Today gaming revenue growth engine SuperScale unveiled its Good Games Don’t Die white paper which details some startling statistics about the life and death of the mobile gaming industry. The study comes from interviews with 500 game developers across the US and UK.
SuperScale’s headline statistics report that a whopping 83% of launched mobile games die within three years and 43% of mobile game projects die before they even reach the app store. So much work goes on behind the scenes in making a mobile game, meaning that 86% of developers surveyed feel that just launching a game in the first place counts as a success, whereas SuperScale’s research aims to show the benefits of putting additional work into reviving ‘legacy games’.
We all know that this year has been tough for the gaming industry and this white paper further proves it. 32% of studios laid off staff in the past 12 months and 24% almost shut down entirely. Despite 2022’s abundance of digital CCGs, 62% of respondents working in the genre reported job losses, whereas puzzle and match 3 game developers reported the fewest redundancies.
Ivan Trancik, CEO and Founder of SuperScale said, “Findings from the ‘Good Games Don’t Die’ white paper serve as a wake-up call for the industry, a source of inspiration with actionable data; equipping developers and publishers with insight on how revenue can be maximized across their portfolio – for games both new and old.”
Those are the key findings from the Good Games Don’t Die white paper. If you want to do your bit to support the industry, check out our list of the best mobile games in 2023. We’ve also got a great round-up of Black Friday and Cyber Monday gaming phone deals if you’re after a new device.