Sensor Tower: Europe's Mobile Gaming Market Bucks the Trend

In mid-March, Sensor Tower released its "The State of Gaming 2024" report, which forecasts a two per cent decline in global mobile gaming revenues in 2023 and analyses a number of trends. In Europe, revenues outperformed the global average.

2023 was a challenging year for the mobile gaming market. This is the key finding of The State of Gaming 2024, a new report published by US-based research firm Sensor Tower. The free report can be downloaded from the Sensor Tower website after registration.

From a global perspective, the mobile games market lost ground last year in terms of both revenue and downloads. Downloads fell by ten per cent and revenues by two per cent. In the report, Sensor Tower also differentiates between iOS and Android, continuing a trend that has been evident for years: although Apple's App Store accounts for less than 20 per cent of downloads, iOS contributes twice as much revenue to the market as the Google Play Store. The strength of Android in Asia, where the market has been particularly difficult, has meant that Google's platform has been hit much harder by the decline.

Sensor Tower also sees differences in performance across regions. Sales in MENA and Latin America are booming, while sales in Asia are falling sharply. For Europe, Sensor Tower expects twelve percent fewer downloads, but a seven percent increase in revenue. Exact data for Germany, Austria and Switzerland are not available in the free report.

In addition to the market trends, the marketing trends described by Sensor Tower in the report are also exciting. Collaborations with well-known brands and IPs are creating numerous new opportunities for the games industry. Sensor Tower cites the success of Monopoly Go! and the numerous brand partnerships in Roblox, from Nike and adidas to Gucci, Lamborghini and H&M.

Another marketing trend, particularly in the area of content and creativity, is collaboration with celebrities, content creators and the community in the form of user-generated content. Re-engagement campaigns were also particularly successful in 2023. And when it comes to reaching specific audiences, Sensor Tower says it is essential to know the range of audiences on different social media platforms. Sensor Tower's research is based on the US market (see chart), but the findings are at least as applicable to Western Europe, where the social media landscape is similar to that of North America.

Never miss anything from the German, Swiss and Austrian games industry again: subscribe for free to our Daily newsletter and get all news straight to your inbox.