Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review July 2023

The mobile gaming market in July 2023 was characterized by significant engagement through major content updates, cooperative gameplay events, and high-profile intellectual property collaborations. The industry saw a trend of established titles leveraging cross-media partnerships with film and television franchises to drive player retention and revenue. This analysis covers key developments across the United States, Japan, and China, utilizing data from the GameRefinery platform to track performance metrics such as daily downloads and grossing rankings.

In the United States, Diablo Immortal experienced a 400% surge in daily downloads following the introduction of the Blood Knight character class, though the lack of direct monetization for this update resulted in a muted revenue impact compared to previous milestones. Conversely, Monopoly GO! successfully implemented its first cooperative event, Baking Partners, which doubled daily iOS revenue. Furthermore, Match Masters saw its daily revenue quadruple during a collaboration with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, while other titles like Stumble Guys, PUBG Mobile, and Survivor!.io utilized similar IP-driven events to maintain market momentum.

The Japanese market was notably impacted by the launch of Pokémon Sleep, a gamified wellness application that achieved the top download position. The Dragon Ball franchise also demonstrated strong performance in Japan, with Dragon Ball Legends seeing a 2000% spike in daily revenue following the release of a rare, high-tier character. Meanwhile, the Chinese market continued to see success from high-production titles such as Justice Mobile and the action RPG Crystal of Atlan, both of which maintained strong positions in grossing and download charts. These findings underscore the continued effectiveness of live-service updates and strategic brand crossovers in sustaining mobile game performance across diverse global regions.