In 2016, the lead of consumer spending on mobile gaming over other platforms widened and was 25% higher than PC and Mac gaming revenue, according to a report by analyst firms App Annie and IDC. This growth was mostly driven by key markets like China and Japan. Over 60% of the gaming revenue last year came from Asia. "2016 was the best year yet for mobile games, with consumers spending nearly 25% more than the year prior," said Danielle Levitas, SVP of Research at App Annie. "The breakout success of Pokémon GO propelled mobile games further ahead of consoles, PC/Mac, and handheld consoles. As augmented and virtual reality technologies continue to emerge, we expect mobile will remain the largest revenue-generating platform for games." iOS wins in revenue, Google in downloads Although games represented about 35% of total iOS App Store and Google Play app downloads in 2016, games generated over 80% of combined direct App Store and Google Play spending worldwide. As in previous years, spending on iOS games was significantly higher than the Google Play total, and was indeed higher than all Android-based stores put together last year. China and Japan accounted for a significant increase in both producing and consuming mobile games. The top grossing iOS game globally last year was Fantasy Westward Journey, published by China's NetEase. The most popular Google Play title was Monster Strike, published by Japan's Mixi. The top grossing handheld console title was Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon for the Nintendo 3DS, published by…
