Video Gaming Monetization Statistics 2022
Free To Play (F2P) games have begun to dominate the market in recent years, making up 80% of the total digital games revenue in 2018. Microtransactions now make up a huge portion of gaming industry revenue, with the console microtransaction market alone bringing in $2.94 Billion in 2017. This has also coincided with the rise of mobile gaming popularity, with 64% of freemium mobile gaming users making in-app purchases in 2016.
Sources: Statista
Genre Breakdown
Consumers are predicted to spend
Consumers are predicted to spend 65,163 million U.S dollars on in-game purchases worldwide in 2022
Mobile games covered most of the F2P game revenue in North America at
Mobile games covered most of the F2P game revenue in North America at $13.2 Billion U.S Dollars in 2020
FTP games accounted for
FTP games accounted for 4 out of every 5 dollars spent on digital games in 2019
The revenue for F2P Console games was approximately
The revenue for F2P Console games was approximately 2.8 Billion U.S dollars in 2021
Overview
Game content monetization is no small amount, in fact, it took up 61% of the global revenue in 2017. And, an impressive 82% of the digital game market went solely onto free to play games – making them the biggest revenue stream. A great example of how this revenue split works can be seen in the Asian games market. 88% of the generated revenue there went to F2P MMO games in 2016, and just 12% went to paid MMO games.
Sources: gamesindustry.biz, SuperData Research
The Sims franchise has 500 million U.S dollars in yearly profits, The Sims 4 expansions were downloaded more than 30 million times throughout the years.
- Of the estimated 3.1 billion gamers worldwide, approximately 1.5 billion, or 48%, are on the PC
- 43% of gaming ad revenues were generated through IAP & m-commerce, covering the largest share of gaming ad revenues. (AdColony, 2017)
- 31% of gaming ad revenues were generated through video ads, taking up the second largest share of the gaming ad revenues. (AdColony, 2017)
- The full game content monetization revenue covered 61% of the global revenue. (SuperData Research, 2017)
- 92% of games you can download on Google Play Store are free and only 8% are paid. (Appfigures, 2016)
- 82% of the digital games market revenue goes to F2P games. (Digital River, 2017)
- North America took up 11.8% of the shares among the global F2P PC games revenue in 2016. (Various sources, 2017)
- The additional game content monetization revenue covered 39% of the global revenue in 2017. (SuperData Research, 2017)
- The F2P PC game market is expected to generate 12% more revenue worldwide or 25 billion U.S. dollars by end of 2022, up from 2017’s estimated 22 billion. (SuperData Research, 2017)
- Europe covered the second most largest revenue generated by both F2P and P2P MMO games, covering 17.8% of the shares worldwide. (gamesindustry.biz, 2016)
- North America covered the third most largest revenue generated by both F2P and P2P MMO games, covering 12.4% of the shares worldwide. (gamesindustry.biz, 2016)
- Latin America covered 5% of the revenue generated by both F2P and P2P MMO games worldwide and the rest of the world covered only 1.3% of the shares. (gamesindustry.biz, 2016)
- 88% of the generated revenue in Asia goes to F2P MMO games and only 12% goes to P2P MMO games. (gamesindustry.biz, 2016)
- 81.8% of the generated revenue in Europe goes to F2P MMO games and only 18% goes to P2P MMO games. (gamesindustry.biz, 2016)
- Premium-driven games only cover 14% of the digital games market revenue. (Digital River, 2017)
- 28% of the consumers of video game content in the U.S were found to have purchased additional gaming content in the three months. (NPD Group, 2016)
- 16% of the consumers of video game content in the U.S. purchased downloadable content (DLC) in the three months. (NPD Group, 2016)
- 23% of the consumers of video game content in the U.S. purchased microtransactions in the three months. (NPD Group, 2016)
- Mobile games was estimated to generate the most revenue in the digital games industry in the U.S., taking up 39.9% of the shares. (SuperData Research, 2016)
- Console games was estimated to cover the second largest revenue in the digital games industry in the U.S., covering 18.9% of the shares, followed by F2P MMO, taking up 12.9% of the shares. (SuperData Research, 2016)
Monetization Methods
The most popular game monetization method for mobile gaming is in-game ads with 70.7% of Android gaming apps and 80.38% of iOS gaming apps containing them. Compared to just 21.5% of Android gaming apps and 11.4% of iOS gaming apps that contain in-app purchases – showing us which method brings in the most revenue for mobile gaming companies.
Sources: Linkedin (Mobbo)
In 2025, it is predicted that loot boxes will generate 20.3 billion U.S dollars in annual revenues, this is an increase from the estimated 15 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.
In a survey conducted within the USA in 2021, 52% of gamers claimed they had subscribed to at least one video game subscription service. The popularity of video game subscription services has increased in the last few years due to gamers needing a subscription to play with friends and family and to access additional games.
- The standard split for subscription games on Android and iOS is 70/30 (Google or Apple takes 30% of app earnings, the developer takes 70%). But Apple now offer an 85/15 split for subscriptions that last over a year as they recognise the benefit of apps which keep the customer for extended periods
- In 2019, almost half of mobile game players spent money on games and most of them live in China
- Players of hyper-casual gamers watch two times more ads than players of other mobile game genres
- 82% of mobile gamers say they are more into free mobile games that include ads than paid games with no ads
- 74% of mobile gamers in the United States would watch a video advertisement if they got in-app content in return
- More than 30% of female players will pay for a mobile game
- Women are much more likely to make an in-app purchase than men
- By 2022, users will spend $156.5 billion on in-app purchases on their phones
- By the end of 2019, in-game ads accounted for 17% of total worldwide smartphone gaming revenue ($82.6B), a percentage that is expected to triple by 2024
- 23% of games on Google Play Store that you can download for free uses in-app purchases as a monetization model. (Appfigures, 2016)
- 58% of Android games use ads as a monetization model, making it the most popular type of monetization model in December 2016. (Appfigures, 2016)
- 22% of Android games in December 2016 are not monetizing. (Appfigures, 2016)
- 15% of Android games in December 2016 use in-app purchases as a monetization model. (Appfigures, 2016)
- 54% of Android and 59% of iOS top grossing games contain in-app ads as of August 2016. (Statista, 2017)
- 46% of Android and 41% of iOS top grossing games don’t contain ads as of August 2016. (Statista, 2017)
- The mobile app store covered 35.6% of the worldwide in-app advertising and app store revenues of mobile apps and games. (Applause, 2016)
- Google’s AdMob was the most used software development kit (SDK) in Android games in 1st half 2017, taking up 46.04% of gaming apps. (StartApp, 2017)
- Chartboost was the second most used software development kit (SDK) in Android games in 1st half 2017, covering 34.37% of gaming apps. (StartApp, 2017)
- Unity ADS comes in 3rd on the list of the most used software development kit (SDK) in Android games in 1st half 2017, covering 23.48% of gaming apps. (StartApp, 2017)
- 79% of ad format from January to November 2017 are banners, making them the highest share of in-app impressions from around the world. (mobyaffiliates, 2017)
F2P Games
Free to play games continue to dominate the video game market taking up 80% of the total digital games revenue in 2018. More than that, it takes up a total of 85% of the entire video game industry. This has also increased the regularity of gamers making microtransactions in games with 50% of players having done so in 2020.
Sources: Superdatat, Fortunately, ESA
- Free-to-play games, which largely earn their money through microtransactions, account for $4 out of every $5 generated in revenue from gaming worldwide.
- 99 of the top 100–grossing mobile games in the United States are free.
- As at April 2020, six out of the world’s top ten PC gaming titles (and four of the top five) were Free 2 Play
- Free-to-play games, which largely earn their money through microtransactions, account for $4 out of every $5 generated in revenue from gaming worldwide.
- Almost 50% of gamers have made at least one microtransaction in the past year
- More than 85% of total video game industry revenue comes from free-to-play games
- 80% of the total digital games revenue came from free-to-play games in 2018
- League of Legends generated a revenue of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, leading the list of the leading F2P MMO games that made the most revenue worldwide in 2017. (Various sources, 2018)
- Dungeon Fighter Online generated a revenue of 1.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, placing second among the list of the leading F2P MMO games that made the most revenue globally in 2017. (Various sources, 2018)
- CrossFire generated a revenue of 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, taking up the third place among the list of the leading F2P MMO games that made the most revenue globally in 2017. (Various sources, 2018)
- 23% of U.S. gamers stated that they spent between 1 to 20 U.S. dollars on in-game purchases. (Statista 2017)
- 18% of U.S. gamers spent 21 to 50 U.S. dollars. on in -game purchases. (Statista, 2017)
- 11% of gamers in the United States stated that they have spent more than 250 US$ on in-game purchases. (Statista, 2017)
- The 2015 in-game mobile gaming revenue in the U.S. generated 1.82 billion U.S. dollars. (eMarketer, 2015)
- Asia had the highest reported F2P PC game revenue around the world, covering 67% of the reported revenue in 2016. (Various sources, 2017)
- Europe covers the second largest share of the reported F2P PC game revenue in 2016 globally, covering 15% of the share. (Various sources, 2017)
- In 2020, the global in-game spending is estimated to reach 32 billion U.S. dollars, up from 2015’s 22 billion. (CNET, 2016)
Paid Games
As popular as free to play games have become, the paid games market still brings in considerable revenue for the games industry. The most popular way to purchase paid games is still online with Steam being the most popular game store with an impressive 20.31 million users as of 2020. PUBG is a great example of this as one of the leading paid games titles on Steam with 27.8 million units sold as of 2017.
Sources: Medium, Softonics Solutions, Statista
As of March 2021, FIFA was the number one franchise published by Electronic Arts (EA) with 325 millions unit sales.
PUBG mobile and Game for Peace players reached a total of 270 million U.S dollars in monthly global player spending in August 2021.
- It is estimated that video games service platforms, such as PlayStation Now, EA Play, and Xbox Game Pass, will grow to an $11 billion sector by 2025, up from an estimated $6.6 billion in 2020.
- In 2020, revenue from in-game spending on premium console games is expected to contribute $4.9B to the $13.2B market, up 7% from $4.6B in 2019
- The average price of a game on Steam is $8.86 in 2019
- As at 2019, ‘Ultimate Team’ microtransactions in EA’s FIFA series accounted for a staggering 28% of the company’s net revenues, more than the game FIFA itself did.
- 30% of U.S. gamers said they don’t own any paid games on their tablets and their smartphones. (Statista, 2017)
- PUBG is the leading paid game titles on Steam platform in 2017, with 27.80 million units sold. (Medium 2018)
- CS:GO, with 12.5 million sold units in the 2017, placed second among the paid game titles on Steam platform in 2017. (Medium, 2018)
- Video game software covers 34.5% of the average annual expenditure on video games per consumer unit in the U.S. while video game hardware and accessories covers the rest of the 65.5% of the share. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017)
- 22% of gamers in the United States purchased video games through Steam. (Statista, 2017)
- 43% of gamers in the U.S. said they bought the games on online retailers like Ebay and Amazon. (Statista, 2017)
- 56% of gamers in the United States purchased video games through Play Store and AppStore. (Statista, 2017)
- 40.1% of gamers choose Paypal as their top choice of payment method for console gaming content in 2017. (SuperData Research, 2017)
- Only 1.8% of gamers choose Amazon payments as their choice of payment method for console gaming content in 2017. (SuperData Research, 2017)
- 20% of U.S. gamers said they regularly pre-order video games. (Statista, 2017)
- 29% of U.S. gamers said they pre-order video games ocassionally. (Statista, 2017)
- 32% of U.S. gamers stated that they own 6 to 10 paid home console games. (Statista, 2017)
- 24% of gamers in the U.S. said they own 3 to 5 paid home console games. (Statista, 2017)
- 12% of U.S. gamers own 1 to 2 paid home console games. (Statista, 2017)
- Only 4% of the U.S. gamers claim to not own any paid home console games. (Statista, 2017)
- 23% of gamers in the U.S. stated that they have about 3 to 5 paid games on their smartphones and tablets. (Statista, 2017)