According to Juniper Research, the revenues from tablet games will reach USD13.3 billion by 2019, which is a threefold rise compared to revenues of USD3.6 billion recorded in 2014. Based on its Mobile & Handheld Games: Discover, Monetize, Advertise 2014-2019 report, Juniper said that the major drivers for the growth include the improved storage capacity of devices, better graphical capabilities, increasing mobile broadband penetration and consumers' preference for convenience and ubiquity.
The report highlighted that funding will continue to be critical for smaller, independent games developers as the market is now teeming with over 1 million apps and recommends games developers to look to crowdfunding as one of the means to raise sufficient capital to develop and market their games. The report however pointed out the huge opportunities for these developers in the smartphone games segment, especially across emerging markets where the integration of carrier billing by service providers enables subscribers to make payments for their games easily and conveniently via their mobile accounts. Advertisements will inevitably become the major source of revenue for mobile games, added Juniper, with only 6% of mobile games expected to be paid at point of download by 2019. To enhance the reach of their games, the report suggested that game developers leverage the micro-apps being embedded in messenger services as it reaches the targeted customer segments faster and more effectively.
