AppMagic
AppMagic is a mobile app market intelligence service for app and game market research. It publishes reports and articles on top mobile games by revenue and downloads, hypercasual and hybridcasual markets, and app categories.
Documents
Steam Pricing Research: From $0.0 to $69.99
The Steam marketplace is currently defined by a hyper-competitive landscape, characterized by a 27.8 percent increase in annual new releases and a significant expansion of free-to-play titles.
- Steam has seen a 27.8 percent annual increase in new releases, intensifying competition and forcing developers to use data-driven pricing to meet shifting consumer value expectations.
- Market saturation has made price points a primary indicator of quality, requiring developers to align their pricing directly with their production scope to remain competitive.
- The majority of releases are concentrated in the sub-$29.99 range, with $14.99 and $19.99 serving as key psychological anchors to optimize conversion rates.
Gossip Harbor’s LiveOps Journey: From 20 to 100 Events a Month
Gossip Harbor, a leading title in the Merge-2 genre, has achieved significant commercial success by aggressively scaling its LiveOps strategy.
- Gossip Harbor scaled its LiveOps cadence from 20 events per month in early 2024 to nearly 100 events per month by late 2025.
- The game generated over $720 million in total in-app purchase revenue since its June 2022 launch, peaking at $62 million in monthly revenue by October 2025.
- By late 2025, temporary bundles and special offers accounted for 62% of the game's total revenue.
Monetization Report 2025
The global mobile gaming market achieved a steady 3.4% year-over-year growth in 2025, reaching a total valuation of $57.1 billion.
- The global mobile gaming market grew 3.4% year-over-year in 2025 to reach a $57.1 billion valuation.
- Hybridcasual games experienced explosive growth of 88%, while Strategy, Puzzle, and Simulation segments grew by 25.5%, 15%, and 11% respectively.
- RPG and Casino sectors saw significant revenue declines, with RPGs falling 13–16% and Casino revenues dropping 7.5%.
An In-Depth Look at 4X Strategy Monetization: Two Ways to Win
The 4X strategy genre currently operates as a highly concentrated and lucrative market, where the top five titles command half of all industry revenue.
- The 4X strategy market is highly concentrated, with the top five titles capturing 50% of total industry revenue.
- Developers must choose between an immediate monetization model, which uses high-frequency offers and gameplay friction, or a gradual approach that prioritizes long-term trust and narrative immersion.
- Successful monetization relies on a three-stage lifecycle—early, middle, and late—that synchronizes player progression with revenue-generating mechanics.
Top 10 Hybridcasual Games in Q2 2025: How Voodoo & Rollic Took Over
The hybridcasual gaming sector experienced significant growth in the second quarter of 2025, characterized by a doubling of in-app purchase (IAP) revenue year-over-year.
- The top 10 Hybridcasual games in Q2 2025 saw a striking 2x YoY revenue growth, indicating a strong market shift towards more sustainable monetization.
- Rollic Games and Voodoo continue to dominate the Hybridcasual market, with Rollic securing three titles and Voodoo two in the Q2 2025 top 10, mirroring their Q1 performance.
- Puzzle and Arcade genres account for 9 out of 10 top Hybridcasual titles in Q2 2025, with specific sub-genres like Block Puzzle, Screw Puzzle, and Sort Puzzle being prominent.
Play Ventures: 5 Steps to Data-Driven Investments with AppMagic
Play Ventures, an early-stage investment firm managing $450 million in assets, utilizes AppMagic’s market intelligence platform to refine its investment strategy and support portfolio companies.
- Play Ventures manages $450 million in assets by utilizing AppMagic’s market intelligence platform to systematize investment scouting and portfolio support.
- The firm employs a five-step data framework that includes automated performance alerts, macro-genre analysis, subgenre benchmarking, due diligence, and post-investment operational guidance.
- Investment decisions are refined by filtering market noise through custom performance thresholds, specifically targeting revenue spikes and download growth to identify breakout studios.
Casual Games Report H1 2025: Three Genres Generating 80% of Revenue
The casual games market generated $12 billion in net in-app purchase revenue during the first half of 2025, with 80% of this total concentrated within the Puzzle, Casino, and Simulation genres.
- The casual games market generated $12 billion in net in-app purchase revenue in H1 2025, with 80% of total earnings concentrated in the Puzzle, Casino, and Simulation genres.
- Puzzle games remain the primary growth engine with a 13% year-over-year revenue increase, driven largely by a 94% surge in the Merge-2 with Complex Meta subgenre.
- The Casual Casino sector saw a 33% revenue contraction in H1 2025, primarily due to the scaling back of major titles like Monopoly GO!.
Casual LiveOps Report: H1 2025
The casual mobile gaming market experienced modest growth during the first half of 2025, characterized by a 3.6% increase in global revenue and a 6% rise in downloads.
- The casual mobile gaming market grew by 3.6% in revenue and 6% in downloads during H1 2025, with legacy titles dominating as only 11% of top-grossing games were released within the last two years.
- Hypercasual games experienced a 111% revenue surge in H1 2025, driven by a strategic pivot toward deeper monetization mechanics.
- LiveOps has become an industry standard, with 82% of top-grossing titles running at least one event to drive retention through recurring mechanics like win streaks and resource-depletion challenges.
Squad Busters 2.0 and mo.co: What We Learned from Supercell's Experimental Era
Supercell is currently navigating a transitional phase characterized by aggressive experimentation with new titles, specifically Squad Busters and mo.co.
- Supercell is actively testing new growth strategies by bypassing traditional soft-launch protocols to bridge the gap between casual accessibility and midcore depth.
- Both Squad Busters and mo.co have failed to meet the high performance benchmarks established by Supercell’s historical portfolio.
- Squad Busters has pivoted its monetization strategy away from gameplay-affecting consumables toward a midcore-oriented framework.
Original Games: +13% ARPDAU with AppMagic
The collaboration between Original Games and AppMagic demonstrates how data-driven refinements to in-app purchase (IAP) strategies can significantly enhance revenue in the mobile casual gaming sector.
- Original Games increased Merge Inn's ARPDAU by 13.3% in the U.S. market by applying data-driven monetization refinements identified through AppMagic.
- Implementing 1+1 bonus bundles with clear visual separation and a 'FREE' claim button improved offer conversion rates by 40%.
- The introduction of Triple Offers to encourage incremental spending resulted in a 43% increase in average purchase value for participating users.
Casual Games Report 2024: Following the 5 Routes to Success
The 2024 casual mobile gaming market across Tier-1 Western nations is defined by a transition toward maturity, characterized by an 11.7% revenue increase despite escalating user acquisition costs.
- The casual mobile gaming market in Tier-1 Western nations grew revenue by 11.7% in 2024, despite rising user acquisition costs necessitating a shift toward complex meta-layers and data-driven LiveOps.
- The Merge-2 with Meta segment is the fastest-growing category, recording a 106% surge in growth as competition among top-tier titles intensifies.
- The Casual Casino sector is highly consolidated, with three dominant titles capturing approximately 80% of total revenue and high barriers to entry limiting new releases.
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.