Ask HN: Why do games (as media) make so much money?
Mobile game revenue makes up for more than 50% of all game revenue, and that number is only for the US. It&#x27;s <i>much</i> larger in Asia, which is an even bigger gaming market.<p>For non-mobile games, most of the revenue still comes from mobile-game-like monetization schemes such as lootboxes&#x2F;gacha&#x2F;battle passes&#x2F;skins&#x2F;etc, not from the traditional sales.<p>These types of monetization schemes are incredibly lucrative, with many people spending hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars over the lifetime of such games due to their addictive nature and gambling mechanics. Traditional media does not have an equivalent to these kind of monetization schemes.<p>It&#x27;s not the size of the audience. It&#x27;s the monetization scheme. The times when game revenue meant buying good old single player games without DLCs are long gone. Companies have long realized that&#x27;s not where the money is.