AppsFlyer’s latest report on mobile market trends reveals significant shifts in user acquisition (UA) and revenue distribution across mobile app sectors in 2024. The report is based on data from over 35,000 apps, with a total of 140 billion installations and 53 billion re-marketing conversions analyzed. The key takeaway from the report is the underperformance of gaming apps, particularly in the user acquisition and revenue growth sectors, compared to their non-gaming counterparts.

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Increase in User Acquisition Spending

Overall user acquisition spending in 2024 increased by 5% to $65 billion, marking a recovery from a 6% decline in 2023. However, the performance varies significantly across app categories. Non-gaming apps saw an 8% rise in user acquisition spending, while gaming apps experienced a 7% drop in the same metric.

Within the gaming category, the focus has shifted towards casual games. The share of casual gaming projects increased from 61% to 64% of total gaming UA spending. In contrast, mid-core games and social casinos saw considerable declines, with UA spending dropping by 21% and 12% year-on-year, respectively. These trends reflect broader challenges faced by the gaming industry, particularly in the mid-core and social casino segments.

Share By Category in Gaming 

Interestingly, sports and racing games, as well as casual games, experienced an increase in the number of paid users, up by 18% and 14%, respectively. Even mid-core games saw a small uptick of 6% in user acquisitions, albeit with a significant reduction in spending.

One contributing factor to this shift in user acquisition trends is the decrease in Cost Per Install (CPI). For instance, mid-core games were able to attract more users while spending less money on advertising, thereby improving efficiency in user acquisition campaigns.

YoY Percentage Change in Paid Installs Among Gaming Genres 

Revenue Growth in Non-Gaming Apps

Revenue trends further highlight the contrasting performance between non-gaming and gaming apps in 2024. Non-gaming apps saw a nearly 20% increase in in-app purchase (IAP) revenue. This growth far outpaced the performance of gaming apps, where social casinos managed a modest 4% year-on-year revenue growth, while casual and mid-core apps experienced declines of 5% and 2%, respectively.

Advertising revenue also showed growth across both sectors. Non-gaming apps saw a 26% year-on-year increase in advertising revenue, while the gaming sector's ad revenue grew by 7%. Within gaming, mid-core games experienced the most significant advertising revenue increase, up 21% compared to 2023.

IAP: Non-gaming vs Gaming

App Downloads Across Platforms

In terms of downloads, there were slight increases in the number of installs across various genres. Mid-core games saw a 5% increase, while casual games and sports/racing apps saw 4% and 1% growth, respectively. On the other hand, social casinos and hypercasual games faced declines in installs, down by 5% and 10%, respectively.

Notably, the performance varied between Android and iOS platforms. On Android, mid-core and casual games performed better, with increases of 9% and 6% year-on-year, respectively. Hypercasual games also saw a modest increase of 2% in downloads on Android. In contrast, iOS saw a more pronounced positive performance from social casinos, which grew by 22% compared to the previous year.

Creative Production Trends in 2024

The year 2024 saw a significant increase in creative production across mobile apps. The number of creatives produced by top-performing apps—those generating over $1 million in monthly revenue—almost doubled. Overall, the number of creatives produced increased by 40%, reflecting the growing importance of user engagement through innovative ad campaigns and creative content.

Fastest Growing Categories in Gaming

Relevance to Web3 Gaming 

The trends outlined in the 2024 mobile market report are highly relevant to the web3 gaming sector as they highlight the shifting dynamics between gaming and non-gaming apps, user acquisition strategies, and revenue generation methods. As web3 gaming continues to grow, developers in this space can learn from the performance of traditional mobile games, particularly in areas like user acquisition efficiency, advertising revenue, and creative production.

The decline in user acquisition spending on mid-core and social casino games, alongside the rise of non-gaming apps in traditional advertising networks, suggests that web3 gaming projects may need to adopt more innovative and cost-effective marketing strategies to attract and retain users. Additionally, as the web3 gaming ecosystem integrates more decentralized elements, the trends in revenue growth—especially from advertising and in-app purchases—serve as an important indicator of where to focus development efforts to ensure sustainable growth and user engagement.

Source: gamedevreports