Apple is fourth largest gaming company globally, thanks to the iPhone

AppleInsider

Apple is the fourth-biggest public gaming company in the world, according to a report by analysts at Newzoo, with the continued rise of mobile gaming and its operation of the App Store helping the iPhone maker beat other games industry mainstays, including EA and Nintendo.

Clash Royale on an iPad Pro

In its Global Games Market Report, Newzoo outlined the top 35 public companies connected with gaming, with Apple firmly seated in the top five firms, beaten only by Tencent, Sony, and Microsoft and just ahead of Activision Blizzard. According to the report, the top 35 public game companies generated $114 billion in 2018, up from $100.2 billion in 2017.

While the top 35 companies accounted for 82% of the global games market revenues for the year, an identical proportion to 2017's figures, the top five accounted for 43% of revenue collectively.

Apple is said to have earned $2.09 billion from gaming for the first quarter of 2018, then $2.30 billion, $2.52 billion, and $2.54 billion in successive quarters. For all of 2018, Apple's gaming revenue is claimed to be $9.45 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18% from 2017's total.

The App Store operator could have achieved third place on the list, but while Microsoft was slightly behind in the first three quarters in terms of revenue, it surged in the fourth quarter resulting in a revenue for the year of $9.75 billion, up 32% year-on-year. Even so, it has a long way to go to beat out the first-place Tencent, which enjoyed revenue of $19.73 billion and 9% year-on-year growth.

For the industry as a whole, mobile gaming continues to be the biggest segment in the report, making up 45% of the global games market and generating $68.5 billion in revenue. Smartphone-based games bring in 80% of revenue, or $54.9 billion, while tablet gaming accounts for the remaining $13.6 billion.

Mobile gaming is set to continue to outpace PC gaming for the next few years due to a shrinking PC market until 2022, Newzoo suggests. It is also tipped to grow faster than console gaming, and to erode browser game revenues by 15% per year.

Apple also stands to benefit from its own initiatives to generate more revenue from consumers, such as the incoming Apple Arcade, which will provide access to a selection of titles for a monthly subscription, rather than relying on a cut of microtransaction fees the company currently receives from many top App Store titles.

The App Store is already providing developers and publishers more revenue than its Android equivalent, with one recent Sensor Tower report suggesting iOS apps earn 64% more revenue than Google Play.

Neozoo's revenue data stems from its "predictive games market model" which incorporates macroeconomic and census data from the IMF and the UN, transactional and app store revenue data from partner Priori Data, primary consumer research, and financial information reported by public companies. Hardware dedicated to games, like consoles and handhelds, are included in revenue, but devices like the iPhone and iPad are not.

gutengel

Lets hope the get real serious once their gaming subscription launches and now that real game controllers are available for AppleTV

SpamSandwich

The comparison makes no sense. EA and Nintendo are making and selling their own game software. Apple is only selling the games of others. Is Apple more profitable? Yes.

cgWerks

Whether Apple Arcade has any impact remains to be seen... that will depend on whether the games are compelling or not.
IMO, the big change will be the controller availability and further adoption of existing popular games in the market being played on iOS, or ported to iOS.

22july2013

I'm still trying out Apple's $10 monthly News service. The news sources are iffy, and the News app stinks worse than iTunes, but I'm sticking with it for now because it will probably get better. Similarly I'm willing to try Apple Arcade, and I'm not expecting much at the beginning of that either. But it may be worth it in time.

Yannick

I downloaded the report. It's silly. The rankings make very little sense unless you're using an extremely broad definition of "gaming company" that includes slot machine manufacturers. Newzoo bundles joint game console manufacturers and publishers (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft) in with companies like Apple and Google, which at best curate games that are played on their generally non-gaming hardware and services; companies that exclusively publish/develop games (Tencent, EA, Ubisoft) and make no hardware at all; companies that sell gambling and slot machines (Aristocrat Leisure); and Japanese social media companies that have published freemium games (Mixi, GREE). They also include Century Huatong, which according to Bloomberg, is a company that "engages in the auto parts and Internet games business," and "manufactures and sells plastic parts and associated molds for vehicles, such as heat exchange and air conditioning plastic parts." I'm not sure I would consider Zhejiang Century Huatong and Nintendo to be similar in many ways, if any. The only common denominator for many of these companies is that they're publicly traded and they have done or published something using the word "game." Coincidentally, several of these companies are also customers of Newzoo!

SpamSandwich

Yannick said:

I downloaded the report. It's silly. The rankings make very little sense unless you're using an extremely broad definition of "gaming company" that includes slot machine manufacturers. Newzoo bundles joint game console manufacturers and publishers (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft) in with companies like Apple and Google, which at best curate games that are played on their generally non-gaming hardware and services; companies that exclusively publish/develop games (Tencent, EA, Ubisoft) and make no hardware at all; companies that sell gambling and slot machines (Aristocrat Leisure); and Japanese social media companies that have published freemium games (Mixi, GREE). They also include Century Huatong, which according to Bloomberg, is a company that "engages in the auto parts and Internet games business," and "manufactures and sells plastic parts and associated molds for vehicles, such as heat exchange and air conditioning plastic parts." I'm not sure I would consider Zhejiang Century Huatong and Nintendo to be similar in many ways, if any. The only common denominator for many of these companies is that they're publicly traded and they have done or published something using the word "game." Coincidentally, several of these companies are also customers of Newzoo!

I just want to know if they included the Sheinhardt Wig Company. 

(People who get this reference without Google assistance are the real winners here.)

AppleExposed

NOT ENOUGH.

Apple really really needs to get in the game. Arcade was innovative but not as Apple-hype as I'd hoped. I don't think any of their games are AAA titles and some aren't exclusive. I thought ALL would be exclusive to Arcade but turns out some games are already out on Xbox.

Apple should have really acquired a game developer like Capcom or released a flood of first party content on launch. A new Apple TV with A12x chip would get them started.

Yannick said:

I downloaded the report. It's silly. The rankings make very little sense unless you're using an extremely broad definition of "gaming company" that includes slot machine manufacturers. Newzoo bundles joint game console manufacturers and publishers (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft) in with companies like Apple and Google, which at best curate games that are played on their generally non-gaming hardware and services; companies that exclusively publish/develop games (Tencent, EA, Ubisoft) and make no hardware at all; companies that sell gambling and slot machines (Aristocrat Leisure); and Japanese social media companies that have published freemium games (Mixi, GREE). They also include Century Huatong, which according to Bloomberg, is a company that "engages in the auto parts and Internet games business," and "manufactures and sells plastic parts and associated molds for vehicles, such as heat exchange and air conditioning plastic parts." I'm not sure I would consider Zhejiang Century Huatong and Nintendo to be similar in many ways, if any. The only common denominator for many of these companies is that they're publicly traded and they have done or published something using the word "game." Coincidentally, several of these companies are also customers of Newzoo!

In a way I like it like this as it includes every possible contender and gives us a better idea where Apple stands.

cgWerks

22july2013 said:

I'm still trying out Apple's $10 monthly News service. The news sources are iffy, and the News app stinks worse than iTunes, but I'm sticking with it for now because it will probably get better. Similarly I'm willing to try Apple Arcade, and I'm not expecting much at the beginning of that either. But it may be worth it in time.

I think that's my concern over the recent focus on Apple services. Most of them are half-@$$'d (like a lot of Apple's software offerings), so the only compelling reason to use them is if you're on the platform already and don't want to consider 3rd parties. Maybe they will improve one day, but I hope Apple keeps in mind what is driving what.

AppleExposed said:
Apple really really needs to get in the game. Arcade was innovative but not as Apple-hype as I'd hoped. I don't think any of their games are AAA titles and some aren't exclusive. I thought ALL would be exclusive to Arcade but turns out some games are already out on Xbox.

It seems more like early release, and the games might be of interest to certain niches, but I didn't see anything that caught my eye (or would interest most of the gamers I know). But, it might be a good fit for people who are already into iOS gaming. Apple is moving up in this category by sheer numbers, not so much deserving it (so far).

As I mentioned above, I think the controller thing is the biggest news for gaming on Apple. It breaks the barrier into making iOS devices (and Macs) more mini to full-blown consoles and gaming PCs. If you're not a true PC-gamer (ie: use the keyboard, mouse), setting up controller input into the Mac is doable, but not something many will do. On iOS, it required buying an obscure controller, if they even knew it existed (or using crazy-awkward screen control).

For an average user to see the iOS device more like a portable console, and potentially play most any game - short of the most demanding AAA titles - is a big move. I'd expect to see more titles like Minecraft and Fortnite, coming to iOS. It is a friggin' massive market for these game developers, now that the barriers to play have been lowered.

AppleExposed

cgWerks said:

22july2013 said:

I'm still trying out Apple's $10 monthly News service. The news sources are iffy, and the News app stinks worse than iTunes, but I'm sticking with it for now because it will probably get better. Similarly I'm willing to try Apple Arcade, and I'm not expecting much at the beginning of that either. But it may be worth it in time.

I think that's my concern over the recent focus on Apple services. Most of them are half-@$$'d (like a lot of Apple's software offerings), so the only compelling reason to use them is if you're on the platform already and don't want to consider 3rd parties. Maybe they will improve one day, but I hope Apple keeps in mind what is driving what.

AppleExposed said:
Apple really really needs to get in the game. Arcade was innovative but not as Apple-hype as I'd hoped. I don't think any of their games are AAA titles and some aren't exclusive. I thought ALL would be exclusive to Arcade but turns out some games are already out on Xbox.

It seems more like early release, and the games might be of interest to certain niches, but I didn't see anything that caught my eye (or would interest most of the gamers I know). But, it might be a good fit for people who are already into iOS gaming. Apple is moving up in this category by sheer numbers, not so much deserving it (so far).

As I mentioned above, I think the controller thing is the biggest news for gaming on Apple. It breaks the barrier into making iOS devices (and Macs) more mini to full-blown consoles and gaming PCs. If you're not a true PC-gamer (ie: use the keyboard, mouse), setting up controller input into the Mac is doable, but not something many will do. On iOS, it required buying an obscure controller, if they even knew it existed (or using crazy-awkward screen control).

For an average user to see the iOS device more like a portable console, and potentially play most any game - short of the most demanding AAA titles - is a big move. I'd expect to see more titles like Minecraft and Fortnite, coming to iOS. It is a friggin' massive market for these game developers, now that the barriers to play have been lowered.

Apple TV is getting the short end though. My heart broke when my favorite PAID games like Minecraft and Duck Tales disappeared!!! So although iOS gets Fortnite and Minecraft, AppleTV gets nothing special. Apple seems to not be doing enough for 3rd Parties in this space. Apple Arcade will not serve this niche of developers.

I think the fact Arcade serves older devices is a double edged sword. Obviously you get more users but at the loss of quality. Apple should have released a new Apple TV with A12x chips and made the service exclusive to A12 devices and above. Of course it would piss some people off but in the long game Apple would have came to market stronger.

Also like we mentioned, lack of big titles also makes this a fun but not a "must have" service. Had they announced an exclusive GTA or an orginal MMORPG or other exclusive online multi-player similar to Fortnite, more gamers would have been excited even updated their iPads/iPhones to newer models.

ericthehalfbee

gutengel said:

Lets hope the get real serious once their gaming subscription launches and now that real game controllers are available for AppleTV

I want to see a new Apple TV with at least an A12X (and better yet, an A13X to be really future proof) with a "subsidized" price of $149 when you get an Apple Arcade subscription. With the right games (and the already announced PS and Xbox controller support) it could really take off as a gaming system.

AppleExposed

ericthehalfbee said:

gutengel said:

Lets hope the get real serious once their gaming subscription launches and now that real game controllers are available for AppleTV

I want to see a new Apple TV with at least an A12X (and better yet, an A13X to be really future proof) with a "subsidized" price of $149 when you get an Apple Arcade subscription. With the right games (and the already announced PS and Xbox controller support) it could really take off as a gaming system.

Forgot about A13 launching later this year. I could wait for that! A13X would be even better considering it will surpass current gen consoles.

The biggest PS4 Pro games are 48GB. Apple would have to upgrade storage. I'd want a 64GB version for streaming apps and other useful apps and a 256GB version for games.

cgWerks

AppleExposed said:
Apple TV is getting the short end though. My heart broke when my favorite PAID games like Minecraft and Duck Tales disappeared!!! So although iOS gets Fortnite and Minecraft, AppleTV gets nothing special. Apple seems to not be doing enough for 3rd Parties in this space. Apple Arcade will not serve this niche of developers.

I think the fact Arcade serves older devices is a double edged sword. Obviously you get more users but at the loss of quality. Apple should have released a new Apple TV with A12x chips and made the service exclusive to A12 devices and above. Of course it would piss some people off but in the long game Apple would have came to market stronger.

Also like we mentioned, lack of big titles also makes this a fun but not a "must have" service. Had they announced an exclusive GTA or an orginal MMORPG or other exclusive online multi-player similar to Fortnite, more gamers would have been excited even updated their iPads/iPhones to newer models.

Good point, and probably due to the 'bean counters' and 'business types' who now seem to be deciding these kind of things at Apple. It sounds like something those types would do, instead of doing it right.

The AppleTV was largely ignored until recently, though. So, maybe we'll eventually get that updated unit more aimed at gaming. That's if the AppleTV isn't being treated as some other division with 1 or 2 people working on it part time. It seems it will eventually become a more important part of the line, though.

Did Minecraft go due to Apple, or was it a Mojang/Microsoft decision (ie: just not enough use to bother with)? If the latter, I'm a bit surprised, as they seem to be putting the Bedrock version out an just about everything. It doesn't make much sense to pull back from a platform right now.

ericthehalfbee said:
I want to see a new Apple TV with at least an A12X (and better yet, an A13X to be really future proof) with a "subsidized" price of $149 when you get an Apple Arcade subscription. With the right games (and the already announced PS and Xbox controller support) it could really take off as a gaming system.

I would think it might do OK, though how many kids (or even adults) just game with their devices (and wouldn't bother with the TV)? If they have some compelling multi-player games, that could change things (assuming the multiple controllers can connect, which I'd guess they could).

AppleExposed said:
I could wait for that! A13X would be even better considering it will surpass current gen consoles.

I find that hard to believe. PS4 uses like 75 to 150 watts while gaming. Apple chips might be more efficient, but I doubt they are THAT much more efficient. Something just doesn't add up there. And, of course, a new gen of consoles is just around the corner.

But, I'm not even sure they have to meet or exceed consoles/computers, they just need to have enough players (especially using controllers), that more complex games can be made for them (and justified being made).