Royal Match
Game
Documents about Royal Match
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review March 2023
The mobile game market in March 2023 was characterized by significant content updates and the introduction of new gameplay modes across major titles to bolster player engagement.
- PUBG Mobile launched a beta for 'World of Wonder,' a new creative mode allowing user-generated content and custom PvP games to celebrate its fifth anniversary.
- Lingxi Games solidified its position in the Chinese 4X strategy market by launching 'Three Kingdoms Warchess,' which reached the top 10 grossing, joining their existing hit 'Three Kingdoms Tactics.'
- Goddess of Victory: NIKKE reached #3 on the Japanese top-grossing chart following a successful dog-themed event titled 'Bow Wow Paradise.'
The Case of Playrix and Why Product-Market Fit Is a Moving Target
The mobile gaming industry faces a fundamental shift in product-market fit following the implementation of Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework.
- Post-IDFA, mobile studios must integrate creative performance data directly into product roadmaps to ensure gameplay aligns with the expectations set by advertisements.
- Playrix successfully navigated regulatory shifts by testing thousands of ad creatives and incorporating the most successful concepts as core mini-games to improve user retention.
- Playrix maintained strong financial performance in the post-ATT landscape, generating over $250 million in in-app purchase revenue in January 2023.
Global Mobile Game Market Trends: January 2023
The January 2023 analysis of the global mobile game market highlights a surge in both advertising spend and revenue driven by strategic creative campaigns and seasonal events.
- Strategic seasonal events and collaborations drove massive revenue spikes, led by Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s 187.4% MoM growth on the App Store and Monster Strike’s 77.9% increase on Google Play.
- Targeted advertising creative formats are highly effective, with Attack Hole utilizing mini-game themes to reach over 10 million global downloads and secure a top position on iOS ad charts.
- TV advertising and cross-platform marketing significantly impact revenue, evidenced by Royal Match achieving a nearly 200% revenue increase following its first TV campaign.
Down But Not Out: Mobile Match Analysis
The mobile Match-3 puzzle market is experiencing a period of stagnation and revenue contraction, though it remains a significant sector within the broader gaming industry.
- Match-3 revenue has experienced double-digit declines over the past 12 months, with the top 10 games capturing 82% of the market share.
- Apple’s ATT framework caused a sharp initial retraction in downloads, though publishers have begun to stabilize growth through consolidated UA campaigns and tier-based geographic targeting.
- Royal Match and Match Masters are notable exceptions to the broader revenue decline, with Royal Match achieving 76% growth between H2 2021 and H2 2022 and Match Masters growing 53%.
Two & a Half Gamers Session #47: Creative Trends 2023
This analysis of mobile gaming creative trends for 2023 focuses on the evolving strategies for user acquisition, game design, and ad monetization.
- Top-performing titles like Royal Match maintain a competitive advantage by executing high-frequency creative testing, such as deploying 15 unique ad variations within a 14-day window.
- Mobile game developers are increasingly integrating user acquisition strategies directly into core game design by adopting hypercasual mechanics and multiple gameplay loops to boost retention and ad performance.
- The industry is seeing a widespread shift toward the use of misleading or 'fake' ads that intentionally deviate from actual core gameplay to capture user attention.
Mobile Games: State of the Market & Playtime Q3 2023
The global mobile gaming market faced a contraction in total installs during the third quarter of 2023, reflecting a broader cooling trend in user acquisition.
- iOS remains the dominant platform for mobile gaming revenue, accounting for 56.01% of the total global share compared to 43.99% for Android.
- The United States and Japan are the leading revenue generators among major markets, contributing $2.92 billion and $2.03 billion respectively, with the six analyzed countries accounting for 59% of global gaming revenue.
- South Korea experienced the highest growth in game installs at 32% compared to Q3 2022, while the United States and France saw declines of 5% and 0.7%, respectively.
State of the Market: Puzzle Games Q1 2023
This analysis examines the performance of the mobile puzzle gaming category during the first quarter of 2023, utilizing data from the Apptica platform across 35 countries.
- Match 3 games dominate the puzzle sector, accounting for one-third of all downloads and between 56% and 86% of total revenue across analyzed markets.
- There is a significant platform disparity where Android captures 80% of total puzzle game downloads, while iOS generates 56% of the category's total revenue.
- Puzzle games are a primary driver of mobile advertising, representing over 50% of ad traffic on iOS and more than 33% on Android.
Gaming Spotlight 2023 Review
The global gaming market in 2023 was defined by a complex interplay between mobile contraction and steady growth in the PC and console sectors.
- The global mobile gaming market contracted by 2% to $108 billion in 2023, driven by macroeconomic instability and privacy-related shifts like Apple’s App Tracking Transparency.
- PC and home console markets grew by 4% and 3% respectively, largely supported by the increasing adoption of subscription-based models.
- Cloud-streamed gaming is a growing revenue stream projected to reach $3.8 billion, with mobile devices accounting for over 25% of total streaming hours.
Project Makeover: Its Fall From Grace
Project Makeover initially captured a significant market share by blending character-driven narrative elements with traditional match-3 mechanics, successfully appealing to a Gen Z demographic.
- Project Makeover has experienced a significant decline in market position since early 2021, with year-over-year downloads dropping by 55%.
- The match-3 genre has seen a shift in dominance toward Candy Crush Saga and Royal Match, as post-IDFA privacy changes on iOS negatively impacted download metrics for most competitors.
- Project Makeover’s core gameplay is less competitive than peers due to a 'puzzly' level design that creates a higher chance of losing, which diminishes the pressure to maintain win streaks and weakens monetization.
How to Build Your Next IAP Offer: Part 2
In-app purchase (IAP) offers serve as a foundational monetization strategy for free-to-play mobile games, requiring constant innovation to maintain player engagement and revenue growth.
- Garena Free Fire increases bundle engagement by allowing players to control item pools and discount percentages through 'Change Your Fate' shuffle and refresh mechanics.
- Royal Match utilizes a 'progressive' IAP ladder where players receive free rewards but must make a purchase to unlock deeper tiers, leveraging the psychological desire to complete visible reward sequences.
- Merge Fables drives immediate conversions by presenting players with a choice between earning event rewards through gameplay or paying for an instant, boosted reward bundle.
Royal Match: Dream Games’ Regal Performance
Royal Match has emerged as a dominant force within the global mobile match-3 market, securing a top-ten revenue position within five years of its launch.
- Dream Games reached a $2.75 billion valuation within 2.5 years of founding, achieving a market cap of approximately $34 million per employee.
- Royal Match successfully captured significant market share in the competitive match-3 genre by focusing on high-polish, low-friction gameplay rather than the 'puzzle and decorate' trend.
- The game significantly increased its monetization efficiency, doubling its Revenue Per Download in 2022 compared to the previous year.
How Does Royal Match Make Money? Inside the $3 Billion Strategy
Royal Match has established itself as a dominant force in the mobile gaming sector, amassing over $3 billion in lifetime revenue and 300 million downloads.
- Royal Match has generated over $3 billion in all-time revenue, currently earning approximately $130 million per month through its free-to-play model.
- The game’s primary monetization strategy relies on in-app purchases of boosters, extra lives, and in-game currency, supplemented by a 'Royal Pass' battle pass system that unlocks at level 37.
- User acquisition is driven by aggressive advertising, specifically mini-game and playable ads that feature the game's main character in puzzle-solving scenarios to entice potential players.