As devices such as tablets and smartphones were not only introduced, but also rapidly evolved over the last 10 years, so too have the games that have been available for download. Many adult audiences, regardless of geographic location, have enjoyed playing adult themed mobile games and continue to download fresh, new content.

It is estimated that the overall worldwide mobile gaming revenue from iOS and Google Play App Stores alone is currently at $11.9 billion.

According to a recent IDC report, in the US “2016 was the best year yet for mobile games, with consumers spending nearly 25% more than the year prior.”

Below is a graph from EEDAR’s 2016 Mobile Report. You can see that over the last 2 years, since VR and AR gaming has started to become more widely available, the number of device owners and mobile gamers have steadily increased. Over the last 5 years there has been a significant increase in the number of mobile gamers, as more developers look for new, innovative concepts for games and flood the app store marketplace.

Notably, AR and VR games along with improved functionality, design, pixel rate and AI technology have massively contributed to the rising popularity of mobile gaming along with the sophistication and the responsiveness of new mobile technologies and products. While AR and VR games have recently begun to roll out on various platforms, for example the Sony Playstation VR, Microsoft Hololens etc., it is predicted that the number of VR users will continue to increase, especially over the next two years.

Top 5 Most Played Mobile Game Genres

According EEDAR, the US’s top five game genres are:

Brain Puzzles Matching Puzzle Skill and Chance Casino Arcade

Statista reports China’s top five are:

Puzzles and Casual Parkour Evasion Chess and Card Shooting and Action Sports Games

By viewing Newzoo’s report, you will see the stats for South Asian countries Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Statista reports that for the UK, the top five for Android users are:

Puzzle Casual Arcade Action Racing

With these markets alone, which make up a significant portion of the global market, we can see that Puzzles and Casual Games tend to dominate the genres. When it comes to games that are available on adult-orientated app stores, such as Lazeeva and various others, some of the biggest and most widely available puzzle games tend to be Hentai orientated.

With Manga and Anime being the worldwide phenomenas that they are, it’s no wonder that many users gravitate to Hentai themed puzzles. Anime News Network reports that the total market value of the Anime Industry is currently at $18.1 billion and continues to grow. Many Anime franchises rely on their attractive, ‘dreamgirl’ drawings of female characters with a desirable accentuation on curves and a slim frame to reign in a large, predominantly male audience whilst still utilising interesting storylines and other likeable characters for their expansive female fanbase.

When it comes to Hentai porn, this category can be found on almost every tube site and usually accompanied with a listing of 100s if not 1000s of videos. Pornhub reported in their yearly stats for 2016 that Hentai was the 8th ‘most searched for term’ on their website. 7th being Cartoon and Japanese 10th. Hentai was also the 7th ‘most viewed category’.

When it comes to the Lazeeva App Store, we found that Hentai orientated games were some of the most downloaded from the available listings. As for genres, the order of popularity is as follows:

Anime and Hentai Brain Puzzles Jump and Run Arcade Matching Puzzles

The results reflect similar findings for the mainstream offerings and general mobile gaming statistics across numerous countries, particularly those with the largest mobile gameplay demographics such as the US and China.

Taking all of the above statistics into account and we are talking millions of adult players worldwide are playing Japanese sex games alone, this doesn’t even take into account other popular genres such as romance puzzles, strip online poker, porn arcade, glamour orientated casino games etc.

Demographics

The average age of US based mobile gamers is 37.1 years. Whilst there user base figures is almost equal between men (45%) and women (55%), 60% of men are more likely to be payers as opposed to only 30% of women. Also, men are more likely to invest a significant amount of time and money into their gaming activities (58%). Globally, approximately 75% of mainstream adult content site users are male. With the average age of Pornhub users worldwide being 35 years, you start to see some very interesting correlations when it comes to consumption of adult content and investment in mobile gameplay. There has also been a dramatic increase in VR searches, as more people start to also invest in interactive gaming technology as well as content and mobile devices.

Conclusion

The mobile gaming industry is more than thriving, it is excelling where other entertainment sectors are lagging. As everything becomes more compact and easily accessible via mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones, we can only expect to see the demand for more content to increase. Nielsen’s report on Mobile Game Retention showed that content demand reaches it’s peak within the first 5 weeks of a game’s release. Adult gaming will continue to grow alongside the market, providing that in-game content meets the demands and expectations of mainstream consumers.

Written for Lazeeva by Burn the Night.