Analytics site App Annie released a report today that confirmed Nintendo and Sony’s greatest fears, mobile gaming app revenue had lapped their sales twice. Android and iOS gaming revenue was 3 times that of dedicated portable consoles in 2013’s first quarter.
The in depth report can be found here but the jist of it’s pretty clear:
“For the Portable Gaming Report Q1 2013, there are three important takeways:
iOS and Google Play both saw growth in game downloads and consumer spending.
- iOS is now the leader in consumer spending on games, with Google Play likely to surpass gaming-optimized handhelds in 2Q13.
- Gaming-optimized handhelds experienced significant decreases in consumer spending and packaged game shipments due to seasonality.”
While they chalked some of the decline up to seasonality, which makes sense because the Holidays still drive huge packaged game sales, the trend is clear. Things aren’t looking good for the future of handhelds. Mobile and tablet gaming is becoming an increasingly full-fledged experience . With the kind of pixel pushing power that some of the latest phones and tablets are packing, it’s a trend that can only continue. Also, mobile gaming is becoming increasingly sophisticated and console like. The multiplayer and achievement aspects of the recently announced Google Play Games put the 3DS to shame. And let’s be honest here, do you know anyone with a Vita?
My poor 3DS has been gathering dust nearly since I bought it, simply because I don’t want to carry another box around with me. While I don’t think the end of handhelds are upon us just yet, this report certainly come as a major surprise to handheld gaming fans.
[Via: App Annie] [Img: What Up Nintendo]