China Accounted for Nearly 50% of Total Downloads in 2018: App Annie

When regulators in China froze the approval of game licenses, they expected the gaming market to fall into disarray.

According to “The State of Mobile 2019” by App Annie, nearly half of all app downloads for iOS and 3rd party Android came from China. According to NewZoo, the China gaming market was worth nearly $35 billion in 2018.

“Emerging markets continued to fuel growth in 2018 and represent 3 of the top 5 markets for app downloads,” says the report. “China accounted for nearly 40% of total consumer
spend in 2018. In China, the relatively number of apps installed is reflective largely of the Android market. This is similar behaviour to other emerging markets with a high prevalence of lower cost Android devices with less storage capacity.”

Indonesia, Thailand, China, and South Korea accounted for the top four nations ranked by time spent on a mobile device, with the remaining three APAC nations in the top ten being Japan, India, and Australia. This was one of the concerns of regulators in China, with the data showing the freeze had no impact on usage times and consumption patterns.

PUBG Corporation, the South Korean video game publisher behind PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) series, was found to have the highest daily active users (DAU) for PUBG: Mobile in China, Japan, and South Korea. In China, the top mobile games were the PUBG: Exciting Battlefield, Honour of Kings, PUBG: Full Ahead, QQ Speed, and Identity V.

The data shows that gamers in Japan and South Korea also gravitate towards games in the battle royale format, with these markets moving towards the hardcore end of the gaming spectrum. China (32%), Japan (21%), and South Korea (8%) combined generated 61% total consumer spending on apps, for both free and in-app purchasing models.

In China, the top mobile apps by monthly active users (MAU) in 2018 were Anipop, Honour of Kings, PUBG: Exciting Battlefield, Landlord Poker, Miniworld Blockart, showing that efforts by China regulators to curtail time on games depicting violence and gambling had little impact.