Mobile App Market: Q2 2025

The mobile application market experienced a historic shift in the second quarter of 2025, as non-gaming applications surpassed mobile games in total in-app purchase (IAP) revenue for the first time. Non-gaming apps now account for 52% of total IAP spending, a significant increase from 26% in the second quarter of 2019. Total global IAP revenue reached $40.9 billion, representing an 11.5% year-over-year increase. While the overall market grew, this expansion was driven almost exclusively by non-gaming apps, as game revenue remained nearly stagnant with a marginal 0.7% increase to $19.8 billion.

Platform performance remains skewed toward iOS, which generated $28 billion of the total $41 billion in IAP revenue. Despite the revenue disparity, both iOS and Google Play experienced similar year-over-year growth rates of approximately 11.5% to 11.6%. Total market downloads remained static at 36.6 billion installs. However, a divergence in user acquisition trends emerged: non-gaming app installs grew by 3.7% to 23.8 billion, while game installs declined by 6.8% to 12.8 billion.

Within the gaming sector, performance varied significantly by genre. Strategy, puzzle, and shooter games were the primary drivers of revenue growth, while genres such as RPG, casino, simulation, and action experienced declines. Strategy was the only genre to see an increase in downloads, largely attributed to the scaling of specific titles. The top revenue-generating games remained consistent, with no new entries in the top 10, while titles like Delta Force demonstrated notable growth in download rankings. These findings reflect a broader maturation of the mobile ecosystem, where non-gaming utility and subscription-based applications are increasingly capturing a larger share of consumer spending compared to traditional gaming titles.