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This article was originally published in PocketGamer.biz’s Mobile Games Developer Trends Survey Winter 2024/25 report (which you can now download here). It was also published in our newsletter, which you can sign up to here.
While there were some successes in 2024, it wasn’t a particularly pleasant period for many.
The mobile games industry was actually back to growth, but layoffs and closures across the sector continued last year, with some coining the phrase ‘survive to ‘25’. The simple goal? Make it out alive with as few scars as possible.
It all sounds quite dramatic. Let’s not forget, of course, that only in 2023 did Scopely release Monopoly Go!, a title that has transformed an already successful company, making $3 billion in just over a year.
Other notable games during the past couple of years include Habby’s Capybara Go, DeNA and The Pokémon Company’s Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, FirstFun’s Last War, Century Games’ Whiteout Survival, Joy Nice Games’ Legend of Mushroom, Paper Games’ Love & Deepspace, and many more. You can also throw games like Supercell’s Brawl Stars, EA’s Sports FC and Konami’s eFootball on the list – games released years ago and having the best year ever in 2024.
But that was all at the top. Despite some successes beneath, that wasn’t 2024’s narrative.
A tough year
Our Mobile Games Developer Trends Survey Winter 2024/25 report (which you can download here) takes a snapshot of the sector and the temperature of the business. Naturally, layoffs were high up on the list of key trends on respondents’ minds, cited as the biggest trend of last year by 56.7% of those surveyed. That was above rising UA costs, app store regulation, and the cross-platform shift.
And the industry has been squeezed in recent years since our last report in 2021, the height of growth in a bustling sector. Privacy changes and rising UA costs were highlighted as two of the biggest threats to the mobile games business, as well as high marketing and development costs, and a lack of investment.
In 2023, there was almost a denial of sorts. The mobile games industry couldn’t be in decline, could it? Years of rampant growth can’t just stop. But 2024 was the year reality set in.
One interesting element of this report is the simple question: How long has your organisation been operating? Most respondents were at companies that have been running for 10 years+, while the number of people from companies operating for less than five years declined since our last survey.
Meanwhile, we asked companies how many games they have released over the past 12 months: just over 40% said none. The second most popular answer was one game at 22.2%.
This could be a reflection of the market conditions the industry has found itself in, and a focus on live ops for long-term success.
Green shoots
So with all the doom and gloom out the way, is there much to look forward to in 2025? A new, more positive industry term has arrived: ‘thrive in 2025’. While it doesn’t change industry realities, it’s worth noting again that the mobile games market is back to growth, investment is slowly rising, and there have even been a few big money M&A deals recently, like Miniclip’s purchase of Easybrain and Playtika’s acquisition of SuperPlay.
There’s a hope that many companies in the industry have ridden out the toughest of times, and that firms are largely done with layoffs. Though, these are still ultimately an inescapable part of business.
New trends have emerged, helping developers avoid the budget squeeze they have been put under from rising UA, marketing and development costs, and the 30% platform fees. Regulatory changes, spearheaded in the US by Epic Games’ various lawsuits, and the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, are slowly creating cracks in the walled gardens of platform holders like Apple and Google.
An opportunity for alternative app stores and payment systems is emerging – though how that ultimately shakes out around the world is still to be seen. Regardless, developers and publishers are skirting commissions with direct-to-consumer practices on their own web shops. Rewarded play looks set to continue as a trend, with new startups shaking up the UA space.
There’s also potential for generative AI technology, perhaps not this year, to help alleviate development and marketing costs. But how that ultimately impacts jobs also remains to be seen.
Then there’s opportunities in new areas like web gaming and HTML5. That’s a term that’s been around for quite some time, but is coming into fashion this year. Last year, former EA CEO and founder Trip Hawkins highlighted browser gaming as a major opportunity for developers, and some of our Mobile Mavens also predicted it to be a key trend this year.
“I believe browser crossplay, with HTML5 and webGL, I think that’s one of the next waves,” said Hawkins. “New hills to go after, not really crowded. Right now you can’t really think of a leading company that’s doing that, period.”
Better times ahead?
Despite it all, the outlook for the mobile games sector is a positive one. Just over 44% of those surveyed had a positive to very positive outlook for the next 12 months, with a further 34.3% remaining neutral. Meanwhile, 13.4% had a negative to very negative outlook.
That’s not quite the 75% positive outlook we saw in our 2021 survey, but it shows a much more hopeful industry as we move into 2025. The industry is finding new and creative ways to overcome challenges and bring back the good times. Let’s hope that positivity and ‘thrive in 2025’ sentiment turns into reality.
Download our full Mobile Games Developer Trends Survey Winter 2024/25 report here.
Want more industry insights? We’re taking Pocket Gamer Connects to San Francisco on March 17th to 18th, with expert industry speakers set to discuss the latest trends live on stage.
