Roblox has increased its market share to 4.85 per cent in the US, according to GameRefinery’s Q4 snapshot report.
As such, the company is now nipping at the heels of mobile giants Playrix and King, who hold 5.32 per cent and 4.88 per cent, respectively. The companies are known for titles such as Gardenscapes and Candy Crush Saga, respectively.
However, Roblox is not the only company to have experienced growth in the US in Q4 2020. MiHoYo’s market share grew by 1.5 per cent.
Undoubtedly, this is thanks to the impressive release of Genshin Impact. The Breath of the Wild-inspired RPG took the world by storm when it launched in September 2020. Within two months, the title generated nearly $400 million.
Moreover, Genshin Impact managed to snag a nomination for Mobile Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2020. However, it lost out to InnerSloth’s Among Us.
Augmented Reality specialist Niantic also experienced strong growth in the US in Q4 2020, with a rise of 1.13 per cent. Its flagship title, Pokemon Go, had a fantastic year thanks to various events.
The AR game was one of five mobile titles to generate $1 billion via spending. As such, it also crossed the $4 billion threshold for lifetime revenue.
Top genres
In the US, the puzzle genre continued to dominate with 22.09 per cent of the market share, despite a decline of 1.26 per cent. It was followed by casino and RPG, as the two genres account for 17.17 per cent and 14.33 per cent, respectively.
The US’s top five genres were closed out with strategy at 13.76 per cent while simulation claimed the No.5 spot with 9.51 per cent.
Meanwhile, in Japan, RPG is the top dog as it holds 51.59 per cent of the market, having grown by 2.71 per cent. However, in second place, with 10.1 per cent, is sports while strategy is just behind at 8.75 per cent.
Lifestyle and puzzle close out Japan’s top five genres. The categories account for 7.32 per cent and 7.25 per cent of the market, respectively.
Much like Japan, Chinese consumers favour RPGs as the category has a market share of 48.08 per cent, though strategy is also popular with 29.9 per cent of players.
Meanwhile, shooter, casino and arcade account for 9.06 per cent, 2.89 per cent and 2.42 per cent of China’s audience, respectively.
To battle
Last year, the battle pass continued to be a popular form of monetisation, as it became of the most utilised features in the mobile games market.
In just one year, the use of the battle pass increased from 20 per cent to 40 per cent in the US top grossing 100 games.
Moreover, more casual games have begun to adopt the feature as well.
In Japan, meanwhile, the most popular feature has proven to be special currencies with 86 per cent of the top-grossing 100 games using them.
Finally, China’s top feature is brand crossover events. Last year, 40 per cent of the top games in the country used promotional collaboration events. One such example was match-three puzzler Anipop, which featured the Angry Birds last summer.
What a year
“2020 proved a strong year for mobile gaming,” said GameRefinery vice president of games Joel Julkunen.
“The overall market looks much like it did a year prior with puzzle and casino maintaining their stronghold in the West while RPGs continue to dominate in the East. However, we did see growth among casual genres simulation, AR and arcade.
“Individual performers also stood out. Roblox further solidified its position in the US market, and Niantic’s Pokemon Go updates over the year made it stronger than ever.
“Not to mention Genshin Impact, MiHoYo’s take on a premium RPG experience, that went straight to the top of the charts despite its light monetisation mechanics.”
