Mobile games generated more than $40 billion in revenues last year

Mobile games are big business. According to the report from SuperData Research and Unity, the mobile games market generated $40.6 billion in revenue last year, which is an 18 percent increase when compared with 2015. Mobile games are now so popular that they account for half of the entire global digital games market.

The largest market for mobile games in the world is Asia, as it generated $24.8 billion in revenue in 2016. The US came in second with $6.9 billion, followed by Europe with $5.7 billion. Android users spent almost 30 minutes per day on average playing games, which is 9 percent more than in 2015.

In the US, mobile games are more popular than well-known streaming services. Americans spend more time playing games than they do watching Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu. The report states that users play games six days a week, while watching online content only five.

Puzzle games are the most popular among users, as 58 percent play them. Action games aren’t far behind with 40 percent, while only 26 percent of people opt for simulation games. However, action games represent the largest share of game installs by genre — 30 percent — followed by puzzle games with 14 percent.

It is also worth mentioning that Android gamers represent 78 percent of the global market. However, the US is the only country in the world where iOS players outnumber those playing games on Android devices.

Are you surprised by how massive mobile gaming has become? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments.