Record revenue with mobile games in Germany

Berlin, 6 August 2025 – The use of the smartphone and tablet for playing video games reached new heights in Germany in 2024. Sales revenue generated with mobile games reached the 3-billion-euro mark for the first time, up from around 2.9 billion euros in 2023. Mobile games thus continued their success story: their revenue has grown 63 per cent since 2019 in Germany. These are the figures released today by game – The German Games Industry Association, based on data collected by the market research company data.ai. A total of 24.3 million people in Germany play mobile games. Although this represents a slight drop of 300,000 from the previous year, mobile games enjoy unabated popularity. Accordingly, the smartphone has been the most used gaming platform in Germany for years now. Players who use the smartphone and tablet are 39.2 years old on average – closely corresponding to the average age of 39.5 years among all video game players in the country. And mobile games are equally popular with young and old: while 10- to 19-year-olds comprise the largest share of game app users (22 per cent), about every seventh mobile game player (15 per cent) is over 60 years old. At 53 per cent, a majority of mobile players are female; 47 per cent are male.

‘Through their accessibility and variety, games for the smartphone and tablet inspire millions of people to play video games – young and old, men and women,’ says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game – The German Games Industry Association. ‘This has not only resulted in a strong increase in revenue with mobile games in just a few years but also made the smartphone the most used gaming platform.’

 

In Germany, nearly all sales revenue generated with mobile games, or 98 per cent, comes through in-app purchases. Most games for smartphones und tablets are offered on a free-to-play basis. Players may then opt to pay for additional content, such as levels or cosmetic features, in the form of in-app purchases. Around 57 million euros in sales is generated with online gaming services on smartphones and tablets. This includes subscription services like Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass, which for a fixed monthly rate give players access to a wide selection of mobile games that they would otherwise have to buy separately. Individual game app purchases resulted in just 4 million euros in revenue in 2024. Since 2019, revenue from game app purchases has seen a sharp decline of 69 per cent, which can be attributed to the growing popularity of free-to-play mobile games.

 

After attaining unprecedented heights in recent years, the German games market saw a dip in its growth trajectory in 2024. Last year, sales revenue from games, gaming hardware and online gaming services in Germany totalled 9.4 billion euros – a 6 per cent drop from the year before. This downturn was especially pronounced in purchases of games for PCs, consoles and smartphones (−17 per cent, to 921 million euros), as well as in hardware purchases (−10 per cent, to 2.9 billion euros). Running counter to the overall market trend, revenue from online gaming services saw a double-digit increase, rising 12 per cent from the level of 2023, to 965 million euros

 

The market data is based on statistics compiled by YouGov Shopper, Nielsen IQ and data.ai (a Sensor Tower company). The methods used by YouGov Shopper to collect data on Germany’s digital games market are unique worldwide and stand out for their quality. They include an ongoing survey of 25,000 consumers who are representative of the German population as a whole regarding their video game purchasing and usage habits, as well as a retail panel. The data collection methods provide a unique insight into the German market for computer and video games.

 

We are the association of the German games industry. Our members represent the entire video game ecosystem, from development studios and publishers to esports event organisers, educational institutions and other related entities. We are co-organisers of gamescom, the world’s biggest event for video games. We are a shareholder in the Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (USK), the Foundation for Digital Games Culture, the esports player foundation, game events and the collecting society VHG, as well as co-host of the German Computer Game Awards. Serving as a central point of contact for media, as well as political and social institutions, we provide comprehensive expertise in areas including market development, game culture and media literacy, and address any inquiries or concerns. Together we are making Germany the heart of gaming worldwide. With games, we enrich the lives of all people.