In the past year, the mobile gaming industry saw a slight decline, with a total of 59.1 billion downloads (-1.8% YoY) and $56.9 billion in revenue (-0.8% YoY), showcasing varied performance across different game genres.
Based on the data.ai State of Mobile 2024 report, the Location/AR category notably experienced a sizable increase in downloads, rising by +23.1% YoY. This growth was attributed to the launch of Monster Hunter Now by Niantic. Conversely, the card games genre declined by -15.5% YoY, largely due to the declining popularity of Yu Gi Oh! Master Duel, which had initially seen high download numbers in January 2022 but later stabilized at around 300K-400K monthly downloads.
The shooter genre encountered an -8.1% decline in downloads, influenced by factors such as the temporary ban of Battlegrounds Mobile India, the cancellation of Apex Legends Mobile, and the continuous decline of Free Fire.
Soaring revenues
Despite a -7.0% YoY drop in downloads, the hypercasual genre experienced a steep revenue increase of +43.6%, signaling the rise of hybridcasual games. Top-performing games in this genre include Pocket Champs ($20.1M revenue, +164% YoY), Mob Control ($19.8M revenue, +541% YoY), and Alien Invasion ($15.5M revenue).
The arcade genre saw significant growth at +21.3%, driven primarily by games like Eggy Party and NetEase’s response to Fall Guys and Stumble Guys. Notably, Eggy Party generated $240 million in iOS China revenue in 2023. Additionally, the puzzle genre defied market trends, achieving remarkable growth in both downloads and revenue, attributed to strong live operations strategies employed by major publishers such as King, Dream Games, and Playrix.
Domineering the sports genre, Konami’s eFootball 2024 and EA’s EA Sports FC 24 continued to see substantial revenue growth, with both franchises surpassing +100% growth. eFootball 2024’s introduction of a new Match Pass (Battle Pass) boosted revenue, while FC 24’s addition of a major World Cup 2022 tournament led to a surge in downloads.
Success and decline in the casino genre
Monopoly GO! achieved a stellar launch, generating over $1 billion in revenue since April 2023, marking a significant success in the casino genre. Notably, this did not significantly impact Coin Master’s revenue, demonstrating Scopely’s success in appealing to a new social casino audience. Despite a 6% growth in downloads, the RPG genre faced a decline of -6.7% YoY, as Honkai: Star Rail’s substantial launch was insufficient to counter the overall decline.
The decline in RPG revenue was further impacted by the underperformance of previously popular titles, including Genshin Impact (-$368 million, -31% YoY), Fantasy Westward Journey (-$279 million, -59% YoY), Lineage W (-$229 million, -41% YoY), Uma Musume Pretty Derby (-$203 million, -34% YoY), and Diablo Immortal (-$180 million, -59% YoY).
The overarching trend in 2023 suggests that launching a successful new title in this industry has become increasingly challenging. Looking ahead, the growth of hybridcasual games and the intensification of the puzzle genre, particularly in the realm of match 3D games, present positive prospects for the industry in 2024.
