The top game publishers by market in the first half of 2021.

App Annie: Mobile games on track to surpass $120B in 2021

Mobile games are on track to surpass $120 billion in spending in 2021, growing 20% over $100 billion in 2020, according to an analysis of first-half results by mobile data and analytics provider App Annie.

App Annie 2021 Mobile Gaming Tear Down: Key Trends on Subgenres, Monetization, & User Acquisition report can give the mobile game industry some peace of mind that growth continues to be on track despite the difficult comparisons to 2020’s pandemic-driven growth and Apple’s shift to prioritize user privacy over targeted advertising with iOS 14.5.

Unlock premium content and VIP community perks with GB M A X! Join now to enjoy our free and premium perks. 

Join now →

Sign in to your account.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.