Asodesk Blog / Index / Article

Game Search Index: Augmented reality games are the future

Nika Grigorieva
Nika Grigorieva
Nika Grigorieva
Nika Grigorieva
ng@asodesk.com
All articles by author
Published: 27.05.2018
Updated: 08.09.2020
2 min read

After the release of Pokémon GO, augmented reality has became the most popular subcategory of search request in the App Store. The ASOdesk.com team has conducted its own study of App Store search traffic in the US and Russia — ASOdesk Game Index — and came to some interesting conclusions.

Results

The most popular subcategory of games in both countries is augmented reality. (Thanks, Pokémon GO.) Up until a couple of months ago, the popularity of this category was fairly low. The graph shows what the augmented reality subcategory looked like before the rise of Pokémon GO, as well as what it looks like today.

In Russia, the leading subcategories are — racing games, puzzle games, card games and physical puzzles. Most unpopular — runners and educational games. Sadly, in the subcategory of educational games there are almost no search queries.

Interestingly, in the Russian Store, most people search for games using English keywords, for example, “sniper” or “runner”.

ASOdesk Game Search Index Russia

In the United States, the main sub-categories are physical puzzle, racing, sport and cards. Strategy and games in the genre of three-in-a-row being the most unpopular.

Conclusion

As we can see, a rearrangement of forces has occurred in the mobile games industry. With the introduction of the Pokemon GO to the game sphere, augmented reality has become immensely popular, both in terms of the needs of potential users (increase in popularity and the number of searches), as well as from the point of view of investing in the development of products that fall into the augmented reality subcategory.

How is the Index was built?

To determine the list of most popular gaming subcategories, ASOdesk specialists used the Top Charts in each country. On the basis of the collected data, they identified 16 most popular subcategories (not to be confused with the game subcategories in the App Store): Educational, Runner, Match-3, Sport, RPG, Casino, Shooter, Board, Strategy, Fighting, Arcade, Logic, Physical puzzle (a la Angry Birds), Cards, Racing, Augmented reality.

Furthermore, for each subcategory, the store suggestions were determined — in which users are suggested a game related to a particular subcategory.

For the study, we used only App Store search suggestions in the United States and Russia, where the index of Users per Day was counted on the ASOdesk.com platform.

What are the suggestions in App Store and where are they found?

When a user starts typing a search query, it immediately issues a list of suggestions.

Suggestions are already ranked by descending popularity, i.e. how often users entered the keywords or clicked on the suggestions.

Also read:
Julia Suliagina
Julia Suliagina
Julia Suliagina
Julia Suliagina
is@asodesk.com
Asodesk Content Manager. She writes newsletters and articles in blog. Make all complex topics in ASO easy and interesting.
All articles by author
31.08.2023
8 min read

New Search Suggestions on the App Store for the week

We've identified new popular search suggestions on the App Store over the past week from various countries. The goal of this article is to help you understand shifts in user demand across the USA, United Kingdom, China, Japan, Germany, Canada, and other countries. Continue reading to find out which new keywords could boost traffic to your app. Read more

Julia Suliagina
Julia Suliagina
Julia Suliagina
Julia Suliagina
is@asodesk.com
Asodesk Content Manager. She writes newsletters and articles in blog. Make all complex topics in ASO easy and interesting.
All articles by author
12.10.2022
2 min read

Which apps need ASO: global market research ASO Index 2022

Some apps are usually installed via search, while others are downloaded through ads. If you want to understand which type of app you have and if you should invest in ASO, study our ASO Index 2022. Read and find out the top categories for App Store Optimization. Read more

Julia Suliagina
Julia Suliagina
Julia Suliagina
Julia Suliagina
is@asodesk.com
Asodesk Content Manager. She writes newsletters and articles in blog. Make all complex topics in ASO easy and interesting.
All articles by author
13.01.2022
16 min read

8 mobile app marketing trends in 2022 according to experts

We spoke with experts in mobile app marketing from Phiture, App Growth Summit, REPLUG GmbH, Ada Health, Belka Games, Appbooster, and Diveo Media about what's happening in the mobile market and what to expect in 2022. Read more