Last War
Game
Documents about Last War
Cracking the 4X Code: First Fun and RiverGame’s Billion-Dollar Strategy
The mobile 4X strategy genre has undergone a significant evolution driven by the partnership between developers First Fun and RiverGame.
- First Fun and RiverGame’s flagship title, Last War: Survival, scaled from $15 million in annual revenue in 2023 to over $1.1 billion in 2024.
- The partnership between First Fun and RiverGame was formalized in 2021 when First Fun acquired a 42% stake in RiverGame, leveraging their shared professional history at ELEX Technology.
- The companies have successfully deployed a replicable 4X development formula, resulting in them holding three of the top 10 grossing 4X games as of January 2025.
Top 10 Worldwide Mobile Games by Revenue and Downloads: January 2025
The mobile gaming industry experienced a robust start to 2025, with global consumer spending on the Apple App Store and Google Play reaching $7.27 billion in January, a 4% increase over the previous month.
- Global mobile game consumer spending reached $7.27 billion in January 2025, a 4% increase from the previous month, with the U.S. accounting for 29.8% of total revenue.
- Honor of Kings became the top-grossing mobile game globally in January 2025, nearly doubling its monthly revenue through Lunar New Year events, IP collaborations, and new skin releases.
- Tencent dominated the top revenue rankings, securing four of the top five spots with Honor of Kings, Game For Peace, CrossFire, and Teamfight Tactics, largely driven by performance in the Chinese iOS market.
Top 10 Worldwide Mobile Games By Revenue and Downloads: December 2024
The mobile gaming industry experienced a robust performance in December 2024, characterized by a 5.1% month-over-month increase in global consumer spending, which reached an estimated $6.98 billion.
- Global mobile game consumer spending reached $6.98 billion in December 2024, a 5.1% increase over the previous month, with the U.S. accounting for 31.8% of total revenue.
- Last War: Survival became the top-grossing mobile game globally in December 2024, driven by a Christmas event and aggressive user acquisition spending on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
- Pokémon TCG Pocket secured the #2 spot in global revenue following its late November 2024 launch, generating over $390 million in total gross revenue to-date.
Top 10 Worldwide Mobile Games By Revenue and Downloads: November 2024
The mobile gaming industry experienced a period of relative stability in November 2024, with global consumer spending across the Apple App Store and Google Play reaching $6.54 billion, a marginal 0.05% decrease from the previous month.
- Global mobile game consumer spending reached $6.54 billion in November 2024, a marginal 0.05% decrease from the previous month, with the U.S. accounting for 32.3% of total revenue.
- Tencent’s Honor of Kings remained the top-grossing mobile game globally, while Pokémon TCG Pocket emerged as the second-highest-grossing title and the leader in revenue growth.
- Garena Free Fire maintained its position as the most downloaded mobile game globally with over 25 million downloads in November, bringing its lifetime total to 1.78 billion.
From Gameplay to Marketing: Inside Last War — The Mobile Game Winning Over Japan and the US
Last War: Survival Game has emerged as a significant success in the mobile gaming sector, achieving top-ten-grossing status in both the United States and Japan.
- Last War: Survival Game has achieved significant cross-market success, generating $212M in revenue from the US and $135M from Japan since its August 30, 2023 release.
- While the US has nearly three times the active users of Japan, Japan exhibits higher monetization, with an average revenue per monthly active user (ARPMAU) of $31 compared to $12 in the US.
- The game utilizes a 'bait-and-switch' mechanic where ads feature hyper-casual 'run' gameplay to lower acquisition costs, before transitioning players into a mid-core strategy experience after a five-minute onboarding session.
Top 10 Worldwide Mobile Games By Revenue and Downloads: October 2024
The mobile gaming industry experienced a mixed performance in October 2024, characterized by a slight contraction in consumer spending alongside a notable increase in global download volume.
- Honor of Kings remained the top-grossing mobile game globally in October 2024, achieving a 10% month-over-month revenue increase driven by its ninth-anniversary event.
- Global mobile game consumer spending reached $6.55 billion in October, a 0.7% decrease from the previous month, with the U.S. accounting for 31% of total revenue.
- Worldwide mobile game downloads grew by 4.8% month-over-month to 3.9 billion, led by India, which contributed 670 million downloads or 17% of the global total.
2024 First Half Mobile Game Market Review: South Korea
The South Korean mobile game market experienced a notable shift in the first half of 2024, characterized by a slight increase in total revenue and a significant rise in the influence of foreign publishers.
- In the first half of 2024, the South Korean mobile game market saw a slight revenue increase to approximately $2.75 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the first half of 2023. This growth was driven by a 10.3% increase in App Store revenue, despite a 2.3% decrease in Google Play Store revenue.
- For the first time since 2017, five foreign games entered the top 10 revenue rankings in the South Korean mobile game market during the first half of 2024, indicating a shift in player preferences and market dynamics.
- Five foreign publishers—FirstFun, Joy Net Games, Century Games, Supercell, and miHoYo—entered the top 10 publisher revenue rankings in South Korea for the first half of 2024, a first in the last decade.
APAC Mobile Game Market Insights 2024
The 2024 mobile game market analysis for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region highlights a modest industry revival during the first four months of the year, characterized by shifting genre preferences and the emergence of breakout titles.
- The idle RPG 'Legend of Mushroom' has generated $270 million in global IAP revenue as of April 2024, with South Korea and Japan accounting for 39.4% and 30% of that total, respectively.
- In South Korea, 'Legend of Mushroom' outperformed established MMORPGs like 'Lineage M' and 'ODIN: Valhalla Rising' to secure the top spot on both revenue and download charts.
- Strategy game revenue in South Korea surged 40% quarter-over-quarter in early 2024, driven largely by 'Last War: Survival Game,' which saw its local revenue increase nearly thirteenfold.
Cross-Platform Gaming 2025 Report
The global gaming industry is undergoing a fundamental shift toward platform convergence, where the accessibility of mobile gaming and the depth of PC and console experiences are increasingly integrated to drive growth.
- Mobile gaming generates 52 billion downloads and $82 billion in in-app purchase revenue, serving as a massive user acquisition engine that complements the $12 billion premium PC and console market.
- Successful cross-platform strategies leverage mobile for accessibility and reach while utilizing PC and console platforms to build brand prestige and long-term franchise loyalty.
- Leading publishers are increasingly unifying user bases through integrated design, shared progression systems, and synchronized live operations to maintain engagement across devices.
Statistics
The page presents a series of mobile-gaming performance snapshots, each focused on a single title and dated July 8 2026.
- Honor of Kings maintains its position as the highest-grossing mobile game of all time as of July 8, 2026.
- State of Survival demonstrates long-term market viability with a seven-year growth trajectory spanning from 2019 to 2026.
- Gardenscapes represents a mature mobile title with performance data tracking back to its 2016 launch.
Companies behind it
As the documents state it.