With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing people to spend more time at home, many have turned to mobile gaming as a way to entertain themselves. In 2020, the revenue of the mobile games market in the Philippines was at around 898 million USD (Php 47 billion), an increase of over 200 million USD (Php 10 billion) compared to 2019.
For SHAREit country director Lester Lim, the mobile gaming industry in the Philippines has the most potential not just in terms of revenue but also in community building and file-sharing behavior.
“Apps in the gaming category are actually the most-shared files through SHAREit, not only in the Philippines but globally as well. We’ve seen the exponential growth in the course of the pandemic,” says Lim.
Aside from being the largest catalog of mobile games from developers across the globe, SHAREit’s Game Center also helps game developers and publishers scale up their app growth by connecting them to high-impact users. Additionally, with the world in a social limbo due to the pandemic, fantasy gaming like PUBG, COD Mobile, and Free Fire have gained huge popularity and SHAREit has only made lives simpler for the gamers as it allows them to easily share these applications without internet requirements.
“And imagine, here in the Philippines we have 40 million monthly active users, and those users have access to SHAREit’s Game Centre which offers HTML5 games, gaming videos, and an option to download hot games. There’s a lot of opportunity for game developers and investors here in the Philippines,” Lim says.
Bridging the gap in mobile gamers’ needs
Additionally, with social gatherings put on hold due to the pandemic, multiplayer games like PUBG, COD Mobile, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and League of Legends Wild Rift gained exponential popularity as a form of virtual interaction among peers. This boost in the gaming industry also led to challenges with mobile phone performance and an unprecedented surge in consumer demand and disruption.
“One of the biggest challenges here in the Philippines is the lack of sufficient data for those who cannot afford it,” Lim says. “These games often take up so much data just to download updates but thankfully, SHAREit has made lives simpler for gamers as it allows them to easily share these applications without internet requirements.”
John Paul Santos, a SHAREit user from Cavite loves to play high-graphic multiplayer games on his phone. He started using SHAREit in 2014 when he was in need of a file-sharing app for his thesis project during college. Now, he uses SHAREit to boost his gaming experience when playing with friends.
“SHAREit was actually reintroduced to me only recently by my friends. We got into gaming lately and they recommended using SHAREit to keep my phone from lagging. It helps save my battery health and clears the cache on my phone,” says Santos.
SHAREit also has features such as Phone Cleaner, Phone Booster, Battery Saver, and File Manager which help boost mobile smartphone performance when playing games.
The growing gaming community in the Philippines
“There’s no doubt that the Philippines is a powerhouse when it comes to mobile gaming. The recent SEA Games win is an indication of what Filipinos can achieve when given the opportunity to train with good mobile phones and fast internet. This is what SHAREit envisions to give to each and every mobile gamer in the Philippines,” says Lim.
The Statista Digital Market Outlook estimates that the revenue of the Filipino mobile games market will continue to increase, and by 2025 reach around 1.5 billion U.S. dollars. As of May 2022, there are more than 1,137 games from Filipino publishers on Google Play.
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