Data digest: Miniclip, Learnings and Tripledot top July’s US ad revenue chart, Smash Fest stats, fundraising news, more

 

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, which can help you to quickly launch your branded web shop to boost revenue and expedite your marketing ROI. Get started here.

Miniclip leads July’s US ad revenue chart

Miniclip led Sensor Tower’s July ranking of mobile publishers by US ad revenue at $47.8m, albeit with no single hit driving it – its biggest earner, Arrows Puzzle Escape, made just $6.6m. Instead, 14 separate Miniclip titles each topped $1m, more than any other publisher. That’s the opposite of most rivals: Block Blast alone makes up 96% of Hungry Studio’s $21.7m, and Candy Crush Saga drives 79% of King’s.

Learnings placed second at $42.7m (+3.4%), with Vita Mahjong supplying just under half. Tripledot took third at $40.3m, having closed its acquisition of Supersonic from Unity on August 4.

Arrow-themed puzzle games were the standout download draw in July, combining for more than 53m installs worldwide across publishers.

Miniclip’s Arrow Puzzle: Tap Puzzle Games led with 19.3m installs, ahead of Learnings’ Amaze GO! (11.9m) and Miniclip’s Arrows Puzzle Escape (11.4m) – the latter also Miniclip’s top ad revenue earner, at $6.6m.

Smash Fest spawns 70 “smash puzzle” copycats

Flow Games’ Smash Fest broke into the top 10 grossing hybridcasual games in July, less than two months after launch, says AppMagic. It has generated 15m+ installs and $4m in IAP revenue, despite being pulled from Google Play by the end of that month, according to the data firm’s estimates.

The trend is spreading fast, too; AppMagic counts 70 new “smash”-titled games this year, nearly 50 since June, with Moon Active, Azur Games, Supercent and Tripledot all now testing similar titles.

Cypher Games’ Royal Smash – Physics Puzzle, also released in July, has already hit 9m installs and $1m in revenue.

Makers Fund raises another $250m

Games-focused VC firm Makers Fund has closed its fourth fund at $250m, taking total assets under management to $1.5bn, following Fund III’s $500m close in 2022. Portfolio exits include Dream Games’ reported $5bn acquisition by CVC and Medal.tv’s evolution into AI lab General Intuition, which has since raised $134m of its own.

Surge raises $3m to build AI-powered puzzlers

Istanbul-based Surge Games has raised $3m from Simya VC, Play Ventures and Drilo, reports pocketgamer.biz. Its first title, Twin Tiles, is already live in the puzzle category, and the new funding will help grow the team and scale an AI-driven production pipeline Surge uses to test gameplay mechanics faster.

Ten Square Games’ Q2 bookings rise 14.6% to $25.3m

 

Ten Square Games posted $25.3m (PLN 93.3m) in Q2, up 14.6% year-on-year and taking H1 2026 bookings to $52m (PLN 191.7m). Adjusted EBITDA rose 13.5% quarter-on-quarter to $5.8m (PLN 21.4m), while Medal Hunter, the second title in the Group’s shooter line built around Trophy Hunter, launched globally on July 30. Direct-to-consumer sales made up 24% of Group bookings in June, reaching 33% in Fishing Clash.

Browser games platform Entity raises $5.8m

Dublin-based Entity has raised $5.8m (€5m) in seed funding for its browser-based platform, which aims to deliver console-quality games with no downloads or installs.

The round was backed by ACT, Delta Partners and Elkstone, with support from Enterprise Ireland. Entity was founded by the team behind Digit, developer of Star Trek Fleet Command, which Scopely acquired in 2019, and plans to launch in early 2027.