AppMagic & MY.GAMES: 4X Strategies in 2024
The market is vibrant, yet the enter barrier is high.
Market Overview
By the end of 2023, 4X games earned $5.8 billion after store commissions and taxes. This represents 10.2% of the total volume.
4X strategies were downloaded 632 million times in the same year. The Revenue per Download (RPD) was $9.2.
As of September 2024, two 4X strategies are in the top 5 by revenue - Last War: Survival ($105 million in September) and Whiteout Survival ($90 million in September).
AppMagic and MY.GAMES analysts specifically note that the 4X strategy market is dynamic. Firstly, there is constant rotation in the top 10 by revenue. Secondly, in the first 3 quarters of 2024, 58% of revenue came from games outside the top 5.
The genre, however, is not without its problems. The main issues are long development times, high CPIs, and difficulty in user retention.
Consider subscribing to the GameDev Reports Premium tier to support the newsletter. Get access to the list of curated articles & archive of Gaming Reports that I’ve been collecting since 2020.
Changes in 4X Strategies in Recent Years
Projects have started choosing more popular settings more often. There are more games in zombie and post-apocalyptic settings.
Developers have updated their approach to visual style. The graphics have become more casual, and the UI/UX has been simplified.
There’s a greater focus on the female audience. This is manifested in adding social mechanics, customization, and less focus on violence.
Casualization. Hypercasual and casual mechanics are used in UA and FTUE to make the player onboarding process easier.
The authors of the material highlight 7 signs of a more casual approach:
Simplification of combat mechanics - less focus on individual units, and more on the overall strength of the army.
Reduced focus on PvP and minimizing punishment for attacks by other players.
Clear goal-setting for users - the player is guided step by step.
Accelerated dynamics - manifested, for example, in the speed of marches.
Greater focus on socialization. To the extent that in Last War: Survival, a message is automatically written for a new alliance member.
Moving away from serious tones to casual graphics. The trend started with Lords Mobile and Rise of Kingdoms; now it’s harder to find a 4X strategy with a serious visual style.
Greater focus on personalization.