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Google Play surpasses Nintendo & Sony in handheld gaming revenue

C

Cheebo

Banned
Google Play has now joined the iOS Store in topping the entire traditional (3DS/Vita/etc) gaming market in terms of revenue from game sales. This isn't the entire Google Play store (or App Store in the case of iOS) just the $ made from mobile games alone from the google play store.

It really shows just how far the traditional handheld market has fallen behind:
http://www.androidauthority.com/google-play-game-sales-257986/
There was a time when mobile gaming was nearly synonymous with the word Gameboy, oh how the mighty have fallen. According to the latest report from IDC and App Annie, Google Play has now joined Apple in surpassing traditional gaming handhelds, at least in terms of dollars spent on mobile games.
Click to expand...
idc-data.jpg
 
I have an android phone and the only games I ever play on there are free to play quiz games. I honestly haven't found a single "real" game I'd want to purchase for my S3.
 
Cheebo said:
Projections are a bit different than actual sales numbers from completed quarters you realize. If you think the traditional handhelds make more revenue in game sales than iOS and Android you are delusional.
Click to expand...

Wow, someone's defensive.

Where do Nintendo and Sony reveal their digital revenue per platform?
 
Cheebo said:
Projections are a bit different than actual sales numbers from completed quarters you realize. If you think the traditional handhelds make more revenue in game sales than iOS and Android you are delusional.
Click to expand...

The statistics are useless though. How much does a game make on average on iOS vs. handhelds? What's the difference in install base? How many games are on the platform. And, at the end of the day, Backstreet Boys sold a crap ton of records but that doesn't then make their music objectively good.
 
So handheld consoles that are tens (hundreds?) of millions of hardware units lower are still making half as much as ios games, and almost as much as android games?
 
DGRE said:
The statistics are useless though. How much does a game make on average on iOS vs. handhelds? What's the difference in install base? How many games are on the platform. And, at the end of the day, Backstreet Boys sold a crap ton of records but that doesn't then make their music objectively good.
Click to expand...

No one is claiming their games are better, just they sell better and make more money.
 
If handhelds are dying, they are doing it in motherfucking style I can tell you that much. 3DS is giving me my favorite gaming experiences this year and I own a 360 and gaming PC.
 
DGRE said:
The statistics are useless though. How much does a game make on average on iOS vs. handhelds? What's the difference in install base? How many games are on the platform. And, at the end of the day, Backstreet Boys sold a crap ton of records but that doesn't then make their music objectively good.
Click to expand...

It matters because it affects how much game studios invest in platforms. Just look at all the stuff that isn't going to be on Wii U or Vita due to dismal sales figures (which are due to dismal install base).

You can see how much revenue EA has made on mobile vs nintendo/sony handhelds over the last 2 years or so (in millions):

http://files.shareholder.com/downlo...Y14_Earnings_Release_w_press_tables_FINAL.pdf
http://files.shareholder.com/downlo...5d-de612bcbbc61/EA_News_2013_1_30_General.pdf
http://files.shareholder.com/downlo...FY13_Earnings_Release_w_PressTables_FINAL.pdf

Code: 
                         Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3  Q4  Q1
Mobile                   57 55 70 87 69 75 86 109 113 
PlayStation Handhelds    11 17 14  6 10 14 15  20  12
Nintendo Handhelds        8  7 15  5  9  8  9   9   9

For mobile, the Q1 revenue after 2 years increased by $56 million.
For both handhelds, the Q1 revenue after 2 years increased by $1 million.
 
I don't doubt such a result but that article and graph... well, I could've made it. Don't we have anymore hard sources on this stuff?
 
weevles said:
Means little for Nintendo. Maybe it bothers Sony some.

Amazon meanwhile licks it lips in anticipation...
Click to expand...
In what way does it mean little to Nintendo?

If there's anyone that ought to be fretting, it's Nintendo. Handhelds are their bread and butter. Sony could kill the Vita tomorrow and forget it ever happened by the weekend.
 
numble said:
It matters because it affects how much game studios invest in platforms. Just look at all the stuff that isn't going to be on Wii U or Vita due to dismal sales figures (which are due to dismal install base).

You can see how much revenue EA has made on mobile vs nintendo/sony handhelds over the last 2 years or so (in millions):

http://files.shareholder.com/downlo...Y14_Earnings_Release_w_press_tables_FINAL.pdf
http://files.shareholder.com/downlo...5d-de612bcbbc61/EA_News_2013_1_30_General.pdf
http://files.shareholder.com/downlo...FY13_Earnings_Release_w_PressTables_FINAL.pdf

Code: 
                         Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3  Q4  Q1
Mobile                   57 55 70 87 69 75 86 109 113 
PlayStation Handhelds    11 17 14  6 10 14 15  20  12
Nintendo Handhelds        8  7 15  5  9  8  9   9   9
Click to expand...

Self-fulfilling prophecy. They aren't putting anything on Nintendo handhelds, and we all know Vita has struggled.
 
I enjoy both traditional handheld gaming and iOS/Android gaming. I hope they both can co-exist.

I contributed to the gaming revenue for Google Play and even more for iOS. Some nice experiences to be had.
 
Personal (mostly unrelated) anecdote, I was on my Galaxy Note 2 last night thinking, "Man, I haven't bought a game on Google Play in months." So I boot up the store, see that I can get GTA III for just $5, and buy it, considering I missed out on this classic piece of gaming since I was Dreamcast + Gamecube a couple gens back.

Man, that was the worst $5 I've spent on gaming in months and I'm not even sure it was the fact that I was playing it sans buttons on a phone (though that certainly contributed).

More on topic: what the fuck are people spending money on for Android? There isn't shit worth playing on it. Is it from some in app purchases or something?
 
3DS games tend to be overpriced and will not drop in price no matter how much time has passed, so this doesn't surprise me one bit. Google Play deserves this imo. Still the IOS app store shits all over Google Play though.
 
Snowden's Secret said:
Personal (mostly unrelated) anecdote, I was on my Galaxy Note 2 last night thinking, "Man, I haven't bought a game on Google Play in months." So I boot up the store, see that I can get GTA III for just $5, and buy it, considering I missed out on this classic piece of gaming since I was Dreamcast + Gamecube a couple gens back.

Man, that was the worst $5 I've spent on gaming in months and I'm not even sure it was the fact that I was playing it sans buttons on a phone (though that certainly contributed).

More on topic: what the fuck are people spending money on for Android? There isn't shit worth playing on it. Is it from some in app purchases or something?
Click to expand...
I love playing Vice City in my iPad mini.

If they release San Andreas for its 10th anniversary next year, I'll be set for life.
 
SmokyDave said:
In what way does it mean little to Nintendo?

If there's anyone that ought to be fretting, it's Nintendo. Handhelds are their bread and butter. Sony could kill the Vita tomorrow and forget it ever happened by the weekend.
Click to expand...

I see both being threatened in different ways. Nintendo certainly makes more money off of portables, but they still have a reasonably viable market. Sony is less reliant on the Vita specifically, but I think this is only true because they so profoundly missed out on the mobile markets which Samsung and Apple now dominate generally.

Nintendo is losing the casual market to mobile, which is huge and led to the rise of both the Wii and the DS. On the other hand, Sony has lost the convergence market to mobile, which was ostensibly their reason for being in gaming in the first place. I can't reasonably decide who gets hit worse, and it seems like the market generally agrees with me, given that both Nintendo and Sony's market caps have tanked over the last 3-5 years. Hurray, they're both terrible companies that have lost the pulse of the market!
 
I was going to make this thread earlier but appeantly I still can't make threads.

iOS GAF has a good thread with some fun looking goods advertised on the OP. Mobile gaming has really improved, and it'll only get better with iOS 7 Official Controllers.
 
Catchpenny said:
Self-fulfilling prophecy. They aren't putting anything on Nintendo handhelds, and we all know Vita has struggled.
Click to expand...

It's not a self-fulfilling prophecy. They would put more games on handhelds if they can make more money on there. The install base of smartphones isn't increasing because of more EA games being on there, either.
 
So Nintendo's home console is failing, and the only market they have a successful platform in is shrinking by the day. Great position for them to be in.
 
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