Report finds social casino apps have generated nearly $1B during pandemic

Liftoff and GameRefinery today released their mobile social casino apps report for 2021. According to the report, mobile gamers are spending more money than ever on these apps, likely because of the ongoing pandemic.

According to the report, mobile gamers spent around $990 million on social casino apps during the height of the pandemic, which it counts as Q3 2020 to Q2 2021. Quarterly profits for these apps were around $260 million by Q2 2021. Liftoff, a mobile growth and app marketing platform, and GameRefinery, a mobile gaming analytics platform, drew this data from ad impressions and clicks across 12 million installs and 239 apps.

The report compares this to the corresponding decrease in attendance to in-person casinos, many of which were closed for periods during the pandemic due to health concerns. That said, profits remained high even as in-person casinos began to reopen. Mobile casino apps are among the oldest demographic in gaming, with more than half being over 45. The userbase is also fairly evenly divided between men and women.

Joel Julkunen, GameRefinery’s head of game analytics, said in a statement, “As we examine the effects the pandemic has had on gaming, it’s no surprise casino apps are soaring in popularity around the globe.”

The pandemic has indeed had a large impact on the gaming industry. The ESA reported earlier this year that the U.S. alone gained over 13 million gamers during that time.

The report also notes that Apple’s IDFA policy changes have led to a decrease in return-on-ad spending on the platform. This means that Android is now the more affordable platform for social casino apps. According to the numbers, iOS install costs are now 122% higher than that of Android.