Global Mobile Game Spending Surpasses 42 Trillion Won in First Half of the Year... Highest Semiannual Record

Traditional PC Game IP-Based Mobile Games Show Remarkable Performance

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), indoor activities have increased, leading to a record high in global consumer spending on mobile games for the first half of the year.

Mobile data analytics platform App Annie announced the '2020 First Half Global Mobile Report' on the 19th, containing these findings.

According to the report, the number of global mobile game downloads in the first half of this year reached 26 billion, a 17% increase compared to the second half of last year. Consumer spending on mobile games rose by 11% to $36 billion (approximately 42.75 trillion KRW).

The number of mobile game downloads peaked in April, with 4.9 billion downloads in that month alone, representing a 35% increase compared to the average of the second half of last year.

Consumer spending saw a noticeable increase in May. Throughout the first half of the year, mobile game consumer spending consistently exceeded $5 billion, and in May, it reached $6.8 billion (approximately 8.075 trillion KRW), setting a record for the highest monthly spending ever.

Looking at the games with the highest download growth compared to the second half of last year, games that brought traditional PC game intellectual properties (IPs) to mobile devices stood out. Nexon's 'FIFA Mobile,' which recorded 1.2 million downloads on its first day of release in Korea, ranked first, followed by Netmarble's 'StoneAge World' in second place, and Nexon's 'KartRider Rush Plus' in third.

KartRider Rush Plus, released in May, was played for 75 million hours within about 50 days, becoming the mobile game with the highest increase in playtime compared to the previous quarter.

An App Annie representative stated, "As more users spend time on mobile games, securing users through various programs beyond games will provide effective and strategic opportunities for brands advertising through games."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.