Call of Duty: Mobile
Documents about Call of Duty: Mobile
Shooter Genre Snapshot: September 2021
The mobile shooter genre in the United States iOS market currently occupies the sixth-largest position by revenue, accounting for approximately 6% of total market earnings.
- The shooter genre on US iOS is highly concentrated, with the 'Big Three'—Garena Free Fire, Call of Duty: Mobile, and PUBG Mobile—collectively generating over 84% of total genre revenue.
- Garena Free Fire experienced significant growth in 2021, doubling its iOS revenue and capturing approximately 30% of the market share to rival Call of Duty: Mobile for the top position as of Q2 2021.
- The shooter genre accounts for roughly 6% of total US iOS revenue, currently ranking as the platform's 6th largest mobile genre.
Rewarded Video Ad-placements: Interesting Implementations From Across the Market
The mobile gaming industry is increasingly adopting hybrid monetization models, integrating rewarded video advertisements into titles traditionally reliant on in-app purchases (IAP).
- Rewarded video ads are increasingly integrated into top-grossing IAP-focused titles, such as competitive shooters and 4X strategy games, to diversify revenue streams despite industry shifts like post-IDFA targeting challenges.
- Call of Duty: Mobile incentivizes ad engagement by offering double weapon XP for the next match and utilizing a milestone system that rewards players for cumulative ad views.
- Dragon City Mobile utilizes a dedicated 'Dragon TV' building to host various ad placements, including premium currency rewards and live events that allow players to redeem ad-earned coins for exclusive characters.
Mobile Games IP Report 2021: The Top Five IP-Based Titles in the U.S.
The 2021 Mobile Games IP Report examines the financial impact and market penetration of intellectual property-based titles within the United States mobile gaming sector during 2020.
- IP-based titles generated 23% of all U.S. mobile game player spending in 2020, despite accounting for only 9% of all games.
- The top five IP-based mobile games—Pokémon GO, PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile, Marvel Strike Force, and Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle—accumulated $1.4 billion in U.S. player spending during 2020.
- Video game franchises were the leading source of IP revenue, accounting for one-third of all licensed mobile game spending, led by Pokémon GO at 12% of the total IP market share.
TWIG 130 | EA Battlefield Game, Epic vs. Apple by WSJ, Blizzard Overwatch Leadership
The gaming industry is currently undergoing a structural shift as traditional developers struggle to reconcile legacy quality-focused cultures with the relentless demands of live-service and mobile-first business models.
- The gaming industry is undergoing a structural shift as traditional developers struggle to reconcile legacy quality-focused cultures with the operational demands of live-service and mobile-first business models.
- Epic Games is pursuing a long-term legal strategy against Apple aimed at dismantling platform gatekeeping, signaling a broader industry trend where major players prioritize store ownership and platform control over individual software development.
- Blizzard is experiencing internal instability and operational friction as it attempts to transition premium intellectual properties into free-to-play formats, highlighting the difficulty of adapting traditional development workflows to iterative live operations.
Garena Free Fire Overtakes PUBG Mobile as the Top Grossing Mobile Battle Royale Game: U.S.
Garena Free Fire emerged as the top-grossing mobile battle royale game in the United States during the first quarter of 2021, signaling a significant shift in the competitive landscape of the mobile shooter genre.
- Garena Free Fire became the top-grossing mobile Battle Royale game in the U.S. during Q1 2021, generating approximately $100 million in revenue, a 4.5x increase year-over-year.
- PUBG Mobile ranked second in U.S. player spending for Q1 2021 with $68 million, while Call of Duty: Mobile followed with $62 million, an 80% year-over-year increase.
- The U.S. mobile Battle Royale market grew 42% year-over-year to $239 million in Q1 2021, effectively absorbing the market void left by the removal of Fortnite from app stores in August 2020.
Call of Duty: Mobile Player Count, Revenue & Stats
Call of Duty: Mobile serves as a primary case study for the successful adaptation of a major console and PC franchise into the mobile gaming market.
- Call of Duty: Mobile achieved a record-breaking launch in October 2019, securing over 100 million downloads and $17 million in revenue within its first week.
- The title has accumulated over 400 million total downloads and generated $1.8 billion in all-time revenue since its release.
- The game maintains a consistent performance of approximately $30 million in monthly revenue, driven by in-game purchases, battle passes, and seasonal content.
Top Mobile Games Worldwide: December 2020
The mobile gaming landscape in December 2020 was defined by significant growth in download volume, led by titles that experienced massive year-over-year surges.
- Among Us was the most downloaded mobile game worldwide in December 2020 with 41.2 million installs, representing a growth of more than 36 times compared to December 2019.
- Join Clash 3D secured the second spot with approximately 29 million installs, marking a significant increase of over 2,680 times compared to the previous year, with 39.7% of downloads originating from India.
- Call of Duty: Mobile achieved its highest download volume since November 2019 with 16.6 million installs, driven by a successful late-December launch in China that accounted for 58.5% of its monthly downloads.
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review December 2020
The mobile game market in December 2020 was characterized by a widespread adoption of Battle Pass monetization models and a high volume of seasonal holiday events across major global regions.
- Tencent successfully launched Call of Duty: Mobile in China in December 2020, where it immediately secured a top-10 grossing position following over 70 million pre-registrations.
- The Chinese mobile market saw a rare concentration of three shooter games—Game for Peace, Call of Duty: Mobile, and Crossfire—simultaneously occupying the top 10 grossing charts, all of which are published by Tencent.
- Apple removed approximately 39,000 game applications from its China store in December 2020 due to the lack of required government-issued licenses.
The State of Mobile Game Advertising 2021
The report examines U.S. mobile game advertising in 2021, focusing on ad network share of voice (SOV), creative formats, genre-specific trends, and demographic alignment.
- Gaming-centric networks including Chartboost, Unity, Adcolony, ironSource, and Vungle maintained over 90% share of voice (SOV) for mobile game advertising on iOS and Android throughout 2021.
- AppLovin and MoPub aggressively pivoted toward hypercasual publishers, increasing their game SOV to approximately 90% on iOS and 80% on Android by early 2021.
- AdMob increased its focus on Google Play titles, raising its game SOV from 60% to 80% by Q2 2021.
An Analysis of IPs in U.S. Mobile Gaming
The analysis evaluates the influence of licensed intellectual property (IP) on the U.S. mobile gaming market during 2020, using Sensor Tower’s taxonomy and revenue data from the App Store and Google Play.
- Licensed IP titles represent only 9% of the U.S. mobile market but account for 23% of total player spending and 17% of all installs.
- Video game franchises are the primary drivers of IP revenue, contributing one-third of the total, followed by manga (13%), television (12%), and comics (10%).
- Action, shooter, and role-playing games rely most heavily on licensed IP, with these genres deriving 64%, 45%, and 47% of their respective revenues from such titles.
Store Intelligence Data Digest: Q4 2020
The global mobile app ecosystem experienced unprecedented expansion in 2020, culminating in a fourth quarter that saw 35.2 billion downloads and a year-end total of 143 billion.
- The global mobile app ecosystem reached 143 billion total downloads in 2020, a 23.8% year-over-year increase driven largely by pandemic-related shifts in consumer behavior.
- Business app downloads surged by 134% in 2020, highlighted by Zoom and Google Meet reaching 681 million and 331 million annual downloads respectively.
- Mobile gaming revenue exceeded $21 billion in Q4 2020, with social-oriented titles like Among Us driving engagement via 166 million quarterly downloads.
The State of Mobile Game Advertising: An Analysis of U.S. Mobile Game Advertising Trends in 2021
Mobile game advertising in the United States remained resilient through the first half of 2021, showing no immediate negative impact from privacy changes such as the deprecation of IDFA.
- Mobile game advertising in the U.S. remained resilient through H1 2021, showing no immediate negative impact from the deprecation of IDFA.
- Playable ads have become a dominant creative format, accounting for over 40 percent of the gaming share of voice on AppLovin.
- Specialized ad networks like AppLovin, Chartboost, and Vungle maintain a gaming-focused inventory exceeding 90 percent share of voice, while platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube provide broader audience reach.