Microtransactions generate 90% of US mobile game revenues

Think the big money is in paid-for apps? Think again – the real money is in in-game purchases.

The latest figures from research firm Newzoo show that over 90 per cent of mobile game revenues in the US is generated by microtransactions, according to Gamasutra.

That’s considerably higher than in European territories, with the figure standing at 73 per cent for Germany and 87 per cent for France.

The report also revealed that iOS games bring in five times more money than Android games in the US market. iOS titles accounted for 84 per cent of mobile revenues generated by the Top 200 grossing games across both the App Store and Google Play marketplace in March 2012.

Newzoo claims there are now 101m US consumers that play mobile games regularly, with 69 per cent using smartphones and 21 per cent on tablets.

"When analysing Apple’s successful monetisation, there is one dominant factor outside of differences in audience demographics and preferences," explains Newzoo CEO Peter Warman.

"Apple requires users to connect their credit card information directly to their account, thus creating a seamless purchase experience.

"I can hardly imagine any other company in the world that would be able to get away with this, including Google and Microsoft. Facebook can come a long way, but Amazon clearly has the best chance and is proving this as we speak."