Google pulls ahead of iOS in strategy downloads, but iOS reigns for revenue | Pocket Gamer.biz

SocialPeta’s report on mobile game advertisingin 2022 delves into the performance of different genres throughout the year.

Strategy games saw a 10.52 percent increase in overall downloads worldwide. Market share between iOS and Android devices remained relatively stable, with Google Play accounting for 58.24 percent compared to 60.69 percent in 2021.

However, the genre saw a 9.48 percent decline in 2022 compared to 2021, showing that this increase in downloads failed to translate into revenue. The App store saw its market share increase from 74.75 percent to 76.04 percent. The report states that “the growth rate of downloads of strategy mobile games is slightly higher than the overall average, while the revenue is lower than the overall change.” This suggests that, despite the issues faced by the mobile game market in 2022, the strategy genre has managed to weather the storm more effectively than some others.

Advertising strategy

2022 saw 4500 strategy game advertisers, on par with figures from 2021. There were an average of 1671 monthly active advertisers, however there was a sharp increase in H2 compared to H1, with the monthly figures coming close to, or exceeding, 1700. However, only 33.42 percent of creatives were new, with a sharp decline between April and May. However, there was a sharp increase in new creatives in November, with almost 40 percent of creatives for the month being new, coming close to the year’s peak in January.

Strategy games accounted for five percent of advertisers, with South East Asia, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and Japan and Korea having the highest percentage of active advertisers at almost six percent each.

The genre was responsible for 11 percent of all mobile gaming creatives, with Africa seeing the lion’s share at 11.22 percent. South East Asia and the Middle East also saw a high number of creatives. This suggests that advertisers for the genre are increasingly focused on emerging and mobile-first markets.

iOS saw a slightly higher market share in strategy game advertising compared to iOS devices, at 52 percent. However, Android had a 62 percent majority share of creatives, with advertisers creating an average of 1108 creatives each compared to 607 on Apple devices.

The top ten games by advertising on iOS and Android saw eight games appear on both list, including the top performing games on each platform. iOS’s top performer, The Ants, ranked as number seven on Android’s list, while in contrast Android’s top performer, The Grand Mafia, came in as number four on the App Store. Interestingly, all but one game identified as a top performer is a strategy simulation, showing a strong preference for this subgenre among advertisers.

A report by Azur Games in December found that strategy games had tripled in popularity over the course of the year.