While in-app purchases are one way for developers to make extra money, perhaps targeting the Chinese market could be another way as well. According to a report from industry analyst firm, Superdata, they are expecting that China will soon overtake the US in terms of their mobile gaming market.
Superdata predicts that China’s mobile gaming market will reach $3 billion in spending this year alone, and is showing “tremendous growth”, versus the US gaming market which is apparently showing signs of saturation. This isn’t surprising given that the US got a head start on China when it came to smartphones. That and the fact that China’s population and untapped market is larger probably helps as well.
According to the analyst firm, they stated that China’s average revenue per paying user and conversion rate grew more than 20% compared to last year, and while marketing costs have doubled, their ARPU has also grown to help balance it out. This is compared to the US where the cost per install has grown by 36%, but at the same time their ARPU has not increased as much to offset the cost of marketing.
While not exactly related to mobile gaming, perhaps it is the growth that has also attracted companies like Microsoft. The Redmond company has plans to launch their Xbox One console system in China officially in September, where it was previously not allowed to be sold (consoles were banned in China for a while). Some have argued that Microsoft’s move is a mistake, but with growth like this, can you blame them for wanting to give it a shot?