According to a new report, the average iPhone user spent more than $70 on mobile games last year. The birth and widespread adoption of smartphones within the last decade has led to mobile gaming's massive spike in popularity. In many ways the mobile gaming industry has surpassed the traditional video game industry, earning a massive audience and raking in a ton of revenue.

The vast array of mobile games on the market, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine forcing people to socially distance, has made mobile gaming more popular than ever before. Among Us, a cooperative mobile title from developer InnerSloth, was released in 2018 but experienced a massive resurgence last year. The game has risen to become a pop-culture staple, motivating InnerSloth to continue supporting the title with new content as well as adorable Among Us merchandise. Another massive mobile title, Call of Duty: Mobile has been extremely successful since its launch in 2019. The mobile shooter's developer, TiMi Games, earned $10 billion last year. This makes TiMi Games the most profitable video game developer in the entire world, mobile or otherwise.

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A recent report from Sensor Tower, a website that focuses on mobile app data, reveals that the average iPhone owner spent about $77 on games in 2020. This is regarded as an explosive growth from the previous year, as the average iPhone user spent only about $54 on mobile gaming in 2019. Puzzle games were found to be the most popular gaming category, with players spending an average of $15.50 on games such as Candy Crush Sage and Gardenscapes. Casino and Strategy games were also very popular picks.

With mobile gaming at a popularity peak, developers show no signs of slowing down the development of new content to keep players invested. Clash of Clans developer Supercell recently announced three new titles in the Clash franchise, each featuring the series' classic art style but bringing new gameplay into the mix. Meanwhile, a recent leak has apparently revealed plans for future Call of Duty: Mobile content such as a new multiplayer map and the return of the game's Zombies mode.

With smartphones becoming extremely commonplace and the coronavirus limiting social interaction, it is no surprise that mobile gaming's popularity continues to increase. However, the revelation that the average iPhone user spends more than $70 a year on mobile gaming may be very surprising to some. Many people have debated where to draw the line between harmless fun and gateway gambling, and the massive amounts of money flooding into mobile gaming may incite such debates once again.

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Source: Sensor Tower