AUSTRALIA AMONG TOP 5 SOCIAL CASINO MARKETS
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has published a new report called Snapshot of Social Casinos, which provides insights into consumer habits and industry trends for this growing market. The report shows Australia was in the top five markets by consumer spend as of the first half of 2022.
Social casinos provide online casino-style games without offering the ability to win real money. They are typically free to download and play but users can spend real money on in-game purchases. Global revenue from these games is projected to grow around 5% per annum through to 2025.
Five of the biggest social casino companies – Aristocrat, Moon Active, Zynga, SciPlay and Playtika – comprise around 60% of the global market. Some of these companies specifically rely on revenue generated from social casinos, while others are more diversified, with less reliance on social casinos for revenue.
According to ACMA, social casino gaming experienced a strong uptake during the pandemic, with a sharp jump in demand and revenue during 2020 and, to a lesser extent 2021, as users pivoted their habits to mobile and online spaces. As restrictions were lifted, competition for users’ time and spending grew, with revenue from social casinos declining from the peak it saw during the lockdown years.
It has been estimated there are 85 million daily players worldwide. Some research indicates players of social casinos tend to be older with a close-to-even proportion of males and females. Separate research indicates younger males are more likely to spend money on social casino games.
According to the industry data platform data.ai, the United States is the biggest market for social casino games by consumer spend, with 60% of the market share. China, Taiwan, Australia and Canada round out the top 5 markets, as of the first half of 2022.
Slots are the most popular social casino games, with Australians spending $302 million on mobile slot games in 2021. Some companies have combined traditional casino games with other types of game play to increase their appeal.
Industry data on social casino game download trends shows that global downloads declined after their pandemic peak of 291.6 million in Q2, 2020. It recovered in Q1, 2022, when the download trend exceeded that figure, and reached 322.2 million downloads worldwide.
Download the ACMA report here >>> https://thedrop.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/market-overview-social-casinos-in-australia.pdf
