Microfun
Company
15 documents in the library are about Microfun, from writers such as Deconstructor of Fun, Two & a Half Gamers and Udonis. Each has a summary and key insights with the page they come from.
Connections
The documents about Microfun on the inner ring, the other games and companies they name on the outer one. Select a cover to see it up close and open it in a new tab; drag to move, pinch or Ctrl + scroll to zoom.
Key figures from the reports
Microfun’s Gossip Harbor reached $100 million in monthly in-app purchase revenue for the first time in March, marking a significant increase from $82.5 million in February and positioning it to potentially overtake Candy Crush Saga as the top-grossing puzzle game.
Mobilegamer.biz, 2026 · Is Destiny doomed? King on AI, layoffs and more, plus March's top games, data, soft launches, more, p. 12
Microfun's merge game portfolio, including Gossip Harbor and Seaside Escape, is showing strong growth with daily revenues reaching approximately 12.5 million and 9.5 million respectively over the last 30 days.
Two & a Half Gamers, 2024 · Top Creatives & Advertisers with Game Review Radar!, p. 16
Documents about Microfun
Just Dessert vs. Gossip Harbor: Who Merged It Better?
The mobile gaming industry has seen the Merge 2 genre ascend to become the second highest-grossing category within casual gaming, characterized by consistent year-over-year growth.
- Merge 2 games utilize a core loop where players spend Energy (1 tap per 1 Energy) to generate items from Producers, which are then merged to fulfill orders that drive narrative progression.
- Energy economy is designed for a 3-hour and 20-minute full recharge cycle, with a 100-unit cap that creates a recurring return loop for players.
- Monetization in the genre relies on the 'foot-in-the-door' effect, using small, frequent gem purchases to lower psychological barriers and build habitual spending routines.
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review July & August 2026
The mobile gaming landscape during July and August 2026 demonstrated a marked departure from traditional seasonal lulls, characterized by aggressive LiveOps strategies and structural innovation.
- The New York Times Games reached ninth place in the revenue charts on August 28, 2026, driven by a 75% discount on first-year subscriptions.
- Marvel SNAP experienced a doubling of iOS downloads compared to its pre-launch baseline following the introduction of a new Draft Mode, which features roguelike mechanics and deck upgrades.
- Mobile games like Coin Master, Dice Dreams, and Disney Solitaire are increasingly utilizing 'chain-offer' mechanics that lock milestone reward progress behind real-money purchases.
Top Grossing Mobile Games in South Korea (2025 & 2026)
South Korea represents the fourth-largest mobile gaming market globally, characterized by a distinct bifurcation between high-revenue titles and high-volume download games.
- South Korea is the world's fourth-largest mobile gaming market, generating approximately $5.3 billion in 2025 from a population of 51 million.
- While 2025 H2 revenue grew 8.3% over the first half to $2.8 billion, annual download volume fell by roughly 21%, indicating a shift toward monetizing existing players rather than acquiring new ones.
- Nexon’s 'MapleStory: Idle RPG' surged to the top of the 2026 grossing charts with $135.4 million in revenue, highlighting the rapid rise of the idle RPG sub-genre, which grew from 2% of RPG revenue in 2020 to 16% by 2024.
Top Grossing Mobile Games in Japan (2025 & 2026)
The Japanese mobile gaming market remains a distinct and highly lucrative landscape characterized by a significant divide between revenue-generating titles and high-volume download leaders.
- Japan generates 11.5% of global mobile gaming revenue from only 2.0% of the world's mobile players, highlighting an exceptionally high average revenue per user (ARPU) market.
- The Japanese mobile market is dominated by domestic gacha and RPG titles, with long-running franchises like Monster Strike, Fate/Grand Order, and Uma Musume consistently securing top revenue positions.
- In 2025, Pokémon TCG Pocket and Last War: Survival led the market in revenue with $326.1 million and $326.0 million respectively, though Pokémon TCG Pocket's revenue cooled to eighth place by mid-2026.
Top 10 Worldwide Mobile Games by Revenue and Downloads in May 2026
The mobile gaming landscape in May 2026 was characterized by a distinct divergence between high-volume download leaders and high-revenue earners.
- Last War: Survival led global mobile revenue in May 2026 with $121.4 million, narrowly edging out Tencent’s Honor of Kings, which earned $120.4 million.
- The mobile market is bifurcated: lightweight puzzle games like Block Blast! dominate downloads (25.73 million) through high-volume ad-supported traffic, while strategy and match-3 titles capture the majority of revenue through deep live-ops and monetization systems.
- Revenue leaders demonstrate high retention-based monetization, with Last War: Survival generating approximately $30 per download and Royal Match securing $102.4 million in revenue through a consistent cadence of content updates.
Does Merge-2 Monetize Better Than Match-3?
The article examines why Merge-2 titles such as Gossip Harbor and Travel Town have recently surpassed the long-standing revenue leader Candy Crush Saga, questioning whether Merge-2 monetizes more effectively than Match-3 games.
- In February 2026, the Merge-2 game Gossip Harbor surpassed Candy Crush Saga in monthly revenue ($77.7 million vs. $71.7 million). By the end of Q1 2026, Gossip Harbor's quarterly revenue grew 172% year-over-year, while Candy Crush's fell 7%.
- The core difference between Merge-2 and Match-3 monetization lies in their board mechanics: Match-3 boards are temporary and reset each level, while Merge-2 boards are persistent, allowing players to manage an ongoing economy rather than solve discrete puzzles.
- Match-3 games monetize by selling solutions to failed levels, offering a 'clean break' for players. Merge-2 games monetize by selling continuity, using energy systems to pause progress and encourage spending to maintain momentum on an unfinished board.
Puzzle Monthly #3: the Merge 2 Secret Tell-All Episode
The merge genre has reached a critical inflection point, transitioning from simple board-based mechanics to complex, live-ops-driven ecosystems.
- The merge genre is shifting from simple board mechanics to complex, live-ops-driven ecosystems, with titles like Gossip Harbor successfully challenging legacy giants like Candy Crush.
- Commercial success in the genre is now driven by aggressive, event-based monetization strategies rather than the foundational merge gameplay itself.
- To combat the friction of board clutter and tedious inventory management, developers are increasingly adopting temporary event boards, generator constraints, and multi-board systems.
Is Destiny doomed? King on AI, layoffs and more, plus March's top games, data, soft launches, more
The mobile games industry continues to navigate a complex landscape defined by shifting monetization strategies, the integration of artificial intelligence, and intense market competition.
- Microfun’s Gossip Harbor reached $100 million in monthly in-app purchase revenue for the first time in March, marking a significant increase from $82.5 million in February and positioning it to potentially overtake Candy Crush Saga as the top-grossing puzzle game.
- King VP Eva Ryott defended the company's use of AI as a supporting tool for level management rather than a direct replacement for staff, while noting that workforce adjustments following 200 layoffs were necessary to maintain competitive relevance.
- Candy Crush Saga has adopted a 2x2 matching mechanic, a feature King implemented within the last year to align with evolving market standards and compete against rivals like Royal Match and Gossip Harbor.
Gossip Harbor’s LiveOps Journey: From 20 to 100 Events a Month
Gossip Harbor, a leading title in the Merge-2 genre, has achieved significant commercial success by aggressively scaling its LiveOps strategy.
- Gossip Harbor scaled its LiveOps cadence from 20 events per month in early 2024 to nearly 100 events per month by late 2025.
- The game generated over $720 million in total in-app purchase revenue since its June 2022 launch, peaking at $62 million in monthly revenue by October 2025.
- By late 2025, temporary bundles and special offers accounted for 62% of the game's total revenue.
How Gossip Harbor Became the Top-Grossing Merge Game
Gossip Harbor: Merge & Story has emerged as the leading title in the mobile merge puzzle genre, surpassing established competitors like Merge Mansion and Travel Town.
- Gossip Harbor has reached $677 million in lifetime revenue and over 90 million total downloads, overtaking competitors like Merge Mansion and Travel Town to become the top-grossing merge game of 2025.
- The game’s primary demographic consists of women with an average age of 32, who are targeted through emotionally charged, dramatic advertising that emphasizes storytelling over direct gameplay footage.
- Microfun relies heavily on paid user acquisition, with a large majority of downloads driven by aggressive ad spending and continuous testing of creative concepts.
🎮 The 2 product trends that rule Mobile Games in 2025 by Jakub Remiar
The mobile gaming landscape in 2025 is defined by two dominant product strategies: the sophisticated user acquisition (UA) product funnel and the widespread adoption of game templatization.
- The mobile gaming market is currently dominated by a three-part UA funnel consisting of hyper-casual 'fake' ads, a corresponding 'fake' onboarding experience, and a 'real' core game like 4X or idle strategy.
- Studios such as River Games and Century Games use this multi-stage funnel to lower customer acquisition costs by attracting a broad audience before transitioning them into high-revenue, complex gameplay.
- Game templatization has become a primary strategy for scaling, where studios like Habby and Microfun recycle proven meta-game structures and UI layouts to increase the speed and volume of their product releases.
The New Rising Revenue King of the Merge Genre: How Gossip Harbor Conquered the U.S. Market
The analysis identifies the merge genre as a rising revenue driver in 2024, with Gossip Harbor emerging as the leading U.S. title after surpassing Travel Town’s $117 million in-app revenue.
- Gossip Harbor has become the leading U.S. merge genre title, surpassing Travel Town’s $117 million in-app revenue and reaching 15th place in global Google Play revenue rankings by November 2024.
- Microfun’s strategic focus on Merge-2 titles, such as Gossip Harbor and Seaside Escape, has successfully captured significant U.S. market share by pivoting away from the saturated match-3 sector.
- Consistent advertising efforts, utilizing 600–800 creatives, doubled the game's U.S. daily active users from 60,000 to 120,000 between July and November.