The first truly addictive mobile game was European: the game Snake, integrated into the legendary phones from the Finnish company Nokia, was released in 1997. With the arrival of the smartphone, another game comes to mind above all others: Angry Birds, launched in 2009 and developed by the also Finnish Rovio Entertainment. Also European. Later, with advances in mobile software, game sagas emerged, and two other names stand out as major hits: Clash of Clans, from the Finnish Supercell, first released in 2012, and Candy Crush, developed by the Swedish King initially for Facebook in the same year, and then for all mobiles. While the video game industry for consoles or computers is increasingly specialized and aims for artistic excellence, mobile games remain true to their essence: easy, affordable for all devices, and free, with a business model based on advertising. In Europe, 55% of the sector’s global revenue already comes from mobile games.
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This data is part of a study conducted by the consultancy Nordicity, which is supported by King, one of the leading companies in the mobile gaming segment. The report shows the very high penetration of mobile games among European users: 300 million people played some game in 2025 in Europe, that is, 61% of the population, with an average age of 31 years, and three-quarters of the players are adults.
King’s president, Todd Green, stated at a media meeting on Friday in Barcelona that the strength of this sector is one of the assets the European Union must preserve. “It is a European success story, there are hubs with very dynamic ecosystems, of different companies, with local and international talent,” he said, and outlined a future scenario in which the sector can still grow more: “The business will scale further, mobile games will become increasingly important in the video game debate, and will be a key piece for the European audiovisual industry.”
This high demand has generated a very considerable business volume. The global revenue of the video game sector in Europe amounts to 167.260 billion euros, 21% of which corresponds to computer games, 24% to console games, and 55% to mobile or tablet games. All segments grow annually, but the increase in mobile games has been exponential, ten times more than in 2012. European companies that develop mobile games earned 7.530 billion in 2025, and more than 30,000 people work in these companies.
But if 97% of downloads in 2025 were free games, the question arises as to what business model supports such high revenues. Green explains that revenues come from two sources: in-game purchases that help advance faster in the game or to have exclusive content, or advertising embedded in the games. Green assures that they do not trade user data, as some of the tech companies they work with do, such as Meta: “We don’t do that,” Green stated.
Company ecosystem
“The ecosystem is good for everyone,” Green explained from the hub in Barcelona where King settled in 2012, and where about 550 people work. In Barcelona, there are also other global mobile video game companies, such as Scopely, Ubisoft, SocialPoint, or Gameloft, among others. According to the report, there are more than 1,000 companies dedicated to this type of video game in Europe, and Barcelona is a very important hub in game development and talent attraction.
Silvia Aparicio, King’s human resources director, explains that the Catalan capital is one of the cities from which it is easiest to attract international talent, and adds that since the company established its offices, there are increasingly more specific training programs in Catalonia that allow hiring increasingly prepared local talent. Despite the havoc that artificial intelligence is causing in hiring workers specialized in lower programming levels, and despite King having already carried out some staff restructuring processes in Barcelona, Aparicio assures that the company continues investing in hiring junior profiles. “You have to bet on it, and balance it with people with more experience,” she said.
Catalonia is also the most dynamic region in Spain for mobile video games, and concentrates half of the country’s turnover, which amounts, in total, to 722 million euros. The gross added value that the mobile video game industry represents in Europe, according to the study, is 5.890 billion euros, including the salaries of the 63,340 workers in the sector, direct and indirect, and its economic impact.
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