According to Sensor Tower, mobile games represent 19 per cent of all apps that reference the metaverse.
To date, 552 apps contain the word ‘metaverse’ in their description or title, with 107 of these being mobile games. The second and third most apps most likely to include the phrase in either the title or description are finance and social apps, respectively.
Between November 2021 and January 2022, 86 apps have added the term ‘metaverse’ to their title on the App Store and Google Play. Furthermore, 23 per cent of all of these apps also include the term ‘crypto’, highlighting the growing link between metaverse projects and the opportunity to earn in apps and games.
The second most associated term with metaverse is ‘NFT’, which appeared in 18 per cent of all of the apps.
Sensor Tower noted that following the announcement from Meta (formerly Facebook) that it will double down on its metaverse operations the number of apps that updated their descriptions or titles rose by 66 per cent.
The connection between mobile games and the metaverse has continued to grow throughout the past year, with many companies, including Niantic and Netmarble, shifting their focus to enter the metaverse space.
Many smaller companies are also entering the market to specifically tailor to these fairly new trends. For example, in December Singapore-based mobile games startup Affyn announced that it had raised $7 million to create a free-to-play, play-to-earn, augmented reality metaverse game – ticking all the boxes.
Recently, games analytics firm Newzoo predicted that fashion brands will be “early winners” in the metaverse, as brands can increase their audience reach whilst also preserving the value of their real-world products.
