Gaming 2 0 2 2 Unity

UNITY
GAMING
REPORT
2022
INTRODUCTION
The past few years have taught us how important community really is. Games have
brought us together, providing human connection in a time of distance and isolation.
THE NUMBER OF GAMES MADE

O N T H E U N I T Y P L AT F O R M
INCREASED BY 93%
IN THE LAST YEAR.
The gaming industry has stepped up to feed the It draws on fresh, original data from the 230,000
booming demand – the number of games made on developers who make and operate over 750,000
the Unity Platform increased by 93% in the last year. apps using using the Unity Platform. To create a
And as the field grows more crowded, we want you complete snapshot of the industry, we’ve placed this
to have the insights you need to succeed. data in context with information from outside reports
and insights from creators.
This report gives you the latest information to steer
your decisions, whether you’re a solo dev or member
of a large studio. Throughout, you’ll find insights
about the state of the gaming industry that will help
you make better games and run a stronger business
as a developer or publisher.
© 2022 Unity Technologies 2 of 40 | unity.com

T H E S E A R E T H E T R E N D S YO U N E E D T O K N O W A B O U T.
TREND ONE: TREND FOUR:
M O R E G A M E S A R E B E I N G P U B L I S H E D I N E V E RY D E V E LO P E R S A R E T E A R I N G D OW N T H E WA L L E D
C A T E G O R Y, W I T H H Y P E R C A S U A L G A M E S U P 1 3 7 % . G A R D E N S A RO U N D P L AT F O R M S , W I T H A N
The number of games being made on the Unity Platform is up 93% in the last year, and the
E X P LO S I O N I N M U LT I P L AT F O R M R E AC H .
number of new creators is up 31%. With cross-platform development, game makers are tearing down the walled gardens that
separated players on different devices. In 2021, the number of games released across multiple
platforms more than doubled compared to just five years ago.
TREND TWO:
T H E PA N D E M I C S P I K E I N G A M I N G H A S R A I S E D
R E V E N U E B Y 3 0 % – A N D T H A T B U M P I S H E R E T O S T AY. TREND FIVE:
L A RG E ST U D I OS CO N T I N U E TO BA L LO O N , B U T T H E Y
Unlike sectors of the economy whose pandemic bubbles have popped, the changes in gaming
appear to be sustainable, bolstered by revenue growth in ad revenues and in-app purchases in
H AV E N ’ T C R O W D E D O U T I N D I E I N N O VAT I O N .
the United States and Europe. A growing number of third-party services and data analytics tools give studios of all sizes the
ability to compete at the highest level.
TREND THREE:
C A S U A L G A M E S A R E L E A D I N G T H E W A Y. TREND SIX:
Revenue for casual games increased 40% in the last year, driven by a 13% increase in the
P L AY E R S W A N T M O R E C O N T E N T F O R T H E G A M E S
number of games in that category. But no matter what genre you are working in, the right T H E Y A L R E A DY LOV E .
revenue strategy can help you succeed.
Players are playing longer than ever, thanks to the continued popularity of live games.

MORE GAMES
TREND
⟶
MORE GAMES
ONE:
⟶
Maximint. Anit evenis minctorist, quidus et acepeli

MORE GAMES
quamus raecae as nobis et volo volent ea si quam

net vitae ma volenis eaturiorem quis doluptus ma
velist abore, aceriat emquidentis eruptas eturenis
et iuntiosam veliciae consed molo consequo eum
simodipient volupta doloribus.
Incipsam autate conet quis magnim fuga.

⟶
Ita saeped moloressim es maximodit es ut

litemporumet estrum adis doluptus nessimo
MORE GAMES
luptatur mossita quaest et ut quo que laboreped

quia sunt mo millecto et voloria volorehent modit
dusandae conseque aut et alit optatur, te conse
MORE GAMES ARE BEING PUBLISHED

liquam et qui comnitis eaquiatis evelenis escimilit
voloressequi recabo. Everupi tempos doloribus,
ipsa conseditibus et
I N E V E R Y C A T E G O R Y, W I T H
⟶
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MORE GAMES
eum fuga. Igni quo bla et es maxim rehendam
HYPERCASUAL GAMES UP 137%.

aboressit dolupta ectisquam nonsequi que vel is
dis nobita.
⟶

GAMES
THERE ARE MORE DEVELOPERS, AND
THEY ARE MAKING MORE GAMES.
The production slump of the pandemic’s
early phase is now far behind us. Publishers CHART 1.1:
on the Unity platform built 93% more games
in 2021 than in 2020 – that’s almost twice as
Publishers are releasing more games.
many games as the year before.
Decrease
What’s more, there are more creators using
the Unity Platform to build games than ever
Increased by 1
before. In 2021, the number of Unity creators
increased 31% compared to 2020.
Increased by 2
Subway Surfers, by SYBO Games
Increased by 3
Increased by 4
Increased by 5
Increased by 6 or more
0% 10% 20% 30%
Percent of total developers

Chart 1.2 shows the number of Unity games
published in the hypercasual, casual, CHART 1.2:
midcore, and hardcore genres from 2019
to 2021. Each of the categories has shown
More games of all kinds are being made.
significant growth, with casual live games up
53%, midcore 54%, hardcore up 55%, and Hypercasual Casual Midcore Hardcore
hypercasual up 137%. 150%
100%
50%
THERE WERE
50%
MORE MADE WITH

UNITY GAMES
P U B L I S H E D I N E V E RY January 2019 July 2019 January 2020 July 2020 January 2021 July 2021
C A T E G O R Y. Number of live games by type, 2019–2021

CHART 1.3:
Casual, adventure, and simulation games are hot genres.
Action
HERE’S HOW WE Adventure
GROUPED THE GAME Arcade
C AT E G O R I E S W E A R E Board
Card
USING IN THIS REPORT:
Casino
Game genre
Casual
Casual: Adventure, arcade, board, casino,
Hypercasual
casual, puzzle, and word games
Puzzle
Midcore: Card, sports, racing, role-playing, Racing
and strategy games Role playing
Simulation
Hardcore: Action and simulation games Sports
Strategy
Hypercasual: Games of any genre that Word
involve a single gameplay loop with little
-5% 0% 5% 10% 15%
to no progression and monetized largely
by scaling ad revenue Percentage increase in the number of live games, 2020 vs 2021
Live games: Games of any genre in which

developers offer continual content updates Chart 1.3 shows the number of games
throughout the lifespan of the game published using Unity between 2020 and 2021
A DV E N T U RE , C AS UA L , P U ZZ L E ,
by genre. The number of games dropped
A N D S I M U L AT I O N G A M E S
for the casino and sports categories, while
simulation, adventure, puzzle, and casual
games saw the most growth.
G RE W BY OV E R 1 0%
REVE
⟶
REVENUE
TREND
⟶
REVENUE
TWO:
⟶

REVENUE

⟶

REVENUE

T H E PA N D E M I C S P I K E I N G A M I N G
⟶

REVENUE
HAS R AISED REVENUE BY 30%

lautem expla duciis aborerum enihilignia sequis The Falconeer, by Tomas Sala
– A N D T H A T B U M P I S H E R E T O S T A Y.
⟶
dis nobita.
REVENUE

⟶
UE
GAMING REVENUE GREW
ALMOST 30% LAST YEAR.
As the world opened (and closed and
opened again), many in the industry feared CHART 2.1:
that the players would vanish once they
had access to more entertainment choices
Ad, IAP, and total revenue all grew by more than 25%.
again. That largely didn’t happen. After an
initial peak during the earliest phase of the Ad revenue growth IAP revenue Total revenue growth
pandemic, the number of people playing

Unity games has stabilized.
Lost in Random, by Zoink Games
YoY growth
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

As Chart 2.2 shows, the number of daily
active users (DAU) playing games rose at
CHART 2.2:
the beginning of the pandemic, peaked, and
then found a new normal. The number of people playing has peaked and stabilized.
New players have entered the market and PC/Console Mobile
existing gamers are playing more. Studies

+150%
have found that during the pandemic
between 55% and 71% of gamers increased
the time they spent playing.
+100%
+50%
18 MONTHS AFTER
MARCH 2020,
Baseline
GAMING IS STILL UP
50%
MORE THAN
-50%
January July January March July January July

2019 2019 2020 2020 2020 2021 2021
Daily active users (DAU) on mobile and PC/console

In addition to daily active users, we
also looked at when people are playing. CHART 2.3:
Traditionally, DAUs increase on weekends
and during the summer, when children are
The flux in habits has settled to normal levels.
out of school and adults tend to take longer Monday–Thursday Friday–Sunday
vacations. 16%
Chart 2.3 shows weekday and weekend

gaming from 2019 to 2022. Weekends
usually see more DAUs than weekdays do 14%
– though that gap lessens in the summer

months. During the first pandemic summer
of 2020, we saw these lines converge. In the
12%
summer of 2021, weekday gaming activity
approached weekend levels again, although
it was not as pronounced as in 2020. Overall,
gamers are still playing more during the
10%
week than they did pre-pandemic, but their January 2019 July 2019 January 2020 July 2020 January 2021 July 2021
habits have largely returned to normal.
Gaming activity on weekdays and weekends
D A U N U M B E R S S H O W T H AT U S E R H A B I T S H AV E S TA B I L I Z E D – S O T H E S E
H I G H E R R A T E S O F P L A Y A R E H E R E T O S T AY.

REVENUES ARE GROWING, LED
BY THE AMERICAS AND EMEA .
Deprived of out-of-house entertainment has increased significantly since 2020,
outlets over the last two years, players have as can be seen in Chart 2.4. Throughout CHART 2.4:
spent more money on games than ever the pandemic, in-app purchase revenues
before. This section looks at two important have been flat in China, Japan, and Korea,
Players in the Americas and EMEA are
sources of revenue – in-app spending and while in-app purchase revenue rose in spending more on in-app purchases.
ad revenue. the Americas, Europe, the Middle East,
4x
Africa, and APAC. (For more about how we
In-app purchase, which measures the categorize the regions of the world,
purchases that players make within games, see the sidebar.)
3x
2x
1x
Throughout this report, we use APAC for the Asia-Pacific market,

which includes Southeast Asia, India, Australia, and the Pacific
Islands. That doesn’t include China, Japan, and Korea, large markets
with distinctive features. EMEA comprises Europe, the Middle East, January 2019 July 2019 January 2020 July 2020 January 2021 July 2021
and Africa. The Americas refers to North and South America.
Revenue growth from in-app purchases (IAPs), 2019–2021

With more people playing mobile games
than ever before, ad revenue for mobile titles CHART 2.5:
also grew at accelerated rates during the
pandemic. As Chart 2.5 shows, the increase
Ad revenue is growing in the Americas and EMEA.
in mobile ad revenue was almost entirely
4x
driven by the Americas, but there were also
substantial increases in EMEA.
3x
MOBILE AD REVENUE 2x
INCREASED BY
3X
MORE THAN
1x
January 2019 July 2019 January 2020 July 2020 January 2021 July 2021
IN THE AMERICAS. Ad revenue growth by region, 2019–2021

GA M E RS A RE ACCE PT I N G
MORE IN-GAME ADS. H O W W E M E A S U R E P L AY E R R E T E N T I O N
D1, D7, and D30 retention are the most common retention metrics
in the game industry. They refer to the percent of active users one,
As Chart 2.6 shows, the percent of daily Some developers worry that ads push players
seven, and thirty days after installing an app.
active users who watched at least one ad out of games, as people might follow ad links
increased from 21.6% in 2020 to 25.9% in and not return to the game. But ads, especially
2021 – a substantial jump. those that give in-game rewards, actually raise
user retention – a trend that has consistently
been documented in Unity research.
CHART 2.6: CHART 2 .7:

RETENTION WITH OR WITHOUT ADS
More players are watching ads. Ads improve retention.
21.6% 25.9%
26.3%
6.64% 8.27%
22.98%
2.88% 3.42%
Percentage of DAUs watching ads Without ads With ads

CASUAL GAMES
TREND
⟶
CASUAL GAMES
THREE:
⟶

CASUAL GAMES

⟶

CASUAL GAMES

CASUAL GAMES ARE

lautem expla duciis aborerum enihilignia sequis Lost in Random, by Zoink Games
L E A D I N G T H E W A Y.
dis nobita.
⟶
UAL GAMES

CASUAL GAMES
ARE WHERE THE CHART 3.1:
Revenues are soaring in casual games.
MONEY IS. Ad revenue growth In-app purchase revenue growth Total revenue growth
Action
Adventure
Although nearly all genres saw in-app
purchases and ad revenues grow during Arcade
2021, as Chart 3.1 shows, total revenue Card
growth was up the most in puzzle, card,

Casino
adventure, casual, and hypercasual games.
Action, role-playing, and arcade game Casual
revenues grew the least.

Hypercasual
Puzzle
Racing
Role playing
HYPERCASUAL GAMES’
Simulation
IN-APP PURCHASE RE VENUE
GREW BY
Sports
Strategy
OV E R 1 62 %
Word

H Y P E R C A S U A L G A M E S H AV E
A CAP ON AUDIENCE SIZE.
As a general trend, hypercasual games took CHART 3.2:
up a larger share of the mix as the size of the

Hypercasual games lose market share after reaching the million-player mark.
player base increased. However, this trend
was reversed for games with DAUs of one
Hypercasual Casual Midcore Hardcore
million or more. This suggests a cap on the
size of an audience that hypercasual games
can maintain. To hold on to a larger audience
1K to 10K
over the long term, games need
deeper gameplay.
10K to 50K
50K to 100K
C A S UA L G A M E S TA K E DAU size
40% OF
100K to 500K
THE PIE
500K to 1MM
AT E V E RY AU D I E N C E S I Z E . 1MM or more
Percentage of total live games in 2021

FOR DEEPER
CHART 3.3:
Deeper gameplay drives IAP revenue.

G A M E P L AY, I A P
Percentage of ad revenue Percentage of IAP revenue
IS THE LEADING
Action REVENUE
Adventure
Arcade
Board
S T R A T E G Y.
Card
Casino
As Chart 3.3 shows, in genres like
Casual hypercasual and word games, developers
Hypercasual make the bulk of their revenue from ads. In
Puzzle other categories of games, like RPGs, in-app
purchases drive revenue.
Racing
Role playing
The difference is this: Hardcore genres like
Simulation
RPGs and strategy (as well as casino games
Sports that revolve around player transactions)
Strategy derive most of their revenue from in-app
Trivia
purchases. Genres like word, arcade, and
casual games lean more heavily on ad
Word
revenue, with hypercasual games almost
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% entirely reliant on ads.
Ad vs IAP revenue

As Chart 3.4 shows, games of all genres in
China and Japan rely more heavily on ad
revenue, while those in other regions lean
more heavily on in-app purchases. In the
Americas, it’s almost a 50/50 split.
CHART 3.4:
Ad revenue matters most in China and Japan.
IAP revenue percentage Ad revenue percentage DEVELOPERS IN
APAC CHINA
Americas A N D J A PA N
R E LY M O R E H E AV I LY
China
ON AD REVENUE.
EMEA
Japan
Korea
IAP revenue vs ad revenue

I N 1 2 O U T O F 1 6 G E N R E S , AV E R A G E
SPEN D PER TR ANSACTION IS RISI NG.
It was as true in 2021 as always: Only a small CHART 3.5:
portion of people playing free-to-play games
In most genres, gamers are spending more money per transaction.
players will ever pay. But those who do pay,
pay a lot.
The Americas, Japan, and Korea led the

Action
world in the amount of paying players, likely
Adventure
bolstered by the popularity in those regions
Arcade
of collector RPGs (also known as gacha
Board
games) like Raid: Shadow Legends. Players
Card
in those regions often spend four times as
Casino
much as players in APAC.
Casual
Hypercasual
As Chart 3.5 shows, the average spend
Puzzle
per transaction grew in 2021 in 12 out of 16
Racing
genres. The highest spending categories were
Role playing
casino, adventure, and card games. There
Simulation
was tremendous growth in action, adventure,
Sports
sports, and hypercasual games, while arcade,
Strategy
board, casual, and trivia games saw declines.
Trivia
Word
$0 $5 $10 $15

GAMING IS GLOBAL ,
CHART 3.6:
Percentage of live games per genre in Japan, 2021.

JAPAN: % OF LIVE GAMES PER GAME GENRE IN 2021
BUT REGIONAL Sports
2.3%
Strategy
T A S T E S V A R Y.
4.8%
World
2.3%
Simulation Action
19.3% 12.1%
Adventure
4.9%
Role playing Arcade
6.2% 2.6%
Board
Some games are truly global, but many in China, Japan, and Korea, where only Racing
3.3%
4.0% Card
gamers have differences in taste depending 11.6% of games being played in 2021 4.0%
Puzzle Casino
on where they live. As a consequence, were hypercasual. 11.8% 1.1%
developers offer different mixes of game Hypercasual Casual

11.6% 10.6%
types in different regions. For example, Let’s look at the degree to which game
players in the Americas and EMEA play up to production varies by region by zooming in on
50% more hypercasual games than players two very different markets, Japan and EMEA. CHART 3.7:
Percentage of live games per genre in EMEA, 2021.

Word Action
3.8% 10.1%
Sports Adventure
1.8% 4.3%
Arcade
Simulation
2.0%
14.7%
Board
5.3%
Role playing
2.8%
Card
6.6%
Racing
7.1% Casino
While EMEA and America are hotbeds for hypercasual 2.0%
players, players in China, Japan, and Korea tend to

Casual
Puzzle
prefer genres like action and simulation. 10.1%
10.4%
Hypercasual
17.5%

C H I N A’ S G A M I N G GAME STICKINESS IN CHINA DROPPED WHEN
CR ACKDOWN N E W R E G U L AT I O N S W E R E
INTRODUCED IN AUGUST 2021.
IS WORKING.
In the last year, Chinese authorities have restricted video CHART 3.8:
games in their country, with one official newspaper labeling

China’s gaming crackdown is changing how games are played.
them “spiritual opium.”
China Rest of the world
In the fall of 2021, the Chinese government enacted some
of its strictest regulations yet, barring gamers under 18 from
playing on weekdays, and limiting their weekend playtime to
just three hours.
The crackdown has made an impact. Although stickiness –

the percentage of daily players who returned each month
– has declined around the world, in China, there was a very
noticeable drop. There was a particularly pronounced drop in
2021 that coincided with the new regulations.
January July January July January

2020 2020 2021 2021 2022
Game stickiness in China and the rest of the world

M U LT I P L AT F O R M
TREND
⟶
FOUR:
⟶


DEVELOPERS ARE TEARING DOWN
T H E WA L L E D G A R D E N S A RO U N D
⟶

P L AT F O R M S W I T H A N E X P LO S I O N
lautem expla duciis aborerum enihilignia sequis Crying Suns, by Alt Shift
I N M U LT I P L AT F O R M R E AC H .
dis nobita.
⟶
L AT F O R M

DEVELOPERS NEED TO
W E WA N T T O M E E T O U R P L AY E R S W H E R E
R E A C H P L AY E R S O N T H E Y A R E , R AT H E R T H A N A S K T H E M TO CO M E
T O O N LY T H E P L AT F O R M S T H AT W E H A P P E N
T O S U P P O R T. W E K N E W W E ’ D H AV E T O
M U LT I P L E P L AT F O R M S . M A K E A D A P T A T I O N S A L O N G T H E W AY, A N D
UNITY’S FLEXIBILITY HELPED US ALL KEEP
AN OPEN MIND AND GO AFTER THE BEST
SOLUTIONS POSSIBLE.
Regardless of what’s happening in the world or they can build a game on multiple
outside, people are turning to games to platforms simultaneously. Once a game is – T E D G I L L , P R E S I D E N T,
UNKNOWN WORLDS
spend time with each other. launched, they can allow players to access
their accounts from multiple platforms. And
Whether it’s developing games across developers can also offer crossplatform play,
platforms or devices, bringing new ways to which allows people to play with each other
play something people already love, or just no matter their device.
building places where people can be together, Subnautica: Below Zero, by Unknown Worlds
the gaming industry continues to find new If a game can follow a player from their home
ways to draw people closer no matter which console to their mobile phone or tablet, it
platforms they choose to play on. cuts down the chance that they’ll switch to
another game when they change devices. It
There are many ways to be multiplatform. also improves the player experience, making
Developers can build a game to work on a it easy for players to access their save files,
single platform before porting it to others, in-game purchases, and content anywhere.

While cross-platform play may still be in the
future for many games, one of the breakout
hits of 2020 was the action-RPG Genshin
Impact, which could be played cross-
platform on PlayStation 4, iOS, Android,
and PC. It was a massive hit, making an CHART 4.1:
estimated $2 billion in revenue in its first
year on the App Store and Google Play.
Multiplatform reach is rising.
Mobile
Xbox Series X/S
PlayStation 5
U N I T Y D O E S S O M U C H O F T H E H E AV Y
Nintendo Switch
L I F T I N G W H E N YO U ’ R E P O RT I N G TO
Xbox One
D I F F E R E N T P L AT F O R M S . I T G AV E U S
M U C H M O R E T I M E TO CO N C E N T R AT E PlayStation 4
O N T H E G A M E I T S E L F. PC
– O LOV R E D M A L M , C R E AT I V E D I R E C TO R ,
ZO I N K GA M ES
Lost in Random, by Zoink Games
For those raised on schoolyard debates over

which consoles were better, the importance of
platform loyalty appears to be waning. Players
Multiplatform game releases by year, per platform
now expect to play against one another no
matter the device. We expect to see all forms
of multiplatform game development continue
The chart shows games with cross-platform functionality like multiplayer or persistent accounts. Games needed to have this
to grow, as Chart 4.1 shows.
functionality on two or more platforms to qualify. It does not represent Made with Unity games on each platform.

CO M M U N I T Y I N T E R AC T I O N
I S E X T R E M E LY I M P O R TA N T.
B U I L D I N G A CO M M U N I T Y
I S J U S T A S I M P O RTA N T
C O M I N G AT T R A C T I O N S : A R , V R , A N D T H E M E TAV E R S E
AS BUI LDING TH E ACTUAL
G A M E I T S E L F.
Our industry often chases the next big thing. Part of this might be people’s resistance to
– A N DY T S E N , C E O, R A M E N V R
Right now, that’s the metaverse. We’re not the “box-on-the-face” problem – so far, VR
sure about the name, but we’re excited about gaming may have seemed hard to access
the idea. That said, even with the success or even anti-social to some players. But as
of augmented reality games like Pokémon Pokémon GO and a new wave of social VR
GO, we don’t expect to see widespread use multiplayers show, immersive games on
of AR and VR in the next year, despite the next-gen technologies may be the future of
popularity of innovative games like Beat gaming.
Saber and Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders.
By contrast, the present of gaming is still
That’s not to say there won’t be growth. mobile. In 2021, mobile sales were $79.1
Over the next five years, the number of billion. In many parts of the world, the near-
people playing AR and VR games will universal rates of mobile adoption mean
generate an estimated $216 million. But for mobile devices are synonymous with gaming,
now, the market is small. According to one unlike in places like the United States, where
estimate, sales of augmented reality and consoles retain significant market share. As
virtual reality games amounted to $5.4 billion 5G networks continue to expand – now up
in 2021 – a sliver of the $336 billion market to one-third of all smartphones – we expect
in gaming as a whole. (Another estimate put gamers in the rest of the world to catch up.
the size of AR and VR at $12 billion.)
© 2022 Unity Technologies Zenith, by Ramen VR 26 of 40 | unity.com

P L AY E R S WA N T
M U L T I P L AY E R
GAMES. CHART 4.2:
People are spending more time in multiplayer games.

In 2021, over half of all Americans played
multiplayer games, a type of game that
appeals to a wide audience – 62% of men
Multiplayer game time by region

and 50% of women.
The amount of time that people spend on

multiplayer games has increased steadily
since at least 2020, as Chart 4.2 shows.
THE
AMERICAS January
2020
July
2020
January
2021
July
2021
January
2022
L E A D T H E PAC K
I N M U L T I P L AY E R G A M E P L A Y.

I N N O VAT I O N
TREND
⟶
I N N O VAT I O N
FIVE:
⟶

I N N O VAT I O N


⟶

I N N O VAT I O N

L A RG E ST U D I OS CO N T I N U E TO
B A L L O O N , B U T T H E Y H AV E N ’ T
⟶
lautem expla duciis aborerum enihilignia sequis Call of Colors, by Passion Punch Studio
I N N O VAT I O N
C R O W D E D O U T I N D I E I N N O VAT I O N .
dis nobita.
⟶

VAT I O N
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPERS
ARE BIG (AND GETTING
BIGGER).
A wave of consolidation has reached the With more resources and development
gaming industry. In the space of a month, teams, AAA developers are able to spend
Take-Two Interactive bought mobile game more to keep games going. On average,
company Zynga; Microsoft announced it larger development studios have 73% more
would acquire Activision Blizzard, and Sony games in live operation than small and
announced it would purchase developer medium-sized studios. But as more tools and
Bungie. In the aggregate, those deals services are being made for developers of all
represent $85 billion – and the industry is sizes, we can expect to see this gap shrink.
still poised for growth.
O N AV E R A G E , L A R G E S T U D I O S H AV E
73% MORE GAMES

I N L I V E O P E R AT I O N .

B U T I N D I ES CO N T I N U E
T O D R I V E I N N O VAT I O N .
It’s still possible to succeed even with limited Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, one of the
resources. Valheim became one of the most funniest games in a long time.
popular games in the world last year, and was
built by a development team of five people. Today, indie developers have access to
better tools than they ever have before – and
One way indie games can stand is with many of them need those tools to compete.
focused, smaller-scope games. Indie Even the leanest development team can
developers can also set themselves apart by harness others’ expertise by fleshing out
taking creative risks, creating experimental their creative arsenal with assets and tools
gameplay designs, or telling daring stories, from the Asset Store, strengthening their
as in innovative recent titles like Twelve testing and DevOps solutions, managing
Minutes, a mechanically rich reimagining game operations with Unity Gaming
of the point-and-click genre, Death’s Door, Services, and accessing free learning
which balanced simplicity and difficulty, and resources to step up their skill sets.
W I T H U N I T Y, I T H I N K T H E S M A L L E S T S T U D I O C A N
E A S I LY P U B L I S H O N A N Y P L AT F O R M T H E Y WA N T.
– TO M A S S A L A , C R E ATO R , T H E FA LCO N E E R
© 2022
The Falconeer, Unity
by Tomas SalaTechnologies 30 of 40 | unity.com
DEVELOPERS WITH
Many developers specialize in just one Developers that publish three or more styles
genre of game. As Chart 5.1 shows, 76% of of games have daily revenue 119% higher than
developers publish only a single kind of game. developers that publish only two kinds, which
DIVERSE PORTFOLIOS But there are significant financial upsides to

in turn have 78% more revenue than those
that publish only one. (That’s roughly a 197%
DO BETTER.
diversified portfolios, as Chart 5.2 indicates. jump from single-genre publishers to those
that publish three or more.)
CHART 5.1: CHART 5.2:
Most publishers specialize in one genre. But the ones that diversify make more revenue.
+119%
Publisher daily in-app purchase (IAP) and ad revenue

Percentage of publishers in 2021
+78%
3 or more
Number of game genres Number of game genres per publisher

NINE OUT OF 10
S T U D I O S U S E P L AY E R CHART 5.3:
What services are developers using?

E N GAG E M E N T S E RV I CES. Indie Mid-market Enterprise
Ad monetization, mediation,
and user acquisition (UA)
Not every tool needs to be built in-house, engagement and segmentation services; 88%
so developers are increasingly turning use in-app purchase services; and 76% use
Analytics, authentication,
to sophisticated third-party tools to help analytic, authentication, and privacy services. and privacy
manage their games.

Small studios tend to use services in those
Differently sized studios use a different mix. categories as well, but also lean heavily on Backend cloud services
and content delivery
services for ad monetization, mediation, and

Among enterprise studios over 91% use player user acquisition.
IAP
Multiplayer
O U R M O T I VAT I O N WA S T O R E M A I N N I M B L E A N D U P D AT E Player engagement
C O N T E N T O V E R T H E A I R W I T H O U T H AV I N G T O S U B M I T A N E W
and segmentation
B U I L D E V E RY T I M E . B E I N G A B L E TO T E ST O U T CO N T E N T W I T H O U T
A F F E C T I N G L I V E P L AY E R S — T H A T F L E X I B I L I T Y A N D S E C U R I T Y W A S 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
R E A L LY I M P O R TA N T T O U S . Percentage of games using service categories in indie, mid-market, and large studios
– IBS R AGEH, VP OF ENGINEERING, NIFT Y GAMES

DATA M A K E S T H E
DIFFERENCE IN
USER RETENTION. CHART 5.4:
D1 retention is similar for all genres.
One of those most important metrics is user Action 30%

retention — effective user retention strategies Adventure 29%
can yield 5–30% increases in revenue growth.
Arcade 24%
Board 35%
Card 30%
Here are the retention metrics by game category Casino 30%
for games using the Unity platform in 2021. Casual 30%
Hypercasual 30%
Puzzle 32%
Racing 28%
Role playing 28%
Simulation 29%
Sports 29%
Strategy 30%
EFFECTIVE USER RETENTION Trivia 30%
Word 36%
S T R AT E G I E S C A N Y I E L D A
0% 10% 20% 30%
5–30% INCREASE
IN REVENUE GROWTH.

Retention rates vary across game categories,
especially at the 30-day mark. Games tend
to cluster around 30% user retention on day
M O S T C AT E G O R I E S S E E A RO U N D A
one, but after a month, the differences are
pronounced. Categories with high retention
rates like board, card, and word games have a
20% RETENTION DROP
B E T W E E N D 1 A N D D 7.
D30 retention rate around seven times that of
the lowest-performing category, arcade games.
CHART 5.5: CHART 5.6:
D7 retention has more separation. D30 retention looks very different.

Action
Adventure Action
Adventure
Arcade
Arcade
Board
Board
Card
Card
Casino
Casino
Casual
Casual
Hypercasual Hypercasual
Puzzle Puzzle
Racing Racing
Role playing Role playing
Simulation Simulation
Sports Sports
Strategy Strategy
Trivia Trivia
Word Word
0% 5% 10% 15% 0% 2% 4% 6% 8%

M AST E R POST- L AU N CH
M A N A G E M E N T.
While some games are hits right out of the gate The strategies that got you to launch
and others are obvious failures, for the many and those that you need after launch are
games that fall in the middle, the difference different – but both pay close attention to the
between a positive and a negative outcome people playing your game. An empowered
is post-launch management. Successful community is an engaged community. For
studios start by building a game to include example, look at how Fall Guys and Subway
regular content drops, events, community Surfers have embraced their players.
engagement, and more – and work backward
from there.
W E WA N T TO M A K E S U R E W E G I V E U S E R S A G R E AT E X P E R I E N C E ,
A N D I F T H E R E A R E I N A P P R O P R I A T E A D S T H A T S H O W U P, I T H U R T S
O U R G A M E A N D B R A N D. N OW T H AT W E U S E A D CO N T RO L S W E ’ R E
A B L E T O M A N A G E T H I S M U C H M O R E E F F E C T I V E LY
– C A R LO S A N T I AG O, M O N E T I Z AT I O N M A N AG E R , U K E N G A M E S
Ava’s Manor, by Uken Games

⟶
MORE CONTENT
TREND
⟶
MORE CONTENT
SIX:
⟶

MORE CONTENT

⟶

MORE CONTENT
P L AY E R S WA N T M O R E C O N T E N T F O R
lautem expla duciis aborerum enihilignia sequis Subnautica: Below Zero, by Unknown Worlds
T H E G A M E S T H E Y A L R E A DY LOV E .
dis nobita.
⟶
CONTENT

THE LIVE GAMES MODEL W E C A N E A S I LY A U T O M AT E T H E P I P E L I N E
I S B E CO M I N G T H E F O R C R E AT I N G , B U N D L I N G , U P LOA D I N G ,
AND TESTING ASSETS THROUGH THE
CLO U D BY US I N G CLO U D CO N T E N T
I N D U S T RY S TA N DA R D. D E L I V E R Y. I T ’ S L I K E A D E V E L O P E R -
F R I E N D LY O N E - S T O P - S H O P F O R A S S E T
M A N A G E M E N T A N D D E L I V E R Y.
– I S M A I L H A S A N O V, C T O ,
Once, games were standalone pieces of PA S S I O N P U N C H S T U D I O
content like books. They were a complete
experience at the time of purchase. Today,
they’re more like television shows – ongoing
series that grow over time. In particular, live
games have demonstrated their popularity
with gamers, who now expect games to have
regular content updates – new challenges,
modes, maps, cosmetics, character options,
and storylines. Many of the most popular
games today are built as services, including
Genshin Impact, Apex, and League of
Legends.
Call of Colors, by Passion Punch Studio

N E W CO N T E N T M E A N S
NEW REVENUE.
Making new content is one of the most direct As chart 6.1 shows, following a new content CHART 6.1:
ways to increase the number of people drop, the impact at the median is a 3.46%
New content means more IAP for hit games.
playing your game over time. Players don’t lift to IAP. But, for the content releases that
want to play the same old thing over and over are hits, where people want to come back
Median 75th 95th
again. Eventually, they will want new content. to again and again, new content drives high
increases in the number of people playing.
As we noted in Unity’s State of Live Gaming Following new content for games at the 95th
Report, incremental content updates are a big percentile of DAUs, IAP revenue increased
way to keep your hits active. more than 85%.
W E H AV E B E E N A D A P T I N G A N D
E V O L V I N G S U B W AY S U R F E R S W H I L E
0.00% 25.00% 50.00% 75.00%
K E E P I N G T H E N O S TA LG I A F E E L T H AT
M A K ES T H I S GA M E O N E - O F -A K I N D.
– M AT H I A S G R E DA L N Ø RV I G ,
CE O, SY B O
Subway Surfers, by SYBO Games

Here are six trends that we think will shape the
industry in the next year and beyond.
CO N CLUS I O N : G A M E L I F E S PA N S W I L L L E N GT H E N .
The popularity of live games means consumers expect to
INDIE AND MID-MARKET
DEVELOPERS WILL INVEST IN
P L AY E R I N T E L L I G E N C E .
SIX TRENDS
engage with their favorite games over long periods of time.
It’s no longer the case that small- and mid-range developers

have to forgo the behind-the-scenes capacities that large
B E YO N D 2 0 2 2 C R O S S - P L A T F O R M M U L T I P L AY E R
GA M ES W I L L B E CO M E M O RE
studios enjoy.
CO M M O N .
Gamers now expect to be able to access their game accounts
THERE WILL BE INCREASED
2021 was a good year for the business ADOPTION OF SPECIALIZED TOOLS
from any device, and to play against people no matter what
of gaming. More games were made than device they are using. We expect this feature to become A N D T H I R D - PA RT Y E X P E RT I S E .
ever before, revenue was up, and players standard throughout the industry.
A growing number of third-party services and data analytic
found their way to their favorite games as tools give studios of all sizes the ability to compete at the
a respite in a troubled world. As the world highest level.
M O B I L E M U L T I P L AY E R G A M E S W I L L
slowly emerges from the upheaval of the
B E CO M E T H E S TA N DA R D OV E R T H E
pandemic, the gaming industry continues
NEXT DECADE. M E TAV E R S E A N D T H E B L O C KC H A I N
to find its way forward.
Games like PUBG Mobile are popular for a reason. Especially W I L L B E T E S T E D B U T N O T Y E T F U L LY
with the growth of 5G networks, we expect people to E M B R ACE D.
embrace more games in which they can play against one
We are excited about the potential of new technologies
another from their mobile devices.
like the metaverse and of expansions of older ones like
the blockchain. But we don’t expect that 2022 will be the
year that those technologies supplant existing ways to
play games.

ABOUT UNI
⟶
ABOUT UNITY
ABOUT UNITY A B O U T T H E DATA
The data in this report is drawn from the Unity Engine and the
Unity Gaming Services portfolio of products, including games
made with Unity that are sending events through Unity. These
⟶
Unity (NYSE: U) is the world’s leading platform for creating and operating real-
powerful gaming solutions span mobile, PC and, console,
time 3D (RT3D) content. Creators, ranging from game developers to artists,
ABOUT UNITY
gaming, giving a unique view of the entire gaming industry.

architects, automotive designers, filmmakers, and others, use Unity to make
Unity Technologies helps more than 230K developers make
their imaginations come to life. Unity’s platform provides a comprehensive set of
sustainable revenue from ads and in-app purchases on over
software solutions to create, run and monetize interactive, real-time 2D and 3D
750K games. We take data privacy seriously, and have omitted
content for mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, and augmented and virtual
and anonymized information from this report that would
reality devices. The company’s 1,800+ person research and development team
individually identify any single game, developer, or publisher.
keeps Unity at the forefront of development by working alongside partners to
⟶
Games are broken out into publicly available categories as

ensure optimized support for the latest releases and platforms. Apps developed
defined on the iOS and Google Play stores where available.
ABOUT UNITY
by Unity creators have been downloaded more than five billion times per month
Although we also include outside sources of information,
in 2020. For more information, please visit unity.com.
the data shown in the charts and graphics is original to
Unity. In addition, we are grateful to those members of the
industry whom we interviewed for this report, many of whose
contributions are quoted throughout.
⟶
ABOUT UNITY
⟶

UNITY

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UNITY

THE NUMBER OF GAMES MADE

© 2022 Unity Technologies 2 of 40 | unity.com

© 2022 Unity Technologies 3 of 40 | unity.com

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luptatur mossita quaest et ut quo que laboreped

MORE GAMES ARE BEING PUBLISHED

eum fuga. Igni quo bla et es maxim rehendam

HYPERCASUAL GAMES UP 137%.

© 2022 Unity Technologies 4 of 40 | unity.com

Subway Surfers, by SYBO Games

0% 10% 20% 30%

Percent of total developers

© 2022 Unity Technologies 5 of 40 | unity.com

hypercasual up 137%. 150%

MORE MADE WITH

C A T E G O R Y. Number of live games by type, 2019–2021

© 2022 Unity Technologies 6 of 40 | unity.com

Casual, adventure, and simulation games are hot genres.

HERE’S HOW WE Adventure

GROUPED THE GAME Arcade

Midcore: Card, sports, racing, role-playing, Racing

and strategy games Role playing

Live games: Games of any genre in which

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net vitae ma volenis eaturiorem quis doluptus ma

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litemporumet estrum adis doluptus nessimo

voloressequi recabo. Everupi tempos doloribus,

HAS R AISED REVENUE BY 30%

eum fuga. Igni quo bla et es maxim rehendam

© 2022 Unity Technologies 8 of 40 | unity.com

pandemic, the number of people playing

Lost in Random, by Zoink Games

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

© 2022 Unity Technologies 9 of 40 | unity.com

New players have entered the market and PC/Console Mobile

existing gamers are playing more. Studies

January July January March July January July

Daily active users (DAU) on mobile and PC/console

© 2022 Unity Technologies 10 of 40 | unity.com

Chart 2.3 shows weekday and weekend

– though that gap lessens in the summer

© 2022 Unity Technologies 11 of 40 | unity.com

Throughout this report, we use APAC for the Asia-Pacific market,

© 2022 Unity Technologies 12 of 40 | unity.com

IN THE AMERICAS. Ad revenue growth by region, 2019–2021

© 2022 Unity Technologies 13 of 40 | unity.com

CHART 2.6: CHART 2 .7:

Percentage of DAUs watching ads Without ads With ads

© 2022 Unity Technologies 14 of 40 | unity.com

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simodipient volupta doloribus.

Incipsam autate conet quis magnim fuga.

liquam et qui comnitis eaquiatis evelenis escimilit

voloressequi recabo. Everupi tempos doloribus,