There are plenty of numbers backing this up. If we take a look at Midcore and Casual mobile games released in the past 365 days, nine Midcore titles still feature in the top-200 grossing chart (US), compared to just three Casual games.

That’s not to say that Casual and Hyper Casual games are no longer popular, but the popularity of Midcore games shows that AAA developers and publishers from the world of major video games are starting to take the mobile market more seriously.

The vast majority of Midcore games are AAA experiences, many of which have been ported from best-selling PC and console franchises to mobile. Of course, many big names have experimented with mobile ports in the last decade with mixed results, but we’re starting to see more consistency when it comes to quality now. What’s impressive about many of these AAA Midcore games is that they retain the quality of their PC and console counterparts while adapting to the mobile market with specific gameplay and monetization features. In this Snapshot Report, we dive into what’s setting them apart and the features making them so successful.

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The post The Rise of Midcore Mobile Games Snapshot Report: July 2022 appeared first on GameRefinery.

But which monetization methods are the most effective? And perhaps more importantly, which monetization methods are the best fit for your game?

Our latest report provides valuable insights into innovative monetization features, covering the ever-evolving Battle Pass to new types of gachas and the latest developments in IAP offers. Using the GameRefinery service, we reveal which monetization features are proving a hit with players and why, as well as how they’re being utilized with best-use examples from games in the mobile market.

Whether you’re interested in adding more monetization features to your mobile game or looking for inspiration on how to expand existing features, you’re in the right place.

You can get the full Innovative Monetization Features Snapshot Report here or by entering your information below.

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The post Innovative Monetization Features Snapshot Report: June 2022 appeared first on GameRefinery.

To stay afloat in this competitive market, mobile game developers are having to get creative as they come up with new ways to keep players engaged and motivated. Mobile game players are constantly looking for new ways to play, and Casual game developers have responded with an explosion of innovative ideas, many of which are transforming how we see traditional Casual game genres.

As an example, around 70% of the US top-100 grossing Match3 games feature meta elements, allowing players to move outside of the core gameplay and dive into exciting new gameplay mechanics, whether that’s platforming mini-games, collectibles, or even RPG features.

Similarly, we’re seeing construction and renovation elements popping up in more Casual games, as developers craft new features that satisfy player motivations to complete milestones, customize and decorate. Finally, social features and communities in casual mobile games have surged in popularity since COVID, and we see no sign of this trend slowing down.

Using data from the GameRefinery platform, this report shows which Casual mobile games and trends are dominating the charts and why. If you’re a mobile game developer looking to add something new to your Casual game, you’ll find plenty here to inspire you.

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The post Casual Gaming Trends Snapshot Report: March 2022 appeared first on GameRefinery.

But getting to the heart of what mobile gamers want isn’t easy. The resources that go into creating polls, surveys and feedback channels can eat up valuable time and it’s difficult to use these methods to gain insight into an entire market. On top of that, we all have different reasons for playing mobile games. These motivations do not just vary significantly from player to player, but also in ways of how these motivations can be implemented in games. For example, improving skills motivational driver can be implemented in games either through features that require mastering reaction-based skills, like multi-touch controls, or through gameplay that requires thinking-based skills, like Word games.

If you’ve ever wanted to understand the behaviors and motivations of a game’s playerbase or how to attract new players to your own game by introducing gameplay elements that appeal to their motivations, you’re in the right place.

In this report, we show with implementation examples how these motivational drivers are reflected in the mobile gaming market and what types of demographics they typically interest.

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The post Motivations and Demographics Snapshot Report: February 2022 appeared first on GameRefinery.

The Chinese mobile game Sky: Children of the Light celebrated one of its biggest revenue spikes in history thanks to a September 2020 collaboration with the virtual YouTube star Kizuna AI. It proved that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel when you can tap into a passionate fanbase; Kizuna played the game on her channel, and an in-game Kizuna accessory kit was released for $20, the demand for which led to the game surpassing $1m in daily revenue (iOS market, CH). Genshin Impact found similar success in the West through its Lantern Rite event ringing in the 2021 Lunar New Year, with a new gameplay mode, character, storyline, and gacha mechanics, causing revenue to grow from $200k to over $1.25m in just over a day (iOS market, US).

Perhaps it’s no surprise to learn that 90% of the top-grossing 100 mobile titles use seasonal events, whereas 40% of the top 100 in the US iOS market are collaborating with brands for partnership events. The great thing about events is that their various implementation methods mean they can be used in pretty much any genre of game.

As the mobile gaming market continues to grow, events such as those featured in this report will only become more popular, especially with so many brands trying to establish themselves in the gaming world. The challenge to developers is figuring out which events are worth exploring and which mechanics are worth implementing as part of an engaging and rewarding online ecosystem.

Alongside our analysis, we hope you’ll be inspired by some of the best-practice examples we’ve featured in this report. As the evidence shows, there’s a reason why so many developers are now embedding live events into their games.

In this report, we’ll take a closer look at what developers are doing right when it comes to events and how to best monetize these events with the most effective gameplay features and implementations.

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The post In-Game Events Snapshot Report: November 2021 appeared first on GameRefinery.

Report highlights include:

• GameRefinery’s proprietary Motivation Framework analysis
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English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, or Russian.

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But even though the 4X strategy has dominated the genre, the trend of implementing elements from other genres into 4X continued among the top games. For example, Top War (merge) has been scaling a lot, and Puzzles & Survival (match3) entered the top charts as a new game.

MOBA is a historically tough subgenre for the US mobile market, with only Mobile Legends: Bang Bang + Brawl Stars able to sustain among top-grossing 200 games. The past 12 months saw launches of League of Legends: Wild Rift and Pokémon UNITE (only a few days ago when writing the report). LoL had a strong launch, and the game is super solid, but ever since the launch, it has struggled with its monetization and has already dropped outside top-grossing 200 games in the US. Will LoL turn their boat around, or can Pokémon UNITE sustain its position to get more MOBA action for the US top charts in the long run? That remains to be seen.

In this report, we’ll take a closer look at what the Strategy genre currently looks like in the US.

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The post Strategy Genre Snapshot Report: October 2021 Update appeared first on GameRefinery.

Epic and Apple’s legal battle that led to Fortnite’s removal from the App Store took away one of the “big shots” of the genre back in August 2020. Currently, there are only seven shooter games in the top-grossing 200, with over 84% of revenue coming from the “Big Three” – Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG Mobile and Garena Free Fire. Garena Gree Fire has been the standout growth rocket of the year, more than doubling its revenues on iOS in the US.

Overall, the market has been very quiet in terms of new successful shooter games for a while. None of the new Shooter games released within the past TWO YEARS has managed to make it into the US top-grossing 200. The latest game to do this, Zooba, was released back in 2019. Even if we widen the scope to the top-grossing 500, only one new game, Bullet Echo, was released over a year ago (May 2020).

Call of Duty Mobile’s highly successful mobile port has inspired many AAA developers to move to mobile. With it being more than two years since the last top-grossing shooter launched, there are some promising contenders on the horizon from the biggest developers out there. These include Valorant Mobile, Apex Legends Mobile, Battlefield Mobile, and Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. Will these games successfully challenge the “Big Three” of mobile shooters and bring fresh blood to a stagnant market in the upcoming months? That remains to be seen.

In this report, we’ll take a closer look at what the Shooter genre currently looks like in the US.

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The post Shooter Genre Snapshot Report: September 2021 appeared first on GameRefinery.