Audience Insights

Mobile Gaming
Asia Pacific
The following report is based on a detailed analysis of data from the InMobi Advertising
and Audiences Platform. The analysis explores the mobile advertising opportunity in the
mobile gaming space in APAC. The analysis explores data from Jan 2020 to April 2020
and highlights the user behaviour of gaming personas, advertiser spends and the
performance of different ad formats in the gaming category.
Play
 INTRODUCTION

‘GAME ON’ INDIA

CONTENT POWER UP: INDONESIA

PAGING AUSTRALIA

THE BRAND SAFETY PROMISE WITH MOBILE GAMING

 INTRODUCTION

What was once considered to be a niche interest pursued only by a select few who have
access to specialized hardware, gaming now boasts of 4.7 billion users across the world.
Like most entertainment categories, gaming has also witnessed a great democratization
driven by smartphones. In fact Mobile Gaming will account for over 48% of overall
revenues in beating both console and PC gaming. With over 2.6 billion mobile gamers
across the world, we deep dive into 3 key regions: Australia, Indonesia, and India to
understand their behavior. We also share insights on the top verticals that are embracing
the potential of gaming and what strategies can marketers leverage to make the most of
this opportunity.

4.7 Bn 48% 2.6 Bn

gamers across the revenues from mobile gamers

world mobile globally

Source: Statista, NewZoo, MoneyControl

 ‘GAME ON’ INDIA

India is home to 1 out 10 of the world’s gamers and is

poised to become one of the top mobile gaming
markets in APAC . With mobile proving to be a low barrier
to entry for most, 89% of India’s gamers are on mobile
with a 20.3% growth year on year. The typical profile of a
gamer has shifted over the years in India. Today’s
gamers come from diverse backgrounds and have a
variety of interests.

Source: Statista, NewZoo, MoneyControl

Not just a young person’s game

Gaming is not only popular among the Gen Z, but is equally popular among Different generations are logging on to play mobile games, and their
those in the age group of 45 to 54 favorites include:

Top Gaming Audiences

Gen Z Millennials Gen X

18-24 25-44 45+

Female Gamers 10.20% 4.5% 10.20%

Male Gamers 26.20% 15.30% 28.250%

All Gamers 36.40% 19.80% 39.00%

Casual Board Arcade Card Action

Locating India’s Gamers

The popularity of mobile gaming in India is varied across regions. This is reflective of several factors such as internet connectivity, digital maturity, and
behavioral attributes across these regions.

South India North India West India East India

34% 33% 26% 8%

 The Indian Woman Mobile Gamer
The Apps that Women Gamers Use

18-25 25-35 35+

App Category % share of UU App Category % share of UU App Category % share of UU

Social networking 21.8% Social networking 19.9%

Social networking 21.6%

Casual games 15.9% Casual games 19.2%

Casual games 18.7%

Music 15.4% Music 10.1%

Music 12.6%

Board games 7.4% 7.2% Board games 8.5%

Board games

Photo & video 5.7% Entertainment 5.9% Entertainment 7.5%

Action games 4.7% Action games 5.2% Action games 6.4%

Entertainment 4.3% Sports 3.53% Sports 2.6%

Arcade games 1.9% Arcade games 2.1%

Photo & video 3%

Productivity 1.13% News 1.7% Productivity 1.49%

Photography 1.09% 1.48%

Photography 1.14% Photography
 Mobile Gamers in a pre- and post-COVID world

January 2020 April 2020

Gaming app usage surge

across metros, tier-1, 2 and
3 cities in India

Minimum 80% growth seen

across India during April
and May 2020
Rising through the ranks
As people begin to spend more time indoors in 2020, many are turning to their phones as a source of entertainment leading to a significant growth in app usage and unique users

Gaming Audience engagement through the months Growth in Gaming App Usuage

Puzzle 16%

April Adventure 33%

March
January Word 42%

February Strategy 46%

Card 53%
Usage

Racing 76%

Trivia 82%

Casino 160%

Casual 198%
Before Pandemic After Pandemic
Arcade 368%

Gaming Total 65%

The many lives of An In-app Indian Gamer
Gamers have a wide variety of interests both online and offline. Be it social networking apps or visiting retail store visitors, it is likely that the audiences you are after are gamers too!

In pursuit of the other: Online and offline characteristics

Shopping Centers Sports

Enthusiasts Moms
In pursuit of the other: apps that Gamers use Golf Course and Malls Visitors

Social networking 23.60%

Music 16.50%

Photo and Video Sports and Recreation

7% Retail Store Dining Out Store Visitors
Entertainment visitors Enthusiasts
5.90%

Sports 4.60%

Productivity 4.10%

Photography 3.20%

News 2.20%
University
Students
Percentage time spent in each category Restaurant
Visitors
The Next Move: Winning Categories
Non-Strategy led games such as Word and Arcade games have witnessed increasing popularity while commanding a larger share of spends. This phenomenon can be
attributed to their high accessibility and the ability of an average user to be able to plug and play these games

Top Ranking Games by Spends Q1, 2020 Growth in Spends on Gaming Apps - Jan 2020 - Mar 2020

Casual 331%

Arcade 158%

Word 98%
1. Word 2.Casual 3. Arcade 4. Puzzle
Racing 73%

Simulation 39%

Card 34%

Puzzle 20%
5. Simulation 4. Card 7. Board
 POWER UP: INDONESIA

Southeast Asia has become one of the most viable

gaming markets around the globe. With the dominance
of premium publishers, such as the SEA group (formerly
known as Garena), mobile is poised to account for 69.4%
of all gaming revenue in the region. Indonesia has
become a bright spot in region, with the government
hosting e-sport competitions.

Source: NewZoo
Understanding the Indonesian Gamer
A male dominated hobby in the past, today’s Indonesian Gamers are predominantly female. In fact the 3 largest gaming audiences are women led, across
different age groups. Southeast Asians enjoy a wide variety of games including casual and simulation games.

Top Gaming Audiences

Type of Gaming Apps Indonesian Gamers spend their time on

18-24 25-44 45+

Casual 60.70%

Female Gamers Action 28.60%

14.10% 19.50% 25.40%

% time spent in each category

Arcade 17.30%

Simulation 11.10%
Male Gamers 12.10% 10.50% 14.30%
Board 8.50%

Puzzle 7.70%
All Gamers 26.20% 30.00% 39.70%
Adventure 5%

Racing 2%
59% 41%

Female Male
 The Indonesian Woman Mobile Gamer
The Apps that Women Gamers Use

18-25 25-35 35+

App Category % share of UU App Category % share of UU App Category % share of UU

Utilities 31.7% Utilities Utilities 49.2%

38.6%

Books 22.2% Books Casual games 13.1%

12.5%

Photo & video 11.8% Casual games 11.2% Action games 4.23%

Casual games 8.4% Photo and video 3.2%

Photo and video 7.5%

Entertainment 3.4% Social networking Books 3.06%

3.86%

Social networking 3.2% Entertainment 3.49% Social networking 2.97%

Action games 3% Action games 3.41% News 2.85%

Board games 1.54% Board games 2.23% Simulation games 2.59%

Lifestyle 1.41% News 2.1% Entertainment 2.46%

Productivity 1.4% 1.58% Arcade games 2.12%

Simulation games
 Mobile Gamers in a pre- and post-COVID world
The Apps that Women Gamers Use

January 2020 April 2020

Gaming app usage surge

across cities on the main
island and outside of it..

Minimum 75% growth seen

across Indonesia during
April and May 2020
Levelling Up
As people begin to spend more time indoors in 2020, many are turning to their phones as a source of entertainment leading to a significant growth in app usage and unique users

Growth in Gaming App Usuage

Gaming Audience engagement through the months

March
April Arcade 78%
January

February Board 52%

Simulation 49%
Usage

Puzzle 30%

Action 18%

Casual 7%

Before Pandemic After Pandemic

 The many lives of An In-app Indonesian Gamer
We identified where you can find Southeast Asian gamers both offline and online. Outside of games they spend their time on utility and entertainment apps and visit
retail stores and restaurants in the offline world

Online and offline characteristics of the Indonesian Gamer

Type of Non-gaming apps, Indonesian gamers spend their time on

Retail Store
Utilities 58.50% Phone Language
Visitors
– Indonesian
Entertainment 14.90%

Photo and Video 10.80%

Social Networking Gift and Vovelty

10.20%
Store Visitors
Education 3.70%

Productivity 3.60%

Books 3.30%

News 3.10%

Lifestyle 3%
Android Users
Photography 3% University
Students
Restaurant
Percentage time spent in each category Visitors
The Next Move: Winning Categories
Non-Strategy led games such as Word and Arcade games have witnessed increasing popularity while commanding a larger share of spends. This phenomenon can be
attributed to their high accessibility and the ability of an average user to be able to plug and play these games

Top Ranking Games by Spends Q1, 2020 Growth in Spends on Gaming Apps - Jan 2020 - Mar 2020

Board 995%

Puzzle 192%

Arcade 122%
1. Word 2. Simulation 3. Puzzle 4. Casual
Simulation 52%

Word 48%

Trivia 47%

Casual 10%
5. Card 4. Arcade 7. Board
 PAGING AUSTRALIA

Australia as a market has been an early adopter of all

things gaming. In fact two-thirds of Australians play
video games every day. Similar to other markets this
gaming boom has largely been led by mobile, with over
70% of gamers playing on their smartphones.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Decoding the Australian Gamer
Played by both men and women, mobile gaming is a well enjoyed hobby in Australia. Finding an audience across generations, time spent on app categories
have increased across the board

Top Gaming Audiences

Type of Gaming Apps Australians Gamers spend their time on

18-24 25-44 45+

Casual 19.20%

Female Gamers Action 13.50%

16.20% 9.40% 10.40%
Puzzle 11.30%

Arcade 8.10%
Male Gamers 35.10% 12.40% 11.40%
Word 5.40%

Card 4.30%
All Gamers 51.30% 21.80% 21.80%
 The Australian Woman Mobile Gamer
The Apps that Women Gamers Use

18-25 25-35 35+

App Category % share of UU App Category % share of UU App Category % share of UU

Games 25% Games 26.5% Games 29.5%

Books 18.4% Books 15% Weather 11.4%

Casual games 9.1% Casual games 11.1% Sports 8.4%

Entertainment 6.5% Entertainment 7% Health and fitness 8.1%

Social networking 5.3% Action games 4.67% Entertainment 6.5%

Health and fitness 4.5% Social networking 4.6% News 5%

Photo and video 4.4% Health and fitness 3.8% Word games 4.7%

Weather 4.1% Photo and video 3.8% Music 3.6%

Action games 3.6% Weather 3.6% Casual games 2.9%

3.31% Sports Social networking 2.7%

Sports 3.3%
 Mobile Gamers in a pre- and post-COVID world
The Apps that Women Gamers Use

January 2020 April 2020

Gaming app usage surge

across cities of varying
population in Australia.

Minimum 100% growth seen

across Australia during
April and May 2020
Up the Ranks
Unlike other countries in the APAC region, Australia was amongst one of the earliest countries to seemingly overcome the first wave of COVID-19. Despite this, there was a steady growth in the
number of unique users especially between the months of Feb and April indicating habit forming changes as a result of shifting consumer behavior

Growth in Gaming App Usage

Growth in UU Growth in Usage

107%
60%
35%
34%
Percentage Growth

32%

21%

13% 15%
1%
Card Word Puzzle
Feb-Mar Feb-Apr Mar-Apr

Category Time period

Locking Coordinates
Australian Gamers are not a monolithic group and have a wide variety of interests both offline and online. You can spot them using other apps such as entertainment
and weathers apps and strolling through retail and toy stores in real life

Online and offline characteristics of the Australian Gamer

Type of Non-gaming apps, Australian gamers spend their time on

Retail Store
Visitors Toy store
Visitors
Entertainment 7.10%

Weather 6.90%
Gift and Novelty
Health and Fitness 4.90% Store Visitors

Sports 4.40%

Photo and Video 3.40%

Social networking 3%

Books 2%
Handset Price More
Music 1.80%
Than $1000

Restaurant
Percentage time spent in each category Visitors
The Next Move: Winning Categories
Non-Strategy led games such as Word and Arcade games have witnessed increasing popularity while commanding a larger share of spends. This phenomenon can be
attributed to their high accessibility and the ability of an average user to be able to plug and play these games

Top Ranking Games by Spends Q1, 2020 Growth in Spends on Gaming Apps - Jan 2020 - Mar 2020

Puzzle 442%

Board 35%

Word 15%
1. Word 2. Puzzle 3. Casual 4. Simulation
Trivia 9%

5. Arcade 6. Card 7. Board

The Brand Safety Promise

1 Casual Mobile Gaming Apps Have No Inappropriate

2 Allows For Better And Surer Scale Than Via Blacklists
Content
And Whitelists
Non-Strategy led games such as Word and Arcade games
Brands and agencies rely heavily or exclusively on blacklists
have witnessed increasing popularity while commanding a
and whitelists which can be a manual and rudimentary
larger share of spends. This phenomenon can be attributed to
exercise.
their high accessibility and the ability of an average user to be
able to plug and play these games.

3 Meets Industry Benchmarks And Safeguards For

Brand Safe Content 4 Device-Native Ad Formats Add Additional Layer
Of Brand Safety
An in-app environment has gating mechanism which helps
remove all such objectionable space from being exposed to For further protection, brands should seek ad formats that

the brands. inherently provide an additional layer of security by virtue of

their share of the screen.
 Marketing Cloud

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leveraging its technology platforms and exclusive access to mobile
intelligence. Its Marketing Cloud creates new paths for brands to
understand, identify, engage and acquire connected consumers.

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