Sensor Tower: Game Downloads and Revenue Down in U.S.

08 AUGUST 2022 - Driving home talk of an App Store slowdown are new numbers from the app tracking firm Sensor Tower. I told you last week of a note from Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring that said the App Store had shown growth of only one-percent in July versus the same month a year earlier. That was better than the estimate from Evercore analyst Amit Daryanani. By his reckoning, July 2022 was the first month that the App Store was able to post no growth since its introduction in July 2008.

While it didn’t do the whole range of app categories (or hasn’t yet anyway), and while it was looking at more than just Apple’s App Store, Sensor Tower says - here in the States, we’re off our game. Or games. 9 to 5 Mac has had a look at the Sensor Tower data. According to the site:

Of 14 mobile games genres tracked by app analytics company Sensor Tower, only one saw increased downloads in the first half of 2022, and there were steep declines in most others …

According to the firm:

Most mobile game genres in the United States saw player spending and downloads decline during H1 2022 as the market fell by 9.6 percent year-over-year to $11.4 billion, Sensor Tower Game Intelligence data reveals.

The piece lists a couple of likely reasons for the decline in game downloads. They are both contradictory and completely sensible. The first, according to the report:

With the country reopening after COVID lockdowns, there are many more entertainment options available than there were when people were stuck at home and many venues were closed.

Sounds like people are going out and spending, rather than spending all their spending on phones. At the same time, 9 to 5 Mac says:

Inflation, too, has hit hard, with consumers seeing their spending power fall off a cliff. The economic uncertainties surrounding that also means people are controlling their spending even if they are currently doing fine.

See? Both contradictory and completely sensible. There’s one other culprit likely contributing to the downturn in revenue: App Tracking Transparency. The 9 to 5 Mac piece has Sensor Tower indicating that that is taking a “revenue toll.” According to the report:

Without iPhone owners consenting to tracking, free apps can no longer sell personalized ad spots, meaning ad networks pay them significantly less to run generic ads.