Unity Gaming Report 2022

Jan, 2023 GAMING
REPORT
2022
UNITY

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
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.
INTRODUCTION
The gaming industry has stepped up to feed the
booming demand – the number of games made on
the Unity Platform increased by 93% in the last year.
And as the field grows more crowded, we want you
to have the insights you need to succeed.
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. It draws on fresh, original data from the 230,000
developers who make and operate over 750,000
apps using using the Unity Platform. To create a
complete snapshot of the industry, we’ve placed this
data in context with information from outside reports
and insights from creators.
THE NUMBER OF GAMES MADE
ON THE UNITY PLATFORM
INCREASED BY 93%
IN THE LAST YEAR.

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THESE ARE THE TRENDS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT.
TREND FOUR:
DEVELOPERS ARE TEARING DOWN THE WALLED
GARDENS AROUND PLATFORMS, WITH AN
EXPLOSION IN MULTIPLATFORM REACH.
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 SIX:
PLAYERS WANT MORE CONTENT FOR THE GAMES
THEY ALREADY LOVE.
Players are playing longer than ever, thanks to the continued popularity of live games.
TREND FIVE:
LARGE STUDIOS CONTINUE TO BALLOON, BUT THEY
HAVEN’T CROWDED OUT INDIE INNOVATION.
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 ONE:
MORE GAMES ARE BEING PUBLISHED IN EVERY
CATEGORY, WITH HYPERCASUAL GAMES UP 137%.
The number of games being made on the Unity Platform is up 93% in the last year, and the
number of new creators is up 31%.
TREND THREE:
CASUAL GAMES ARE LEADING THE WAY.
Revenue for casual games increased 40% in the last year, driven by a 13% increase in the
number of games in that category. But no matter what genre you are working in, the right
revenue strategy can help you succeed.
TREND TWO:
THE PANDEMIC SPIKE IN GAMING HAS RAISED
REVENUE BY 30% – AND THAT BUMP IS HERE TO STAY.
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
the United States and Europe.

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
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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.

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dusandae conseque aut et alit optatur, te conse
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voloressequi recabo. Everupi tempos doloribus,
ipsa conseditibus et
lautem expla duciis aborerum enihilignia sequis
eum fuga. Igni quo bla et es maxim rehendam
aboressit dolupta ectisquam nonsequi que vel is
dis nobita.
MORE GAMES
⟶ MORE GAMES ⟶ MORE GAMES ⟶ MORE GAMES ⟶ MORE GAMES ⟶
MORE GAMES ⟶
MORE GAMES ARE BEING PUBLISHED
IN EVERY CATEGORY, WITH
HYPERCASUAL GAMES UP 137%.
TREND
ONE:
Knockout City, by Velan Studios

© 2022 Unity Technologies
The production slump of the pandemic’s
early phase is now far behind us. Publishers
on the Unity platform built 93% more games
in 2021 than in 2020 – that’s almost twice as
many games as the year before.
What’s more, there are more creators using
the Unity Platform to build games than ever
before. In 2021, the number of Unity creators
increased 31% compared to 2020.
CHART 1.1:
Publishers are releasing more games.
THERE ARE MORE DEVELOPERS, AND
THEY ARE MAKING MORE GAMES.

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Subway Surfers, by SYBO Games

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
Chart 1.2 shows the number of Unity games
published in the hypercasual, casual,
midcore, and hardcore genres from 2019
to 2021. Each of the categories has shown
significant growth, with casual live games up
53%, midcore 54%, hardcore up 55%, and
hypercasual up 137%.

CHART 1.2:
More games of all kinds are being made.
THERE WERE
50%
MORE MADE WITH
UNITY GAMES
PUBLISHED IN EVERY
CATEGORY.

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
Chart 1.3 shows the number of games
published using Unity between 2020 and 2021
by genre. The number of games dropped
for the casino and sports categories, while
simulation, adventure, puzzle, and casual
games saw the most growth.
HERE’S HOW WE
GROUPED THE GAME
CATEGORIES WE ARE
USING IN THIS REPORT:
Casual: Adventure, arcade, board, casino,
casual, puzzle, and word games
Midcore: Card, sports, racing, role-playing,
and strategy games
Hardcore: Action and simulation games
Hypercasual: Games of any genre that
involve a single gameplay loop with little
to no progression and monetized largely
by scaling ad revenue
Live games: Games of any genre in which
developers offer continual content updates
throughout the lifespan of the game
CHART 1.3:
Casual, adventure, and simulation games are hot genres.
Action
Adventure
ArcadeBoard
Card
Casino Casual
Hypercasual Puzzle
Racing
Simulation Sports
Strategy
Wo rd
Role playing
Percentage increase in the number of live games, 2020 vs 2021
-5%
0%5%10% 15%
Game genre
ADVENTURE, CASUAL, PUZZLE,
AND SIMULATION GAMES

GREW BY OVER 10%

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
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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.
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litemporumet estrum adis doluptus nessimo
luptatur mossita quaest et ut quo que laboreped
quia sunt mo millecto et voloria volorehent modit
dusandae conseque aut et alit optatur, te conse
liquam et qui comnitis eaquiatis evelenis escimilit
voloressequi recabo. Everupi tempos doloribus,
ipsa conseditibus et
lautem expla duciis aborerum enihilignia sequis
eum fuga. Igni quo bla et es maxim rehendam
aboressit dolupta ectisquam nonsequi que vel is
dis nobita.
REVENUE
⟶ REVENUE ⟶ REVENUE ⟶ REVENUE ⟶ REVENUE ⟶ REVENUE ⟶ REVENUE ⟶
REVENUE ⟶
THE PANDEMIC SPIKE IN GAMING
HAS RAISED REVENUE BY 30%
– AND THAT BUMP IS HERE TO STAY.
The Falconeer , by Tomas Sala
TREND
T W O :

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

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Daily active users (DAU) on mobile and PC/console
As Chart 2.2 shows, the number of daily
active users (DAU) playing games rose at
the beginning of the pandemic, peaked, and
then found a new normal.
New players have entered the market and
existing gamers are playing more. Studies
have found that during the pandemic
between
55% and 71% of gamers increased
the time they spent playing.
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18 MONTHS AFTER
MARCH 2020,
GAMING IS STILL UP

MORE THAN
50%

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
In addition to daily active users, we
also looked at when people are playing.
Traditionally, DAUs increase on weekends
and during the summer, when children are
out of school and adults tend to take longer
vacations.
Chart 2.3 shows weekday and weekend
gaming from 2019 to 2022. Weekends
usually see more DAUs than weekdays do
– though that gap lessens in the summer
months. During the first pandemic summer
of 2020, we saw these lines converge. In the
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
week than they did pre-pandemic, but their
habits have largely returned to normal.
CHART 2.3:
The flux in habits has settled to normal levels.

2 of4030M
2RE RGf4030M
DAU NUMBERS SHOW THAT USER HABITS HAVE STABILIZED – SO THESE

HIGHER RATES OF PLAY ARE HERE TO STAY.

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
REVENUES ARE GROWING, LED
BY THE AMERICAS AND EMEA.
Deprived of out-of-house entertainment
outlets over the last two years, players have
spent more money on games than ever
before. This section looks at two important
sources of revenue – in-app spending and
ad revenue.
In-app purchase, which measures the
purchases that players make within games, has increased significantly since 2020,
as can be seen in Chart 2.4. Throughout
the pandemic, in-app purchase revenues
have been flat in China, Japan, and Korea,
while in-app purchase revenue rose in
the Americas, Europe, the Middle East,
Africa, and APAC. (For more about how we
categorize the regions of the world,
see the sidebar.)
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,
and Africa. The Americas refers to North and South America.
CHART 2.4:
Players in the Americas and EMEA are
spending more on in-app purchases.

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With more people playing mobile games
than ever before, ad revenue for mobile titles
also grew at accelerated rates during the
pandemic. As Chart 2.5 shows, the increase
in mobile ad revenue was almost entirely
driven by the Americas, but there were also
substantial increases in EMEA.
CHART 2.5:
Ad revenue is growing in the Americas and EMEA.

MOBILE AD REVENUE
INCREASED BY

MORE THAN
3X
IN THE AMERICAS.

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
As Chart 2.6 shows, the percent of daily
active users who watched at least one ad
increased from 21.6% in 2020 to 25.9% in
2021 – a substantial jump.
GAMERS ARE ACCEPTING
MORE IN-GAME ADS.
Some developers worry that ads push players
out of games, as people might follow ad links
and not return to the game. But ads, especially
those that give in-game rewards, actually raise
user retention – a trend that has consistently
been documented in Unity research. D1, D7, and D30 retention are the most common retention metrics
in the game industry. They refer to the percent of active users one,
seven, and thirty days after installing an app.
HOW WE MEASURE PLAYER RETENTION
CHART 2.6:
More players are watching ads.
25.9%
21.6%
Percentage of DAUs watching ads
CHART 2.7:
Ads improve retention.
RETENTION WITH OR WITHOUT ADS

22.98% 26.3%

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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.

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dusandae conseque aut et alit optatur, te conse
liquam et qui comnitis eaquiatis evelenis escimilit
voloressequi recabo. Everupi tempos doloribus,
ipsa conseditibus et
lautem expla duciis aborerum enihilignia sequis
eum fuga. Igni quo bla et es maxim rehendam
aboressit dolupta ectisquam nonsequi que vel is
dis nobita.
CASUAL GAMES
⟶ CASUAL GAMES ⟶ CASUAL GAMES ⟶ CASUAL GAMES ⟶ CASUAL GAMES
⟶
CASUAL GAMES ARE
LEADING THE WAY. Lost in Random, by Zoink Games
TREND
THREE:

© 2022 Unity Technologies
Although nearly all genres saw in-app
purchases and ad revenues grow during
2021, as Chart 3.1 shows, total revenue
growth was up the most in puzzle, card,
adventure, casual, and hypercasual games.
Action, role-playing, and arcade game
revenues grew the least.
CHART 3.1:
Revenues are soaring in casual games.
CASUAL GAMES
ARE WHERE THE
MONEY IS.
Action
Adventure Arcade
Card
Casino
Casual
Hypercasual Puzzle
Racing
Simulation Sports
Strategy
Wo rd
Role playing
Ad revenue growth In-app purchase revenue growth Total revenue growth
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HYPERCASUAL GAMES’

IN-APP PURCHASE REVENUE

GREW BY
OVER 162%

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As a general trend, hypercasual games took
up a larger share of the mix as the size of the
player base increased. However, this trend
was reversed for games with DAUs of one
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
over the long term, games need
deeper gameplay. CHART 3.2:
Hypercasual games lose market share after reaching the million-player mark.
HYPERCASUAL GAMES HAVE
A CAP ON AUDIENCE SIZE.
CASUAL GAMES TAKE
40% OF
THE PIE
AT EVERY AUDIENCE SIZE.

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
As Chart 3.3 shows, in genres like
hypercasual and word games, developers
make the bulk of their revenue from ads. In
other categories of games, like RPGs, in-app
purchases drive revenue.
The difference is this: Hardcore genres like
RPGs and strategy (as well as casino games
that revolve around player transactions)
derive most of their revenue from in-app
purchases. Genres like word, arcade, and
casual games lean more heavily on ad
revenue, with hypercasual games almost
entirely reliant on ads.
FOR DEEPER
GAMEPLAY, IAP
IS THE LEADING
REVENUE
STRATEGY.
CHART 3.3:
Deeper gameplay drives IAP revenue.

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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.

DEVELOPERS IN

CHINA
AND JAPAN

RELY MORE HEAVILY
ON AD REVENUE.

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It was as true in 2021 as always: Only a small
portion of people playing free-to-play games
players will ever pay. But those who do pay,
pay a lot.
The Americas, Japan, and Korea led the
world in the amount of paying players, likely
bolstered by the popularity in those regions
of collector RPGs (also known as gacha
games) like Raid: Shadow Legends. Players
in those regions often spend four times as
much as players in APAC.
As Chart 3.5 shows, the average spend
per transaction grew in 2021 in 12 out of 16
genres. The highest spending categories were
casino, adventure, and card games. There
was tremendous growth in action, adventure,
sports, and hypercasual games, while arcade,
board, casual, and trivia games saw declines.
IN 12 OUT OF 16 GENRES, AVERAGE
SPEND PER TRANSACTION IS RISING.
CHART 3.5:
In most genres, gamers are spending more money per transaction.

Some games are truly global, but many
gamers have differences in taste depending
on where they live. As a consequence,
developers offer different mixes of game
types in different regions. For example,
players in the Americas and EMEA play up to
50% more hypercasual games than players
GAMING IS GLOBAL,
BUT REGIONAL

TASTES VARY.
CHART 3.6:
Percentage of live games per genre in Japan, 2021.

JAPAN: % OF LIVE GAMES PER GAME GENRE IN 2021
CHART 3.7:
Percentage of live games per genre in EMEA, 2021.
in China, Japan, and Korea, where only
11.6% of games being played in 2021
were hypercasual.
Let’s look at the degree to which game
production varies by region by zooming in on
two very different markets, Japan and EMEA.
While EMEA and America are hotbeds for hypercasual
players, players in China, Japan, and Korea tend to
prefer genres like action and simulation.
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© 2022 Unity Technologies
In the last year, Chinese authorities have restricted video
games in their country, with one official newspaper labeling
them “spiritual opium .”
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.
CHINA’S GAMING
CRACKDOWN
IS WORKING.
CHART 3.8:
China’s gaming crackdown is changing how games are played.
January 2020 July
2020 January
2021 January
2022
China Rest of the world
Game stickiness in China and the rest of the world
July
2021
GAME STICKINESS IN CHINA DROPPED WHEN
NEW REGULATIONS WERE
INTRODUCED IN AUGUST 2021.

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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.
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litemporumet estrum adis doluptus nessimo
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quia sunt mo millecto et voloria volorehent modit
dusandae conseque aut et alit optatur, te conse
liquam et qui comnitis eaquiatis evelenis escimilit
voloressequi recabo. Everupi tempos doloribus,
ipsa conseditibus et
lautem expla duciis aborerum enihilignia sequis
eum fuga. Igni quo bla et es maxim rehendam
aboressit dolupta ectisquam nonsequi que vel is
dis nobita.
MULTIPLATFORM
⟶ MULTIPLATFORM ⟶ MULTIPLATFORM ⟶ MULTIPLATFORM ⟶
MULTIPLATFORM ⟶
DEVELOPERS ARE TEARING DOWN
THE WALLED GARDENS AROUND
PLATFORMS WITH AN EXPLOSION
IN MULTIPLATFORM REACH.
Crying Suns, by Alt Shift
TREND
FOUR:

© 2022 Unity Technologies
Regardless of what’s happening in the world
outside, people are turning to games to
spend time with each other.
Whether it’s developing games across
platforms or devices, bringing new ways to
play something people already love, or just
building places where people can be together,
the gaming industry continues to find new
ways to draw people closer no matter which
platforms they choose to play on.
There are many ways to be multiplatform.
Developers can build a game to work on a
single platform before porting it to others,
DEVELOPERS NEED TO
REACH PLAYERS ON
MULTIPLE PLATFORMS.
or they can build a game on multiple
platforms simultaneously. Once a game is
launched, they can allow players to access
their accounts from multiple platforms. And
developers can also offer crossplatform play,
which allows people to play with each other
no matter their device.
If a game can follow a player from their home
console to their mobile phone or tablet, it
cuts down the chance that they’ll switch to
another game when they change devices. It
also improves the player experience, making
it easy for players to access their save files,
in-game purchases, and content anywhere.
WE WANT TO MEET OUR PLAYERS WHERE
THEY ARE, RATHER THAN ASK THEM TO COME
TO ONLY THE PLATFORMS THAT WE HAPPEN
TO SUPPORT. WE KNEW WE’D HAVE TO
MAKE ADAPTATIONS ALONG THE WAY, AND
UNITY’S FLEXIBILITY HELPED US ALL KEEP
AN OPEN MIND AND GO AFTER THE BEST
SOLUTIONS POSSIBLE.
– TED GILL, PRESIDENT,
UNKNOWN WORLDS
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Subnautica: Below Zero, by Unknown Worlds

© 2022 Unity Technologies
Mobile
Xbox Series X/S
PlayStation 5
Nintendo Switch
Xbox One
PlayStation 4
PC
Multiplatform game releases by year, per platform
CHART 4.1:
Multiplatform reach is rising.
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
estimated $2 billion in revenue in its first
year on the App Store and Google Play .
For those raised on schoolyard debates over
which consoles were better, the importance of
platform loyalty appears to be waning. Players
now expect to play against one another no
matter the device. We expect to see all forms
of multiplatform game development continue
to grow, as Chart 4.1 shows.
UNITY DOES SO MUCH OF THE HEAVY
LIFTING WHEN YOU’RE PORTING TO
DIFFERENT PLATFORMS. IT GAVE US
MUCH MORE TIME TO CONCENTRATE
ON THE GAME ITSELF.
– OLOV REDMALM, CREATIVE DIRECTOR,
ZOINK GAMES
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Lost in Random, by Zoink Games
The chart shows games with cross-platform functionality like multiplayer or persistent accounts. Games needed to have this
functionality on two or more platforms to qualify. It does not represent Made with Unity games on each platform.

Our industry often chases the next big thing.
Right now, that’s the metaverse. We’re not
sure about the name, but we’re excited about
the idea. That said, even with the success
of augmented reality games like Pokémon
GO, we don’t expect to see widespread use
of AR and VR in the next year, despite the
popularity of innovative games like Beat
Saber and Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders.
That’s not to say there won’t be growth.
Over the next five years, the number of
people playing AR and VR games will
generate an estimated $216 million. But for
now, the market is small. According to one
estimate, sales of augmented reality and
virtual reality games amounted to $5.4 billion
in 2021 – a sliver of the $336 billion market
in gaming as a whole. (Another estimate put
the size of AR and VR at $12 billion.)
COMING ATTRACTIONS: AR, VR, AND THE METAVERSE
Part of this might be people’s resistance to
the “box-on-the-face” problem – so far, VR
gaming may have seemed hard to access
or even anti-social to some players. But as
Pokémon GO and a new wave of social VR
multiplayers show, immersive games on
next-gen technologies may be the future of
gaming.
By contrast, the present of gaming is still
mobile. In 2021, mobile sales were $79.1
billion. In many parts of the world, the near-
universal rates of mobile adoption mean
mobile devices are synonymous with gaming,
unlike in places like the United States, where
consoles retain significant market share. As
5G networks continue to expand – now up
to one-third of all smartphones – we expect
gamers in the rest of the world to catch up.
COMMUNITY INTERACTION
IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
BUILDING A COMMUNITY
IS JUST AS IMPORTANT
AS BUILDING THE ACTUAL
GAME ITSELF.
– ANDY TSEN, CEO, RAMEN VR
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© 2022 Unity Technologies Zenith, by Ramen VR

© 2022 Unity Technologies
In 2021, over half of all Americans played
multiplayer games, a type of game that
appeals to a wide audience – 62% of men
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.
PLAYERS WANT
MULTIPLAYER
GAMES.
CHART 4.2:
People are spending more time in multiplayer games.

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THE
AMERICAS
LEAD THE PACK

IN MULTIPLAYER GAME PLAY.

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
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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
luptatur mossita quaest et ut quo que laboreped
quia sunt mo millecto et voloria volorehent modit
dusandae conseque aut et alit optatur, te conse
liquam et qui comnitis eaquiatis evelenis escimilit
voloressequi recabo. Everupi tempos doloribus,
ipsa conseditibus et
lautem expla duciis aborerum enihilignia sequis
eum fuga. Igni quo bla et es maxim rehendam
aboressit dolupta ectisquam nonsequi que vel is
dis nobita.
INNOVATION
⟶ INNOVATION ⟶ INNOVATION ⟶ INNOVATION ⟶ INNOVATION ⟶ INNOVATION
⟶
LARGE STUDIOS CONTINUE TO
BALLOON, BUT THEY HAVEN’T
CROWDED OUT INDIE INNOVATION.
Call of Colors , by Passion Punch Studio
TREND
FIVE:

© 2022 Unity Technologies
A wave of consolidation has reached the
gaming industry. In the space of a month,
Take-Two Interactive bought mobile game
company Zynga; Microsoft announced it
would acquire Activision Blizzard, and Sony
announced it would purchase developer
Bungie. In the aggregate, those deals
represent $85 billion – and the industry is
still poised for growth.
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPERS
ARE BIG (AND GETTING
BIGGER).

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
It’s still possible to succeed even with limited
resources. Valheim became one of the most
popular games in the world last year, and was
built by a development team of five people.
One way indie games can stand is with
focused, smaller-scope games. Indie
developers can also set themselves apart by
taking creative risks, creating experimental
gameplay designs, or telling daring stories,
as in innovative recent titles like Twelve
Minutes , a mechanically rich reimagining
of the point-and-click genre, Death’s Door ,
which balanced simplicity and difficulty, and
BUT INDIES CONTINUE
TO DRIVE INNOVATION.
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, one of the
funniest games in a long time.
Today, indie developers have access to
better tools than they ever have before – and
many of them need those tools to compete.
Even the leanest development team can
harness others’ expertise by fleshing out
their creative arsenal with assets and tools
from the Asset Store, strengthening their
testing and DevOps solutions , managing
game operations with Unity Gaming
Services, and accessing free learning
resources to step up their skill sets.
WITH UNITY, I THINK THE SMALLEST STUDIO CAN
EASILY PUBLISH ON ANY PLATFORM THEY WANT.
– TOMAS SALA, CREATOR, THE FALCONEER
The Falconeer , by Tomas Sala

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Many developers specialize in just one
genre of game. As Chart 5.1 shows, 76% of
developers publish only a single kind of game.
But there are significant financial upsides to
diversified portfolios, as Chart 5.2 indicates. Developers that publish three or more styles
of games have daily revenue 119% higher than
developers that publish only two kinds, which
in turn have 78% more revenue than those
that publish only one. (That’s roughly a 197%
jump from single-genre publishers to those
that publish three or more.)
DEVELOPERS WITH
DIVERSE PORTFOLIOS
DO BETTER.
CHART 5.1:
Most publishers specialize in one genre.
Percentage of publishers in 2021
Number of game genres
CHART 5.2:
But the ones that diversify make more revenue.

© 2022 Unity Technologies
Not every tool needs to be built in-house,
so developers are increasingly turning
to sophisticated third-party tools to help
manage their games.
Differently sized studios use a different mix.
Among enterprise studios over 91% use player
NINE OUT OF 10
STUDIOS USE PLAYER
ENGAGEMENT SERVICES.
Ad monetization, mediation, and user acquisition (UA) Indie Mid-market Enterprise
Analytics, authentication, and privacy
Backend cloud services and content delivery
Player engagement and segmentation
0% 25% 50%
Percentage of games using service categories in indie, mid-market, and large studios
75%100%
Multiplayer
IAP
CHART 5.3:
What services are developers using?
engagement and segmentation services; 88%
use in-app purchase services; and 76% use
analytic, authentication, and privacy services.
Small studios tend to use services in those
categories as well, but also lean heavily on
services for ad monetization, mediation, and
user acquisition.
OUR MOTIVATION WAS TO REMAIN NIMBLE AND UPDATE
CONTENT OVER THE AIR WITHOUT HAVING TO SUBMIT A NEW
BUILD EVERY TIME. BEING ABLE TO TEST OUT CONTENT WITHOUT
AFFECTING LIVE PLAYERS —
THAT FLEXIBILITY AND SECURITY WAS
REALLY IMPORTANT TO US.
– IBS RAGEH, VP OF ENGINEERING, NIFTY GAMES
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© 2022 Unity Technologies
One of those most important metrics is user
retention — effective user retention strategies
can yield 5–30% increases in revenue growth.
Here are the retention metrics by game category
for games using the Unity platform in 2021.
DATA MAKES THE
DIFFERENCE IN
USER RETENTION.
CHART 5.4:
D1 retention is similar for all genres.

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EFFECTIVE USER RETENTION

STRATEGIES CAN YIELD A

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
one, but after a month, the differences are
pronounced. Categories with high retention
rates like board, card, and word games have a
D30 retention rate around seven times that of
the lowest-performing category, arcade games.
CHART 5.5:
D7 retention has more separation.
CHART 5.6:
D30 retention looks very different.

MOST CATEGORIES SEE AROUND A

© 2022 Unity Technologies
While some games are hits right out of the gate
and others are obvious failures, for the many
games that fall in the middle, the difference
between a positive and a negative outcome
is post-launch management. Successful
studios start by building a game to include
regular content drops, events, community
engagement, and more – and work backward
from there.
MASTER POST-LAUNCH
MANAGEMENT.
The strategies that got you to launch
and those that you need after launch are
different – but both pay close attention to the
people playing your game. An empowered
community is an engaged community. For
example, look at how Fall Guys and Subway
Surfers have embraced their players.
WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE GIVE USERS A GREAT EXPERIENCE,
AND IF THERE ARE INAPPROPRIATE ADS THAT SHOW UP, IT HURTS
OUR GAME AND BRAND. NOW THAT WE USE AD CONTROLS WE’RE
ABLE TO MANAGE THIS MUCH MORE EFFECTIVELY
– CARLO SANTIAGO, MONETIZATION MANAGER, UKEN GAMES
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Ava’s Manor, by Uken Games

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© 2022 Unity Technologies
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aboressit dolupta ectisquam nonsequi que vel is
dis nobita.
MORE CONTENT
⟶ MORE CONTENT ⟶ MORE CONTENT ⟶ MORE CONTENT ⟶ MORE CONTENT ⟶
MORE
PLAYERS WANT MORE CONTENT FOR
THE GAMES THEY ALREADY LOVE. Subnautica: Below Zero, by Unknown Worlds
TREND
SIX:

© 2022 Unity Technologies
Once, games were standalone pieces of
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.
THE LIVE GAMES MODEL
IS BECOMING THE
INDUSTRY STANDARD.
WE CAN EASILY AUTOMATE THE PIPELINE
FOR CREATING, BUNDLING, UPLOADING,
AND TESTING ASSETS THROUGH THE
CLOUD BY USING CLOUD CONTENT
DELIVERY. IT’S LIKE A DEVELOPER-
FRIENDLY ONE-STOP-SHOP FOR ASSET
MANAGEMENT AND DELIVERY.
– ISMAIL HASANOV, CTO,
PASSION PUNCH STUDIO
37 of 40 | unity.com
Call of Colors , by Passion Punch Studio

38 of 40 | unity.com
© 2022 Unity Technologies
Making new content is one of the most direct
ways to increase the number of people
playing your game over time. Players don’t
want to play the same old thing over and over
again. Eventually, they will want new content.
As we noted in Unity’s State of Live Gaming
Report, incremental content updates are a big
way to keep your hits active.
NEW CONTENT MEANS
NEW REVENUE.
As chart 6.1 shows, following a new content
drop, the impact at the median is a 3.46%
lift to IAP. But, for the content releases that
are hits, where people want to come back
to again and again, new content drives high
increases in the number of people playing.
Following new content for games at the 95th
percentile of DAUs, IAP revenue increased
more than 85%. CHART 6.1:
New content means more IAP for hit games.
0.00%25.00%Median
75th95th
50.00% 75.00%
WE HAVE BEEN ADAPTING AND
EVOLVING SUBWAY SURFERS WHILE
KEEPING THE NOSTALGIA FEEL THAT
MAKES THIS GAME ONE-OF-A KIND.
– MATHIAS GREDAL NØRVIG,
CEO, SYBO
Subway Surfers , by SYBO Games

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METAVERSE AND THE BLOCKCHAIN
WILL BE TESTED BUT NOT YET FULLY
EMBRACED.
MOBILE MULTIPLAYER GAMES WILL
BECOME THE STANDARD OVER THE
NEXT DECADE.
We are excited about the potential of new technologies
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.
Games like
PUBG Mobile are popular for a reason. Especially
with the growth of 5G networks, we expect people to
embrace more games in which they can play against one
another from their mobile devices.
THERE WILL BE INCREASED
ADOPTION OF SPECIALIZED TOOLS
AND THIRD-PARTY EXPERTISE.
CROSS-PLATFORM MULTIPLAYER
GAMES WILL BECOME MORE
COMMON. INDIE AND MID-MARKET
DEVELOPERS WILL INVEST IN
PLAYER INTELLIGENCE.
GAME LIFESPANS WILL LENGTHEN.
A growing number of third-party services and data analytic
tools give studios of all sizes the ability to compete at the
highest level.
Gamers now expect to be able to access their game accounts
from any device, and to play against people no matter what
device they are using. We expect this feature to become
standard throughout the industry. It’s no longer the case that small- and mid-range developers
have to forgo the behind-the-scenes capacities that large
studios enjoy.
The popularity of live games means consumers expect to
engage with their favorite games over long periods of time.
CONCLUSION:
SIX TRENDS
BEYOND 2022
2021 was a good year for the business
of gaming. More games were made than
ever before, revenue was up, and players
found their way to their favorite games as
a respite in a troubled world. As the world
slowly emerges from the upheaval of the
pandemic, the gaming industry continues
to find its way forward.
Here are six trends that we think will shape the
industry in the next year and beyond.

40 of 40 | unity.com
© 2022 Unity Technologies
ABOUT UNITY
⟶ ABOUT UNITY ⟶ ABOUT UNITY ⟶ ABOUT UNITY ⟶ ABOUT UNITY ⟶
ABOUT UNITY ⟶
Unity (NYSE: U) is the world’s leading platform for creating and operating real-
time 3D (RT3D) content. Creators, ranging from game developers to artists,
architects, automotive designers, filmmakers, and others, use Unity to make
their imaginations come to life. Unity’s platform provides a comprehensive set of
software solutions to create, run and monetize interactive, real-time 2D and 3D
content for mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, and augmented and virtual
reality devices. The company’s 1,800+ person research and development team
keeps Unity at the forefront of development by working alongside partners to
ensure optimized support for the latest releases and platforms. Apps developed
by Unity creators have been downloaded more than five billion times per month
in 2020. For more information, please visit unity.com.
ABOUT UNITY
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
powerful gaming solutions span mobile, PC and, console,
gaming, giving a unique view of the entire gaming industry.
Unity Technologies helps more than 230K developers make
sustainable revenue from ads and in-app purchases on over
750K games. We take data privacy seriously, and have omitted
and anonymized information from this report that would
individually identify any single game, developer, or publisher.
Games are broken out into publicly available categories as
defined on the iOS and Google Play stores where available.
Although we also include outside sources of information,
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 THE DATA

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