Mobile gaming has been a beneficiary of all of the latest technology for the last few years. New environments for developers have meant the games we play now are more immersive than ever. The sounds are incredible – often created entirely for the game. And even the games we knew and loved when we were younger have had some significant facelifts.
The introduction of VR/AR and live casino games have been interesting too. Combining two worlds into one excellent gaming experience.
One of the things that have moved with the times, and in some cases faster than in other industries – is the payments on mobile games. There are so many ways that you can pay for mobile games and now purchase in-game items too! But how did mobile gaming get to where it is now?
Mobile Gaming Grown in the Last Years
There has been significant growth seen in the mobile gaming industry in the last few years, and while there are many reasons for it, a couple of them is that smartphone usage has increased tenfold (and then some), and mobile internet is stronger and more stable than ever.
Statistics from Statista:
- The mobile gaming market is estimated to reach $315.90bn by 2023
- The number of players (users) is expected to hit 2.32 billion by 2027
- The annual growth rate for the market between 2023 and 2027 is expected to be 7.36%
Any gaming apps for mobile phones and tablets, single purchase apps, and Freemium games (with in-app purchases) were used for their data collection.
One of the most significant impacts on the mobile gaming market has been the inclusion of eSports. And the other is the ability to pay for your games and in-app items faster than ever before.
The Trends in Mobile Gaming for 2023
The development of smartphone technology and the payment portals themselves have meant that you rarely (if ever) need to carry a payment card or cash in your life. And that means it is faster than it has even been to pay for something in-game.
Downloading huge mobile games only takes seconds. There are some trends that mobile gaming companies are seeing when it comes to how people choose to pay for their goods.
Social Gaming Payments
For as long as there have been games, people have found a way to play together. It used to be turn-about on the controller, but now many games have multiplayer options. And within those, there is now the implementation and rise of peer-to-peer transfers. In the case of many games, giving gold or goods is more common than ever.
e-Wallets
Many users have e-Wallets like PayPal or Stripe and have used them to pay for goods online. But now, many games offer the opportunity to pay for their games or add an account top-up with the tap of a button.
PayPal is one of the biggest e-Wallets around and transfers funds into your gaming account in seconds (although there are many other options). The online gaming market has been one of the leaders when it comes to e-Wallet integration because it is a secure payment option for account top-ups. Now a variety of the top online casino providers accept PayPal payments and other e-wallet methods for added security.
F2P
Free-to-play games are some of the most popular because most of the time if you have some patience and some time, you won’t ever need to make an in-app purchase! However, often since the game is free, players will invest a little bit of cash here and there for upgrades and access to new areas.
Sometimes paying can mean you have extra lives and speed up progress. Paying for in-app items has been growing in popularity over the last few years. And with the ability to pay with a single button on a mobile phone – it’s rapidly growing.
Subscriptions
Subscription models have always been popular, but it used to be that the money would come directly from your bank account. Now though, you can have subscriptions hooked up to your chosen e-Wallet. Often if players choose to play for a year in one go, they will get access to exclusive items and a price reduction, but the monthly subs will usually come with a few goods too.
Subscription models mean that players don’t need to keep track of when they need to pay; it comes out of their chosen payment automatically – leaving them free to play the game whenever they want.
Crypto
Cryptocurrency and NFTs have been all the rage for the last few years, with many people investing in one or the other. Some games, alongside their own currencies and offer players the chance to pay with cryptocurrency. This is likely to get even bigger the deeper into the Metaverse we get.
The mobile gaming industry is one of the most exciting growth spaces in the world of gaming, and as more smartphone and payment capabilities happen – it’s a trend that is going to keep going!