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.
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Destiny Rising hits $1.6m, 1m downloads in its first week*
Netease and Bungie collab Destiny Rising’s first week saw the game generated $1.6m in IAP from 1m downloads, according to Appmagic estimates. But there’s a catch, hence the asterisk up there: the data doesn’t seem to have picked up any revenue or downloads from China, which is arguably the game’s most important market.
Without China in the mix, Appmagic says the US leads the way by some distance on both downloads and revenue after its debut week, taking up 56% of all installs and 75% of all IAPs.
Valorant Mobile hits China with 70m pre-registrations, passes $8m
Over four years after its original announcement, the mobile version of Riot’s FPS Valorant officially launched in China on August 19. It had amassed 70m pre-registrations, Niko Partners reports.
According to the research firm, Valorant Mobile immediately debuted atop the iOS game download chart and entered the top 10 iOS game revenue chart.
Tencent reportedly plans to invest RMB 1.5 billion ($200 million) over the next three years to support ongoing development and construct an esports ecosystem around the game.
Meanwhile, Appmagic estimates suggest the game has earned $8.2m from 3.9m downloads since launch on August 19.
US mobile game spending up 7% in July as Free Fire surges
US consumer spending on video game content in July rose 4% year-over-year to $4.5bn, according to Sensor Tower data published by market research firm Circana.
The increase was largely driven by growth in the mobile gaming segment, which was up 7% year-over-year to $2.3bn – over half of total monthly game content spending.
The top 10 mobile titles by consumer spending in July and the change in ranking from June were Monopoly Go, Royal Match, Last War: Survival, Candy Crush Saga, Whiteout Survival, Free Fire (+7), Clash Royale (+2), Kingshot (+3), Township (-2) and Royal Kingdom.
“Garena’s shooter [Free Fire] has seen skyrocketing US revenue since last year and now sits comfortably above Call of Duty: Mobile as the top shooter by US consumer spend,” noted Sensor Tower senior insights analyst Sam Aune.
Chinese game market to surpass $50bn in 2025
China’s mobile-first market will generate $50.7bn in player spending on video games in 2025, according to Niko Partners’ latest five-year forecast for the country.
It estimates that the Chinese market generated $49.2bn in 2024. The figure is expected to rise to $54.8bn in 2029, at a 5-year CAGR of 2.2%. The firm says there were 722m gamers in the country as of the end of 2024, which is projected to grow to 753.7m by 2029.
Annual average revenue per user for Chinese gamers hit $68 in 2024 and is forecast to grow to $73 in 2029.
Mini games – titles which can be played instantly, without download, typically within social media platforms – now account for almost 10% of total player spending on games, Niko said.
Niko has also published various stats from a new survey of over 1,000 Chinese gamers. It found that 39.4% of respondents were interested in generative AI’s application in games, and that 60% of studios are currently using the tech in their development pipeline.
Short video platforms are the leading source of new game information, used by 41% of players. And 46.5% of gamers have engaged with esports, whether that’s playing an esports title, watching an event or competing in a tournament.
Color Block Jam heads up hybridcasual
Another useful chart from Appmagic’s look at the hybridcasual genre in Q2 above. The top three by revenue are way out in front, led by Rollic’s Color Block Jam on $39m earned in Q2. iKame/Zego’s Screwdom ($25m) is second and Homa’s All In Hole ($21m) is in third. Then there’s a huge drop to Pocket Champs in fourth.
