On this morning’s WJR Business Beat, Jeff talks about another business sector that has benefited greatly from the COVID-19 crisis: mobile gaming. In 2018 we spent around $55 billion, but in 2019, we approached $62 billion and this year, some expect that number could double last year’s consumer spending in mobile games.
Tune in to hear more on the thriving mobile gaming industry:
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It’s Friday, and that means that most of us who are parents or grandparents can look forward to spending really enriching and rewarding time with our kids and grandkids, right? I mean, after all, isn’t that what weekends are for? Well, that’s the way it’s supposed to play out on the weekend when we’re not hard at work and our kids aren’t in school, but the reality is that after 13 billion downloads in the first quarter alone of 2020, mobile games and apps have taken over the most common interaction we get these days from our kids is, “Hey dad, I need some v-bucks to buy this cool new skin in Fortnite” or “Hey dad, I forgot my password and my friends are all playing Minecraft and I need you to help me get into this game, now!”
Those 13 billion downloads and installs one quarter the largest ever in mobile gaming history. That’s right, mobile games are a huge winner in the COVID-19 era. Mobile game ad spending surged from about 700,000 per month in February to over 1.4 million in March and reached even higher levels in April at just under $2 million, almost three times what the spend was a couple of months earlier.
Speaking of spending in consumer spending and mobile apps, well in 2018 we spent around 55 billion, but in 2019, approaching 62 billion and 2020 some expect could even see a doubling of last year’s consumer spending in mobile games.
At least now I know I’m not the only one whose bank account seems to have a hole in the bottom of it with cash draining out and flowing freely to upstart gaming companies like Epic Games, the company I curse each day, who’s responsible for bringing Fortnite to market and my kids disappearing ever since they logged in.
Let’s just say it like it is: in the case of mobile gaming, the COVID-19 crisis has been quite good to that industry sector. And we see no slowing down in sight of the kind of activity that we see going on in mobile gaming. In fact, look for significant growth well into the future.
So look, if you haven’t seen your kids and what seems like days because they’ve been on their mobile phones for 12 straight hours playing games, this is just another thing we can be thankful for in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.
I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of StartupNation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat brought to you today by Dell Technologies, on the great voice of the great lakes, WJR.
