Last year, more than 1.7 billion people worldwide played mobile games, while the entire market grossed an impressive $275bn in revenue. As one of the top mobile gaming genres, RPG games had a huge part in total in-app spending, bringing more revenue than strategy, match, casino, or action gaming apps combined.
According to data presented by CasinosEnLigne.com, RPG was the highest-grossing mobile gaming genre in 2022, with $25.5bn in revenue worldwide.
RPG Games Made 31% of Total In-App Purchase Spending
While many mobile game genres suit a particular type of gamer, RPG or role-playing games offer something for everyone. From action RPGs like Genshin Impact to Monster Hunt Stories or classics like the Star Wars titles, this genre contains the widest variety of games available for mobile phones.
According to Data.ai survey The State of Mobile 2023, RPG games grossed over $25.5bn in revenue last year, more than strategy and action games combined, and ranked as the top mobile gaming genre worldwide. Although this represents an 8% drop from the revenue seen in 2021, RPG games still had a huge 31% share in total IAP spending on mobile games.
Strategy apps ranked second with global gross revenue of $12.1bn during the measured period. Match mobile games followed with $8.7bn, $400 million more than the fourth-ranked casino mobile games.
Simulation gaming apps, like The Sims and Animal Crossing, grossed around $8.1bn in revenue last year. Action, shooter, and sports mobile games followed, with $5.3bn, $4.8bn, and $2.8bn in revenue, respectively.
Hypercasual Games Top in Downloads; more than 17.5 billion in 2022
While RPG games saw the highest in-app purchase spending last year, the mobile games genre was on the other side of the list when talking about downloads. With 17.5 billion, or 29% of all downloads last year, hypercasual games were the most-downloaded gaming genre. Simulation games, the second most-downloaded category, had a 17% share with over 10.1 billion downloads. Action mobile games, kids’ games, and puzzle gaming apps followed with 6.2 billion, 4.2 billion, and 3.1 billion downloads last year.
The IAP spending and downloads are expected to grow further in 2023. According to a Statista survey, more than 180 million people started playing mobile games this year, pushing the total user count to an impressive 1.93 billion. Also, mobile games are expected to gross around $315bn in revenue or 15% more than last year.
