Mobile Games Scored 14 Billion Downloads During Q2 Of This Year, Reveals New Report

According to App Annie, a mobile data and analytics firm, smartphone applications and gaming increased to the highest levels ever recorded during Q2 of 2020. Particularly, mobile games scored 14 billion downloads during the quarter.

Studies after studies have revealed that the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the increased usage of mobile apps and games, and a new report from AppAnnie shows that during the second quarter of this year, people downloaded approximately 35 billion new applications and a total of $27 billion was spent by consumers during this quarter. These results are not surprising as the coronavirus lockdowns have resulted in people spending more time in front of their screens. However, App Annie believes that even the coronavirus lockdowns are lifted gradually, the new usage habits of people will carry over.

This indicates that the pandemic has shifted the habits of people, and game companies do not need to worry that the usage of smartphone apps and games will collapse in the unlikely event that the world can go back to the normal situation.

The mobile data and analytics researcher also discovered that during the second quarter of this year, the monthly time spent by users on mobile applications increased by 40% YoY. Recently, people spent an all-time high of more than 200 billion hours on mobile apps during April of this year.

As some countries including South Korea and China are recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, other markets like Russia, Brazil, and India are still working to control the pandemic. According to App Annie, the usage of mobile applications increased by 15%-35%. In the United States, the usage grew 15% while in India, it grew by 35%.

Discussing downloads of Google Play Store, App Annie recorded a 10% YoY growth in Google Play downloads. Consumers downloaded 25 billion apps from Google Play during Q2 of 2020, while Apple App Store downloads were nearly 10 billion, a 20% YoY growth.

Non-gaming applications accounted for 55% of all Google Play downloads. In comparison, these apps accounted for 70% of all Apple App Store downloads. In terms of spending, consumers spent significantly on games across Google Play Store (85%) as well as Apple App Store (65%).

According to App Annie, games, tools, and entertainment were the categories with the largest downloads on Google Play Store. In comparison, gamers, video, photo, and entertainment were the categories on Apple App Store with the largest downloads. It has been recorded that an average consumer spends 4 hours and 20 minutes each day on their mobiles.


Weekly smartphone game downloads reached over 1.2 billion during the first week of the second quarter of this year, while on average, weekly download levels remained at 1 billion throughout Q2 of 2020, a 20% YoY growth. During the quarter, overall game downloads were 14 billion on both Android and iOS.

A new quarterly record for user spend in mobile games was also set during the quarter as consumers spent $19 billion on purchases via the app stores during the quarter. The spending in this quarter was 15% more as compared to spending on mobile games in the previous quarter.

Mobile game spending is set to extend its lead over the home console as well as desktop gaming to over 3.1 times and 2.8 times by the end of this year. 45% and 30% of all Google Play downloads and Apple App Store downloads were mobile games. India and Brazil were recorded as the largest market by game downloads on Google Play, and the most absolute downloads quarter-over-quarter were recorded in Indonesia and India.

Casual, action and board games were the most downloaded games, and the US, and China were the biggest markets for iOS game installs in the quarter. Arcade genre followed by action and simulation genres saw the most downloads on Apple App Store.

Check out these charts for more insights:









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