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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Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells is five, hits $275m
Zynga’s Harry Potter match 3 just passed its fifth birthday, and has now generated over $275m for its publisher, according to Appmagic estimates.
The data firm says the game has racked up around 32.5m downloads since launch five years ago. The US is the game’s top market by lifetime revenue and downloads, representing 65% and 23% of the respective totals to date.
Vita Mahjong leads August’s ad charts
Vita Mahjong was the most advertised title on both iOS and Android for the second month in a row in August, according to marketing data firm SocialPeta.
The tile matching puzzle game from Vita Studio led the iOS chart ahead of Emblem Assemble: Neo from Hong Kong Lome Trading, Block Blast from Hungry Studio, Poem of Nightwarden from Hong Kong Spredee Business, and Block Crush from Wonderful Studio.
On Android, Tile Explorer from Oakever Games was the second most advertised game for the second consecutive month. Fellow Oakever title Jigsawscapes occupied the number three spot, followed by Block Blast and Singapore Just Game Technology’s Lands of Jail.
Socilpeta previously reported that prison management simulation game Lands of Jail was the most advertised iOS title during H1 2025, while Vita Mahjong topped the Android advertising chart.
Midcore sees 15% YoY revenue growth in July
Midcore games in Tier-1 western markets in July saw revenue rise by approximately 10% MoM and over 15% YoY, with downloads showing similar increases.
That’s according to Appmagic’s monthly overview of the midcore segment, which saw revenue gains across all major genres.
Revenue rose by around 5% for strategy games, by up to 10% for RPGs, up to 25% for simulation games, and up to 20% for shooters.
When it came to downloads, simulation and shooter games saw the largest growth, with around 15% apiece.
Growth in July was driven by titles including Umamusume: Pretty Derby, Roblox, Free Fire x Naruto Shippuden, Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG Mobile, Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle, Raid Shadow Legends, and Honkai: Star Rail.
In Tier-1 eastern markets in July, revenue and downloads saw growth of up to 5-7%, but there was a YoY decline of around 5%.
Honkai: Star Rail helped boost the RPG segment by up to 10%, while growth of over 20% in the shooter market was spurred by PUBG Mobile, Delta Force, and CrossFire: Legends.
Appmagic previously reported that midcore games generated $19bn in IAP revenue and saw 7bn downloads in the first half of 2025.
Huuuge Casino and Billionaire Casino top $2.2bn in lifetime revenue
Huuuge Games’ core franchises, the social casino titles Huuuge Casino and Billionaire Casino, have together surpassed $2.2bn in lifetime revenue.
The figure was announced alongside the company’s earnings for the first half of the year, during which the two games generated $119.3m in revenue. That was down 6% YoY, which Huuuge said was in line with the softening social casino market.
The company’s adjusted EBITDA for H1 was up 19% YoY to $49.3m, revenue fell 7% to $121.2m, and net profit rose 17% to $37.1m.
Huuuge also announced plans to execute a $120m share buyback programme this autumn.
Delta Force hits $6.5m in daily revenue
Delta Force has hit an all-time daily revenue high of $6.5m, Appmagic reports.
Tencent’s game recently outpaced genre king PUBG Mobile by 76% in daily revenue, something no other shooter has achieved since the latter’s release back in 2018.
Delta Force’s performance was likely boosted by the debut of its first world championship tournament, the launch of a new live ops event, and anticipation for its upcoming season, Appmagic said.
PUBG Mobile is the top-earning shooter by lifetime revenue, with $9.2bn from 1.2bn downloads. It’s followed by Free Fire x Naruto Shippuden ($2.6bn, 1.3bn), Call of Duty Mobile ($1.8bn, 426m), Knives Out ($1.7bn, 96m) and CrossFire: Legends ($1.5bn, 84m).
Embracer’s $53m share buyback
Embracer Group has launched a share buyback programme of up to SEK 500m ($53.4m). Running from September 19 until December 2, it’s designed to enhance shareholder value by reducing the company’s share capital.
The top ‘Plinko’ games to date
Plinko games are the “rising star” of the casino subgenre, according to Appmagic, which has published a list of the top 10 titles by lifetime IAP revenue.
For those who are unfamiliar with them, Plinko games see players drop a ball from the top of a pegboard, which bounces down unpredictably before landing in a reward slot.
This highest earning title is Plinko Galaxy with $322k and 1.8m downloads since its release in January 2024.
At number two is Plink by Pokerist, which has earned $260k and achieved 97k downloads in its first three months since launch. Appmagic says over half of that total ($132k) was generated in August alone, accounting for 76% of the entire subgenre’s monthly revenue.
Rounding off the top five are Pink Space – Drop Balls x1000 with $109k and 12m downloads, Super Plinko: Crazy Drop with $89k and 403k downloads, and Drop Balls 1000x: Drop & Win with $65k and 3m downloads.
