PROJECT 2

Players that spend money on mobile game content tend to spend more when games rely on few players for revenue. Most mobile games function based on the Pareto principle – in this case, that few players generate the majority of revenue. For most mobile games, a smaller proportion of players is supplying most of the in-game revenue in response to game monetization. There are some mobile games where players spend about equally, but there are also fewer mobile games where a very small percentage of players spend a large portion of money. These games with extremely skewed behavior are notable in that they may suggest that some game monetization models could contribute to troubling spending among players.

Mobile games can often be reliant on players spending money on microtransactions and in-game content, but players do not all spend equally and not every game promotes the same kind of spending. In some games, high-spending players are a major source of revenue in mobile games and become an integral part of the mobile market. There are vast differences in spending among players of different games, however. In some games, the highest spending players may spend an average of over $16,000. In other games, the average among players who spend evenly on play is about $19. There is a lot more to be learned about mobile game spending among players – what design elements solicit different amounts and different unevenness in spending, for example? This study shows that mobile games promote a variety of different kinds of spending among players and provides a start toward better understanding the mobile games market.