New Research Provides Insight Into High Levels of Engagement for Leading Mobile Gaming Apps in 2013

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobidia Technology, Inc., a leading provider of mobile analytics, today released new research in collaboration with ABI Research, a leading analyst firm, to offer new insights into usage of mobile gaming applications.

The research shows that top mobile games enjoyed very high engagement rates among their users, especially when compared to other types of applications. And, while these rates vary across titles and mobile OS platforms, the data clearly reveals two distinct categories of games—those that are very heavily used on a weekly basis and those that have a consistent, but more casual usage pattern.

"Games continued to be on the top of smartphone users' list of key experiences in 2013," said Chris Hill, vice president of marketing at Mobidia. "To really understand which ones are valued and played, and where the trends are heading, it is critical to understand metrics beyond simple downloads and installs. Analyzing engagement and usage metrics is the only way to truly understand this market."

A full analysis of global mobile gaming application usage in 2013 is now available as a white paper at Mobidia. Highlights of the identified trends include:

• With some exceptions, leading mobile games generally enjoy a higher penetration rate on Android than on iOS. Some would suggest that this is driven by a greater number of blockbuster applications available on the iOS platform which increases fragmentation and decreases penetration per app.
• Weekly engagement rates can reach as high as 80 percent for top games; average engagement for the top 50 games across the industry is about 55 percent. 
• Candy Crush Saga leads the pack in penetration, engagement and usage. This research data certainly supports the storied popularity of the app. Worldwide, Android players in this panel averaged about 4 hours per week in usage time.

Weekly Engagement for Top Android Games,  Worldwide 2013

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140205/SF59112-INFO-a)

Source: Mobidia

Weekly Minutes Per User of Selected Android Mobile Gaming Apps, Worldwide 2013

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140205/SF59112-INFO-b)

Source: Mobidia

"With the rapidly changing mobile application business models and growing competition, it is more important than ever to have intelligence on apps' entire lifecycles", said Aapo Markkanen, senior analyst, ABI Research. "This is especially true in the mobile gaming market, which is the most competitive part of today's app economy. Mobidia's mobile data provides insight to spot and understand user trends."

With a set of data provided by millions of smartphone users around the world, Mobidia is able to provide mobile retailers and others interested in mobile application usage with detailed insights into specific application usage. The data offers insights into application penetration, engagement and usage in minutes and unique sessions in more than 50 different countries.

The complete white paper outlining the results of this mobile gaming analysis is available at Mobidia's website.

Note to Editor:

Mobidia analyzed data collected during 2013 from millions of global smartphone users. This data was collected on a strictly anonymous and optional basis from millions of users who have downloaded Mobidia's smartphone application, My Data Manager. The data sample represents Android and iOS smartphone users worldwide. The engagement metric referenced is represented by weekly active users as a percentage of monthly active users.

About Mobidia Technology, Inc.

Mobidia is a leading mobile analytics provider with the largest global sample of smartphone and tablet users. Mobidia's mobile analytics and metrics platform provides unique insights into mobile usage trends on mobile applications and mobile networks. Real usage from real users on both cellular and Wi-Fi networks provides a comprehensive and unique understanding of what people do and value in the mobile world.

Mobidia is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia with local presence in the U.S., Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.mobidia.com or call +1-604-304-8640.

SOURCE Mobidia Technology, Inc.