After the explosive growth in 2020, many developers are feeling the pain of change in 2021.
The gaming market is still growing, but more and more policies and regulatory measures for user privacy are forcing game companies to change their game operations and marketing strategies. At the same time, with the growth of the scale of the game market, gamers are becoming more and more diversified, and their expectations for games are getting higher and higher.
In the past 2021, how has the global game market, especially the global mobile game users, changed? What experience do they want the game company to bring and what do they value most in the game experience? How should game marketers respond to privacy policy changes and global regulation?
Recently, Facebook released its annual mobile game marketing insights report, which analyzes the game market, player diversity and user connection based on user survey data from nine key markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and South Korea.
Here's what GameLook compiled from the Facebook report:
With billions of people playing, watching, and streaming games, the industry is exploding. However, the gaming industry has also reached an inflection point: changes to user privacy policies have limited precise positioning, and we must actively change them. How successful gaming companies can adapt their organizational structures to stand out in situations where there is less third-party data and meaningful connections to players will be important success factors.
In 2021, global game users continue to upgrade, millions of users who entered the game world in 2020 are still in the game, compared with the previous game time, consumption habits and category preferences have changed. Game groups, live streaming, new platforms and technologies continue to have an impact on gamers.
Global users are becoming increasingly diverse: disgruntled user groups make up a large portion of this group of users, and real characters are key to building meaningful relationships with players, yet this requires a more deliberate approach. Game companies will benefit from creating an inclusive and safe gaming environment.
Game advertising has reached an inflection point: regulatory and platform changes in the industry have affected common ways of marketing performance, and for a game's long-term success, a first-party data strategy will be imminent, and considering potential players and their favorite gaming experiences will be key. As performance marketing begins to adapt to consumer privacy expectations, top-funnel marketing and insight-driven marketing will become increasingly important.
1. The constantly changing game market
2020 shows us that the global pandemic has brought impetus to the gaming landscape in many ways. Most notably, it has brought in a large number of new players, with significant changes in user age, gaming habits and communities in several key markets over the past year, with a significant increase in gaming users as the world begins to react differently to social distancing measures.
In 2021, the previous growth continued, such as the number of new mobile game players in the United States was 28 million, the increase in the number of mobile games in the United Kingdom reached a staggering 50%, and the number of mobile game users in South Korea and Germany also increased by more than 30%.
Similar to a year ago, in the US, UK and German markets, the age of new users is still significantly lower than that of old players, while in South Korea, the proportion of young users among old players is higher.
Unlike in 2020, Facebook's survey results show that new players in 2021 spend less play time per week than older players, with only 15% of new players in the United States, for example, saying they play more than 11 hours a week, compared with 33% of older players.
Older users spend more than new players
In the US, UK and German markets, older players not only invest more time in the game, they also spend more. This is the opposite of the trend in 2020, when new players spent more on games than older players at the height of the global pandemic.
Of course, what is more sustainable is that players prefer two business models: free and advertising monetization.
There are differences in game motivation and consumption motivation between old players and new players, both types of players pass the time by playing games, however, decompression is more important for old players.
Category preferences change
It is worth noting that players' category preferences are also changing, ultra-casual games are still the most popular category, but games that provide a more immersive experience are gaining a large number of users. By tracking AppAnnie's downloads from August 2020 to August 2021, we found that:
Ultra-casual games, simulation and puzzle solving games are still the most downloaded categories in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany; however, in South Korea, RPG replaced the puzzle category as the third place.
While still the most popular, hyper-casual games also saw a year-on-year decline in downloads across all markets. In 2020, the category accounted for 38% of all game downloads in the United States, and by 2021 this proportion will drop to 36.4%.
This is likely due to changes in the advertising ecosystem driving up the cost of buying, which is very sensitive for hyper-casual game publishers. Another factor may be that most new players in this ecosystem have expanded their preferred category to seek more immersive experiences in medium- and heavy-to-medium categories such as action, RPG, strategy, simulation, and sports games.
In order to adapt to this change, hyper-casual game publishers are also following the trend, through the creation of meta gameplay features to integrate across categories, such as character customization and progression systems, all to promote the long-term retention of gamers.
Co-op gaming experience
As trends change and the gaming industry expands, bringing a comprehensive gaming experience requires new thinking. In particular, advances in live streaming, gaming groups and AR, as well as VR, are starting to make users prefer co-op games.
Two years ago, as people looked for more ways to resist restlessness, live streaming quickly became a global hit, and they needed stimulation, entertainment and, more importantly, like-minded partners. Live streaming continues to attract new users, with multiple streaming platforms reaching new highs in the second quarter of 2021. Interestingly, live viewing times on these platforms exceeded new records set during the pandemic, meaning that watching games is now a very important form of media consumption, and game creators have more potential than ever before in terms of top funnel brand marketing.
In 2021, Facebook's gaming group continues to drive engagement. With the participation of a large number of new players, the number of Facebook game groups has exceeded 1 million, and the number of members today exceeds 350 million, and in May alone, the number of game group participation reached 1.7 billion.
Cloud technology continues to evolve
Cloud technology is very popular, especially for Gen Z. This is more common in the UK and the US, where streaming time has increased by 10-15% and 10-18% year-over-year, respectively, and cloud streaming services seem to be more popular with younger users due to the need for more expensive gaming hardware.
Metaverse will enhance the already huge industry, thanks to the continuous improvement of experience quality, independent devices, AR and VR into the mainstream vision. At the beginning of the pandemic, at least one in five players in all markets played with VR headsets, a trend that continued in 2021, with the exception of the South Korean market. In 2021Q3, the number of users using AR/VR products in the Facebook group increased by 2.8 times year-on-year.
The global gaming industry continues to be a testing ground for new technologies and platforms, the popularity of AR/VR is driven by games, and we expect the gaming industry to continue to lead the development of new technologies. NFTs have already enabled the Play-to-earn model, which is expected to be an important pillar of digital assets in the future, through which in-game purchases can not only be monetized, but also help app developers.
Of course, NFTs, crypto, and Metaverse are more likely to drive game development before they impact players, but there's no doubt that games will be at the forefront of new technologies and help them become mainstream.
2. Diversification of the game industry
The game ecosystem is built with players at its core, with players of different races, ages, genders, sexual orientations, and game levels coming together. This creates a huge opportunity for game companies to create an inclusive and representative gaming environment for players.
Inclusive and representative games are more valuable
Research shows that games designed with diversity in mind are more immersive and engaging for all mobile gamers, especially for special users in key markets.
We also found that inclusive design has the potential to drive download growth and usage of in-game features. In the UK, for example, 79% of LGBTQ+ surveyed players prefer to download and consume games that represent them.
Currently, there is a big difference between what mobile gamers want to see in the game and what they actually see. In the United States, for example, only 35 percent of surveyed players said their personality could be achieved through mobile game characters, and even fewer said their identity could be represented in mobile game ads. To meet the need for user diversity, inclusive games and ads that support diverse users are important to publishers.
The importance of inclusion
It is becoming increasingly apparent that many people want mobile games to better reflect their life experience. This can be achieved through closer and more accurate gameplay or more diverse, inclusive characters.
However, the game presentation must be realistic and the characters must be as consistent as possible with reality, of course, this does not have a recipe for success for all games and companies, but the customization feature is obviously important.
The data shows that customization increases the overall game experience and increases the potential for users to download, retain and consume. In all the major markets surveyed, the majority of mobile gamers are willing to see customized in-game experiences and believe that games with better customized tools are of higher quality.
In the U.S., 45 percent of mobile game players surveyed said they would be willing to spend more on games with more customized characters.
A true portrayal of the advertisement
As with the actual gaming experience, enhancing diversity and inclusion in advertising can still accurately reflect the gaming experience, creating a larger, near-connecting new player and high-value player.
However, more than half of all markets surveyed said they were unlikely to download an ad that portrayed people in a stereotypical way. Similarly, if the ads show the same characters, they are also reluctant to invest time in such a game.
Diversity and inclusion promoted by co-op elements, such as the ability to incorporate multiple characters to collaborate, or stories with different gaming experiences, can enhance diversity and inclusion in the gaming experience. However, the headache is that 56% of players said that almost all or a lot of mobile game ads they see are duplicates.
3. Establish an effective connection with the player
To meet the expectations of an increasingly complex marketing ecosystem, game advertising is also changing rapidly. New regulations are being introduced across the government, and more and more companies are updating their policies to respect users' privacy choices, and while this approach is industry-wide acceptance, it also requires us to re-measure the long-term advertising mechanism.
The growing and diverse user base presents a huge opportunity to connect and build fan relationships for new games, however, gaming companies that want to take advantage of good opportunities must rethink how to reach users. Until now, "call and react" data feedback has dictated the success of traditional game advertising, but now, game companies will benefit from building first-party relationships with consumers, which is a very big shift for most game marketers.
Establish a first-party relationship with the player
If you have a first-party relationship with your players, game marketers can build lasting and meaningful connections that help them drive buying and retention. To build this relationship, you need to offer something that players value in exchange for their willingness to share data.
Valuable experiences are not limited to the game itself, it's important to know that every new and existing touchpoint is an opportunity to turn potential users into loyal players and is key to enhancing performance in the new era of game advertising. Create valuable touchpoints with your users and focus on building trust with your brand and players:
60% of people with high brand trust say they are willing to share personal data such as email addresses or phone numbers with these brands, and they prefer to pay attention to the messages of their trusted brands. Therefore, you need to build relationships with your players through marketing methods that can make your business more authentic and bring more meaningful connections to your players.
Changes in the advertising ecosystem inspire innovation
The changing advertising ecosystem presents a new strategic task for the gaming industry to maximize the effectiveness of performance marketing through mechanisms independent of browser and device identifiers. While not yet proven, our experts in the field point out that this can be done by effective brand marketing at the top of the funnel and using proven marketing strategies such as app install optimization or value optimization.
To this end, we recommend that brands arrange for experts in the relevant field to join their teams to build a business model that is more similar to that of traditional advertising agencies. This includes marketing strategists and planners, creative architects (responsible for creative ideation) and dedicated production teams.
For the first time, these people and teams will be a necessary part of the game marketing funnel. While this is uncharted territory for many game marketers, we believe there is a huge opportunity; the first to try will stand out from the large number of brands that advertise commercialized and homogeneous games.
These people and teams will help improve performance in different areas of expertise, including audience planning, creative ideation, creative production, and data analytics.
Marketing strategists and planners take on the more complex role of user research and guide creative production. In this area, a deep understanding of their potential users is the key to success. It is very important to answer the following questions when considering regional market differences, player segmentation, and needs:
Who are my users and why are they playing? Can they find a true portrayal in the game? What are their relevant interests and triggers? What do they value most and what rewards do they most want when they play games? What are they interested in outside of the gaming ecosystem?
Creative architects use the insights brought by marketing strategists and create intersections between users, products, and platforms, who are responsible for creative ideation and associating with marketing channels, designing creative and player-centric concepts that are then handed over to the production team.
The creative production team is still responsible for producing multi-edition ads for the lower and middle marketing of the marketing funnel. To do this, they need to show
Their own strength, and put forward a clearer, more unified visual solution to strengthen the brand memory. The team must be based on marketing
Advice from strategists and creative architects to produce ideas in a format suggested by the team. As a result, creative production has a wider range of considerations than ever before, and it is important to keep up with the rapid pace of game advertising, always able to respond and adjust quickly.
Buying people: Of course, the buying team still has a very important position in the game company. However, they are no longer responsible for the entire process from idea iteration to buy volume to analysis. Instead, collaboration with other marketing roles will be their most important focus, so they should focus on all-media buying.
Data analysts can help understand the value of different users by analyzing the user value gained through the buying team and predicting how much return these players will bring to the game company. As user privacy protection and funnel-up marketing have become a top priority for mobile marketers, data analysts should re-evaluate the viability of existing strategies and make targeted improvements.
summary
Gaming will remain one of the world's largest forms of media consumption, and the growth of the gaming market shows no signs of slowing down. However, 2022 will be an important inflection point. More, more diverse and more complex user groups, with higher requirements for privacy and in-game authenticity, mean that mobile game marketers need new marketing strategies.
Companies that are willing and able to build relationships with players, create authentic experiences outside of the game, and leverage what they know about players for marketing will succeed.
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