Mobile Gaming to Add 400 Million New Players in Five Years, Hitting 2.5 Billion by 2030
Few markets in the entertainment landscape have seen such explosive growth as mobile games. Nearly 15 years after the global hype started, fueled by the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, the industry continues to surge, generating well over $100 billion in revenue each year. While the pace of growth is far from its peak years, the market is still drawing hundreds of millions of new players, a trend set to continue through the end of the decade.
According to data presented by Skinsluck.com, mobile games are expected to add 400 million new players over the next five years, with their total number hitting 2.5 billion by 2030.
Roughly 100 Million New Players Each Year
Mobile games have undergone a major transformation over the past 15 years, when their global hype really took off. During that time, several blockbuster titles, including Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile, Monster Strike, Candy Crush Saga, and Pokémon GO, have each grossed billions of dollars in revenue, turning mobile games into the largest and highest-grossing segment of the gaming industry.
All these titles have one thing in common, a massive user base willing to spend heavily on in-app purchases each year, the main force driving the market even today. But it's not just player spending that's rising; the number of gamers preferring mobile apps is higher than ever, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down.
According to the Statista Market Forecast survey, back in 2017, mobile games already had a massive user base of 1.2 billion. Since then, a jaw-dropping 900 million people have flocked to the market, rising by an average of 100 million per year and reaching 2.1 billion in 2025. That means every fourth person on the planet plays mobile games today. Even more striking, this pace of growth is expected to continue in the following years, with the market adding another 100 million new players each year throughout 2030 and reaching a total of 2.5 billion by the end of the decade.
Nearly 40% of all players in 2030 will come from only three countries, the United States, China, and Japan. Statista expects China's mobile gaming industry to hit 701 million users by 2030, up from 622 million this year. The United States and Japan follow with roughly 200 million and 41 million players, respectively.
User Growth to Drive a 30% Revenue Surge Over the Next Five Years
With roughly 400 million new players entering the market, and each one of them spending around 10% more on mobile games, the industry is on track for solid revenue growth by 2030. In 2025, the global mobile gaming market is expected to generate $126 billion in revenue, $8 billion more than last year. Statista expects this figure to climb by nearly 30% over the next five years, with users worldwide spending close to $164 billion on mobile games by 2030.
To put that into perspective, that is more than the combined global revenue from video and music streaming subscriptions, which currently stands at around $148 billion.