Apple Consumers Spend Close to $1B on Social Casino Apps

Lockdown has proven an auspicious opportunity for social casino apps, according to a new report published by Liftoff and GameRefinery, a mobile marketing platform and a mobile gaming analytics firm, respectively. The latest survey for 2021 reveals that mobile gamers are investing more heavily in social casino apps, citing the pandemic as the most likely reason behind this growth.

Apple Users Lead the Way in Total Spend

According to the companies, iOS mobile gamers shed close to $1 billion on social casino apps during the surveyed period from Q3 2020 to Q2 2021, marked down as the nadir of the pandemic. According to Liftoff and GameRefinery, gamers spent around $990 million on social casinos, and quarterly profits began surging to $260 million in Q2 2021. GameRefinery head of game analytics Joel Julkunen commented on the findings and said:

“As we examine the effects the pandemic has had on gaming, it’s no surprise casino apps are soaring in popularity around the globe.”

 GameRefinery head of game analytics Joel Julkunen 

Julkunen explained that the data garnered by the survey would allow app developers to create long-term strategies for the market and future audiences. To collect the data, the companies dug up impressions and clicks stats from 12 million installs of 239 surveyed apps.

According to the report, the drop-off in in-person attendance at land-based casinos spurred interest in social casinos, which are usually branded as “for fun” gaming options but often ask for real money to fuel gameplay through currencies native to each app.

Growth Remains Even after Pandemic Comes to Halt

Interestingly, the survey revealed that even as in-person casinos started to reopen and lift some of the COVID-19 restrictions, mobile casino apps featuring casinos continued to generate a strong profit. Over half of the people engaging with social casinos are 45 of age, and the demographics analysis revealed that participants were split almost equally between men and women.

Social casinos have benefited from an uptick in the overall number of gamers. According to the Entertainment Software Association, there have been 13 million new gamers during the period of the pandemic.

While social casinos enjoy little scrutiny from regulators, some companies have come under fire from disgruntled consumers. In April, Facebook became the latest company to be sued over the status of social casinos on its platform.