Mobile games - the biggest gaming market in 2015?

Gamesindustry.biz published an article, pointing to a big increases in the sales of mobile games in the upcoming year. Newzoo has released their Quarterly Global Games Market Update, and it suggests that mobile games estimated value for this year is around $25 dollars. That represents a growth of around 40 per cent compared to 2013. The rise is credited to new markets, but also to continued strong performances in existing markets.

Analyst Vincent van Deelen declared, that Newzoo is deliberately trying to counter the notion that mobile gaming has reached a saturation point in the Western markets.

"This is simply not the case. We are also emphasizing that the recent results of individual high profile companies such as Rovio, King, DeNA and GREE are not necessarily indicative of the state of the mobile market as a whole", said van Deelen.

Mobile gaming offers new pathways for making revenue, but it also eats up the markets of traditional retail sales. Apple's revenues from gaming are estimated to be around $4 billion for this year, which is double the amount predicted for Nintendo. Apple is still leading Android markets, as Google Play's revenue for 2014 is estimated to be around $3 billion.

Newzoo's CEO Peter Warman says that in the future we can expect the fight between iOS and Android to move more towards the tablets. Even though Android smartphones lead in revenues when compared to iPhone, it is the iPad that keeps Apple ahead in the overall figures.

"Android tablets seem to be in the same position its smartphones were in 4 years ago: fragmented in terms of device specs and a lower share of game and average spending", Warman concludes.