Freemium Mobile Games

Presentation 1: The Freemium Games Status Quo

The Money

• 98% of revenue reported from GooglePlay in 2015 was generated from Freemium games.• According to the most current industry-market predictions,

in 2017 the mobile application market will be $77 billion dollars large. Freemium games will generate no less than an estimated $70 billion dollars of that total. • This shows an indicative trend of over 90% of all revenue

on mobile devices comes from Freemium games

Social Success

• Comparing consecutive reports, we see that inside the increased consumption of mobile apps, games are actually gaining momentum at the expense of social networking• This is because games themselves are becoming more and

more social.• In fact, every game that has made it to the top grossing chart

on GooglePlay and the iOS Store has in one way or another employed innovative social mechanics.• Statistically, social users have been show to exhibit increased

retention and higher spending intent.

Demographics

• 65% of all non-paying mobile users are women over the age of 30.• When it comes to small payments, excluding whales, the people who

have spent multiple times in the same game (for a total of more than $100) are 47% female and 53% male.

• The increase in female mobile gamers is one of the main driving forces behind the rise of social gaming and other genres that are more appealing to the female demographic, such as:• Match Three• Solitaire• Casino Slots• Tycoon• Etc.

Retention Rates

• A retention rate refers to the amount of players who keep playing a game and spending money, typically measured in 90-day intervals.

• An interesting global trend that also signals what’s to come next in developing markets is the fact that despite the increasing number of Freemium games available, the average retention rates have improved dramatically.

• Since 2009, 90-day retention rates have nearly tripled from 16% to 41%• This shows that short-term thinking has been abandoned by most game

developers and that success on mobile is to be achieved by considering a players’ demographics and their specific needs in order to be able to cater accordingly and continuously develop & nurture long-term relationships.

Graphs

References

Draganov, D. (2014). Freemium Mobile Games: Design and Monetization (1st ed.). Dimitar Draganov.