• Apple store generates $22.2b and Google store generates $14.6b in first half.
• Apple store generates more gaming revenues while Google Play dominates number of downloads.

Bengaluru: Mobile gaming revenues in the first half of this year increased by 26 per cent year on year to $36.8 billion, driven by the boosted user engagement amid the Covid-19 lockdowns.

According to statistics by Sensor Tower and Statista, iPhone users generated 60% of that value. In the first quarter of this year, the App Store revenue amounted to $10.6 billion, an 18% increase year-on-year and in the second quarter of the year; it rose to $11.6 billion.

However, Google Play store generated $14.6 billion in mobile gaming revenue in the first half of the year, $6.9 billion in the first quarter and $7.7 billion in the second quarter.

Although the App Store generated more gaming revenues during the first half of the year, the Sensor Tower data revealed Google Play dominates in the number of downloads.

In the first quarter of 2020, Google Play hit 10.4 billion mobile games downloads, a 39 per cent jump year-on-year. The number of downloads continued rising and jumped to 12.4 billion in the second quarter of the year. Statistics show the total number of downloads in Google Play store during the first half of 2020 amounted to 22.8 billion, a 52 per cent increase year-on-year.

The Sensor Tower data show the number of mobile game downloads in the App Store reached 5.7 billion during the first half of the year, four times less than Google Play.