Taking cues from mobile gaming for mobile app developers

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen mobile app usage skyrocket, with mobile gaming leading the charge. According to a report from App Annie that did not provide exact figures, mobile app sales grew 15% on iOS and 25% on Google Play between Q2 2019-Q2 2020. Games were the fastest-growing category on both platforms.

App developers across the mobile industry are learning from mobile gaming and applying them to other categories like fitness and cryptocurrency. Digiday spoke to four developers in the mobile industry to find out why they are learning from gaming and how they are using these techniques to create non-gaming apps.

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The importance of treating mobile apps as social networks were recognized early by mobile game developers. They could tap into dedicated mobile users' networks, instead of relying on pre-existing networks like Facebook and Google. According to Daniel Tchernahovsky (VP of international business development, AppLovin), "Historically, nongaming has been extremely dependent on social networks, which very often has been the only true source of growth." The process of gaming is a bit different. It wasn't social networks that were important from the beginning, but networks like ours and those of our competitors. There was always an understanding that you have to see beyond the Facebook users and that users are more than just those you find on Facebook.

Mobile developers were formerly partnered with many companies or brands to spread the word about their products. This tactic is increasingly being used in the mobile sector. According to Tchernahovsky's research, mobile developers have an average of six to nine brand partners. In non-gaming, the number is more like four or five, while in crypto it's three. Crypto apps don't often work with Facebook and Google.

Francesco Mancone is the head of marketing technology at Bending Spoons, an Italian mobile app company. Although A/B Testing has been around for a long time, it seems that mobile developers are now obsessed with the concept. This technique was used by Mancone and his coworkers to create and streamline their game app, Live Quiz. Tchernahovsky stated that gaming is the only industry that has used A/B testing to improve its products.

Mobile developers, other than gaming, are using interactivity and gamification in their app advertisements to keep users engaged and improve their experience. Much like in-game ads. Mancone stated that this topic is very important in the gaming industry. It's essential for delivering high-quality ads. Bending Spoons has been doing this since the beginning.

A converging workforce

App developers in the mobile space are learning from mobile gaming companies because non-gaming businesses have made strategic hires from this sector over the past few years. There are many mobile developers, marketers, and executives who have roots in the gaming industry. Advert Sahdev (VP of marketing, CoinDCX) said that there is a lot of overlap in marketing. "One thing we share is that our marketing channels are very similar."

Mobile app developers are not the only ones being poached for their mobile gaming skills. Netflix hired Mike Verdu (a former Zynga executive) to lead its gaming division.

A diverse audience

Because they had to overcome outdated notions about gamers in order to grow their user base, mobile gaming developers may be more agile than other developers in this space. Tchernahovksy believes that mobile app development will become easier and more relevant to all app development in the industry as the definitions for gamer and gamer expand.

"I believe gaming has reached a level of penetration across all demographics." Tchernahovsky stated that we are often asked the question, "What's your average age, what's your gender split?" It's not something we consider too important because of the size at which gaming operates.