"In-app purchases greatly expand monetization of the free-to-play model, thanks to seamless payments," said Pietro Macchiarella, research analyst at Parks Associates, said in a release. "Already, most of the top grossing games on iTunes and Android can be downloaded for free and generate the majority of their revenues via virtual purchases. While mobile players are often characterized as 'casual gamers,' they spend a comparable amount of money on free-to-play titles as their peers spend on console games."

The percentage of U.S. gamers who regularly download games or gaming apps to their mobile devices increased from 7% in 2008 to 18% in 2011, a rise that parallels the growth in adoption of smartphones and tablets, according to Park Associates. The company just released a whitepaper, "Trends in Digital Gaming: Free-to-Play, Social, and Mobile Games", that covers the in-app purchasing trend.

The report notes that as tablet penetration increases, the availability of more complex games will facilitate higher monetization of games running on these devices.

"Games running on smartphones and tablets have a significant advantage in the free-to-play business model, compared to their counterparts on PCs," said Macchiarella.

From the article, "Free mobile games get a revenue boost from in-app purchases" by David Needle

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