Why Investors are Starting to Bet on Mobile Gaming

Why are investors choosing to back mobile games? It may be due to the exploding gaming industry and the type of people choosing to use mobile games.

Gaming has always been around, but new technologies and the accessibility of gaming through mobile games has enabled the industry to boom. It is estimated that the gaming industry as a whole is worth $152 billion - and mobile gaming accounts for around 50% of that figure.

Mobile gaming is a broad category and involves everything from playing at Swedish online casinos from your smartphone to downloading game apps made in South America. They are everywhere and they come in different forms, themes and even with new technology such as Pokémon Go’s use of augmented reality. But how popular are they really?

The Popularity and Demographics of Mobile Gaming

We already spend more time in front of our smartphones than the TV and mobile gaming apps are just as popular as music apps like Spotify. The only apps more popular than apps providing games and music are social media apps, but still, a reported one-third of the global population are playing some form of mobile gaming.

The number of people using mobile games do not have the demographics of the stereotypical gamer. These mobile game users are not time-blessed college students lazing around campus. They are split between men and women in their late 30s.

Why That Attracts Investors

If the everyday mobile gamer is someone in later life than we may have imagined, they also have a career and money to spend. This, as well as the flourishing gaming industry, is why investing circles are turning their heads towards gaming.

The lack of barriers to owning a mobile game is also appealing to investors. Most people now have access to the internet and by the age of 12 years old 69% of us own a smartphone. Coupled with quick download times makes mobile gaming a seamless product that can be added to everyday life.

What Has Happened So Far?

The indications that investors will want to enter the mobile gaming market are not plain there to see, moves have already been made:

·   Bigger game companies are investing in smaller ones. For example, Ubisoft purchased Ketchapp recently.

·   Traditional investors have invested in gaming. Goldman Sachs’ investment division gave Voodoo a $200 million investment sum and KKR purchased a stake in AppLovin for $400 million.

·   Government organizations are also fuelling game development and France is one country leading the line by offering tax breaks to said companies. Amidst Brexit, they are even welcoming game developers from the UK to settle in France. However, the UK too is offering game funds and tax breaks on home shores.

These are just a slice of the action taking place between investors and the mobile gaming industry. With more money pouring into the already growing industry, we may have only seen the start of the big mobile gaming boom.