Mobile Gaming Leaders: March 2016

The mobile gaming market experienced significant growth in March 2016, characterized by a surge in new installs across both the Apple App Store and Google Play. The primary objective of this analysis is to identify the top-performing mobile games and publishers based on download volume, with a specific focus on the impact of major new releases. The data highlights a robust year-over-year increase in the iOS Games category, which saw global downloads rise 16 percent to 633 million, while U.S. downloads grew 12 percent to 162 million.

The findings underscore the dominance of Supercell’s Clash Royale, which emerged as the clear market leader, securing the top position in both U.S. and worldwide download rankings across combined platforms. Its performance was notably strong, generating more than double the global installs of the second-ranked title, Stack. Other significant performers included Color Switch, which maintained strong momentum, and Miniclip’s Basketball Stars, which achieved substantial success on both iOS and Android. Additionally, Disney Magic Kingdoms and Simulator Hoverboard were identified as notable standouts in the iOS ecosystem.

The analysis utilizes daily download estimates generated by the Store Intelligence platform, covering the period from March 1 to March 31, 2016. The scope includes both U.S. and worldwide markets, specifically tracking installs from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. While the report provides a comprehensive view of top-tier performance, it excludes data from third-party Android storefronts. The results demonstrate that while certain titles like Candy Crush Jelly Saga maintained a presence in the top 10, their performance varied by platform, with the game showing higher relative popularity on Android than on iOS.