New Delhi, May 28 (IANS): Mobile gaming now represents 61 per cent of the overall gaming market and is set to surpass $136 billion in 2022 a" growing 1.7x faster than the gaming market overall, a new report has shown.

The overall gaming market is set to hit $222 billion in 2022, according to data.ai (formerly App Annie) and the International Data Corporation (IDC).

Globally, users downloaded 45 per cent more mobile games per week in Q1 2021 from pre-pandemic levels, clocking in at over 1.1 billion games per week.

"We are seeing greater diversity across gaming genres allowing publishers to serve new gamers across generations and genders," said Lexi Sydow, Head of Market Insights, data.ai.

In Q1 2022, consumers spent over $1.6 billion per week on mobile games on iOS and Google Play, up 30 per cent from pre-pandemic levels, the report mentioned.

"Asia Pacific saw the biggest growth in market share for global consumer spend," the findings showed.

China led the growth in Q1 2022 while North America and Western Europe made up half of mobile game spend.

"Studios and publishers should emphasise rewarded videos and playables, and that contextual data about gamers will grow more important over time as Apple, Google, other vendors, and regulatory bodies in several key countries prioritise customer data privacy and security," explained Lewis Ward, Director of Gaming and VR/AR, IDC.

Mobile genre preferences are more varied, with 8 distinct subgenres being represented among the top 10 games.

"Core Games with real-time online features such as PvP (player-versus-player) or cross-platform play among the most popular genres across the gaming spectrum like PUBG Mobile," said the report.

Nearly 50 per cent of top mobile games by consumer spend in the United States skew female while Gen X and Baby Boomers saw steady growth in mobile game spending.

"Mobile is democratising the space and is now the primary driver of growth for digital games consumption," Sydow noted.