Lion Studios
CompanyUnited States · Founded 2018
Documents about Lion Studios
2021 Predictions: Will the Hypercasual Party Ever Stop?
Hypercasual remains one of mobile gaming's dominant forces heading into 2021, but the outlook points to a maturing segment under mounting pressure.
- The hypercasual market is shifting toward 'Hybridcasual' models, which combine simple, skill-based core mechanics with deeper metagame power progression to improve long-term retention and IAP monetization.
- Hypercasual download volume grew by 73% in the first half of 2020, driven largely by ASMR-style 'UltraCasual' titles, though this subgenre cooled significantly in the second half of the year.
- Major hypercasual publishers are evolving their production processes to use hypercasual mechanics as a testing ground to identify and scale titles that can be expanded into larger, more complex products.
The State of Mobile Game Advertising: An Analysis of U.S. Mobile Game Advertising Trends in 2021
Mobile game advertising in the U.S. held steady through the first half of 2021, despite concerns about Apple's IDFA changes, and several ad networks actually gained game share of voice (SOV).
- Mobile game advertising in the U.S. remained resilient through H1 2021, showing no immediate negative impact from the deprecation of IDFA.
- Playable ads have become a dominant creative format, accounting for over 40 percent of the gaming share of voice on AppLovin.
- Specialized ad networks like AppLovin, Chartboost, and Vungle maintain a gaming-focused inventory exceeding 90 percent share of voice, while platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube provide broader audience reach.
Deconstructing the Superstars: The Metrics Behind Hyper-Casual Games 2020 Industry Snapshot
GameIntel's 2020 industry snapshot breaks hyper-casual mobile games into sub-genres (timing, traversal, physics, shooting, spatial, crafting and matching) and sets out the KPIs developers should target in each.
- A Day 1 retention rate of 40% serves as the critical threshold for commercial viability, with titles failing to meet this benchmark requiring immediate iteration or abandonment.
- European markets lead global engagement, with France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands achieving a 49% Day 1 retention rate.
- Japan exhibits the highest average playtime at 63 minutes, significantly outperforming the United States at 43 minutes and China at 27 minutes.
Merger Magic: How M&A Is Shaking Up Category Leaders in Mobile Games
Mergers and acquisitions have accelerated sharply in mobile gaming, particularly in 2020, and are reshaping which publishers lead major genres.
- M&A activity is the primary driver for market leadership, with companies like Zynga and Scopely using acquisitions to enter or dominate key genres where they previously lacked a significant footprint.
- Zynga’s acquisition of Peak Games was transformative, pushing the publisher to the No. 3 spot in the U.S. puzzle genre with $512 million in player spending during the first nine months of 2020.
- Scopely’s acquisition of FoxNext Games was critical to its market position, as its flagship title Marvel Strike Force generated $165 million in U.S. revenue, without which the publisher would not have ranked in the top 10 for the RPG genre.
Microsoft's Rival Console Experiments & Discovery
Microsoft's willingness to put Xbox Game Studios titles on rival platforms, particularly the Nintendo Switch, appears to have been an attempt to extend the Xbox ecosystem rather than a standalone porting strategy.
- Microsoft abandoned its strategy of porting first-party titles to rival consoles like the Nintendo Switch by late 2020 due to fragmented user experiences and limited technical integration.
- Microsoft’s current platform strategy prioritizes the growth of the Game Pass subscription model over deep, cross-platform integration on competing hardware.
- Future third-party hardware support from Microsoft is contingent on the ability to implement a full, native Xbox ecosystem, including Game Pass and Xbox Live services.
Top Mobile Games Worldwide for June 2020 by Downloads
My Talking Tom Friends from Outfit7 was the most downloaded mobile game worldwide in June 2020, with 37.5 million installs across the App Store and Google Play.
- My Talking Tom Friends from Outfit7 was the most downloaded mobile game worldwide in June 2020, reaching 37.5 million installs with primary traction in India and Brazil.
- Save The Girl by Lion Studios secured the second position globally with 30.2 million installs, showing a similar geographic concentration in India and Brazil.
- The top five most downloaded games for June 2020 were completed by Garena Free Fire, Tangle Master 3D, and PUBG Mobile.
Top Mobile Games in Europe: June 2020
Tangle Master 3D, published by Rollic Games, was the most downloaded mobile game in Europe in June 2020, with more than 7.5 million installs.
- Tangle Master 3D was the most downloaded mobile game in Europe during June 2020, reaching over 7.5 million installs.
- My Talking Tom Friends secured the second position with more than 7.3 million installs throughout June 2020.
- Russia served as a primary market for top titles, accounting for 18% of Tangle Master 3D downloads and 29.5% of My Talking Tom Friends downloads.
Top Mobile Games Worldwide for May 2020 by Downloads
ASMR Slicing from Crazy Labs was the most downloaded mobile game worldwide in May 2020, reaching 36.5 million installs. The United States accounted for 12 percent of its total downloads and Brazil for 9.6 percent.
- ASMR Slicing by Crazy Labs was the most downloaded mobile game worldwide in May 2020, reaching 36.5 million installs with its largest audiences in the United States (12%) and Brazil (9.6%).
- PUBG Mobile secured the second position with 34.2 million installs, marking a 91% year-over-year increase, with India accounting for 35.8% of its total downloads.
- The top five most downloaded mobile games for May 2020 were ASMR Slicing, PUBG Mobile, Garena Free Fire, Save The Girl, and Gardenscapes.
AppLovin: Poster Boy of Vertical Integration
AppLovin's evolution from a mobile ad network into a vertically integrated games company is the subject of this May 2020 analysis by Michail Katkoff, prompted by AppLovin's acquisition of Machine Zone (MZ), maker of Game of War, for an undisclosed sum.
- AppLovin has acquired Machine Zone (MZ), a company whose monthly net revenue declined from a peak of $128 million in March 2017 to $17 million by March 2020.
- AppLovin is aggressively pursuing vertical integration by transitioning from a pure-play ad network into a game publisher, utilizing its own platform to drive user acquisition for in-house and partner studios.
- The company’s portfolio includes its internal hyper-casual division, Lion Studios, and strategic investments in studios such as PeopleFun, Belka Games, Clipwire Games, and Geewa.
Top Mobile Games Worldwide for April 2020 by Downloads
Lion Studios' hyper-casual title Save The Girl was the most downloaded mobile game worldwide in April 2020, with 50.2 million installs.
- Save The Girl by Lion Studios was the most downloaded mobile game worldwide in April 2020, recording 50.2 million installs.
- Gardenscapes by Playrix secured the second position with 37.7 million installs, marking a 4x increase compared to April 2019.
- Ludo King experienced a significant surge due to COVID-19 lockdowns, reaching 26.8 million downloads in April, a 142% increase from February 2020.
Top Games by Downloads and Revenue: April 2020
AppMagic's April 2020 roundup of mobile game performance tracks the top free and top grossing titles across iOS and Google Play, with emphasis on download rankings and new releases.
- Lion Studios' hyper-casual title 'Save the Girl' dominated April 2020 downloads, securing 41.8 million total installs and ranking 1st on both Google Play (32 million) and iOS (9.8 million).
- The mobile download charts saw a significant reshuffle with multiple newcomers, while Voodoo—previously responsible for a third of the top ten—failed to place any new projects in the top ten for April.
- Rollic Games' 'Go Knots 3D' showed strong momentum, reaching 19 million total downloads and securing the 2nd spot on iOS with 9.4 million installs.
Top Mobile Games Worldwide for March 2020 by Downloads
Slap Kings from Lion Studios was the most downloaded mobile game worldwide in March 2020, with 35.6 million installs, led by the United States (13.6 percent of its total) and India (9.4 percent).
- Global mobile game downloads reached an all-time high in March 2020, surging 51% year-over-year to exceed 3.3 billion installs due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
- Slap Kings by Lion Studios was the most downloaded mobile game worldwide in March 2020, recording 35.6 million installs.
- Draw Climber by Voodoo secured the second position with 31.7 million downloads, contributing to a strong month for the publisher, which placed three titles in the top 10.