Social Motivations and Mobile Gaming Habits of Top Players

In a survey of over 3,000 US mobile gamers, we were able to learn about their gaming behaviors, motivations behind sharing, and how they discover games, in order to find out what makes them tick – and what motivates the most lucrative players, the “Super Whales”.

Super Whales (those that spend $50+/month) are an incredible group, only making up less than 1% of your player base yet comprising almost 29% of your game’s total revenue. They love competitive games, listen to their friends’ game recommendations, and want to play games that let them socialize with their friends. They love watching and sharing gameplay video, often share to Facebook and YouTube, and download more games per month than the average user.

Some other findings from the study:

• Male U.S. mobile gamers spend almost twice as much on games each month as female mobile gamers
• Whales still drive the bulk of revenues – 10% of players considered “High Spenders” (spending over $10 per month or more) make up two-thirds of all revenue from mobile gaming
• The more they play, the more they will pay – those playing 10 hours per week spent over three times that of the average player
• Mobile gamers who play on iOS devices tend to spend more than do their Android counterparts; however, mobile gamers who play on both iOS and Android tend to both spend more and download more than gamers who play on only either iOS or Android

Want to read the whole white paper? Download your free copy of the full “Mobile Gaming: Social Motivations” study here.