Liftoff and GameRefinery released their report on mobile social casino apps for 2021 today. According to the report, mobile gamers are spending more money on these apps than ever before due to the ongoing pandemic.
According to the published report, mobile gamers spent around $990 million on social casino games during the pandemic that hit between the third quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021. The quarterly revenue of games of this genre reached $260 million at the end of the second quarter of 2021. The aforementioned report was jointly published by Liftoff, a mobile growth and marketing platform, and GameRefinery, a mobile game analytics platform. The report’s data is based on 12 million downloads and ad clicks across 239 different apps.
The report suggests that the increase in revenue and player numbers is due to physical casinos being closed during the pandemic. Although it is possible that the players of the closed casinos continued their entertainment on mobile platforms, this is not a valid reason alone, according to the report. Because even after the physical casinos opened, the revenues of mobile casino games did not fall. The game genre, which is announced as the average age of the player base is 45 and above, seems to constitute the oldest demographic in the industry. The male-female distribution of users is fairly even.
Joel Julkunen, head of game analytics at GameRefinery, said in a statement:
“As we examine the effects the pandemic has had on gaming, it’s no surprise casino apps are soaring in popularity around the globe.”
The pandemic has had a really big impact on the gaming industry. ESA reported earlier this year that the US alone gained more than 13 million players during this time.
The report also states that Apple’s IDFA policy changes have resulted in a reduction in ad revenue spend on the platform. This means that Android is now a more affordable platform for social casino apps. According to the figures, iOS installation costs are now 122% higher than Android.
Some regional data regarding the report are as follows:
In the North America (NAR) region, mobile casino games are of great interest to users. The CPI is calculated as 10.37 USD. This means that the NAR region has the highest CPI value globally. While the CPI value for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region was expressed as $5.68, the growth rates were determined as 26.47% for the NAR region and 21.8% for the APAC. On the subject, the report highlights the growth potential by recommending the APAC region to those looking for a new market.
