Revenue from U.S. mobile-game downloads and in-game purchases is projected to grow 16.5% to $3.04 billion in 2015, according to a study released Wednesday by the research firm eMarketer. By contrast, mobile-download revenue for e-books, music and video will rise by 4.4%, 5.4% and 13.8%, respectively.
The report gives two reasons why mobile-game revenue is out ahead: ad-supported and subscription services like Spotify cutting into media purchases, and the rise of “freemium” games like Supercell’s “Clash of Clans” that are free to play but sell in-app upgrades. These in-game purchases, such as virtual coins that can be used to advance more quickly, are expected to account for nearly 60% of the growth in mobile-game revenue, or $1.82 billion, this year.
Overall, mobile-download revenue is expected to rise 10.3% to $9.82 billion in 2015, the study said. Games are making up an increasingly bigger share of that pie. They are expected the account for 30.9% of such revenue this year, up from 29.3% in 2014 and 26.4% in 2013.
Downloads of e-books are still expected to bring in the most dollars — $4.25 billion — compared with $850 million for video and $550 million for music. (The data include downloads on smartphones, e-readers and tablets, but not laptops and other PCs.)
“There’s more room to grow in terms of demographics for gaming,” said eMarketer analyst Martin Uteras. “Mobile opened the gate for a lot of people who were not traditionally gamers,” such as older folks and children with access to their parents’ devices.
The pace of growth for all mobile-download revenue has slowed dramatically in recent years as the U.S. became saturated with smartphones. Games might not sit atop the growth chart for long. In 2016, eMarketer estimates video-download revenue will grow 9.5%, compared with 8.9% for games and 4.4% for music.
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