Mobile gaming: how the world of video games has changed

The world of video games has grown a lot in recent years. Not only in the amount of players, a recent estimate indicates that more than 40% of the world population spends at least a small fraction of their time playing with a screen in front, but also in variety. At the beginning there were arcades, with arcade cabinets, then came consoles and computers, still the undisputed rulers of the market today, but in recent years a new videogame sector is becoming more and more established. That of mobile gaming, that is done through our smartphones.

Candy Crush, Angry Birds, Temple Run, there are many titles that appeal to an audience that has little time to devote to the game but who does not want to give up a few minutes of leisure, the so-called Casual Gamers. To find out who they are and to understand what impact these titles have on the video game industry, we spoke with Nicolò Palestino, Country Manager Advertiser Solutions Italy and Carlo Poss, Country Manager Publishers & Content Solutions Italy at Azerion.

Azerion is a video game publishing house that creates content, develops games and videos and internationally, records over 180 million active players per day and 50 billion games played every year.

A new way of experiencing video games has been born a few years ago and users have changed too. Who are the players today?

Carlo Poss: “Everyone now plays online. In Italy, for example, we register almost 12 million active users every day from both desktop and mobile. Of the players, 55% belong to the female gender, while 45% to the male one. thus revealing a gender balance and eliminating the preconception that the world of games is enjoyed mostly by men. And not only children play, but also adults. In fact, nowadays the age range of gamers extends between 16 and 55 years. A further confirmation that gaming is a world appreciated and used transversally by each of us is the global figure of Azerion which counts an average daily usage time of our games of 25 minutes per player. Also, thanks to smartphones, tablets and PCs, now indispensable in everyday life, you have the possibility to immediately and everywhere also access games and videogames apps and for this reason that, especially at a time when it is essential for br and being able to attract the attention of consumers, the universe of gaming represents a novelty from the point of view of advertising as well as an important opportunity to be seized for publishers and brands “.

Advertising within these games is often featured prominently. What opportunities is this new marketing channel offering?

Nicolò Palestino: “We have entered a new era of advertising in the world of gaming and entertainment. At Azerion we are able to anticipate and feed these new trends, thanks also to the fact that we are the largest European network operating in this sector. I would like to clarify that the advertising in casual games is not only aimed at promoting a product or service, but also aims to entertain the user. The latter, in fact, in our network has available over 15 thousand free games in which he can accumulate extra lives as well as adopt tools, objects and accessories that he can use to customize the game and all this is possible thanks to the presence of advertising from advertisers. In relation to the strictly marketing field, we are now aware that the future is no longer tied to single-device use, but that goes towards multi-channel experiences: mobile, desktop, smart TV and social platforms. This represents the opportunity for brands to reach their audience through different touchpoints, actively interacting with them within a safe and positive environment. Furthermore, our reality guarantees the brand to be present in an environment without so-called user-generated content, there are no fake news as well as no content related to politics or fraud occurs “.

In some cases, however, these games are also a tool for donating: what happened during the Covid emergency?

Nicolò Palestino: “Given the ongoing global health emergency, we invited the gamer community of our free online game Governor of Poker to support the World Health Organization in the fight against Coronavirus. We sent a notification in the game’s message box to all users in which it was invited to support monitoring bodies to understand the spread of the virus, to guarantee patients the necessary care and operators the essential materials to carry out their work safely as well as contribute to the acceleration for the development of vaccines and tests. This was possible thanks to the in-app purchase of a special accessory, the Donation Pin, which allowed Governor Poker players to accumulate a very high number of credits to continue the game. avatar own the brooch thus helping to spread the message, the proceeds from the sale of the brooch were donated to WHO “.

Everyone plays everywhere: what impact does this have on the sphere of relationships and relationships?

Nicolò Palestino: “Online games are no longer just a pastime, but also satisfy the needs related to the psychological sphere of players who are inclined to prefer a specific game category over another. There are those who choose casual games to relax. characterized by simple game rules and short times of use, others compete in strategy games in which the player’s decision-making ability is fundamental, others express themselves through role-playing games often with more articulated plots and which require greater continuity of During the pandemic, online games in general played a crucial role against social isolation. In particular according to our data, in Italy, between March and February, there was a 55% increase in the number of games and 53% of total smartphone play time. One of the games on our network, Habbo, a social game based on a virtual community and set in a hotel, has even recorded an increase in participation of 162% and 143% for time spent in the game. Social games will probably remain the most popular games for some time yet precisely because they recreate some social situations that replicate those we were used to before the lockdown. “

Localization and data: how are they managed by gaming apps?

Carlo Poss: “We at Azerion are committed to treating personal data lawfully, fairly and transparently, by adhering to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). When users visit one of our websites, we process aggregate information such as, for example, the device used, the browser, the country and the language, which games the user has played and we process them to perform analyzes on how players use our platforms. In this way we can integrate this data also with social media and at the same time provide targeted advertisements that reflect the user’s real interests. It is important to emphasize that you must be at least 16 years old to use our gaming sites and that everyone has the right to request access to their personal data to rectify, limit, revoke or deny their processing; a decidedly transparent privacy policy. Azerion processes personal data mainly through the use of c ookies that allow us to guarantee the correct functioning of our products and advertisements, always taking into account the privacy of our visitors “.