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Whether a quick round of a puzzle game, an interactive quiz against players around the world or even strategic team games in a league structure: game apps are appealing to more and more people. The easy accessibility and growing variety of titles is resulting in a steady increase in the number of players, and sales revenue is showing considerable growth every year. The market for game apps posted strong growth again in 2020. In Germany, within a single year, the sales revenue for games designed for smartphones and tablets increased by 23 per cent to roughly 2.3 billion euros. This represented a continuation of the impressive growth exhibited in the market for game apps in the previous years: sales revenue grew by 22 per cent in 2019, and by a remarkable 31 per cent the year before. These are the figures released today by game – the German Games Industry Association, based on data collected by the market research company App Annie. The year 2020 saw the continuation of another positive trend from the previous years: the market growth is directly attributable to in-app purchases. Sales revenue from such purchases grew by 24 per cent to about 2.3 billion euros. Free-to-play games, especially, relied on in-game purchases. These are titles that can be downloaded and played free of charge. Players can opt to spend money for additional content, such as personalising their own avatar in a game. Free-to-play games are particularly successful on smartphones and tablets. The market segment for game apps available for purchase, in contrast, declined again. In 2020, sales revenue for such titles dropped by 15 per cent down to roughly 11 million euros. Another trend also continued in 2020: the average age of smartphone game players increased by 1.4 years within a single year, from 37.4 to 38.8 – representing a clear increase in average age. At 52 per cent, just over half of these mobile games players are women.

‘Mobile games are becoming increasingly popular in Germany. Not only did the rising number of players contribute to this renewed strong market growth, but also the growing variety of titles. While app stores, in their early years, primarily featured casual games for playing from time to time, they have since exhibited an increase in the number of more complex games available. If we take a look at Asia, we see the direction one of the developments is taking: mobile games are increasingly being played competitively – in leagues and in tournaments – thus becoming a category of esports,’ says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game.

German games market: major surge in sales revenue in 2020