THE GAME PLAN

STATE OF MOBILE GAMING REPORT SHOWS BLUEPRINT FOR GROWTH IN THE SECTOR

- DAMIEN MARTIN

We love our phones. We love them so much that the average American spends more than 5 hours on their phone per day. Many of us are on them first thing in the morning and right before we go to bed, which we should probably stop doing. We love scrolling through social media. We love shopping online. And we love mobile gaming. In their State of Mobile Gaming 2025 report, the digital intelligence and app data analysts at Sensor Tower detailed just how much we love gaming, and what that means for game creators and advertisers.

Ups and Downs

While 2024 saw a 6.6% decline in games downloaded worldwide, in-app purchases in mobile games went up 4%. People are initiating more gaming sessions and spending more time playing. That indicates the games that are thriving have found a formula to attract and retain players. Live operations, the continuous management and optimization of gameplay in response to player behavior, is the secret sauce.

"If you’re not working on live ops and you don’t understand how to retain your players, you’re going to have a problem," Playtika founder Robert Antokol told GamesBeat.

A staggering 84% of in-app purchase revenue went to games with live ops in 2024, and games with a daily bonus saw 12 times more revenue than those without one. Games like MONOPOLY GO!, which led the world in-app purchase revenue, made innovative strides in live ops. Partner events, designed to allow groups of friends to play together, have kept users engaged and looking forward to the next one.