Advancements in tech and a backlog of reasonably engaging titles mean that mobile gaming has been able to destabilise the status quo of gaming in the UK and take its place as one of the biggest markets. But how does it stack up in terms of market penetration against more traditional forms of gaming in the UK?
The gaming industry in the UK has flourished in the last couple of decades, and the biggest winner by some margin has been mobile gaming. This is largely due to increasing advancements in smartphone tech, alongside more ubiquitous high-speed internet access. This article will attempt to explore just where mobile gaming sits when compared to the other branches of the gaming industry in the UK. We will start with an overview of the UK gaming industry, touch on the importance of mobile casino gaming for the mobile gaming industry, and then examine how mobile gaming stacks up to the traditional gaming markets in terms of market penetration.
An overview of the gaming industry in the UK
The UK’s gaming industry is one of the strongest in the entire world and includes mobile gaming, esports, PC gaming and console gaming. As of 2023, GamesIndustry.biz claims that the UK’s gaming market was worth somewhere in the order of 7.82 billion Pounds. Typically the console gaming niche has been the most dominant, but mobile gaming has grown significantly in size in the last decade and is becoming a real contender for the crown of the biggest gaming market in the UK.
According to PoketGamer.biz, the mobile gaming market still lags behind the console market in the UK, bucking the global trend of mobile being the largest share of the market. With a global trend towards more convenient and portable gaming, it is surely only a matter of time before the UK’s console market cedes the crown to mobile gaming.
Casino gaming, in the palm of your hand
It might be somewhat controversial for some, but the importance of the online casino market for mobile gaming should not be understated. With mobile casino games and apps being more popular now than ever before, it is not outlandish to consider the mobile casino gaming market as one of the pillars of the mobile gaming industry. There are many reasons for this, and accessibility and convenience are relatively high on that list. Any gamers who want to explore the best mobile casino app in the UK need to look no further than their favourite comparison website, or the front page of their app store to find a number of great apps to choose from.
While there is a substantial amount of casino gaming that takes place on PC, there is little to none that occurs within the console market, so comparisons to those markets seem unnecessary. In terms of other mobile games being compared to mobile casino games, it can be stated with confidence that casino gaming typically attracts a more dedicated type of user, which means that mobile casino gaming should have a higher retention rate when compared with other mobile gaming titles.
Market penetration
It should surprise no one to say that mobile gaming has a far higher market penetration rate than either console or PC gaming. with a whopping 97% of people in the UK owning a smartphone, according to Uswitch, it’s fair to say that mobile gaming market penetration by device ownership is almost total. While stats on how many of those people play mobile games are harder to pin down, that all of them have the capacity to engage in mobile gaming is certain.
Comparing this to the market penetration of console and PC gaming, there is a huge advantage for the mobile market. Console gaming has a huge following, it’s true, and consoles are relatively simple to set up, requiring a TV or monitor and some games and usually an internet connection, consoles are just about as close as it comes to plug-and-play. However, console gaming is divided into three main camps, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo, all of them having exclusives and needing different hardware. When you compare this complexity to the simplicity of downloading a mobile app, mobile gaming is by far the easier option.
PC gaming is even more complicated than console gaming and while it comes with advantages and benefits, that complexity means that there will be a limit to the amount of people that have any desire to engage with it. Requiring hundreds if not thousands of pounds to build a rig and some level of technological proficiency coupled with a stable high-speed internet connection, PC gaming is by no means designed to be engaged with by a more casual audience. This is where mobile gaming thrives, even people who might not consider themselves gamers can easily engage in very casual mobile gaming apps.
Conclusion
It should be clear that mobile gaming has arrived as a very real player in the UK gaming market. With almost total market penetration and ease of use that suits even the most casual and disinterested of users, mobile gaming is poised to turn anyone with the slightest glimmer of interest into a gamer. It is unlikely that the more dedicated audiences that engage with console and PC gaming will abandon their chosen mediums, but there’s nothing stopping them from also engaging in mobile gaming, which many of them do. The overall trend towards mobile gaming highlights a shift in the gaming industry towards accessibility and convenience.
