It's all about the percentages...
Now in terms of Install Base., you'd be surprised at the global figures.
PC • 2.7 Billion
Mobile • 15 Billion (27% Apple / 28% Samsung / 45% Other)
Xbox (One / Series) • 71 Million
PlayStation (4 / 5) • 145 Million
Nintendo Switch • 118 Million
Now as a note... in general there are ~120 Million new PCs per year., while there are ~1.8 Billion new Mobile Devices.
With this said., it is much easier to reach a Global Market with Mobile Apps / Games than it is on PC or Console; as different regions have different cultures in regards to their "Static" Devices.
Europe / Russia the Home Desktop is dominant., while North America it is the Laptop and in Asia (China/Korea) it's the Netcafe Desktop.
On top of this... the "Scummy" gameplay mechanics that are tolerated in the Western Market; are Cornerstone to success in the Eastern Market.
These are things to always keep in mind., but as I said initially; it's
ALL about percentages.
While the PC might LOOK like a massive potential untapped market... the reality is, it's exceptionally difficult to reach most of that potential market.
Remember there is no Centralised Market for PC. Sure, Steam comes close and IS the largest; but even that only reaches approx. 120 Million; meaning your Potential Market is similar to Consoles... and PC Gamers will not pay the same premiums.
Sure, they will buy more games on average per year; but they'll typically wait until Sales where they can get them at Half the Price... and this is already keeping in mind that they expect their Retail Prices to be about 60% of Consoles (£39.99 Vs. £59.99... and yes, this scales with whatever you pay on console; so if a Console Game is £19.99, PC gamers will expect it for £12.99 - £14.99; while also expecting BETTER support for Features and Support Options)
Even then we'll be looking at typically 1/8th the Sales compared to Console.
And keep in mind "Best Case" Scenarios for the Console Platforms are going to be 12% Attachment., meaning take the Platform Installbase; take 12% of that... that is your Sales Ceiling you can potentially reach., it's EXTREMELY rare to get beyond that; with ONLY Brand Recognition achieving that.
Yeah... PC is typically going to be less than that; usually around 2% Yearly PC Sales.
Mobile is similar to PC attachment., as you can typically expect a maximum 2% of Yearly Sales (1.8 Billion) as your attachment rate.
This ends up being considerably larger in general... dwarfing all other platforms., but there is a catch.
At least with PC / Console., you can get a Retail (up front) Return... Mobile you typically can't., and even in scenarios where you can; you HAVE to offer a Free Trial / Limited Version to hook people in.
In most situations you HAVE to give the App/Game away for free and Monetise another way; and that then ends up being frustrating to generate revenue in general.
As in general 85% will NEVER pay a penny towards said App; thus you HAVE to use them as Content Generation... this arguably is a symbiotic relationship and much be part of the App/Game design... the other side is that there is a sliding scale in terms of Revenue / Individual and Percentage of those who pay.
That is to say... sure 15% will pay a bare minimum (what you _might_ have as a Retail Price if you had one... say £1-5); while as you double that, you then have to HALF the number willing to pay it.
i.e. 8% might pay up to £2 - 10.... 4% might pay up to £4 - 20... etc.
Sure, eventually you will get to those who will drop £1,000s but depending on initial attachment you might be able to know these people by individual name and count them on one hand.
And it's no guarantee you'll be able to get such people.
Even if you can., you have to carefully balance; so those paying less can constantly challenge them, with the solution to success being dropping more money; and try to entice other whales that they never directly interact with... so, they're seeing them on leaderboards, and competing indirectly.
It's essentially an effort of constant ego stroking and addition.
Done well is very profitable... but doesn't make for a particularly good game., and depending on you as a developer; might not even sit well with you.
It's a big reason why I don't like the Mobile Market in general; because to be competitive and make revenue... you sorta need to become a Wolf of Wallstreet.
In general, I'd argue while it's always going to be the case that Mobile Apps / Games are an easier path to generate revenue with minimal effort... you're not really going to be producing anything that stands out or anyone will really care about.
You're more just creating the latest designer drug for the mobile users to get their time wasting high off of.
You create something for PC or Console... sure, it'll be a struggle to create a living from it; but flipside is, these are things people are going to talk about, enjoy and keep going back to because they WANT to... because they're Entertained, not Behaviourally Patterned and Addicted.
