Sensor Tower announced on the 9th that it has released a report titled '2025 Mobile Game Status,' which includes trends in the mobile game market for 2024 and notable opportunities for 2025.
According to the report, the number of mobile game downloads in 2024 is expected to decrease from 57.6 billion in 2020 to 49.3 billion. However, the in-app purchase revenue is projected to increase by 8% year-on-year to $82 billion (approximately 121.7536 trillion won). This indicates that an increase in expenditure per payer is driving market growth.
The Apple App Store showed strength in casual and mid-core games based on in-app purchases, while the Google Play Store was preferred for hyper-casual and hybrid casual games centered on video ad monetization. However, it was analyzed that new games must perform well on both platforms to maximize market potential.
Although mobile game downloads have decreased, the growth of in-app revenue continues alongside an increase in playtime. Accordingly, game developers are adopting a live service-oriented operational strategy that offers regular content.
By genre, strategy games recorded the most playtime, followed by shooting, simulation, puzzle, sports, and arcade games. 'Garena Free Fire' and 'Roblox' were noted as games with a significant increase in usage time.
Regionally, growth in Latin America and the Middle East is noteworthy. Latin America saw a 13% increase in in-app purchase revenue, emerging as a key emerging market centered around Brazil, while the Middle East exhibited an 18% growth rate, the highest worldwide, with active investment and user engagement.
By download share by genre, simulation and puzzle games were the highest at 20% each, and despite a 12.5% decrease, arcade games maintained 19%. The strategy genre had a download share of only 4%, but its revenue share was reported at 21.4%, demonstrating high profitability.
Strategy games topped in-app purchase revenue by genre with $17.5 billion, followed by RPGs (role-playing games) at $17 billion. Puzzle and casino genres recorded third and fourth places with $12.2 billion and $11.7 billion, respectively. The action genre showed the largest growth rate at 46%.
For 2024, the top game in global in-app purchase revenue is recorded as Scopely's 'Monopoly Go!' 'Royal Match,' 'Roblox,' 'Last War: Survival,' and 'Whiteout Survival' also stood out. 'Candy Crush Saga' and 'Coin Master' experienced slight declines due to increased competition but still maintained positions within the top 10.