Midcore reports and market data
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LiveOps Report 2025
The mobile gaming industry is currently navigating a period of significant maturation, characterized by a marked deceleration in overall revenue and download growth.
- Mobile gaming is shifting toward high-frequency engagement, with developers now averaging 89 events per month to combat stagnant revenue and download growth.
- The Hybridcasual segment is experiencing explosive revenue growth by integrating complex, midcore-inspired mechanics and ad-driven monetization models.
- Strategy has overtaken RPGs as the top-earning subgenre within the Midcore segment, which continues to be dominated by legacy titles launched between 2015 and 2020.
Why are sticker albums taking over? From Royal Match to Mid-Core by Jakub Remiar
The sticker album mechanic has emerged as a dominant engagement and monetization feature across the mobile gaming industry, particularly within the casual genre.
- Sticker albums have become a primary engagement and monetization driver in mobile gaming, popularized at scale by Monopoly Go starting in April 2023.
- The mechanic adds depth to shallow game economies by using gacha-style booster packs, duplicate card sinks, and high-value grand prizes to incentivize whale spending and retention.
- Standard sticker albums typically feature 135 to 200 cards over a 30- to 60-day seasonal cycle, utilizing recurring art assets to minimize technical and design complexity.
Minigames Gold Rush: The $7B Opportunity western devs missed by Lemon Choi
The Chinese mini-game market has matured into a $7 billion industry, fundamentally altering the landscape of mobile gaming through frictionless, app-free access.
- The Chinese mini-game market has reached a $7 billion valuation, supported by an ecosystem of 400,000 developer teams and over 500 million monthly active users.
- Growth is shifting away from simple casual titles toward midcore and hardcore genres, such as 4X strategy, tower defense, and idle RPGs, which offer superior payer retention.
- Success in this market is driven by data-centric user acquisition, with day-one paying user retention serving as the critical KPI for determining the viability of soft launches.
Acecraft review: Retro Cartoons + Hardcore Gacha. Collectible Albums just hit Midcore!
Acecraft represents a sophisticated evolution in the midcore mobile gaming landscape, successfully merging a distinctive 1930s-inspired aesthetic with a rigorous, high-friction gacha economy.
- AceCraft is a vertical shoot-’em-up that integrates a miHoYo-style hardcore gacha model, featuring dual-character banners, pity timers, and significant duplicate scaling, which represents a departure from standard midcore templates.
- The game achieved approximately $330K in daily IAP revenue post-launch, with a significant portion of its 300K daily downloads originating from China and other Asian markets.
- It is the first midcore title to implement a collectible album system with trade functionality, adapted from casual titles like Monopoly Go and Royal Match but compressed into a 30-day cycle to match midcore retention curves.
Squad Busters 2.0 and Supercell's YOLO Game Launch Strategy
Supercell’s Squad Busters 2.0 represents a strategic pivot from a casual, broad-market mobile game to a midcore-focused experience.
- Supercell has abandoned its traditional 18-month iterative testing cycle in favor of an aggressive 'YOLO' launch strategy, prioritizing rapid market entry over the rigorous internal feedback gauntlets that previously defined its success.
- Squad Busters 2.0 is underperforming financially, with monetization metrics currently falling below one dollar per download.
- The game suffers from a lack of cohesive identity, remaining caught between the strategic depth of auto-battlers and the real-time action of brawlers, which contributes to persistent issues with gameplay chaos and limited depth.
TWIG #331 Supercell’s Second Shot, Triple Dot’s Power Move, Microsoft's Strategic Shift
The mobile gaming industry is currently undergoing a significant structural transformation characterized by the concentration of capital and engagement within large-scale franchises.
- Microsoft’s gaming division is potentially deprioritizing hardware and subscription services in favor of AI, with the Activision acquisition increasingly viewed as a short-term financial misstep that may lead to a transition toward third-party publishing or asset divestiture.
- The mobile gaming market is experiencing a 'hollowed-out middle,' where mid-tier players struggle to compete against the concentration of capital and engagement within large-scale franchises.
- Triple Dot acquired AppLovin’s mobile portfolio for $800 million to achieve immediate scale, though the move highlights the operational difficulty of managing diverse, geographically dispersed game assets.
Web Shops make up 30% of game revenue in 2025. Here’s how to build yours!
Mobile game developers are increasingly shifting toward direct-to-consumer web shops as a primary strategy to improve profitability and reclaim control over the player experience.
- Top mobile publishers are now generating 25–30% of their total revenue through direct-to-consumer web shops, bypassing traditional app store ecosystems.
- Operating an off-store web shop allows developers to reduce platform fees by approximately 50% compared to standard Apple or Google IAP rates.
- Successful web shop implementation requires a shift in UA strategy from simple CPI-chasing to training marketing teams to drive traffic directly to owned digital storefronts.
Mobile Gaming by Genre: Midcore
The analysis demonstrates that midcore mobile games—those offering depth while remaining accessible on handheld devices—are experiencing a post-pandemic rebound, with Q1 2025 downloads and revenue surpassing 2024 levels.
- Midcore mobile gaming is experiencing a post-pandemic rebound, with Q1 2025 revenue and download figures exceeding 2024 levels.
- Strategic rewarded video integration can significantly boost performance, as evidenced by Bytro Labs increasing ARPDAU by 32.9% and Day-3 iOS retention by 6.1%.
- Midcore titles achieve higher eCPMs than casual games, with Bytro Labs reaching eCPMs of 23 on iOS and 25 on Android through optimized ad placement.
Global LiveOps Trends 2025
The global mobile gaming landscape in 2025 is characterized by a notable deceleration in overall market growth, with revenue increases stalling at 0.7% and download growth slowing to 4.1%.
- The global mobile gaming market has stagnated, with revenue growth slowing to 0.7% and download growth to 4.1%, forcing a shift toward maximizing the lifetime value of existing players.
- Hybridcasual games have emerged as a high-growth sector, recording a 75% year-over-year revenue increase despite flat download numbers.
- LiveOps strategy has shifted toward high-frequency engagement, with the average number of monthly events per game rising to 89.
Admon smoky backroom, Midcore UA step up with Viva La Dirt League, Honkai: Star Rail Review (#63)
AdMob is mandating a transition to real-time bidding auctions by October 31, 2023, effectively ending the practice of manual placement refreshing.
- AdMob will mandate a transition to real-time bidding auctions by October 31, 2023, effectively ending manual placement refreshing and forcing publishers to adopt automated, mediation-driven monetization.
- The mediation market is consolidating into a duopoly between Google and major third-party platforms like AppLovin Max and ironSource, requiring developers to focus on inventory efficiency rather than legacy optimization hacks.
- Honkai: Star Rail generated over $40 million in its first week with 20 million pre-registrations, demonstrating that high-production, console-quality mobile experiences are driving significant market returns.
Zombie.io global launch case study: A Midcore game with complex gameplay & wide range of features
Zombie.io represents a significant evolution in the midcore survivor-like mobile genre, blending complex, automated gameplay with a robust gacha-driven economy.
- Zombie.io, developed by the creators of Legend of Mushroom, achieved a successful global launch in April 2024, generating approximately $120,000 in daily IAP revenue with roughly 70,000 daily downloads.
- The game differentiates itself from competitors like Survivor.io by incorporating complex, midcore RPG elements, including hero classes (tank, healer, DPS), pet management, and skill-altering inventory systems.
- The developers utilize an aggressive rewarded ad strategy that integrates 'question mark' triggers throughout the UI to prompt ad views, maintaining an ad impression rate of approximately 65-70%.
Midcore Gaming Apps Report 2023
The midcore mobile gaming market is undergoing a significant expansion as players increasingly migrate from hyper-casual titles toward games offering greater depth and complexity.
- Midcore games now account for 35% of total US iOS gaming revenue, driven by a player migration from hyper-casual titles toward deeper, more complex gameplay.
- Android is significantly more cost-effective for developers than iOS, with a $0.73 CPI compared to $3.86 and nearly double the Day-7 ROAS at 6.1%.
- The EMEA region offers the best market value, balancing a low $0.80 CPI with a competitive 4.4% ROAS, while North America remains the most expensive market at a $5.45 CPI.