Mobile Casual Games in H1 2026

The mobile casual games market remained stable during the first half of 2026, generating approximately $11 billion in net in-app purchase (IAP) revenue. This performance was largely driven by three core genres: Puzzle, Casino, and Simulation. While overall revenue remained flat compared to the same period in 2025, specific sub-genres exhibited significant growth, particularly in the hybrid-casual and merge categories.

Puzzle games maintained their dominance, accounting for 44% of the casual market with $4.9 billion in IAP revenue. Within this segment, the Merge-2 genre nearly doubled its revenue to $1.24 billion, while hybrid-casual puzzle titles—specifically sort, screw, and block games—grew by 46% in revenue. These hybrid titles are increasingly capturing player interest from traditional match-3 and merge games due to their lower development costs and efficient monetization strategies. Conversely, the Casino segment saw a 9% decline in IAP revenue to $3.3 billion, though the Coin Looter sub-genre remains a critical area of focus, with evidence suggesting a substantial shift toward direct-to-consumer (D2C) revenue models.

The Simulation genre also demonstrated growth, earning over $1.1 billion in the first half of 2026. Farming games, in particular, showed resilience, with established titles like Hay Day achieving record-breaking daily revenue through intensive LiveOps strategies. The market analysis relies on net IAP revenue estimations, excluding D2C income and non-iOS revenue from China, which likely results in an underestimation of total market performance. The findings suggest that success in the current landscape is increasingly tied to a studio’s ability to master LiveOps, manage user acquisition competition, and experiment with hybrid-casual mechanics.