Casino City's iGaming Pocket Directory - 2021 Edition

36 Sponsored by Casino City’s iGaming Pocket Directory games games INDUSTRY OVERVIEW With the pandemic ravaging the globe for most of 2020, consumers had to adapt to a “new normal” as lockdowns forced most people to stay home. As a result, mobile devices, which have grown tremendously in influence for the last two decades, became even more significant in people’s lives. Mobile devices became many people’s connection to the outside world and became the primary tool for education, employment, and entertainment among many others. As a result, total global app spending from both the Apple App Store and Google Play reached a combined $111 billion in 2020, a 30% increase from 2019’s global app spending, according to data presented by Trading Platforms. Newzoo projects that consumer spending on games will grow to $217.9 billion by 2023, as population increases, technological advances and swifter internet speeds help build the industry up. Within that market, the overall social gaming market was estimated to be $17.6 billion of revenue, per ReportLinker’s Global Social Gaming Industry report from July 2020. The broadening reach of social media has bolstered the gaming market, with cooperative aspects, chat rooms and more, aiding its growth. Over 70% of the 100 casinos surveyed reported that they plan to integrate skill-based games in the future, according to a survey by Synergy Blue. They also found that 67% of respondents cited appealing to a younger generation of gambler as their aim with skill games, which tend to be more immersive. But slot-style games remain popular, with items such as Moon Active’s Coin Master generating $1.1 billion for 2020 per Sensor Tower.