Every Wednesday we break down the latest data, research and financial results into digestible chunks.
Read on for the numbers you need to know about without the fluff.
This column is sponsored by Xsolla, offering the #1 web shop solution for mobile games that generates more value, purchases, and revenue. Get started here.
Neverness to Everness tops $14m in launch month
The mobile version of Perfect World’s Neverness to Everness had a strong launch month, according to Appmagic estimates. Developed by Tower of Fantasy maker Hotta Studio, the open-world online RPG released in late April for PC, PS5, iOS and Android.
Blending city exploration and supernatural anomalies with side activities like car collection, business and property management, the game has earned itself the ‘anime GTA’ moniker online. Utilising familiar gacha systems, daily revenue peaked at $1m on May 7, and lifetime earnings have topped $14.7m since launch on April 21.
Monopoly Go was April’s top grossing game in the US
Based on Sensor Tower data published by research firm Circana, the top 10 mobile games by US consumer spend in April (and the change in ranking compared to March) were:
1. Monopoly Go (-)
2. Royal Match (+1)
3. Last War: Survival (-1)
4. Candy Crush Saga (-)
5. Gossip Harbor (-)
6. Kingshot (-)
7. Whiteout Survival (-)
8. Township (+1)
9. Royal Kingdom (+1)
10. Garena Free Fire (+1)
“Aside from Pokémon Go cooling off as expected, the top 10 remains virtually locked in,” said Sensor Tower insights analyst Bryan Isagholian. “Inching toward the leaderboard is Pixel Flow, which has been on a steady climb since the start of the year to reach number 13 in April.”
US consumer spending on video game content across all platforms in April was up 2% YoY to $3.84bn, driven by growth in the console segment. Year to date spending on content is up 3% YoY to $16.67bn.
Vita Mahjong and Zen Word lead April’s ad charts
Vita Mahjong regained the top spot on the iOS mobile game advertising chart in April, according to data from ad intelligence platform SocialPeta. Vita Studio’s tile matching puzzle title came in ahead of March’s most heavily advertised game on iOS, Oakever’s Tile Explorer. Dreams’ Royal Kingdom, Habby’s Dicero, and SpinX’s Cash Frenzy rounded off the top five.
Oakever’s Zen Word jumped two places from the previous month to displace Vita Mahjong as April’s most advertised game on Android. Tile Explorer fell one place to third on the chart, followed by Cedar’s Mystery Town and Oakever’s Jigsawscapes.
Across the iOS and Android charts, titles from Oakever occupied over a third (7) of the 20 available top 10 places, and almost a quarter (9) of the 40 available top 20 positions.
Tencent Games revenue hit $11bn in Q1, says estimate
Factoring in third party distribution and social networks, Niko Partners estimates Tencent’s total Q1 2026 gaming revenue was RMB 74.7bn ($10.99bn), up 6.8% YoY.
The Chinese tech giant saw Q1 2026 revenue jump 9% YoY to reach RMB 196.5bn ($28.92bn), while net profit increased 19% YoY to hit RMB 59.4bn ($8.74bn).
That included domestic games revenue of RMB 45.4bn ($6.68bn), which was up 6% YoY. Tencent highlighted the performance of evergreen games including Honor of Kings, Peacekeeper Elite and Delta Force, as well Valorant Mobile.
Having topped $10bn annually for the first time in 2025, the company’s international games revenue in Q1 was up 13% YoY to RMB 18.8bn ($2.77bn). This was “primarily driven by higher revenues” from Clash Royale, Wuthering Waves and Valorant on PC.
Voodoo’s Castle Busters earned $4m in April
Artillery shooter Castle Busters earned over $3.98m in April, according to Appmagic data. It was French publisher Voodoo’s highest earner last month, ahead of Marble Sort ($3.64m), Sand Loop ($2.93m) and Mob Control ($1.8m).
The 1v1 PvP strategy brawler has built momentum over the last three months, topping $11m in lifetime revenue and $17.6m in user spending. It has also surpassed 14m downloads, giving it a revenue per download of $0.74.
Appmagic says 92% of its players over the last year were male, and the top countries by lifetime revenue are the US, Germany and Japan.
The site lists the top five artillery shooters by lifetime revenue as Bowmasters: Archery Shooting with $54m, DDTank with $38m, DDTank: The Great Adventure with $26m, Tank Stars with $24m and Bomb Me Brasil – Jogo de Tiro with $16m.
Mobile games IAP revenue hit $20.4bn in Q1 2026
Mobile game IAP revenue from the App Store and Google Play in Q1 2026 increased by 0.5% year-over-year to reach $20.6bn.
That’s according to data from Sensor Tower, which published the estimate in its latest quarterly digital market index report.
Worldwide revenue from all iOS apps increased 6.9% YoY to $29.3bn, driven by non-games. Games revenue on Apple’s platform fell 0.6% YoY to $12.96bn.
Google Play app revenue rose 14% YoY to $14.2bn, with Android games revenue rising 2.2% YoY to $7.39bn.
Mobile game downloads declined by 11.9% YoY to 11.86bn, marking the lowest Q1 total for game downloads since before the pandemic in 2019.
App Store game downloads were down 3.5% YoY to 1.91bn, and Google Play game downloads fell 13% YoY to 9.95bn.
Strategy was the leading genre in terms of IAP revenue in Q1, generating $4.89bn. While that was up 3% YoY, it represented the genre’s lowest quarter over the previous year.
Puzzle games revenue jumped 21% YoY to top $4bn for the first time in Q1. The next three largest genres were RPG with $3.16bn (down 10% YoY), casino with $2.55bn (down 8% YoY) and shooter with $1.51bn (up 12.1% YoY).
When it came to downloads, the top 10 game genres experienced YoY declines in Q1, including double digit drops for six of them.
Puzzle games saw the highest number of downloads at 2.5bn (-4%), followed by simulation titles with 2.37bn (-13%), arcade games with 2.32bn (-16%), lifestyle with 815m (-19%) and tabletop with 617m (-14%).
Last War Survival generated the most IAP revenue for the sixth consecutive quarter. Along with Honor of Kings, it was one of only two games to top $500m in Q1. Whiteout Survival, Royal Match and Monopoly Go rounded off the top five.
Block Blast held the top spot on the worldwide download chart in Q1, coming in ahead of Garena Free Fire and Roblox. Tile Explorer and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang were new entries in the top 10 in Q1, placing eighth and tenth respectively.
