Facebook: US mobile players grew 28 million during the pandemic

The number of mobile gamers in the United States increased 28 million since the Coronavirus pandemic broke out, according to Facebook’s Games Marketing Insights for 2021 report. 

Tech giant Facebook commissioned a survey with over 13k survey respondents across 9 markets including the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Brazil to reveal how the COVID19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders affected mobile player habits.

Here are the main findings:

More people play mobile games since the pandemic broke out

According to the report, U.S. mobile players grew 28 million (+28%), U.K mobile players grew 8.6 million (+50%), South Korean players grew 9.4 million (+34%) and German players grew 6.5 million (+25%) since March 2020 when many countries announced their first cases and mandatory lockdowns. 

New players spend more time on mobile games

The report also found that new gamers are spending more hours playing mobile games than existing players in all the markets.

Meanwhile, existing players are also spending more time playing mobile games than they did before the pandemic. US players reported 40%, UK players reported 40%, S.Korean players 53% and German players reported 30% longer gaming sessions during the pandemic. 

New players are more open to multiplayer games

While players in all the markets in which the survey was conducted said they prefer single player experiences, new gamers are more open to multiplayer games and chatting with others, compared to the existing players. 

Both new and existing players play for similar reasons

Both new and existing players reported that they play mobile games for similar reasons such as relieving stress, passing time and feeling accomplished. 

New players spend more money on mobile games

The survey also found that new gamers in all the markets are more likely to spend money on mobile games, compared to existing players.  (US 41% vs. 23%, UK: 35% vs. 21%, S. Korea: 43% vs. 33%, Germany: 38% vs. 24%).

They also spend more money per month compared to existing players. ( US: $27.20 vs. $17.00, UK: $16,62 vs. $4.20, S.Korea: $20,58 vs. $16,41, Germany: $32,45, vs. $17,21)

However, there are obvious differences when it comes to why new and existing players spend money on mobile games. 

You can check out Facebook’s report for more details. 

Facebook has been criticizing Apple’s upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature which will roll out in early spring, accusing the company of anti-competitive behaviour and hurting small businesses. 

In December, Facebook ran full-page newspaper ads against Apple’s privacy changes and the social media giant last week began showing users a prompt to encourage them to allow iOS tracking.