Sensor Tower: Mobile Games in 2024
Macro & micro trends overview - marketing; genres; games. A lot of data is inside.
Mobile Gaming Market - General Figures
In 2023, the IAP revenue of mobile games on the App Store amounted to $33.8 billion (no change from 2022); revenue on Google Play amounted to $19.2 billion (-6% YoY). Overall, the market revenue declined by 2%.
In 2023, 6.2 billion games were downloaded from the App Store (-6% YoY); on Google Play - 33.2 billion (-11% YoY). Overall, the market saw a 10% decline in downloads in 2023.
Details on Downloads and Revenue
In terms of downloads in 2023, only the racing genre saw growth (+4% YoY). The genres that experienced the least decline were strategy (-2% YoY), board games (-4% YoY), and puzzles (-6% YoY). The most significant declines were seen in Simulation games (-17% YoY), arcade games (-16% YoY), and action games (-15% YoY).
The hybrid casual segment saw the smallest decline in downloads at 2%. Hyper-casual games saw the most significant decline at 14%. Sensor Tower notes that downloads have returned to pre-pandemic levels.
❗️For casual and mid-core projects, downloads fell below 2019 levels.
The revenue situation in 2023 was slightly better. Casino games saw growth (+18% YoY - due to Monopoly GO!); puzzles (+10% YoY); sports games, action games, and board projects (all up 7% annually) grew too. The leaders of decline were shooters (-13% YoY); RPGs and strategies (-10% YoY).
The hybrid casual segment saw a 30% revenue increase in 2023; casual games saw an 8% increase. However, revenue from mid-core games dropped by 9%.
❗️I think that two factors contributed to the decline in revenue from mid-core games on mobile devices. The first is related to the large number of major releases on PC and consoles in 2023. Some of this segment audience plays on multiple platforms; time and money are limited, which leads to underspend on mobile. The second factor is the flow of money from mobile stores to payments outside the platforms. Sensor Tower simply does not see these figures. The impact of the second factor on revenue is greater.
Revenue from mobile games increased in the Middle East region (+8%); in Europe (+7%); in Latin America (+4%); and in the USA (+1%) despite declining downloads. However, revenue fell by 6% in Asia; 5% in Oceania; and 4% in Africa.
In 2023, the main markets in Latin America were Brazil (40% of the volume; -4% YoY); Mexico (28%; +20% YoY); and Chile (10%; -0.4% YoY).
In the Middle East, the main markets were Saudi Arabia (39% of the total volume; +5% YoY); UAE (24%; revenue unchanged in 2023); Israel (17%; +5% YoY); Kuwait (10%; +13% YoY).
In North America (60%) and Europe (52%), casual games dominate revenue volume. In Latin America (54%); the Middle East (53%); and Asia (79%), mid-core projects account for the majority of revenue.
Regional revenue tops differ significantly from each other. Honor of Kings was the top game in Asia; MONOPOLY GO! in the USA; Coin Master in Europe; PUBG Mobile in the Middle East; and Garena Free Fire in Latin America.
6 out of the top 10 publishers of 2023 in terms of revenue growth launched new projects. These are Scopely (MONOPOLY GO!); Century Games (Whiteout Survival); miHoYo (Honkai: Star Rail); Shivue (Chang’an Fantasy); Bytedance (Crystal of Atlan); WEMADE (Night Crows).
The most notable games of 2023
Candy Crush Saga ($960 million); MONOPOLY GO! ($830 million); Royal Match ($790 million); Coin Master ($730 million); Gardenscapes ($620 million) - the highest-earning casual games of 2023. Two new games appeared on the chart this year.
Honor of Kings ($1.9 billion); Genshin Impact ($950 million); Roblox ($880 million); Game for Peace ($800 million); and Honkai: Star Rail ($670 million) - the most notable mid-core games in terms of revenue in 2023.
❗️Not sure that Roblox should be classified as mid-core games.
The leaders of the hybrid casual direction in 2023 were Race Master 3D (110 million downloads); Stumble Guys (100 million); Magic Tiles 3 (95 million); Hill Climb Racing (90 million); and My Perfect Hotel (90 million). Two new projects made it into the top 5.
The main hyper-casual project of the year was Block Blast! (140 million downloads); Bridge Race (110 million); Going Balls (105 million); Indian Bikes Driving 3D (100 million); and Attack Hole - Black Hole Games (80 million). Three new projects entered the chart.
Marketing Trends
67% of digital advertising spending in the USA was allocated to mobile games. 28% went to PC and consoles. 4% was spent on VR projects. 1% went to other titles.
YouTube (49%), TikTok (14%), Facebook (13%), Instagram (11%), Snapchat (4%) were the main advertising channels in the USA in 2023.
Sensor Tower notes that some of the most successful creatives utilize recognizable IPs (Roblox - Lamborghini; MONOPOLY GO! - Monopoly). Influencers and user-generated content (UGC) creatives are also popular.
Retargeting campaigns were actively used by developers (Playrix, Wargaming) in 2023. In Gardenscapes, downloads in April increased by 270% YoY; revenue increased by 64%. In WoT Blitz, downloads in December 2023 increased by 75%; revenue increased by 6%.
In the USA, the majority of casual and hyper-casual gamers are women (about 60%). In mid-core projects, the split is 50/50. The main audience for mobile games is aged between 25 and 34; younger people play mid-core projects, while older individuals play casual ones.
The largest number of casual gamers in the USA is on Facebook and Pinterest; mid-core gamers are primarily on TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit.
Key Events of 2023
MONOPOLY GO! ($153.6 million in December 2023) surpassed Honor of Kings in monthly revenue ($142 million in December 2023).
❗️There is likely a typo in the Sensor Tower chart. It probably meant November 2023.
If we shift away from MONOPOLY GO!, real-time puzzles saw growth in 2023 (a 100% increase in downloads; a 350% increase in revenue); Idle RPGs saw a 60% increase in downloads.
In 2023, major transmedia releases based on gaming IPs occurred - Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Last of Us, and Twisted Metal.
Stumble Guys actively collaborates with brands. The most successful collaboration was with Mr. Beast - daily downloads of the project tripled.
The role of Live-Ops in games is critically important. In the top-grossing projects of 2023 in the US, in the most successful cases, they increased revenue from 70% ($800 thousand - Halloween in Coin Master) to 310% ($1.5 million generated revenue - collaboration with the film Napoleon in Evony).
Netflix managed to find growth points - games from Netflix Games saw a 194% increase in downloads in 2023. The most successful release was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Genres by Competition Level
Open-world RPGs are the most concentrated subgenre. Genshin Impact accounts for 86% of the entire market share in this subgenre. Sandbox games follow with Roblox holding 82%. Finally, in the Build & Battle subgenre, Clash of Clans dominates with 81% of all revenue.
The least concentrated subgenres are MMORPGs (the largest share belongs to Justice Online - 9%); 4X-strategies (Three Kingdom Tactics leads with 8% revenue); and slots (Jackpot Party leads with 7% revenue).
However, genre concentration does not mean that successful projects cannot be developed within it. In 2022, in the Coin Looter subgenres, Coin Master had 82% of the entire market. In 2023, after the release of MONOPOLY GO!, Scopely's game took over the dominant position (47% of the subgenre's revenue).
Asian Market in 2023
Revenue fell by 6% to $26.5 billion; downloads declined by 10% to 16.4 billion.
The Chinese market grew by 1% (39% of the Asian region); Japan fell by 14% (33% of the Asian region); South Korea fell by 8% (12% of the Asian region). Other countries declined by 2% in revenue.
Mid-core projects saw a 10% revenue drop in the region (they account for 79% of all revenue). However, casual games grew by 12% (19% of all revenue); hybrid casual games increased by 20% (2% of all revenue).
In terms of downloads, hyper-casual projects declined by 14% (36% of all downloads); casual games dropped by 10% (35% of the market); hybrid casual games dropped by 3% (15% of all downloads); mid-core projects fell by 5% (14% of all downloads).
Revenue leaders were Honor of Kings, Game for Peace, Genshin Impact.
The main genres were RPGs, strategies, and shooters.
European Market in 2023
Revenue increased by 7% compared to 2022 ($7 billion); downloads declined by 12% (8 billion).
The leaders in revenue growth in 2023 were Lithuania (29%); Ukraine (27%); Turkey (25%); Poland (21%); Romania (18%).
Mid-core projects saw a 3% YoY decline in revenue (they account for 44% of all revenue). Casual projects grew by 15% YoY (52% of all revenue); hybrid casual games grew by 34% (4% of all revenue).
Hyper-casual games saw a 14% YoY decline in downloads (37% of the total volume); casual games dropped by 13% (38% of the market); mid-core games dropped by 12% (11% of all downloads); hybrid casual games dropped by 2% (14% of all downloads).
Coin Master, Candy Crush Saga, Gardenscapes - the highest-earning games in Europe. Puzzles, strategies, and casinos - the highest-earning genres.