vs. 29% who stated they prefer to

download games

• Those who prefer to stream tended to see streamed games as better quality, better value, and offering

more variety than downloads

• The main reason people preferred downloads was because they didn’t like paying for subscription

services or they worry about streaming quality – though these perceptions might change as

subscriptions and streaming become more mainstream

What is the potential impact of streaming

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We see a slightly higher preference for

streaming (amongst mobile gamers aware of it),

and having better quality games, more variety

and value for money are key reasons for that

streaming preference: 36% see it as the future!

▸ Which games do you think are more appealing?

(of those aware of streaming services)

prefer downloaded games, with

the majority saying they do not

like paying subscription fees.

17%

18%

37%

14%

15%Much preferdownloaded appstore games

Somewhat preferdownloaded appstore games

Both seem equallyappealing

Somewhat preferstreaming servicegames

Much preferstreaming servicegames

prefer streaming games. The

top 2 reasons for this was

access to better quality games

and better value.

42%

40%

37%

36%

33%

18%

16%

0%

Better quality games

Better value for money

More variety of games available

It's the future of gaming

I prefer console or PC games to mobilegames

I don't agree with how app store games aremonetized

No games I like on the app store

Other

▸ Why do you prefer streaming games

35%

29%

Global View

Mobile Gaming Study November 2020 Page 21Mobile Gaming Study November 2020 Page 21

People who prefer downloaded games cite the

fact they don’t like paying for subscriptions or

worrying about stream quality, but these

attitudes might change as streaming becomes

more mainstream

▸ Which games do you think are more appealing?

(of those aware of streaming services)

prefer downloaded games, with

the majority saying they do not

like paying subscription fees.

17%

18%

37%

14%

15%Much preferdownloaded appstore games

Somewhat preferdownloaded appstore games

Both seem equallyappealing

Somewhat preferstreaming servicegames

Much preferstreaming servicegames

prefer streaming games. The

top 2 reasons for this was

access to better quality games

and better value.

▸ Why do you prefer downloaded games?

35%

29% 56%

35%

34%

33%

31%

24%

12%

9%

7%

2%

Don't like paying subscriptions forgames

Don't have to worry about streamingquality

Prefer games specifically for mobile

More variety of games available

Better value for money

Better quality games

It's the future of gaming

I don't like PC or Console games

No games I like via these services

Other

Global View


Ask for the full report to gain further insights…

▪ Which mobile gaming brands are perceived as fair?

▪ Which types of ads are currently not utilised enough?

▪ Which types of in-game items do people prefer to win by skill, see

an ad for, or pay directly for?

▪ Which mobile games brands are not converting awareness to

usage?

▪ Which mobile games brands have the most loyal user-bases?

▪ To what extent is streaming games to mobile set to grow?

▪ Which streaming brands are mobile gamers using?

▪ How much time are mobile gamers spending on mobile vs. other

platforms?

▪ What is the device/demographic/game type profile of mobile

gamers?


Get in touch if you’d like to talk through

any of the details in this e-book and

receive access to our full and

comprehensive Mobile Gaming report.

Learn more at tolunacorporate.com

Mobile Gaming Study

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