The mobile gaming market is always evolving, and keeping up with the latest trends and insights can be fascinating. Many reports that come give a deep insight into the state of the market, sharing how mobile games are faring and how the industry is shifting. Last month, I discussed how the Global Mobile Gaming Market in H1 2024 performed, but this time, the focus is on the MENA region, where we’ll see the trends in the app market, the highs and lows, and more.
MENA Mobile Gaming Market in H1 2024
The MENA Mobile Gaming Market report for the first half of 2024, based on Apptica’s “Spotlight on MENA” data in cooperation with Medialinks, identifies key trends in downloads, revenue, and adverts. The analysis included Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iran, though the report mentions that numbers for Iran were limited, particularly for iOS.
In the MENA, the data shows that gaming had an impressive growth year over year (YoY), with revenue increasing by 11% and downloads rising by 6%. For a global scale, as mentioned in the global report, we had seen a 5.8% growth in downloads and a 2.8% increase in revenue compared to H2, 2023, so with MENA, it is doubled in both metrics.
Category-wise report for downloads and revenue
Casual games were the most popular on the App Store in the Middle East and North Africa, while Simulation games were the most popular on Google Play. However, all three categories were the same, just with differences in share and ranking across both stores.
In MENA, the top three download categories on iOS were Casual (19.25%), Action (15.42%), and Simulation (14.43%), whilst Casual games topped the list on Android with 15.37%, followed by Simulation (13.77%) and Action (13%). For all applications, Egypt led the way in total downloads, reaching an impressive 3.2 billion, while the UAE had the lowest.
According to revenue trends, the same categories are made into the list. iOS users in the MENA region contributed the most to Action (20.22%), Strategy (13.94%), and Casual (11.52%) games, which were the top-grossing categories. On Google Play, Strategy games made the most money (22.46%), followed by Action (16.28%) and RPG (15.13%) in third, replacing the simulation genre.
Notably, gaming apps on iOS generated 20.9% of total revenue, while Android apps generated an amazing 58.6%. Once again, Egypt was the highest-grossing country on Google Play, earning $166 million mostly from RPG, Action, and Strategy games, while Kuwait earned the least at $122.5 million.
The advertising trend leans toward video ads
With 74.19% of the overall advertising spend in the MENA region, video ads remained the most common type, carrying a similar trend to what we saw on the global scale. Banners and Playables follow with 18.23% and 7.59% respectively.
The report also mentions that the share of playable creatives is growing, as marketers are trying out different formats in an attempt to boost user acquisition. Games also accounted for the majority of advertising traffic on Google Play and the App Store, with 74.7% and 73.38%, compared to the apps.
With a 95% market share, Google Ad Manager has emerged as the most successful user acquisition strategy for both gaming and non-gaming apps. Together with Teads AD Manager, Criteo, and Amazon Ads, Google DV was reportedly the most often used platform for campaign launches.
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