Here’s an exciting stat: worldwide digital games market earnings rose by 15% to reach $11.6B in January 2021. What’s more, mobile grew by 6%. This increase in earnings marks a milestone for the industry and consumers. How exactly will 2021 mobile gaming trends continue to accelerate this growth and evolution?

We’ve identified six trends that we believe will matter in 2021 and for many years to come. The statistics that support these trends, as well as quotes from mobile and gaming experts, shine a light on key trends around 5G, top-grossing titles, in-game advertising, and connected communities that expect more innovation from developers. Jump to our infographic to see even more stats around the future of mobile gaming.

General Mobile Gaming Facts
Let’s start with some general eye-catching facts that set the scene for mobile gaming in 2021.

The number of global game consumers is approaching 3.1 billion, or 40% of the world’s population [Source: DFC Intelligence]
Demand for more digital gaming is expected to drive the industry’s worth to more than $94 billion by 2024 [Source: Nasdaq]
Asia is the leading region for paying game consumers at 1.42 billion. Europe follows in second place with 668 million paying game consumers with Latin America in third place with 383 million paying game consumers. North America is fourth with 261M. [ Source: DFC Intelligence]
Of the 303.7 million mobile users in the U.S. and Canada in 2020, 238.7 million are active mobile gamers, a 12% increase over 2019. [Source: The NPD Group]
Close to three in 10 Americans indicate they’ve been playing video games more often than usual amid lockdowns (28%). [Source: YouGov]
83% of employed Americans play mobile games and 55% of them play during breaks in their workdays. [Source: King via VentureBeat]
Trend 1: Gaming Will Continue to Reach All Generations
Who would have thought that a grandmother and grandson would not only enjoy playing video games together, but that a grandmother would log as many hours as the grandson?

Video games – like generations of players – have grown up. You are no longer tied to a plugged-in console or reach the end of a game after a weekend. You can play on any device, you can play with friends next door or across the world, and you can watch a game in real-time.

According to a Deloitte study,₂ before COVID-19, the average US consumer had 12 paid media and entertainment subscriptions. Looking at the generational breakdown:

Millennials averaged 17 subscriptions, Gen Z had 14, and Gen X had 13 [Source: Deloitte]
Two in five (40%) of Millennials said they’d been gaming more during the pandemic [Source: YouGov]
Renters spent 110 hours gaming during quarantine (timeframe: mid-March to May 2020) [Source: RentCafé]
A third of Fortnite players spend six to 10 hours per week playing [Source: LendEDU]
Nine in ten (90%) of Gen-Zers classify themselves as gamers, compared to 59% of the American population [Source: MediaPost]
The average age of a video game player is 35 to 44 years [Source: ESA]
Trend 2: ‘Future’ Technology is Changing the Gaming Experience
There appears to be a catch-22 with 5G technology: the increase of people working from home resulted in the need for a more robust 5G rollout. However, due to the pandemic, the expansion of 5G has slowed and been delayed in some parts of the U.S.

The key benefits of 5G for mobile gaming:

Lower latency rate or the time required for a set of data to travel between two points
Increase in capacity for a richer multiplayer experience
Greater streaming opportunities for live service games, aka cloud gaming
Currently, the major networks have deployed 5G for at least 200 million people, with T-Mobile leading the way at 270 million.₃ But even with this optimism and expansion, it is still early days. Here are some stats to get excited about:

The FCC announced in March 2020 that satellite operators mobile phone list would be offered compensation in the amount of almost $10 billion to fast-track 5G C-band spectrum by 2023 [Source: ITP.net]
Around four in ten (43%) active smartphones will be 5G ready by 2023 [Source: Newzoo]
Six in ten (58%) of gamers already pay a premium to their provider to enjoy the best gaming experience possible. On average, gamers spend $84 a month on their current gaming experience [Source: Ribbon]
The three major gaming platforms are Google Stadia, Microsoft xCloud, and Steam Remote Play [Source: RootMetrics]
The worldwide cloud gaming market will grow to 124.7 million users by 2022 [Source: Newzoo]
To stream games to a screen at 720p resolution, a player would need an internet connection speed of approximately 15 megabits per second compared to 35Mbps or more to play games in 4K. [Source: Polygon]
Trend 3: Top Grossing Mobile Titles Are Worth $ and Downloads
In a SuperData report,⁴ the top 10 grossing mobile titles were ranked, based on worldwide earnings from January 2021. Here is the list: