GameRefinery

Research

30 documents

Documents

In Q1 2021, mobile gaming genre preferences diverged globally: US markets favored simulation games, Japan saw a shift from RPGs to sports titles led by Cygames’ Uma Musume Pretty Derby, and China moved toward shooter games.
Roblox Corporation established itself as the top-grossing publisher in the US market during Q1 2021.
Monetization strategies varied by region, with collectible albums appearing in over 70% of top-grossing US games, battle passes in over 25% of top-grossing Japanese titles, and special gacha mechanics in 30% of top-grossing Chinese games.

GameRefineryApr 2021

The mobile Casino category is the second-largest revenue generator on US iOS, capturing 17.2% of total mobile game revenue as of Q4 2020.
Slots dominate the category with 80% of total revenue, characterized by a highly competitive landscape where market share is evenly distributed among top titles like Slotomania and DoubleDown Casino.
In contrast to the fragmented Slots market, the Poker and Bingo subgenres are dominated by single 'king of the hill' titles such as World Series of Poker and Bingo Blitz.

GameRefineryMar 2021

Seasonal events are a standard industry practice, utilized by 90% of the top-grossing 100 mobile games to drive player re-engagement and revenue spikes.
Brand collaborations are a significant growth lever, appearing in 62% of top-100 games in Japan, 51% in China, and 42% in the US.
High-profile collaborations, such as Sky: Children of the Light’s Kizuna AI partnership and Genshin Impact’s Lantern Rite, have demonstrated the ability to generate multi-million dollar daily revenue surges.

GameRefineryJan 2021

As of mid-2021, the Match3 subgenre is the largest segment of the US iOS mobile gaming market, generating approximately 16% of total revenue.
Every new Match3 title that entered the top 500 grossing rankings between late 2019 and early 2021 retained traditional swapping mechanics, confirming that core gameplay innovation is less critical than secondary feature integration.
Success in the modern market is driven by meta-layers like customization and decoration, as evidenced by the performance of titles such as Royal Match and Project Makeover.

GameRefineryJan 2021

The mobile shooter genre is the sixth-largest segment on the US iOS App Store, currently accounting for approximately six percent of total revenue.
Market stagnation is significant, as no new shooter titles have entered the top 500 rankings in the past two years.
Following the removal of Fortnite, Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG Mobile, and Garena Free Fire have become the entrenched market leaders, with Garena Free Fire doubling its quarterly revenue to reach parity with Call of Duty.

GameRefineryJan 2021

Live-service feature updates increased by 37% year-over-year, with Strategy games leading the surge at 208% growth.
Engagement tactics are shifting toward non-recurring live events and limited-time in-app purchase offers, which saw frequency increases of 143% and 122% respectively.
In the US, the Strategy genre grew while the Puzzle genre declined, with Supercell emerging as a top-performing publisher.

GameRefineryJan 2021