Games are the most popular app category on both app stores, accounting for about 59 percent of the consumer spending on app and 37 percent of all app downloads.
Inside of the gaming category, there are many sub-categories of games that have their own audiences, mechanics and monetization systems. Casual games tend to offer a similar experience every time, while puzzle games increase in difficulty as the player passes a level.
Quite a lot of games are monetized through ads, however, some use subscriptions and in-game purchases to make the majority of their revenue. This is seen more commonly with games that hold long replay value, keeping gamers invested for more than a few weeks with content updates, multiplayer and other variety.
As with apps, subcategories of games tend to garner more interest from certain demographics. Men tend to like sports, strategy and racing more than women, while women spend more of their time on trivia, word and puzzle games.
In the age category, almost every category has a majority of users that are between the ages of 18-24 years old. This is the demographic that downloads and plays games the most. However, there is some separation, with board, casino, puzzle, and family having more users over the ages of 25.
We have collected data and statistics on mobile game demographics. Read on below to find out more.
Key Mobile Game Demographics Statistics
- Trivia games have the highest percentage of users aged 18-24 years old on iOS, while board games have the lowest
- On Google Play, music games have the highest percentage of users in the 18-24 age bracket, casino games have the lowest
- Racing games are most popular with men on iOS, board games have the highest percentage of women players
- On Google Play, sports is the most popular with men, word games have the highest percentage of women players
Mobile Game Age Demographics by Category
Puzzle, word and board games tend to be played by older gamers, while music, trivia and educational games have the highest percentage of 18-24 year old users.
iOS mobile game age demographics by category 2024 (%)
Android game age demographics by category 2024 (%)
Game Gender Demographics by Category
Action, strategy, racing and sports tend to played mostly by men, while word, trivia, board and educational are split more evenly between the sexes.
