Games market: Germans spend almost 3 billion euros on mobile games
In 2023, Germans spent more money on mobile games than ever before. The average age of smartphone gamers was 40.
The business models of mobile games are often criticized, but they work extremely well.
(Image: Marko Aliaksandr/Shutterstock.com)
Mobile games generated sales of 2.9 billion euros in Germany last year. This was reported by the industry association Game in collaboration with the market research company Data.ai. This corresponds to an increase of 4 percent compared to 2022.
Mobile games are responsible for half of video game revenue in Germany. A look further back shows just how strongly mobile games have developed in recent years: since 2018, sales in the smartphone market have almost doubled, the industry association writes in a press release. At that time, sales amounted to 1.49 billion euros.
The revenue from mobile games for cell phones and tablets comes almost exclusively from in-game purchases, also known as microtransactions: mobile games generated a turnover of 2.885 billion euros from this. In contrast, revenue from the sale of games themselves only amounted to 5 million euros - in a bar chart published by the industry association game, you have to look very closely to recognize this proportion.
(Image: game)
Psychotricks and gambling
The revenue trend confirms the dominance of in-game transactions: While revenue from in-game transactions has risen steadily over the past six years, revenue from the sale of games, which was weak to begin with, continued to fall year on year. Mobile games are offered almost exclusively free of charge ("Free2Play").
Players are then enticed to spend money using various tactics and psychological tricks - for example for in-game items, gambling elements such as loot boxes, new levels or the opportunity to continue playing at all. Not all mobile games work this way - but the most successful titles such as "Candy Crush" and "Clash of Clans" have perfected this game principle and generate billions in revenue worldwide.
According to the industry association game, the average smartphone gamer in Germany is 40 years old. Men and women are roughly evenly balanced. According to game, the games industry generated a total turnover of almost 10 billion euros in Germany in 2023. In addition to games, this also includes the sale of gaming hardware.
(dahe)