The Latin American mobile gaming market is large and maintains a rapidly growing momentum. According to a research report jointly released by Dutch market research firm Newzoo and Google, the revenue of the Latin American mobile game market is expected to reach $3.5 billion in 2021, accounting for about 48% of the total revenue of the Latin American game market. In addition, 58% of Latin American Internet users (273.4 million) play mobile games.
From the perspective of player base and revenue, Brazil is the largest mobile game market in the entire Latin American region. Brazil is home to about 88.4 million mobile game players, and the mobile game market is expected to generate more than $1 billion in revenue in 2021, the report notes. Mexico (nearly $900 million), Argentina and Colombia ranked second to fourth in revenue from latin American players, respectively. The report predicts that annual revenue in the Latin American mobile game market will grow to $5.1 billion by 2024.
Newzoo said that by the end of this year, there will be more than 351.9 million smartphone users in Latin America, and this figure is expected to exceed 400 million in 2023. Due to the strict import regulations in Latin American countries, consoles and game PCs are extremely expensive in the local area, and smartphones have become the preferred or even the only gaming device for many Latin American players.
With the advancement of network technology, the Internet penetration rate in Latin American countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile is rising rapidly, creating convenient conditions for players to play online.
The report believes that increased internet speeds, 5G and infrastructure will bring different ripple effects to the mobile game market in Latin American countries. For smaller overall markets such as Colombia, Chile and Peru, technological advances will further drive the growth of internet and smartphone users, while creating more opportunities for independent development teams. In countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, more advanced technologies such as 5G will prompt people to play high-end mobile games, multiplayer games, and drive the development of the mobile esports market.
Characteristics of Latin American mobile gamers
In Latin America, nearly half of mobile gamers like to spend money on games. Compared to console and PC games, Latin American players also spend the most on mobile games. As the chart below shows, the number of Latin American mobile game players and the proportion of paying players have continued to grow in the past few years. Interestingly, if you compare the average revenue generated by each mobile gamer, mexican players have even higher data than Brazilian players.
Google Play is the most popular mobile game store for Latin American players. In 2021, the revenue of the Google Play Store in Latin America is expected to exceed 68% of the total revenue of the region's mobile app stores, while the revenue of the iOS App Store and third-party stores will account for 29.9% and 1.5%, respectively.
This is mainly because Android devices offer consumers more choice (especially low- and mid-range devices) and tend to be cheaper than iOS devices with similar technical specifications, the report said.
Latin American mobile gamers generally like competitive and medium-core games
Newzoo data shows that 35% of Latin American mobile gamers have played at least one strategy game in the past six months. From a category perspective, the second and third most popular categories among Latin American mobile game players are shooting (32%) and racing (30%), respectively. The mobile game methods of these categories are relatively hardcore and competitive.
From the perspective of game themes, 47% of Latin American mobile game players said that science fiction themes were the most attractive to them, and the proportion of Latin American players who chose fantasy themes reached 43%.
In addition, Latin American mobile gamers also prefer hardcore gameplay mechanics: 30% of Latin American players believe that exploring and opening up the world is the most important part of mobile games; for comparison, about 29% of Latin American players say that the storyline is the most attractive to them.
According to Newzoo's previous statistics, in June 2021, the top five categories with the highest overall revenue in the Latin American mobile game market were tactical competition, strategy, casual puzzle, shooting and adventure.
Other statistics on Latin American mobile game players
As the chart below shows, the majority of mobile gamers in Latin America are men, with the largest percentage of players aged 21 to 35. In addition, latin American mobile game players generally have higher income levels.
Newzoo also noted in the report that the total revenue of the Latin American esports market is expected to reach $47.5 million in 2021, an increase of 16% year-on-year. The number of esports viewers in Latin America is about 43.8 million.
In recent years, the mobile esports market has also experienced rapid development in Latin America. The report mentions that Garena Free Fire, Arena of Valor (Glory of Kings) and Endless Showdown are very popular with Latin American players, and the esports events of these games have attracted many players to participate and watch.