Of course, this relationship between blockbuster movies and video games is nothing new; a few decades ago, movie tie-in games for consoles were a standard part of most film marketing strategies. However, costly development cycles and poor critical reception eventually led to these largely becoming a thing of the past.

Mobile, on the other hand, is a much better fit all around for movie promotion. Mobile games have much shorter development cycles, meaning they can easily flex to shifting cinema release dates and changes in production. Plus, developers are always looking for exciting new ways to drive engagement as part of their LiveOps strategies, and a tie-in with a blockbuster film ticks all the right boxes.

To demonstrate what we mean, we’ve analyzed the biggest and best movie mobile gaming crossovers this year to show how these collaborations can positively impact downloads and revenue.

Barbie collaborations in Stumble Guys and Rec Room

This toy-turned-feminist comedy has proven to be a smash box-office hit, grossing over $1.19 billion since its global release on the 21 July. Much of that success can be attributed to the film’s mega-marketing strategy, which painted everything from clothing and merchandise to cars, consoles, and video games in delicious shades of pink.

One of the biggest Barbie gaming collaborations took place in Scopely’s Stumble Guys with a special limited-time event. Barbie Malibu Mayhem saw players racing around the unique Barbie Dream Dash map to deliver some of the doll’s favorite items in elimination rounds. Players were rewarded with Barbie Tokens for participating in the event, which could be spent in an event shop to acquire unique Barbie-themed skins and emotes.

If players didn’t want to invest time into the event and just wanted the Barbie-themed items,  they could acquire additional Barbie Tokens through limited-time bundles and ad-monetized gacha. Special challenges, such as The Barbie Dream Challenge, boosted engagement by requiring players to acquire four specific Barbie-themed skins during the event to unlock a special fifth variant, causing daily revenue to double in the US.

Meanwhile, Rec Room’s Barbie collaboration kept things simple by introducing wardrobe options based on Barbie and Ken’s outfits for players to purchase, including cowboy hats, vests, belts, and even pink guns. Items ranged from 1000–6000 Tokens, the game’s main premium currency, which players can earn through gameplay or purchase directly with IAPs.

Lily’s Garden also got in on the Barbie hype with its Pink Sale. While this wasn’t an official collaboration, it was clearly inspired by the film with in-game avatars that were reminiscent of the toy brand’s two central characters, Barbie and Ken. The sale contained two separate limited-time time offers, rewarding coins, and various boosters.

Barbie and Candy Crush Saga 

Stumble Guys wasn’t the only mobile game that Barbie turned into candy floss. Candy Crush Saga’s Barbie-themed collection event tasked players with gathering purple B-candies to reach various reward milestones. The game also reskinned its Winding Road Tour to mirror the film’s plot, with Barbie and her friends venturing into the Candy Crush Universe.

In the event, players cleared regular levels on the map to reach four Tour Stops, where the Barbie crew can find some help getting home; some stops also reward the player with boosters. If the stop has a timer, players must reach the next Tour Stop before it runs out, with the distance between the stops increasing each time.

With Barbie being such a beloved brand, it should come as no surprise that there are nearly 70 video games based on the IP across PC, mobile, and console. One game that’s still very popular in the mobile world today is  Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures, which was released back in 2018 and is based on the Barbie animated series of the same name. 

Despite being unrelated to the film, Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures has seen a gradual rise in popularity in the run-up to the movie’s cinema release. Unsurprisingly, this peaked on the film’s opening weekend, when daily downloads were more than double what they were a few weeks prior, although revenue seemed largely unaffected.

Roblox also jumped on the hype with Barbie Dreamhouse Tycoon, a bespoke experience based on the film developed by Gamefam; best known for working on branded Roblox experiences such as the immensely successful Sonic the Hedgehog game. While this is a work in progress, Roblox has still managed to cash in on the excitement by launching an open beta for fans to experience while the film is in cinemas.

Marvel’s mobile cinematic universe

Comic book films have dominated cinemas for over a decade now, with Disney in particular doing a remarkable job of building their multi-billion dollar “Marvel Cinematic Universe.” That popularity has led to a surge in the number of video games licensed around the Marvel IP for consoles and mobile.

As you might expect, Marvel’s busy pipeline of constant film releases provides an excellent pool of inspiration for live events, especially for titles based entirely on the IP. Two such examples are the strategic card battler Marvel Snap and the action RPG Marvel Future Fight, which featured content to celebrate the theatrical releases of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (30 May) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (5 May).

Both films were featured similarly in Marvel Snap, headlined by a new season pass that included cards and variants based on each film’s characters. For example, by purchasing the Spider-Versus Season pass for $9.99, players could acquire the Ghost-Spider card featuring one of the film’s central protagonists. Each of these updates dramatically affected performance, causing daily revenue to more than triple at the beginning of May and June. 

Marvel Future Fight adopted a fairly similar strategy. While many of the heroes from the films were already featured in this eight-year-old RPG, they all received new costumes inspired by their respective movies. That said, the update did include one entirely new character: Spot, the main antagonist of Across the Spider-Verse. Spot could be unlocked using Biometrics, a unique resource acquired in-game or through IAP.

Of course, comic book crossovers aren’t limited to IP-based games. Between June 2 to June 18, Across the Spider-Verse swung into Free Fire with a large themed event, introducing co-branded collectibles, a movie character card collection event, and a time-limited Parkour mode featuring costumes from the film. Free Fire also hosted a special screening of the Across the Spider-Verse trailer in-game to help fans build anticipation. 

In a unique twist, Free Fire also features within the film, with an easter egg hidden in its runtime of the game’s “iconic” Cobra backpack. The event was primarily aimed at boosting user acquisition, with very little in the way of monetization, although it only boosted downloads by around 50% in the US.

Match Masters’ Collaboration with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles causes daily revenue to quadruple 

While Barbie, Spider-Verse, and Guardians of the Galaxy were especially well-represented in the mobile market, other blockbuster releases such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Masters also got a chance to shine. 

This animated flick was the basis of Match Masters’ first-ever collaboration, which tasked players with collecting pizza slices, the Turtle’s favorite snack, in the match3 game’s PvP modes. Once players collected enough slices, they reached one of many reward milestones, allowing them to progress in the TMNT-themed Boss Battle Collection event, where they would take on iconic villains from the franchise’s history. 

Multiple TMNT-themed limited-time time offers were also available during the collaboration, including progression and customizable bundles, which helped daily revenue to almost quadruple in the days following the update. The engagement was incentivized with a TMNT-themed daily log-in calendar featuring an avatar outfit skin as the main reward.

Super Mario Bros. Movie and Super Mario Run 

To celebrate the release of The Super Mario Bros Movie, Nintendo returned to its first-ever mobile game, Super Mario Run. Earlier this year, from the 20 March to the 30 May (around the time of the film’s theatrical release on 21 April), all players could permanently unlock one paid stage for free as a daily login bonus. Those who linked their Nintendo account got an even better offer, as they unlocked two paid stages each day.

It was possible to unlock up to 50% of the game for free this way. That’s a fairly generous giveaway, but the game did still experience a 200% rise in both daily revenue and downloads as a result. This waned shortly after, although it did climb again around the time of the film’s cinema release.

Other notable film-related updates included:

• Sasha Calle’s Supergirl, from DC’s The Flash, joined the mobile version of Injustice 2 on 14 June, just two days before the film’s theatrical release. Players could unlock her by purchasing the Last Daughter of Krypton pass. 
• A new strategy game based on the Transformers IP, Transformers: Tactical Arena, was released on 1 June. It was surely no coincidence that a new Transformers film, Rise of the Beasts, was due to be released in cinemas one week later.
• Fortnite has become a collaboration hotspot, and movie tie-ins are a significant part of that. Some of this year’s additions have included Optimus Prime (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Miles Morales (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse). 
• Like Barbie, Roblox launched a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game to coincide with the release of Mutant Mayhem. 
• While it’s not exactly a film, characters from Amazon’s streaming series The Boys have appeared across several different video games in recent months. These include the Last Fortress: Underground on mobile, as well as Call of Duty and the upcoming Mortal Kombat 1 on PC and consoles. A new season of the show, as well as a spin-off called Gen V, are due to land on Amazon Prime in the near future.  

Our tips for integrating blockbuster films into your mobile game

Collaborating with major film releases as part of your live ops strategy is an excellent way to boost engagement. Many cinemagoers will be excited about playing as their favorite film characters and may be interested in downloading your game even if it’s not their usual genre. The film’s content can also form the basis for monetizing new content, such as additional costumes, abilities, characters, and currencies. 

But before you give it a go, here are a few key things to keep in mind to ensure everything goes smoothly:

Carefully plan your timing

Timing is almost everything when it comes to collaborating with blockbuster movies. Your update must land almost parallel to the film’s theatrical release, as this is when the hype is at its peak. If it isn’t ready until several weeks later, everyone may have moved on to the next big release by the time your update lands.

Is this film right for my game?

Think carefully when choosing which blockbuster film to incorporate into your game. Ideally, your target audience should correlate with that of the film. For example, Free Fire’s adaption with Across the Spider-Verse makes sense as that game and movie both predominantly target young adults. 

How will this collaboration boost monetization?

In-game collaborations can have a dramatic impact on revenue. Limited-time costumes, characters, and other items based on fan-favorite characters can be hard to resist, so think about how these would be best integrated into your game’s economy. As we mentioned, Stumble Guys opted to run a dedicated shop with Barbie tokens, whereas Marvel Snap uses cinema hype to help drive sales of its season pass. 

If you enjoyed reading this post, here are a few more you should check out:

• Drive-Up Your Revenues with Seasonal Events
• How Mobile Game Developers Are Using In-Game Collaboration Events to Boost Player Retention
• Best Practice and Strategies for Targeted IAP Offers in Mobile Games

The post BarbieOps: How Mobile Games Are Using Blockbuster Movies to Boost Engagement appeared first on GameRefinery.

As shooter games continued to grow in popularity and spin out into new subgenres, it was only a matter of time until developers turned their sights to the mobile market – but the biggest barrier was the lack of controllers. For a long time, shooter games on mobile were a niche genre, and the touch-screen controls were considered cumbersome compared to their console counterparts which use dedicated controllers. 

In recent years, however, mobile shooters such as Call of Duty, Free Fire, and PUBG: Mobile have soared to the top of the charts. Much of that success is owed to gaming’s ‘Battle Royale boom.’ Fortnite has become a worldwide phenomenon, and battle royale shooters such as Free Fire and PUBG: Mobile have established themselves as worthy competitors. Call of Duty has also established itself on smaller screens with a mobile iteration of its blockbuster franchise, complete with its own battle royale mode.   

But is the market becoming oversaturated? Below, we take a deeper dive into the highest-grossing and most downloaded shooters on the mobile market to see which subgenres developers should be focussing on if they want to make an impact in the shooter space. 

The most popular mobile shooters

Three titles dominate the US iOS shooter market: Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG MOBILE, and Free Fire. These three take up about 80% of the market share in the West, with the rest (20%) being evenly divided across other titles. These three titles heavily focus on cosmetic in-app purchases (IAP). For example, players can acquire decorative skins for their characters, companions, vehicles, and weapons through gacha mechanics, battle passes, or direct purchases. 

Free Fire differentiates from the other two top dogs as even though the main focus of its in-app purchases is cosmetic, the items for sale also provide character and weapon buffs. The top-end weapon skins, for instance, change the attributes of weapons slightly to give a slight edge in competitive play, while characters and pets can be upgraded with various skills that modify gameplay. 

Given that Free Fire doesn’t have the same IP recognition that PC and console powerhouses like Call of Duty and PUBG have, the developers likely felt the need to give players an extra incentive to buy into the game. The result speaks for itself; Free Fire has way higher revenue per download than its competitors, with around $29 ARPD compared to PUBG Mobile’s $12 ARPD and Call of Duty: Mobile’s $7.30 ARPD.

Regarding the broader market, most shooters among the top-grossing 500 focus their monetization on upgrades and other powerful in-app purchases—this can likely be attributed to the demands of fuelling a purely cosmetic business model. 

Players must regularly be provided with exciting new playable content alongside a raft of purchasable cosmetics to fuel the in-game economy. Titles like Call of Duty achieve this every month with new classes, maps, game modes, and more due to being based on a blockbuster franchise. Smaller studios would no doubt struggle to keep up, so they opt for power progression to gain a higher revenue per download and enable a more sustainable, less content-driven model.

However, this does come with certain downsides. Tying player progression to monetization is often criticized by players for being ‘pay-to-win,’ particularly in genres heavily focused on competitive multiplayer. If a delicate balance isn’t achieved, there can be backlash amongst players, which can lead to negative reviews flooding in for your game.

Which shooter subgenres should developers pursue? 

With Call of Duty, PUBG, and Free Fire dominating the mobile shooter market, many developers may wonder if competing in the shooter genre is worthwhile. 

While it is undoubtedly crowded, those who dig deeper will find a surprising amount of uncovered ground in this genre. In fact, roughly four categories could be explored more in the mobile game market: extraction shooters, RPG-like looter shooters, survival shooters, and tactical FPS games. Let’s take a deeper dive into these subgenres. 

Extraction shooters

Extraction shooters are one of the less crowded shooter subgenres and move slower than other titles. The aim is to go into a match, loot items, kill enemies within a time limit, and extract from the area before or when the time runs out. These games are usually PvPvE (player vs. player vs. enemy). Popular titles on the PC and console market include Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown.

One of the few extraction shooters to make headway on mobile platforms (particularly in the Chinese market) is Arena Breakout — a realistic-style FPS game with some survival elements, such as a highly complex health system. 

Players participate in PvPvE matches against NPCs and other players in two game modes, either with pre-equipped items or without owned items. During the match, players must consider their physical health level, find equipment and items to loot, kill off enemies and evacuate safely within the time limit.

Arena Breakout has a distinctive monetization model. Unlike other shooters, it does not focus on cosmetics or power progression but instead on collecting items that can be traded and lost in the battle. Pushing players towards purchasing safety boxes to save their most precious items from being stolen differentiates Arena Breakout from the more power-orientated progression shooters, as even if weapons can be somewhat upgraded, there is still a need to purchase a safety box to keep items secure. While in the match, if the player has not stored their items in the safety box and they die during the match, the player will drop all items they carried with them to the pre-equipped items game mode for other players to steal. 

There have not been too many similar examples in the mobile game market yet of extraction shooters, although PUBG Mobile has a similar mechanic in a recurring gameplay mode Metro Royale (which also draws inspiration from Escape from Tarkov).

Survival shooters 

These shooters revolve around a survival theme, often in a post-apocalyptic environment featuring zombies or other threats. These games usually feature detailed weather, hunger, and health mechanics (among others), which need to be considered during the game to survive. Exploration and resource-gathering play a big part in these games in addition to combat, with some survival games also implementing shooter mechanics. 

There are only a few mobile titles in the Western market that specifically focus on survival gameplay, and currently, there are no shooter survival games among the top-grossing ranks on the US iOS platform. However, some top-down survival games, such as The Last Day on Earth: Survival, have managed to gain popularity.

On the contrary, the PC and console market has a number of survival shooters, including the zombie-filled DayZ and post-apocalyptic Rust. Both titles feature a wide area to explore with other players, combining PvE and PvP elements. DayZ has enormous maps, with the main threat stemming from zombies, with occasional encounters with other players. In Rust, the main danger is other players, even though there are also some PvE elements. The biggest differentiator between the two is Rust’s base-building focus, which can be done solo or with others.

Arena Breakout, LifeAfter, and Undawn in the Chinese mobile game market incorporate some elements into their gameplay. Undawn is interesting because it’s a new survival title that recently hit the Chinese and Western mobile markets. 

Around its launch in the CN iOs market, the game peaked at the top-grossing position 6 but has since dropped outside the CN top-grossing 200, currently sitting at the top-grossing rank of 371 and sustained download rank of 183. In the US iOs market, the game is lingering in the sustained top-grossing rank 324 and the sustained download rank 260, but has not quite yet reached the top-grossing 200.

Undawn is a third-person survival shooter with MMO traits where the player is trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. It is similar to the survival MMO LifeAfter, which has even been visiting the US top-grossing 200. 

In Undawn, players partner up to survive the punishing world to complete various tasks. There is a heavy storytelling aspect, with cutscenes regularly interspersed between gameplay featuring several main characters. The game also includes detailed survival mechanics. Players must consider their character’s physical health, hygiene, and sleep level, as well as prepare for changing weather conditions to survive.

Typical of a Chinese midcore game, Undawn has plenty of cosmetic items for the character and a home system, which can be decorated with various buildings. Upgrading the home system is a crucial part of progression, as the player can’t continue upgrading their character if their home level is too low. This, and many other aspects of the game, require a lot of resource collecting—such as collecting berries from the forest or shooting animals. Collected materials are then used to create many items needed in the game, including weapons and food.  

The game has two main focuses for monetization: cosmetic economy and material purchasing. Cosmetic items (for the character and their home system) can be purchased immediately or with gachas. Material items are needed for crafting equipment items, such as guns and armor, which are tied to power progression. These items can either be collected or purchased right away from the store. 

This type of monetization differs significantly from that of the top US iOS shooter games since the focus is on materials rather than upgrading or collecting characters and weapons. 

Looter shooters 

RPG-like looter shooters are another subgenre absent from the mobile game market. The idea of these games is to have some RPG elements (storytelling, character progression) combined with looting and shooting. There is usually a massive open area to explore, and the main aim is to kill off other players and AI-controlled enemies. In the PC and console sphere, these include titles such as Destiny and The Division, the latter of which has officially announced a mobile version.

This type of shooter could answer some of RPG players’ motivations. When looking at our motivation data, we generally find a few motivations that are being neglected by developers or don’t feature in high positions in the US iOS top-grossing shooter games. These include the exploration of new worlds, collecting treasure, role-playing and emotions.

Looking at the above picture, notice how these three motivational aspects are not highlighted in the most popular shooters:

• If the focus were shifted more towards storytelling, RPG players would find it easier to become immersed in the game through its narrative. 
• The motivation to collect treasure already has quite a high position in many top shooter games, but the open-world experience could enhance this aspect even further if the player could loot items on a larger scale. 
• The third motivation, exploring new worlds, needs to be added to most top-grossing shooter games. Having a larger area to explore would scratch that itch.

Tactical FPS games 

Another genre rarely seen on mobile is tactical FPS. Similar to extraction shooters, these focus more on tactical, slow-paced gameplay. Players usually form a team of five and compete against others in purely PvP gameplay. In the PC and console sphere, some of the most well-known titles include Counter-Strike and Valorant, the latter of which is rumored to be launching a mobile version soon. 

When looking again at our motivation data, we noticed that the top three shooter games are missing one aspect which features prominently in tactical FPS games: strategic planning.

Out of all the subgenres we’ve listed, tactical FPS is likely the most rarely encountered on mobile, although some examples remain. Critical Ops is a competitive FPS game similar to Counter-Strike with smooth gameplay and realistic graphics. The focus is on highly competitive, skill-based gameplay with a high learning curve, and the game also has eSports and live tournaments, which occasionally offer real-money prize pools. 

Despite being one of the most successful tactical FPS games on mobile, it has not appeared in the top-grossing ranks for a substantial period of time. This is likely down to the game being developed by a fairly small studio, which lacks the necessary resources to acquire new users and encourage growth. A larger studio with more capacity would likely fare better.

One to avoid: Battle Royale

The overwhelming popularity of Fortnite has meant that the battle royale subgenre has become a huge aspect of mobile gaming, and shooters are no exception—with each of the top-three shooters dominating the market. As a result, it has become increasingly difficult for new titles to establish themselves.

A prime example of this is Apex Legends Mobile. As a smartphone version of the popular PC and console game, Apex Legends Mobile launched with a breadth of exciting features and content owing to its big screen counterpart and featured unique ‘Legends’ characters that differentiated it from other battle royale games on the market. Despite this, the game could not gain a stable position in the market and was eventually shut down.

While we can only speculate the reasons behind this, we suspect it may have been down to the demands of maintaining the game’s LiveOps strategy (which ran separately from its console counterparts) mixed with the immense competition it faced from the three shooter giants. With that in mind, we’d recommend smaller studios to steer clear of this subgenre for now.

Summary

With an 80% share of the Western market, Call of Duty: Mobile, Free Fire, and PUBG Mobile share a firm hold on the mobile shooter throne. Their resource-heavy cosmetic monetization model, combined with their popularity on other platforms (at least in the case of Call of Duty and PUBG), will make it challenging to knock these three titans off their podium. 

Other shooters will have the best chance of breaking into the market if they can introduce some fresh core gameplay ideas. Given the strength of the power three and other mobile monoliths such as Fortnite, that will mean most developers should steer clear of the Battle Royale genre – or else risking a fate similar to Apex Legends. 

Looter shooters are a relatively untapped market on mobile and could tie into the motivations of many players by featuring narrative elements and exploration through a large open-world. That being said, Ubisoft plans to bring The Division to mobile, and Bungie looks set to follow with Destiny, meaning this space may soon become crowded.  

Survival and extraction shooters have a handful of popular titles in the Chinese market, but these subgenres are yet to make a big impact in Western markets despite their popularity on console and PC platforms, suggesting there are many gains to be had. 

Tactical shooters are also almost unheard of on mobile, suggesting it might be difficult to translate this type of gameplay onto a small screen successfully. Critical Ops has proven it can be done, although this title hasn’t made much impact in terms of revenue. We suspect a larger studio with the capacity to further push UA, and even perhaps collaborate with other IP to drum up interest, would fare better.

If you enjoyed this post and wish to explore this topic even further, then check out some of our other content:

• Episodes 25 and 44 of our podcast discuss the mobile shooter market in depth. 
• Delve into Liftoff’s 2023 Midcore Gaming Apps Report
• Use our new LiveOps tools to inspect the framework of the highest-grossing shooters

The post Is the Mobile Shooter Market Saturated? Top Tips on How to Innovate in a Crowded Genre appeared first on GameRefinery.

Of course, Pokémon isn’t the only major franchise with a growing presence in mobile. Activision capitalized on the momentum of Diablo IV’s successful launch on PC and console by adding a new update to its mobile game Diablo Immortal, which released the franchise’s first new character class in almost a decade. Players turned up in droves to try out the Blood Knight, causing a 400% increase in daily downloads on iOS. 

Monopoly GO! is still dominating the charts and continues to build engagement through its first cooperative event, Baking Partners, where players had to help each other make a cake to win various in-game rewards.

There were also a significant number of IP collaborations in the most popular mobile titles during July, mainly with films and television shows. Some of our favorite crossovers included Match Masters and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stumble Guys and Barbie, PUBG and Dragon Ball Z, and even Survivor!.io and Spongebob Squarepants. 

You can find more information about all these updates, as well as many others from across the US, China, and Japanese markets, in our July Mobile Game Market review.

US Market Overview

Following the success of its one-year anniversary update last month, a major update for Diablo Immortal added the franchise’s first new character class in almost ten years, the Blood Knight. This mid-range class specializes in polearms and combines long and ranged attacks into a hybrid combat style; it’s also capable of “feeding” on the life of its enemies to regenerate health. 

The new class can be played by creating a new character or changing an existing one using the game’s free ‘class change’ feature. Blizzard also released a special event designed to make the most of the new class, The Crimson Plane, featuring a limited-time roguelite PvE mode and a progressive reward track with an exclusive set of Blood Knight Armour. 

For now, the only way for Diablo fans to try out the Blood Knight is by playing Immortal, which resulted in a 400% spike in downloads on the day of the update. As the new class wasn’t monetized, the game didn’t experience a revenue spike similar to the month prior for its one-year anniversary.

Monopoly GO! added its first cooperative event, Baking Partners, which ran from 4–9 July and tasked players to partner up with each other and make a cake to unlock special rewards. The prizes include dice rolls, cash, stickers, and even a unique token representing the player on the board. While the event had no notable impact on downloads, daily revenue on iOS doubled around the start of the event, with the game continuing to build momentum after its conclusion as further updates are released.

In the week-long event, players had to collect a unique currency called “purple cookies” from the Monopoly board, which were spent on rolling a wheel to collect progression points for the “cake-making process.” Players and their partners unlocked special rewards once they collectively reached specific point milestones. 

July was also a big month for collaboration events, with a significant focus on popular film and television franchises. First up is Match Masters, which collaborated with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to celebrate the release of the new film Mutant Madness. 

Players had to collect pizza slices from PvP modes to reach reward milestones in the Boss Battle Collection Event, allowing them to battle some of the franchise’s most iconic villains in exchange for exclusive skins and stickers. Multiple TMNT-themed limited time IAP-offers were also available during the collaboration, including progression and customizable bundles, which helped daily revenue almost quadruple in the days following the update.

Meanwhile, the Fall Guys clone, Stumble Guys, collaborated with the doll-turned-blockbuster-movie, Barbie. The Barbie Malibu Mayhem event added a unique Barbie Dream Dash map that saw players rushing around to deliver Barbie’s favorite items to various NPCs before they were eliminated. The Barbie Malibu Mayhem rewarded players with Barbie Tokens, which could be spent in an event shop to purchase exclusive Barbie-themed skins and an emote. 

Survivor!.io launched the Deepsea Survivor Event, which added Spongebob Squarepants and his neighbor Squidward as playable characters. ​To unlock Spongebob, players had to complete various sign-in tasks, while unlocking Squidward required taking part in daily battle stages. Players could also unlock Spongebob’s snail, Gary, as a new pet via IAP offers.

Finally, almost a year since it was first announced, PUBG Mobile released its long-awaited Dragon Ball Super collaboration, introducing two new modes, Dragon Ball character gachas, task events, and more.

The first new mode, Battle Royale: Dragon Ball Super, ditched almost all the traditional PUBG gameplay elements to transform the map into an anime-style battleground where players duke it out as their favorite Dragon Ball characters. The other mode, Dragon Ball Super, retains most of the core gameplay ideas but incorporates aspects of the anime, such as the ability to find Dragon Balls hidden across the map or fire an energy beam.

Other US market highlights include:

• Moonton released a new tower defense RPG called Watcher of Realms, which managed to hit the top 50 grossing. 
• Space Ape Games released an unusual match3 game themed around car restoration called Chrome Valley Customs, which has been scaling the past month towards the top grossing 100.  
• Jam City’s new puzzle RPG themed around DC Comics, DC Heroes & Villains, has struggled to break into top grossing 200, despite the popularity of characters such as Batman, Superman, and Harley Quinn.  
• After an initial strong launch, the card-collecting RPG Harry Potter: Magic Awakened has fallen radically in performance after last month’s US launch, despite performing relatively well in China. 
• Tencent finally released its extraction shooter Arena Breakout across the globe. However, despite its high production values and popularity in China for some time, it has yet to find a strong audience in other markets. 

Japan Market Overview

Following the successful release of Pokémon Go and Pokémon Smile, the Pokémon Company continued to expand its mobile ecosystem in July with the long-awaited release of Pokémon Sleep. This unique title combines sleep tracking and Pokémon collecting into one gamified wellness app. The unusual amalgamation seems to have struck a chord with mobile users, with the title ranking #1 in downloads since its launch. 

However, Pokemon Sleep didn’t achieve this all on its own. Pokémon Go also released a special themed event to celebrate the launch, Catching Some Zs, which featured an exclusive Snorlax wearing a nightcap for any player who linked a Pokémon GO Plus + (a new physical accessory used for both Pokémon Go and Pokémon Sleep) to the game. 

We’ll be discussing Pokémon Sleep in more detail soon as part of our Mobile Games Playbook podcast, as well as providing a detailed analysis on our platform.

The Dragon Ball franchise also made waves in Japan following the release of a new Ultra-tier character, Super Saiyan God SS Vegito, in Dragon Ball Legends. The character was anticipated to be a worthy challenger to the current meta and expected to dominate PvP modes, meaning many players were desperate to unlock them as soon as the update landed.

Super Saiyan God SS Vegito could only be unlocked through a step-up gacha consisting of four 10-character pulls, out of which the fourth was a free pull. To pull all four, a player needed 3,000 Chrono Crystals (worth just over $60). The actual drop rate of Super Saiyan God SS Vegito was 0.350%, which is very low, and players also required duplicate pulls to upgrade the character further.

Daily revenue spiked by more than 2000% after the character’s release.

Other Japan market highlights include:

• The realistic baseball game, MLB 9 Innings Rivals, has ranked #1 in downloads for several days and grossed between 20 and 50 for most of July. With baseball being a massively popular sport in Japan, it’s unsurprising that this new game managed to find its audience quickly.
• That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime launched its first collaboration event with the popular anime KonoSuba.
• Ensemble Stars!! Music launched a summer event with its own take on the Treasure Hunt/Hidden Temple event type.
• A new mecha RPG, Muv-Luv Dimensions, launched at #1 in the download charts and #18 grossing, but has since fallen down the ranks.

China market highlights include:

• Justice Mobile (逆水寒) is the mobile version of NetEase’s “flagship MMORPG” Justice Online, with high production values and a Chinese fantasy art style. It is currently ranking around top-grossing #3 and DL #2.
• Crystal of Atlan (晶核) is an anime cel-shading-style action RPG with flashy graphics and classic sword-swinging gameplay. The game describes itself as having an “aetherpunk” theme; a mix of magic and technology. The game has been hovering in the top five top-grossing and top 15 downloads.
• I’m Really Awesome At Martial Arts Competitions (我比武特牛) is a hybrid game with a hyper-casual beat-‘em-up style core and Archero style meta that has made it to the top-grossing ranks. The game currently ranks in the top-grossing 70-80 and the top 15 in downloads.

The post Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review July 2023 appeared first on GameRefinery.

The halfway point of the year was a major milestone for several other popular games too, including Diablo Immortal, which celebrated its first anniversary by collaborating with Diablo 4. Harry Potter: Magic Awakened finally made its way over to the US and Japan after a strong reception in China, with initial figures suggesting a strong launch. It remains to be seen how the game will fare long-term, especially given that the game has been on a slow decline in China following its solid opening period.

Fans of IP-based games got plenty of treats, too. Marvel Snap added a new game mode for the first time since its launch last October, while Dragon Ball Legends celebrated iconic characters old and new with a five-year anniversary event which caused daily revenue to spike by almost 500% on iOS.

You can find more information about these games and updates, as well as many others from across the US, China, and Japanese markets, in our June Mobile Game Market review.

US Market Overview

Almost eight months after its full release, Marvel Snap added its first new game mode. Conquest lets players face off in a ruthless single-elimination tournament where they climb tiers by beating their opponents one at a time. If you lose to even one opponent, your run ends. Players who complete their conquest will earn medals, which can be spent in a new in-game store featuring various resources and rewards. Players can claim an exclusive card after they’ve bought nine items.

Conquest mode is split into four increasingly difficult tiers: Proving Grounds, Silver Conquest, Gold Conquest, and Infinity Conquest. The higher tiers provide better rewards but demand players build a longer win streak. Only the Proving Grounds are free to enter; the others require a specific Entrance Ticket or Gold for admission. Entrance Tickets can be acquired by winning the Proving Grounds Conquest or from the Medal Shop.

The highest-tier conquest, Infinity Conquest, is only available during the final week of the four-week conquest season. Players who win the Infinity Conquest get an Infinity-framed copy of the avatar they used when they won.

Candy Crush Soda Saga introduced tiers to its latest battle pass iteration, highlighting the growing focus from studios on the diversification of battle passes as a monetization mechanic. The Rewards Pass gives players three options to personalize their experience: the Big Pass, Medium Pass and Small Pass.

Players with limited time can choose a smaller pass that won’t take as long to progress through, while more dedicated players can opt for a larger pass that is more demanding but provides better rewards. These players can take this even further by purchasing an additional reward track for the pass, earning premium currency and boosters.

Royal Match put a new spin on the match3 genre with its Hidden Temple event, which saw players using pickaxes to dig out gems from grids. After finding all the gems in a grid, players are rewarded with a gift package (containing boosters, collections cards and coins), and are invited to take on a larger, tougher grid. Players can obtain pickaxes by completing levels or grabbing them through an IAP bundle.

Pride Month takes place in June, and there are plenty of examples of mobile games celebrating Pride with special events. One of the highlights is League of Legends: Wild Rift, whose free Pride event was split into two simple halves.

Players first had to complete a single match to win some Pride-themed decorative items, including rainbow footsteps. The second part saw players completing ten more games to win Pride emotes; all they had to do was wear their Pride decorative items as they took part, encouraging players to show their support for Pride by simply playing the game.

June also marked the start of the Wimbledon tennis tournament in the UK. Similar to how mobile games embraced the World Cup last year, several mobile games got into the sporting spirit by hosting events inspired by Wimbledon. These included Fortnite’s Race to Wimbledon, which sees players racing through London to reach Wimbledon, and a “Wimbleworld experience” in Roblox which has been visited more than 12 million times.

Tennis Clash has also launched a new season to coincide with the event, featuring a unique match kit players can use on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

Last but not least, Diablo Immortal celebrated the hugely successful launch of Diablo 4 on PC and consoles, as well as its one-year anniversary, with a special crossover event consisting of a series of events.

The Merciless Monstrosity event had players teaming up against a world boss from Diablo 4, while the Dread Pilgrimage event consisted of several tasks, revealing an upcoming new class. The monetized content included exclusive Lilith-themed cosmetics and items through the Battle Pass, limited-time special gacha, and limited-time offers – including a subscription deal. The first anniversary celebrations of Diablo Immortal also started with events such as Justinian’s Favor. Combined, these events caused daily revenue and downloads in the mobile game to spike by over 500% on iOS (US).

Interesting top-200 grossing entrants on the market

• Wizarding fans in the US (and Japan) finally got their hands on Harry Potter: Magic Awakened at the end of June, which has been thriving in China for quite some time. The title has ranked high in the download charts (top three in the US) and is steadily rising to become of the highest-grossing titles on the market. The IP-based game combines MMO and RPG elements with a card-based Tactical Battler core gameplay.
• Chrome Valley Customs, a unique car-themed match3 decorating game from Space Ape, launched onto the market last month and has been slowly scaling in revenue, hovering around at the time of writing around 130 in the top grossing charts. It is currently one of the top 20 most downloaded games in the US.
• While not a new title on the market, Monopoly GO has cemented its pole position, consistently ranking as the most downloaded mobile game since launching three months ago.

China Market Overview

The panda-themed match3 puzzle game, Anipop(开心消消乐), added a new event, Medal of Honour Book, that saw players completing select tasks (such as completing levels a specific number of times, or with a particular grade) to acquire album stars. Players highly lauded these stars as they determined the likelihood of a player being selected to win real-life prizes, including an educational science experience at the Panda National Park.

During the event, players could also obtain a special currency known as “material items” used in an exclusive event shop to redeem in-game decorative items and other real-life prizes – including soft toys and clothing.

Interesting top 200 grossing entrants on the market

• A new realistic driving game from NetEase, 巅峰极速 (Racing Master), is currently ranking fourth in revenue and downloads at the time of publication.
• The third-person shooter game T3 Arena (火力苏打) was published in China last month. It holds a top grossing 142 position, although it initially hit the top 50.

Japan Market Overview

Dragon Ball Legends celebrated its fifth anniversary by releasing a ton of new content, alongside the rerelease of older (but popular) content, to keep players engaged. For example, the update featured a new tag-team character, Goku and Final Form Frieza, acquired through gacha. It also featured four additional anniversary-themed gacha, which brought back some of the most popular and powerful characters released over the past five years.

Unlocking these gacha requires gacha tickets acquired through the main playable story event, A Miraculous Alliance: An Unbelievable Final Bout. The mode, featuring Goku and Final Form Frieza, sees players progressing through levels defeating various enemies to earn exclusive equipment items and anniversary currency, 5th Anniversary Medals. These medals can be used in an event shop that sells gacha tickets and other rewards.

With June marking the start of Japan’s Bride season, some of the highest-grossing mobile games launched events to celebrate. Uma Musume: Pretty Derby added a new story event that saw players helping a fashion designer in a slump to find her inspiration to create wedding dress-racing outfits for the Beauty Dream Cup. The event also introduced wedding dress-clad characters obtained from limited-time gachas.

Similarly, That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime launched a wedding-themed story event, which included two characters in wedding attire that could be collected by completing Panel Missions and collection milestones. The game also added two gachas featuring three characters in wedding dresses, with two of the characters gaining extra benefits when used as part of a team in the story event.

Puzzle & Dragons added a limited-time gacha highlighting characters dressed in wedding attire. It also introduced special bride-themed dungeons for players to explore and several IAP bundles with bridal gacha freebies.

Interesting top 200 grossing entrants on the market

• A new TBRPG title from the popular Square Enix series, DragonQuest Champions, has stayed within the top 50 since its launch on 12 June.
• Based on a popular anime series, Laid-Back Camp All-in-one!! is a casual 3D anime-style game which focuses on crafting and decorating a campsite, and interaction between chibi characters from the anime. It got off to a strong start after its launch on 15 June but has steadily declined.
• A new survival shooter from Level Infinite, Undawn, launched globally with different ID’s on 13 June. It has not been as successful elsewhere, but has since launch mostly stayed in the top 100 grossing in the JP market.

The post Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review June 2023 appeared first on GameRefinery.

It wasn’t the only title to rethink its monetization either, with Brawl Stars taking a different approach. After removing its gacha earlier this year, Supercell’s title overhauled its in-game store so players could purchase almost any skin, pin, spray, or avatar from one unified shop. Meanwhile, GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE celebrated its six-month anniversary with the narrative-driven ‘OverZone’ event, which allowed players to delve deeper into the story behind the apocalypse.

May was also an interesting month for new releases, with two massive titles struggling to hit the ground running. Niantic’s latest follow-up to its prolific Pokémon Go, Peridot, dropped out of the highest-grossing titles almost as quickly as it arrived. While the newest game from the creators of Galaxy of Heroes, Lord of the Rings: Heroes of the Middle-Earth, has struggled to find users despite being based on a colossal fantasy IP.

You can find more information about these games and updates, as well as many others from across the US, China, and Japanese markets, in the bulletin below.

US Market Overview

League of Legends: Wild Rift significantly changed its cosmetic item monetization model by introducing permanent purchasable gachas for the first time. The gacha, known as Hextech Chests, uses a unique skin shard crafting system. You can read more about it in our update breakdown.

The update, which also launched a new Wild Pass season, has caused the third-highest revenue spike in the game’s history. Not that this wasn’t expected; Hextech Chests had already demonstrated their financial might after being introduced to Wild Rift’s China version last year, where they’ve been performing exceptionally well.

Given some of the recent challenges facing gacha, some mobile games have been attempting to step away from these mechanics altogether, so it was interesting to see such a prominent title doubling down on gacha monetization now. With that in mind, we’ll be closely monitoring the global version’s baseline revenue performance to see how it develops under this new model.

Love & Pies added a new store, the Heart Shop, where players can purchase items by spending Hearts. This new currency is collected by playing any in-game event, enabling the new store to engage players more than any single event could collectively. Heart Shop has three categories of items available for purchase: daily changing items, weekly changing items, and permanent items (for example, unique decorative buildings for the map area).

State of Survival added a new T-Rex Behemoth to the game to join the existing Mk1 Behemoth (Gorilla). Behemoths are characters similar to the heroes who can be assigned to join troop marches to assist in 4X battles. 

Many events were held to celebrate the addition, including one that introduced an innovative Survivor!.io-type game mode, Behemoth Trials. In this mode, players could choose one of the two behemoths to take into a timed survival battle to fight hordes of infected. As the Behemoths leveled up, players developed a unique skill set by selecting from three random abilities, including attack and support skills. The mode also featured a battle pass and an upgradable boost system.

Other notable updates included Merge Mansion launching its first-ever competitive event, The Great Bake Off, which features a special limited-time merge area. Clash of Clans meanwhile reworked its Builder Base, adding a secondary buildable area alongside a brand-new multi-stage attack system to replace its Versus Battle mode.

Let’s not forget Brawl Stars, which overhauled its in-game store to feature more cosmetics. Initially, the game only offered a small selection of skins that changed each day, whereas under the new catalog system, players can purchase almost any skin, pin, spray, or avatar they want from one unified shop using a new cosmetic currency, Bling.

Interesting top-200 grossing entrants on the market

• Niantic pursued their next Pokemon Go-level hit with the launch of another AR/location-based game, Peridot, which quickly visited the top 200 at launch on 8 May but dropped out shortly after. It currently hovers between the top 200-300 grossing.
• Lord of the Rings: Heroes of the Middle-Earth is a new character collector turn-based RPG from the team behind EA’s Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, with largely similar mechanics. Despite being based on an equally popular IP, the title is struggling to make the same impact as its predecessor, with low downloads and slow financial performance. It currently rests around the top 200 grossing.

• Dreamdale – Fairy Adventure is yet another title to demonstrate the power of hybridization. This hybrid casual game has been scaling since mid-April. It briefly visited the top 200 last month after significantly adding to its IAP offerings with new monetization systems, such as a Battle Pass and Diablo Immortal-esque engagement gachas. 

China Market Overview

Games from various genres have introduced new minigames and modes which feature match3 mechanics, but few have executed this as seamlessly as Tower of Fantasy (幻塔) has with its Tiles of Qinge event. This mode feels like a more natural inclusion by using the same aiming mechanics as its core gameplay loop.

In the event mode, four players go head-to-head to take on a huge match3 tile wall with their bow and try to clear it as fast as possible to collect the most points.

Interesting top 200 grossing entrants on the market

• Torchlight Infinite (火炬之光：无限) is an Action RPG by X.D. Network Inc. The game is currently in the top 50 grossing and 17th in the downloads list.

Japan Market Overview

GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE celebrated its half-anniversary with a large-scale event, OverZone, that tells the dark story of the desperate final days before the apocalypse. It includes a new explorable area, story and battle levels, a battle pass, missions, login rewards, and an exclusive shop.

The event also included an interactive text-based adventure minigame, White Memory, that ​sees players reliving the memories of a fairytale-inspired NIKKE, Snow White, who has been wandering the surface. Players can make various decisions as they play to branch off the narrative and discover different endings, unlocking additional rewards for use in the main game.

Interesting top 200 grossing entrants on the market

• Black Clover Mobile (ブラッククローバーモバイル) is the latest high-quality RPG for mobile that is based on highly popular anime IP. The has been the top one in the downloads list since launch and in the top 15-30 in the top-grossing list.
• Aether Gazer is a high-quality visual anime action RPG, similar to Genshin Impact and Honkai by Yostar. The game peaked at the top 21 grossing.

The post Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review May 2023 appeared first on GameRefinery.

This major privacy update has greatly impacted mobile marketers and advertisers by making it more difficult for them to access the data they rely on for user acquisition purposes. Snap, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube told the Financial Times that ATT was responsible for losses of nearly $10 billion at the time. 

ATT permission is usually requested via an in-app pop-up notification where users can choose to allow or deny tracking on a per-app/game basis. While companies must get permission from users before tracking or collecting their data, there aren’t any guidelines regarding when or where this pop-up notification should appear in-app. 

This got us wondering: is there an ideal time to ask users for data tracking consent? When do the top-grossing games display their ATT pop-up? And are there any additional tactics that the top-grossing games are using to encourage their players to agree to tracking?

We conducted a study to find out.

Analysis of ATT tracking pop-up data among US top-grossing 200 games 

During this study, we manually inspected whether sample mobile games display ATT tracking consent pop-ups during a hypothetical “first session” (= the first 25 minutes of gameplay). We chose this time frame because it is a reasonable amount of time for a new user to spend on a game and can provide insight into whether or not the pop-up is displayed early on in the user’s experience. 

However, it’s important to note that there may be games that are listed as not including any pop-ups, but do feature them beyond this sampling time frame. Therefore, while our study provides valuable insights into the prevalence of ATT tracking consent pop-ups during the first session, some games may still feature them later on in the user’s gameplay experience.

The study sample included the US top-grossing 200 list for iOS games, according to GameRefinery data that was accessed in late January, 2023. The list was analyzed and 99% of the games were inspected. The remaining 1% were not inspected because they were premium games (marked as “Na” in the charts below).

The data we gathered is valuable for game developers and publishers who aim to understand market trends and create successful games.

Furthermore, game developers can use this data to identify the features and characteristics that contribute the most to a game’s success, helping to guide the creation of new games or the improvement of existing ones. Through this analysis, we discovered when the most successful games in the US market were displaying ATT notifications.

72% of top mobile games display ATT pop-ups within the first 30 seconds of gameplay 

During the study, we found that the vast majority of sampled games (88%) included ATT pop-ups within the sampling time frame of 25 minutes. This indicates a general trend of app developers complying with Apple’s new privacy policy guidelines. 

However, it is worth noting that a small but significant percentage of games, around 11%, featured no pop-ups within the same time frame. This may be because the pop-up features much later in the game or they are not even attempting to get access to the identifier.

Our analysis also found that 81.4% of the 177 games with ATT pop-ups displayed them within the first 30 seconds of gameplay. The timing of the pop-ups ranged from one second to 15 minutes and 44 seconds from starting the application, suggesting that some games are waiting to build trust with users during their gameplay session before requesting permission to track their data.

Nearly 70% of the top-grossing 50 iOS games request ATT permission during the first 15 seconds of gameplay

ATT pop-up timing amongst the top-grossing 100 games (n=89) ranged from one second to 2 minutes and 22 seconds with 82% of the games displaying the pop-up within the first 30 seconds of gameplay. Almost 70% of the top 100 games displayed the pop-up window between the first six to 30 seconds of gameplay. 

While we’re unable to access data showing whether users accepted or denied these requests, our analysis suggests that game developers should prioritize displaying ATT pop-ups during the first 30 seconds of gameplay to increase their chances of users giving permission for data tracking. 

Among the top 50 grossing games (n=43), ATT pop-up timing ranged from one second to two minutes and 20 seconds. 84% of these games displayed the pop-up within the first 30 seconds, and 58% of top-50 games displayed the pop-up between 6 and 15 seconds, further consolidating the finding that a “golden window” for ATT pop-up timing exists somewhere during the first six and 30 seconds of gameplay.

This suggests that developers should aim to display the pop-up early, but not too early, in order to maximize user engagement and compliance with ATT requirements.

Do personalized pre-ATT prompts improve the chances of user opt-in?

Some of the mobile games we analyzed displayed an additional pop-up before requesting ATT opt-in permission from their users, which we’ll call a pre-ATT prompt. These additional pop-ups are delivered to convince the user to allow ATT tracking, and 23% of the top-200 games we analyzed included a personalized pre-ATT prompt within the time frame of the sampling. 

Top-grossing 100 games are more likely to display pre-ATT prompts

Our analysis found 26% (45/176) of sampled games with ATT pop-ups also included a personalized pre-ATT prompt. Interestingly, games that fall within the top-100 grossing chart were twice as likely to include a personalized pre-ATT prompt than games that rank 101-200. Out of the games ranked 1–100, 27 had personalized pre-ATT prompts, whereas only 18 games ranked 101-200 had personalized pre-ATT prompts.

Based on this data, our analysis suggests that personalized pre-ATT prompts may be more common in top-grossing games or games that aim to maximize revenue through targeted advertising.

Games that generate more revenue are more likely to request additional user information 

In addition to the above findings, our analysis also found a small percentage of games included additional prompts for user information. Specifically, 13% of the sampled games included some kind of additional prompts, such as requests for email addresses, phone numbers, age, gender, and other personal data. 

Like the findings above, the percentage of games displaying additional prompts varied depending on their ranking in the top-grossing chart.  17% of mobile games in the top-grossing 100 chart included an additional data prompt, compared to only 9% of games ranked between 101–200. This indicates that games that generate higher revenue are 89% more likely to request additional user information than games ranked between 101 and 200.

It is worth noting that this trend raises questions about the privacy and security of user data. While some users may not mind providing this information, others may feel uncomfortable sharing personal details. Game developers should be transparent about their data collection practices and ensure user data is properly protected.

Additionally, it may be beneficial for game developers to consider alternative ways to monetize their games, rather than relying solely on user data collection. This could help build trust with users and create a more positive user experience.

Displaying ATT notifications early could improve the chances of opt-in for users 

After analyzing the ATT frequency and the time notifications appear amongst the top-200 grossing iOS games, our data suggests that the first 30 seconds of gameplay is the sweet spot for displaying ATT pop-ups. 

It’s important to note that we weren’t able to access data showing whether customers were accepting or refusing these notifications, but the trend of higher-grossing mobile games displaying ATT notifications earlier during gameplay suggests that early requests are more successful. This deduction is based on the assumption that developers of higher-grossing mobile games are adjusting their ATT notification display time point based on their individual experience of how users are responding to their notification.

We’ve summarized the key findings from this data below: 

• 81.4% of the games displaying some kind of ATT-related pop-up did so within the first 30 seconds of gameplay.
• Among the top-grossing 50 games (n=43), 58% displayed the pop-up between the first six and 15 seconds of gameplay.  However, we believe that displaying the pop-up during the first five seconds of gameplay may be unpopular among top games due to a higher likelihood of users instinctively rejecting the pop-up.
• Our research also found that only 25.6% (45/176) of sampled games with ATT pop-ups included a personalized pre-ATT prompt.
• Games in the top 100 grossing were 50% more likely to include a personalized pre-ATT prompt than games in top-grossing ranks 101-200. 
• 13% of sampled games also included some kind of additional prompts for user information, including email, phone number, age, gender, etc.
• Top-100 grossing games were 89% more likely to include additional prompts than games among ranks 101-200.

If you enjoyed reading this post, here are a few more you should definitely check out:

• Mobile Game Publishers Are Bypassing Google and Apple Store Cuts With External Web Stores
• First Impression Seals the Deal – Introducing Onboarding Best Practices PART 1
• Power-up UA with a Friend Referral Program

The post What’s the Best Time to Request Permission From Users for ATT? (iOS) appeared first on GameRefinery.

One of April’s biggest updates was in Marvel Strike Force, the latest in a long line of titles to add a new premium currency that can be purchased from an external web store at lower prices than the iOS App Store – all in an effort to bypass its fees. It’s no coincidence this follows the ruling of the Apple v Epic legal battle, which included an injunction that prevents Apple from intervening when developers include buttons and links to ‘external purchasing mechanisms.’

Supercell’s tactical battler Clash Royale also released a huge update that completely overhauled both its live events and battle pass systems for the first time in years. While over in Japan, Jantama (雀魂 -じゃんたま-) rocketed to the top of the charts following a collaboration with the popular anime IP Code Geass for its fourth anniversary. Meanwhile, Lily’s Garden, Free Fire, Fishdom, and Sky Fortress all added hybrid elements to engage new players.

You’ll find more information on these updates below, as well as plenty of other interesting updates, releases, and top-grossing entrants from across the US, China, and Japan mobile markets. 

US Market Overview

Marvel Strike Force introduced a new premium currency called Ultra Core which functions in a similar way to real-world currency and can be used to purchase all IAP offers. Ultra Cores can also be used to purchase the game’s main premium currency, Power Cores. These are used to purchase items, open gachas, and acquire other goods in the game.

Ultra Cores can be bought directly from the in-game store or Scopely’s external web store at a lower cost. Scopely is just one of the many studios incentivizing players to make out-of-game purchases to bypass App Store fees, and we suspect many more will soon follow in the wake of Apple and Epic’s legal battle (check out our separate blog on this for more information).

Marvel Strike Force also introduced one-time IAP offers called Time Heist bundles, which slightly boosted the game’s revenue. By purchasing the bundles, players could instantly jump to their desired level while having all other benefits, such as progression and character upgrades.

Clash Royale transformed its event-based systems with the introduction of seasons, which now determine the content of the battle pass and the overall theme for each month.

A big part of this is the new Season Shop, where players can buy cards, coins, wildcards, unique emotes, and banners using a new currency called Season Tokens. At the start of each new season, tokens are reset, and the shop is restocked with new wares. Season Tokens are earned by playing one of several new Season Event modes, as well as from basic party 1v1, 2v2 modes, and Season Pass rewards. Players can earn up to 1000 Tokens per day but can spend gems to double the Daily Cap.

Clash Royale also overhauled its battle pass to combine the separate reward tracks into one succinct progression system, comprising of three separate layers with two purchase options: free, gold ($5.99), and diamond ($11.99). Players still progress using Crowns earned from matches, but they now accumulate additional Crowns for each tower left standing at the end of the match, even if they lose, making it far easier to progress. This accelerated progression has resulted in the number of tiers being expanded from 35 per season to over 121.

We talked about the rise of hybridization across the mobile market in our recent blog. That trend seems to be showing no signs of slowing down, with a number of high-grossing games introducing hybrid elements during April across both casual and midcore, including match3’s Lily’s Garden, Fishdom, and the shooter battle royale Free Fire. 

Lily’s Garden hopped away from the usual garden and home renovating to character makeovers with a Makeover Time event. This featured mechanics similar to Project Makeover.

Fishdom is the latest Playrix game to bring in its own merge event. Deep-Sea Adventures is similar to the other merge modes we’ve seen but with an aquatic theme. The event uses the aquarium decoration system by adding event-exclusive decorations to the reward ladder.

Free Fire ran a summery Beach Breeze-themed event that introduced a Pet Smash minigame mode reminiscent of Brawl Stars. Interestingly, players control the game’s pets instead of hero characters, highlighting the pet collection meta element.

Interesting top-200 grossing entrants on the market

The creators of Genshin Impact, MiHoYo, launched a new turn-based RPG called Honkai: Star Rail, featuring incredibly high production values, open-world exploration, and similar proven meta elements and gacha monetization model to Genshin Impact. Within just two days of launching, the game was downloaded more than 20 million times worldwide, reaching 1st rank in the downloads list and top-grossing rank 3 in the US, as well as being a massive success in other major markets, such as China and Japan. According to industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, the game broke records by reaching the number one spot on the iOS game download chart in more countries than any game that has come before.

Our analyst team has been tracking the game’s LiveOps from the launch, and the data is already available in our Live Events Tracker.

Scopely released a new game based on the internationally-recognized board game Monopoly that peaked in the top-25 grossing. In Monopoly GO!, players roll dice to move around the board to earn money that can be spent on building decorative buildings so they can move from map to map. The gameplay loop closely resembles Coin Master, except with a Monopoly board instead of slots. 

China Market Overview

Over in China, one game gathering attention from players and developers alike is the recently-released A House in the far end of Shangri-la”/Taoyuan Shenchu You Renjia (桃源深处有人家).
This classic farming tycoon game is spiced up with a generous dose of interactive storytelling with NPC relationships and minigames. The game is set in a relaxed, mountainous region cut off from the rest of the world in a fantasy version of ancient China. The game features cartoon-style graphics in a classical Chinese watercolor painting background. The laid-back atmosphere combined with relaxing countryside visuals and traditional food has likely proved appealing to stressed-out city-dwellers looking for some form of escapism.

Shoot ‘em Up Sky Fortress (空之要塞) demonstrated another example of hybridization with the introduction of a synchronous multiplayer quiz mode, where 20 players are matched together and must answer the questions by running into answer zone A or B. Players who answer wrong are eliminated via a trapdoor, while those that manage to answer 15 questions correctly are crowned the winner(s). There is also a task system that includes different pre-existing social currencies as rewards.

Interesting top 200 grossing entrants on the market

• A shoot ’em up based on SNK’s classic arcade franchise, Metal Slug: Awakening (合金弹头：觉醒), remains stable at #2 on the grossing charts.
• A new hybrid subgenre entered the market with the release of anime dating card battler Crazy Ones (奇点时代), which peaked at #31 grossing.

Japan Market Overview

Blue Archive (ブルーアーカイブ) added a brand new Archero-type minigame mode to complement its latest story event.

To enter the minigame, tickets must first be earned from the story event itself. Players can choose between two characters to take into battle once per day, with two difficulty levels to select. Each run is a maximum of ten levels long and will end if the character dies. During the run, players can periodically choose one of three skills to help them in battle.

PvP mahjong game Jantama (雀魂 -じゃんたま-) rocketed to the top of the charts after collaborating with the popular anime IP Code Geass to celebrate its fourth anniversary.

The event, entitled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, included a special mahjong mode to play alongside missions, point collection rewards, and new collaborative story content. Code Geass characters were featured in gachas, along with new effects and decoratives to customize mahjong games with. Collaboration character skins were also available in the shop during the event.

Interesting top 200 grossing entrants on the market

• A new 2D Idle-RPG Dark Tales (ダークテイルズ) featuring evil versions of fairytale princesses launched on April 10 and spent almost the entire month in the top 10 highest-grossing titles.
• A new cross-platform sci-fi survival game, Earth: Revival (アース：リバイバル), launched on April 18 and quickly entered the top 50 grossing.

The post Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review April 2023 appeared first on GameRefinery.

However, PUBG Mobile wasn’t the only notable mobile title to launch a beta last month, as Survivor!.io introduced a beta version of local co-op for players using the same connection. Elsewhere in the market, Royal Match added a new recurring event called Lava Quest, marking the first significant update to its event framework since September 2022. While over in Japan, Goddess of Victory: NIKKE was propelled to the #3 in the top-grossing chart thanks to an adorable dog-themed event.

March also saw a number of interesting new titles enter the top-200 grossing on the market across the US, China, and Japan markets. Highlights included a new idle RPG based on Capcom’s renowned fighting game franchise, Street Fighter Duel, while Lingxi Games has landed its second top-10 grossing 4X strategy title in China with Three Kingdoms Warchess.

You can find more information about all these games, alongside plenty of other major mobile updates, detailed below.

US Market Overview

To celebrate the fifth birthday of PUBG Mobile, the game released a mammoth update with a series of anniversary events and an entirely new custom game mode in beta, World of Wonder (WOW), which follows in Fortnite’s footsteps by allowing the creation of user-generated content and custom PvP games. 

Anyone can play custom games that have already been published, but game creators must meet certain requirements (such as having a certain level of social media influence and map customization experience) and apply through a verification process. Once approved, as more people play their custom games, these creators will unlock more rights – the specifics of this are yet to be revealed, but the rights likely mean the ability to adjust the game rules further.

Survivor!.io added a beta version of a local co-op to the game. Players can create a room using their IP address, and one player on the same router or mobile phone hotspot can join. The experience pool is shared in the match, while the skills picked are personal to each player. Defeating bosses also drops a chest that rewards random skills to both players in one, three, or five-set increments. 

Participation in the beta is incentivized by giving players exclusive decorative items. After completing one match, players received an avatar frame. Additional accessories for a common character were provided each time after completing four, seven, and ten matches.

Royal Match added a new recurring event to its framework for the first time since September 2022. The new event, called Lava Quest, is an intriguing mix of win streak/loss aversion mechanics that creates a sense of last person standing.

The player’s goal is to beat seven levels in a row without failing. After each level, they can see how many of the other players were able to complete that level on the first try. The further they get, the more people drop from the event. All the players who get through all seven levels in a row without failing share the Grand Prize (coins) equally.

Interesting top-200 grossing entrants on the market

• Call of Dragons, a new and highly polished 4X strategy game from the team behind Rise of Kingdoms, is now available globally. Its season-based approach, combined with impressive production values, characters, and narrative, propelled it straight to the top 20–50 grossing.
• Based on Capcom’s renowned fighting game franchise, Street Fighter Duel is an idle RPG character collector game with an auto-battle core. It has several side modes, from PvP to puzzle minigames. The game peaked at GR 25, averaging around the top-110 grossing.
• Century Games had two titles hit the top 100 GR last month. Whiteout Survival is a 4X strategy game usually ranking around the top 110 grossing, while Frozen City is an idler game typically ranking around the top-115 grossing and #13 for downloads. Both titles share the same post-apocalyptic frozen world setting and have a similar art style.

China Market Overview

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened’s (哈利波特：魔法觉醒) monetization has traditionally focused on a cosmetic economy, so it was unsurprising to see it host a clothing competition event last month. 

During the event, players picked clothing pieces for evaluation with daily changing requirements and rewards. One of the rewards was an event currency, which could be exchanged for various items. The event also included a daily leaderboard so players could see where they ranked against other witches and wizards.

Interesting top 200 grossing entrants on the market

• Life Makeover (以闪亮之名) is a customization game with amazing graphics. The game is currently ranking in the top-15 grossing and #1 most downloaded. The game already has an official English name, which suggests a global release might be around the corner. 
• Three Kingdoms Warchess (三国志・战棋版) is another Three Kingdoms-themed 4X Strategy game by Lingxi Games that is currently ranking in the top-5 grossing and #51 for downloads. The developer’s previous game, Three Kingdoms Tactics (三国志·战略版), has been China’s top 4X strategy game for a long time, so Lingxi Games now has two top-10 4X strategy titles. Three Kingdoms Warchess looks similar to the other top 4X title, except it has a new grid-based battle system.

Japan Market Overview

Goddess of Victory: NIKKE added a cute dog-themed event, Bow Wow Paradise, which propelled the game to #3 in Japan’s top-grossing chart (and #44 in the US).

The event focuses on helping a new ‘moe-inducing’ NIKKE character retrieve her runaway pack of dogs. The character, known as Biscuit, can be acquired through pickup gacha or trade in the Mileage Shop. Players can use her in the event to boost their event currency gain for some easy resource gains in the event shop.

Interesting top 200 grossing entrants on the market

• LINE: Monster Farm (LINE：モンスターファーム) is a monster-collecting RPG that peaked at GR 10 and currently rests around the top-30 grossing. The game features similar training cycles to the popular Umamusume game, as well as several idol games.
• ハイキュー!! TOUCH THE DREAM is an arcade sports game based on a popular Volleyball manga/anime series Haikyu!! that peaked at GR #18. The game is usually ranked around the top-60 grossing.

The post Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review March 2023 appeared first on GameRefinery.

We’ve previously discussed how mobile game developers are using in-game collaboration events to boost player retention, and this was also in full swing last month with several anime-themed crossovers. The biggest of these was Goddess Of Victory: Nikke’s first-ever playable collaboration event with the acclaimed anime series Chainsaw Man, which saw the game cut through the competition to the 25th-grossing rank.

Over in Japan, Umamusume Pretty Derby raced to the top of the charts as it launched its second-anniversary update, complete with a playable training scenario called Grand Masters. The scenario introduced new training mechanics, additional story content, and narration by the famous Japanese racing announcer, Kiyoshi Sugimoto. 

Read on below for more information about these updates, as well as plenty of other major mobile updates from across the US, China, and Japanese markets.

US Market Overview

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang collaborated with the popular Japanese manga and anime series Jutjusu Kaisen, which introduced a task-based Jujutsu Training event with a progressive reward ladder and limited-time gacha featuring new collaboration-themed hero skins and other cosmetic items.

To draw the gacha, players could use premium currency or gacha currency (which could be obtained from other collaboration-related events). In terms of revenue, the collaboration propelled MLBB to its highest-ever grossing rank in the US market.

Marvel Snap finally introduced PvP with its new Battle Mode, which enables players to take on one of their friends in a no-stakes multi-round battle. Both players start with ten lives, and the one who manages first to deal ten damage to their opponent wins. Damage is dealt by winning a round, with the amount of damage being equal to the number of cubes stacked for that match. Even though there is currently only a Friendly Battle option, we’re expecting to see some serious expansion of this new mode in the near future.

February also saw the start of Marvel Snap’s new season, Into the Quantum Realm, which coincides with the theatrical release of the new film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Players were keen to pick up the associated new Battle Pass, as daily revenue spiked by almost 600%.

GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE was propelled to the 25th-grossing rank thanks to its first-ever playable collaboration event with the acclaimed anime series Chainsaw Man, which added three female characters from the show to the game as playable NIKKEs. To encourage players to invest in the development of these characters going forward, the game also added new manufacturer-specific upgrade materials alongside several limited-time bundle offers.

The event was also based in a separate area where players could freely explore to hunt for daily hidden treasures and also access event menus and content, including story and battle levels, multiplayer, a battle pass, and more.

We’ve previously talked about X-Hero’s use of minigames that differ from its core gameplay, but in the month of February, the high-grossing Idle-RPG replaced its Save Doge mode with a new UA-focused minigame called Chess Wanted. In this mode, players must control police characters in a turn-based puzzle grid to prevent a thief from escaping.

What’s especially unique about this addition is that everything has stayed the same for existing players – they still have SaveDog as their minigame. On the other hand, new players must play the Chess Wanted mode as part of the initial tutorial and can access it later as the game’s permanent minigame mode.

Additionally, at the start of March X-Hero again changed the UA-focused minigame for new players to a mode called “StopThem.” The mode has more mechanics similar to SaveDoge, having the player draw lines to protect characters from threats like insects.

Following in the footsteps of Homescapes’s earlier update, Gardenscapes finally added a Secret Ingredient event with merge2 mechanics. The game had originally announced it would add the event in February already back in December. Playrix appears to now be actively pushing merge events across its portfolio, with Township set to follow closely with its own mirrored merge event in March.

Gardenscapes’ event tasked players with helping characters produce different dishes to fill in blanks in a cookbook. Cooking was done by combining different chains of foodstuffs on a merge grid with many hallmark genre mechanics, such as generating more resources by tapping on source items and ‘feeding’ items to objects to charge them. Merge energy is regenerated over time, but can also be acquired through IAP or earned by beating match-3 levels.

China Market Overview

QQ Speed (QQ飞车) has continued its history of branching out from its main forte of kart racing by adding a synch PvP to its recently-added card battler mode.

In the PvE version of its card battler mode, players progress through a linear pipeline taking on various enemies as they go. Certain designated stages also let players strengthen their deck by acquiring new cards or upgrading existing ones. This same deck is also employed in the new PvP-mode, with special rewards up-for-grabs for players that can win a certain amount of matches alongside a leaderboard system.

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened (哈利波特：魔法觉醒) introduced a new desert-themed map area that intertwined roguelite mechanics with two new home systems.

The ‘Secret Room’ home system lets players personalize their space and access additional menus via certain decorative buildings to check various inventories, such as their wand collection. These decorative buildings can be crafted with material items found within the other home system, which allows players to decorate the area and interact with their Magical Beasts (pets). The items can also be acquired by playing the desert area’s new roguelite game mode, which works similarly to the existing Forbidden Forest mode.

Interesting top 200 grossing entrants on the market

• A game that hit the Chinese top 10 grossing and downloads list last month is a new open-world survival game from Tencent’s Lightspeed & Quantum and Proxima Beta studios, Undawn Vitality (黎明觉醒：生机). Teamwork, rebuilding the world, survival, and an open world seem to be the buzzwords for this game. Some may even argue that there is a certain level of resemblance to NetEase’s hit game, LifeAfter. Undawn Vitality will have a closed beta in the West starting on April 3rd.

Japan Market Overview

Puzzle & Dragons (パズル＆ドラゴンズ) launched its latest collaboration with the multimedia Japanese mecha-anime franchise, Gundam, which introduced several new characters who can uniquely have a third element attribute.

For example, one of the characters added with the event, Gundam Exia, can morph into its second form mid-battle and gain Fire Attribute, in addition to its existing Wood and Water Attributes, making the character even more versatile as a damage dealer. Adding characters like these will likely boost the popularity of multi-attribute teams in the future.

Umamusume Pretty Derby (ウマ娘プリティーダービー) celebrated its 2nd anniversary with a massive update, including a brand new playable training scenario, anniversary campaigns, and events. This anniversary update, combined with real-life campaigns and an influx of new downloads, boosted the game to the top of the charts.

The new playable training scenario, Grand Masters, introduced new training mechanics and a fresh layer of strategy to the game. During Grand Masters training, players collected shards of knowledge from three Umamusume goddesses to earn bonuses; they could also test their strength against the powerful trio. The scenario also came with a new storyline and narration by famous Japanese race announcer Kiyoshi Sugimoto.

The post Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review February 2023 appeared first on GameRefinery.

Newzoo forecasted the mobile games market generated $92.2 billion in 2022, representing a 6.4% decline compared to the year before. Similarly, analysts from GameDevReports predict that mobile games revenue is expected to decline by 3% in 2023. 

So, how is the industry responding to these challenges? Last year, we noticed a new trend of studios and publishers launching external web stores selling items that are usually purchased in game, bypassing the commission that Google and Apple would usually take through IAPs. 

Most recently, we’re starting to see a growing number of popular titles, including Mario Kart Tour, Genshin Impact, and Octopath Traveller, upping the prices of purchasable items. The Federal Reserve’s interest rate has increased against rising risk aversion in the market, causing a one-sided surge in the US dollar exchange rate, which has seen major currencies such as the euro, CNY, and pound sterling showing a decline against the US dollar.

Given Apple is registered in the US and settles its revenue in US dollars, the surge in the exchange rate of the US dollar undoubtedly caused App Store revenue to shrink. To complicate matters further, with the costs of everyday goods and services increasing worldwide. 

As a result, Apple announced an increase in App Store IAP prices in several regions worldwide in September, with the rate of increase varying based on the devaluation of each country’s currency against the US dollar. For instance, the US dollar saw an increase of around 29% against the Japanese yen, so Apple’s price increases were 30% in that region.

Given the price points are the same throughout the App Store, the changes were largely similar across different titles. The commonly affected territories were Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Poland, Chile, Egypt, Pakistan, Sweden, and all regions which use the euro, with the price rises varying between 10% to 30%.

Which mobile games are raising their prices? 

Given the price rises come directly from Apple itself, it’s hardly surprising that most games on the iOS store have been affected. Where differences do start to appear, though, is how different developers chose to implement and communicate these changes to their players. 

Many games, such as Octopath Traveller: Champions of the Continent, presented players with a pop-up message when they first loaded the game, informing them of the price rises and how these impacted different regions. Prices rose by around 20% in territories with the euro, with the highest-priced pack in Octopath Traveller increasing from 99.99€ to 119.99€.

Whilst it already seemed clear that these changes were down to Apple, certain games cemented this even further by only applying price rises to the iOS iterations of their title. Tower of Fantasy put out a statement that it would follow suit with Apple in adjusting the price of its IAPs, but that other platforms would not be affected and iOS users would receive additional compensation. 

Similarly, MiHoYO announced on its HoYoLAB blog that Genshin Impact would be raising its prices in line with Apple across the relevant regions. Initially, this suggested the rise would affect all platforms (including PC and console), but at the time of writing, only iOS has been affected.

League of Legends: Wild Rift cleverly used the price rises to their advantage when they announced they’d be raising their own IAPs on 18 November. Players were informed they could cash in before the increase as part of a new campaign that ran from the 1–17 November, which saw all premium currency purchases in that period doubled.

The game saw a tremendous rise in daily revenue as a result, particularly on the first and last days of the campaign, where revenue increased by more than eight times than that of the previous day.

Nintendo was one of the few developers to take a more gamer-friendly approach to the price rises. While they couldn’t avoid the increases in Mario Kart Tour, Nintendo improved the amount of premium currency received in each pack across all regions so that players didn’t feel they were walking away without something in return. 

For instance, their value pack went from providing five rubies (consisting of three rubies and two bonus rubies) to six rubies (one extra bonus ruby). Players actually seemed to respond well to the rebalanced packs, despite the price rises, with major increases in daily revenue worldwide, including a spike of more than 20 times in Japan.

Diablo Immortal was the only title of note to actually decrease its prices in the wake of Apple’s changes, or to a certain extent at least. The price point for all its packs remained the same as before, with more premium currency available in each. Developer Blizzard also added a new currency that month which could be used to craft five-star legendary gems called Telluric Pearls, which players could acquire for free by participating in limited-time events, as well as IAPs.

It’s worth noting that Diablo Immortal received a notable amount of criticism in the media following its release for IAPs, with some arguing the title is inherently pay-to-win. Avoiding the price rises happening in so many titles may have been a tactical move by the developer to regain the goodwill of the Diablo fanbase.

Further changes are on the way for the Apple App Store

Following all this news of price rises, there has been one positive at least, with Apple announcing it will soon provide developers with 600 additional price points. Amongst many other benefits, these will make it far easier for developers to set prices per country or region so they can better manage foreign exchange rate changes in the future.

There’s also more in the pipeline when it comes to out-of-app monetization. This trend started following the court case between Epic Games and Apple, which saw the two arguing over Fortnite’s removal from the iOS store after players had been offered cheaper in-app purchases of Vbucks, an in-game currency, if the transaction was made via direct payment to Epic.

This was all to avoid the 30% cut Apple was taking on transactions made through the iOS store. The judge ruled that Epic had breached its developer agreement with Apple but also said that Apple had to remove its policies which banned developers from telling users about alternatives to Apple’s in-app purchase system.

Since then, an increasing number of stores in recent months have launched their own external web stores to get around the fees, including Game of Thrones: Conquest, Clash of Clans, Marvel Strike Force, and Star Trek Fleet Command, which offer players better deals for purchasing certain in-game items and premium currencies. 

RAID: Shadow Legends doubled down on this approach by introducing a new loyalty system called Plarium Points, with points earned by completing Advanced Daily Quests, Daily Playtime Awards or by purchasing weekly Plarium Points Packs. Interestingly, The out-of-app monetization appears when playing via PC or Mac, where players can earn more points from the daily rewards and earn Plarium Points on all purchases, rather than just one specific bundle, enabling them to reach the reward thresholds faster.

It’s unclear how many players are dedicated enough to go through the extra effort of visiting an external store or client in each title, but we suspect that the highest-spending players will be the most likely to take advantage as they’ll stand to gain substantially more benefit than a casual player. 

However, if prices continue to rise, perhaps more users could be encouraged to make the extra effort. Apple is also allegedly planning to allow third-party app stores on its various platforms from 2024 to comply with the EU’s new digital market laws, which will make it substantially easier for users (at least those in Europe) to visit alternative stores. 

If you enjoyed reading this post and want to know more about some of the other trends occurring in the wider mobile market, check out the posts below.

• How mobile game developers are bypassing Google and Apple Store cuts
• Mobile Game Trends and Predictions for 2023
• Episode 43: Unlocking Mobile Gaming: Lessons from Ditching Lootboxes for Developers

The post Why Mobile Game Studios Are Increasing the Prices of IAPs appeared first on GameRefinery.