Global sanctions have already started affecting different business areas in Russia, including the mobile games market. Here is how revenues of the highest-grossing mobile titles, as well as the whole market volume, decreased following the latest suspensions.
This study is based on data provided by AppMagic and analyzed by Russian game development trade outlet App2Top.ru.
Google and Apple suspended payments in the country after Russia sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, banning local users from making purchases. So the first changes in player spending and the market volume could have become visible by April.
To show the impact, AppMagic provided information on how player spending in the top-grossing mobile titles in Russia decreased between the first full week of February and the first full week of April.
As the spreadsheet above shows, total weekly revenue of these titles decreased by 60-90%. Since Google paused its billing system for Russian users on March 10, consumer spending on the Play Store has dropped to zero.
iOS developers saw their revenue decline by 40-80%, with Russian users still having a few alternative options left to make payments on the store. According to AppMagic, some mobile publishers are now actively urging local customers to use third-party solutions to partly keep their revenue streams.
Although there is no full data on April yet, it is still clear that sanctions and the exodus of global companies have already had a huge impact on the Russian mobile market. In March, player spending on the Play Store and the App Store decreased by 64% and 41% respectively, compared to the previous month. The App Store gaming revenue has dropped another 30% since the beginning of April.
Mobile games revenue in Russia (February-April 2022), in millions of USD
When comparing aggregate data for February with preliminary data for April, the Russian mobile games market revenue decreased from $87 million to $14 million (down 84%).
Last year, mobile accounted for 41% of the Russian games market total volume of $2.4 billion (via MY.GAMES). So the market might lose 50-60% of its revenues this year, taking into account the suspension of console and PC sales.
Total revenue of mobile stores in Russia (February-April 2022), in millions of USD
The mobile market alone (apps and games combined) has dropped 79%, from $146 million to $30 million. It is worth noting that there is only preliminary data for April extrapolated from the previous period to the current one, so it might change a little by the end of the month. However, the market volume will most likely continue to fall in the near future.