Newzoo forecasts that mobile gaming will continue to be the largest segment of the overall gaming market, following 10 years of double-digit growth since the first iPhone was launched in 2007. In total, mobile revenues will grow 25.5% year-on-year to reach $70.3 billion.
This means that, for the first time, more than half of all game revenues will come from the mobile segment. Smartphones will account for 80% of this, or $56.4 billion, with the remaining 20% coming from tablets. Console gaming is the second-largest segment, generating $34.6 billion in 2018, while PC games will bring in $32.9 billion.
Newzoo says that mobile gaming will have grown from the smallest segment in 2012 to a $100 billion-dollar industry in 2021. Remarkably, the rise of mobile gaming has not significantly cannibalised revenues from PC or console gaming markets.
In the coming years, mobile game revenue growth will continue to outpace the overall games market, growing to $106.4 billion in 2021. By then, smartphone and tablet games combined will generate 59% of revenues in the entire market, analysts said.
