Vasuta Agarwal, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, InMobi, decodes InMobi’s report, Understanding Asia’s Mobile Gamers, which is based on a detailed analysis of data from the InMobi Advertising and Audiences Platform, and which explores the mobile advertising opportunity in the mobile gaming space in APAC.
Read on to understand the Asia Pacific Mobile Gamer and why gaming apps are great for branding. Also, why in-app gaming is the safety kit for brand marketing. And more
In 2020, the gaming industry is at the forefront of entertainment, growing immensely with 4.7 billion gamers across the world. Gaming has witnessed a great revolution with the advent of the smartphones, with mobile gaming accounting for over 48% of overall revenues, quashing both console and PC gaming.
And in a post-COVID world, as mobile gaming becomes a new normal, we deep dive into 3 key regions: Australia, Indonesia, and India to understand the evolving nature of Mobile Gamers using the InMobi Audiences Platform. The insights are based on data from January 2020 to April 2020.
‘Game On:’ India sees a diverse mix embracing Gaming
India is home to 1 out 10 of the world’s gamers and is poised to become one of the top mobile gaming markets in APAC. With mobile proving to be a low barrier to entry, 89% of India’s gamers are on mobile with a 20.3% growth year on year. The typical profile of a gamer has shifted over the years in India. Today’s gamers come from diverse backgrounds and have a variety of interests.
1. Age or Gender: Not a Barrier for Gaming
Gaming is not only popular among the Gen Z but is equally popular among gamers between 45 to 54 years of age. Women constitute 10% of the Gen Z gamers and 11% of the gamers between 45 to 54. 26% of men among the Gen Z and 28.5% among the men aged between 45 to 54 years of age are always on gaming apps.
However, each generation has a slightly nuanced way of gaming. Gen Z prefers Casual, Arcade, and Board games, Millennials prefer Casual, Action, and Board games, and Gen X extensively indulge in arcade, card and board games.
The popularity of mobile gaming in India is varied across regions with 34% of the gamers hailing from the South and another 33% hailing from North India. East and West follow with 26% and 8% gamers respectively.
2. The Apps That a Woman Mobile Gamer Resides In
Indian female gamers come from different generations and prefer using a variety of apps outside of mobile gaming. A female mobile gamer can be found across a multitude of app categories including social networking, music, photo and video, productivity and entertainment apps.
3. The Post-Pandemic Gaming Surge
As gamers look towards new horizons, the usage of gaming apps is on the rise during the pandemic stricken time where more people are spending time indoors due to the lockdown.
- Gaming apps usage surges across metropolitan, tier I, II and III cities in India
- A minimum of 80% growth seen across India between April and May 2020
While the Arcade games have witnessed a whopping 368% growth since the onset of COVID-19, Casual games see a 198% growth followed by the Casino games with 160% growth.
4. The Many Apps That a Gamer Uses
Mobile gamers can be seen hopping across a number of apps including Social Networking, Music, Photo and Video, Entertainment and Sports Apps.
Interestingly, a number of gaming app categories have witnessed increasing popularity among advertisers as they reach far and wide in search of reaching the right audience through the safest inventory.
Indonesians immerse themselves into in-app Gaming
1. Women Lead the Race
The Indonesian Gaming audience is led by women accounting for 59% of the mobile gamers. Overall, Casual, Action and Arcade remain the top gaming categories in Indonesia with 60.7%, 28.6%, and 70.3% time spent on each category respectively.
The top 3 apps used by women outside of gaming include Utilities, Books and Photo and Video apps.
2. Pre & Post COVID Gaming Trends
While people are turning to their mobile phones for entertainment, gaming apps witness an incredible surge in usage. A minimum 80% growth in the consumption of gaming apps is seen across Indonesia during April and May 2020. The growth in gaming apps is followed by utility, entertainment, and Photo & Video apps in Indonesia.
3. The Many Lives of an Indonesian app gamer
The Indonesian App Gamer spends a significant amount of time in Utility, Entertainment and Photo and Video Apps accounting for 80% of their time spent outside of Gaming. And these Gamers also manifest as Indonesians whose preferred phone language is Bahasa and often visit retail stores and restaurants.
Australia stands as an Early Adopter of All Things Gaming
With two-thirds of Australians playing video games every day, the predominance of mobile-led gaming stands high with 70% consumption on mobile phones.
1. Decoding the Australian Gamer
Played by both men and women, gaming is a hobby well-enjoyed in Australia. While the women Gen Z gamers contribute 16.2% to the total gamers, millennials account for 9.4% and Gen X account to 10.4%. The numbers are significantly higher with men from Gen Z accounting to 35.1%, millennials accounting to 12.4% while Gen X accounts for 11.4 % of the total gamers in Australia.
While the top three categories of apps used by women from Gen Z and millennials are games, books, and casual games, Gen X uses games, weather, and sports apps the most.
2. The Spurt in Unique Users and Usage
Unlike other countries from the APAC region, Australia could effectively control the pandemic in the first wave and stands less affected amongst other nations. In spite, the change in consumer behavior was seen changing gradually between February to April.
3. The Online and Offline Nature of Gaming Audiences in Australia
Australians have a wide variety of interests represented by their wide variety of online and offline activities. Right from using entertainment apps and weather apps, and strolling from retail stores to toy stores, they have wide inclinations in terms of lifestyle. The top three played gaming categories are word, puzzle, and casual games.
In-app Gaming is the Safety Kit for Brand Marketing
With gaming, there’s no room for inappropriate content. The brands can avoid having their ads placed next to offensive, fake news, or objectionable content.
1. In-app Gaming has No Inappropriate Content
Advertisers can avoid having their ads appear next to offensive content, fake news, an objectionable/controversial news story, a violent post, etc.
2. Gaming Allows Higher Scale Beyond Blacklists and whitelists
Brands and agencies rely heavily on blacklists and whitelists which can be a manual and rudimentary exercise. Gaming allows brands the much needed scale.
3. Meets Industry Benchmarks and Guidelines
An in-app environment has a gating mechanism that helps remove all objectionable space from being exposed to the brand ads. And the icing on the cake is the 100% compliance with the industry benchmarks and brand safety guidelines.
4. Leverages Device Native Ads for Additional Layer of Security
For further protection, brands should seek ad formats that inherently provide an additional layer of security by virtue of their share of the screen. The ads that occupy 100% screen space allows zero distractions and interventions and allows user to be ad-focused.
With a relentless adoption of mobile gaming by consumers and growing emphasis on brand safety and targeted audiences by advertisers, gaming is the sustainable safety kit for brand marketing.
