If you think of video games, you are primarily looking at consoles such as the PlayStation 5 or drilled out gaming PCs. But reality speaks a completely different language, as new figures now impressively demonstrate. The gaming market has long since moved on, the cell phone is the new star. Neither consoles nor gaming PCs stand a real chance.

IDC Gaming Report: Mobile games on cell phones more popular than ever

PC gamers and console owners now have to be brave: According to figures published by App Annie together with the International Data Corporation (IDC), it has actually been in recent years only the market for mobile gaming has really grown. There has been only a slight increase in consoles in recent years, while the PC market has stagnated. There is hardly any growth in the handheld area either.

How much the gap is widening now is made clear by the specific figures. In all likelihood, gamers will generate no less than 99 billion euros in mobile gaming in 2021. Even if the console and PC markets are added together, sales are still below that of mobile gaming.

Stagnation or low growth on the one hand, and exploding mobile business on the other. Picture: App Annie.

Mobile gaming: Google and Apple are on the sunny side

The strong growth is also noticeable in the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. According to IDC, these are now € 1.4 billion a week with mobile games. Compared to the previous year, there was an increase of 40 percent, which is due, among other things, to the corona pandemic.

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In Germany and the USA in particular, spending on mobile games has risen, it says report. In the first quarter of 2021, the 30 percent more mobile games downloaded than before the pandemic.