Metrics That are Important to Mobile Game Apps & How They Vary by Category

Below is a summary table of the top performing mobile game app categories by metric. Game categories with the highest share of mobile game revenue are not the most downloaded.

Downloads

It is common for businesses to focus on number of downloads to determine the success of an app. Which makes sense, because the rest of the important factors comes into play after downloads. Getting your app downloaded is the first step and can also be the most difficult. You can use a variety of techniques such as making a video for your app, offering discounts, or doing a press release.An alternative option to get your app in front of audiences is to use Digital Turbine’s Native App Preloads. This allows users to discover your game immediately – as it is preloaded on to their home screen.

User Behavior

Most apps have different types of users and behaviors. Approximately 33 percent of mobile gamers in the US are defined as “avid gamers.” Avid gamers spend more than nine hours a week on average playing mobile games on smartphones. That leaves a large amount of “casual gamers” who play games much less, averaging only an hour a month in games.Because of the disparity in use, there needs to be a large amount of varying and engaging content to keep avid gamers engaged. At the same time, engage the less avid users with a small set of achievable and engaging levels. The popular app, Cookie Jam, employs this strategy well by offering many skill levels to keep avid gamers engaged but also keeping the game fun and engaging at each level for less avid users.Therefore, understanding behavior among mobile app game users is key to reaching your revenue goals.

User Engagement

The amount of time users engage with an app is important. For app advertisers, the more time spent in the app equals more opportunities to serve up ads. For app developers, keeping users engaged will help lead to the development of quality users that are willing to pay-to-play or pay to advance in the game.

Revenue

A variety of factors can affect overall revenue. It is important to remember that quality users who spend money in your app can be more important than the number of users total. If you have a good amount of players spending a large amount of money, you will need fewer players to meet your revenue goals. The top two categories of games in terms of revenue are Role Playing and Strategy games. These two categories make more than twice as much revenue per daily active user than any of the other categories.Whether you are an app advertiser of an app developer, gaming apps are a good bet. However, you must analyze all of the above factors and determine your goals.Digital Turbine can help you get your mobile game app in front of users as well as assist in other ways. Contact us for more information.