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There's a common feeling among video game enthusiasts that mobile games don't really count.
When it comes to the video game industry's bottom line, though, mobile games are anything but worthless. This year, smartphone and tablet games combined are expected to bring in 42% of the gaming market's global revenues, according to a recent Newzoo report charted for us by Statista. That's well ahead of other, more traditional types of games. Games designed for consoles like the PlayStation 4, for example, are expected to account for 31% of global sales, and PC games around 23%.
Smartphones have been a big catalyst for the industry's growth in recent years, thanks in big part to their ubiquity. In the developed world, nearly everyone has a smartphone in his or her pocket these days. While the quality of those games typically isn't as high as that on PC or Xbox games, they have expanded gaming's horizons, and made the art form accessible to more people.
And there's reason to think mobile gaming will only get bigger. As Newzoo said in its report, the growing focus on new technologies like augmented reality should open up more opportunities for mobile game developers going forward.
Mike Nudelman/Business Insider/Statista