Hypercasual games downloads fell last year due to the ongoing pandemic, according to Sensor Tower.
The mobile genre was rapidly rising, having grown exponentially in recent years, with that growth set to continue into 2020.
However, the COVID-19 outbreak swept the globe, causing many countries to enter mandatory lockdowns. As a result, many were stuck at home.
“The pandemic halted the rapid Hypercasual adoption boom seen over the past several years,” said Sensor Tower.
“With significant reductions in commuting and travel in response to COVID-19, demand for these simple games fell, and Hypercasual genre downloads decreased year-over-year each quarter between Q2 and Q4 2020.
One of us
Meanwhile, between April and June 2020, other mobile genres saw an increase in popularity. This was not to last as overall mobile game downloads dropped in Q4 2020.
Not all genres suffered a declining fate. The puzzle category managed to see a year-on-year increase of 11 per cent, while simulation grew 13 per cent.
Innersloth’s Among Us was the clear cut winner in terms of downloads between Q2 and Q4 last year.
The social deduction title blew all the over games out of the water. Despite initially launching in 2018, the game soared in popularity last summer.
Overall, Among Us racked up 264 million installs last year, crossing the 200 million downloads mark in November 2020.
Making bank
As for revenue, the mobile games market experienced a steady growth rate of between 25 per cent and 35 per cent after the pandemic hit. However, May proved to be the most lucrative month with a 40 per cent increase.
In May, mobile games revenue grew by 64 per cent year-on-year across the US, with the market proving to be more lucrative than Asia and Europe for the rest of the year.
Overall, most genres saw a rise in earnings, with the strategy genre being the only one to experience a lower growth rate, 25 per cent, than the 28 per cent it had in 2020.
Roblox proved to be the most lucrative mobile game as the pandemic gripped the world.
However, Pokemon Go also had an impressive year, particularly in the second half when it surpassed $4 billion in lifetime revenue.
