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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Roblox shares jumped 11% after RDC announcements
Roblox’s raft of RDC announcements included plans to let creators ship games as standalone apps.
Asian firms dominate Sensor Tower’s August growth chart
According to Sensor Tower, Sony topped IAP revenue growth in August with $26.7m (+84%), driven by Fate/Grand Order’s 11th anniversary and Summer 2026 events. Century Games ($12.3m, +3.9%) released two new games: Lordrush and Hotel Legacy.
Nexon and Devsisters had success spinning off from existing IP, and Roblox was the only non-Asian publisher in the top 10 ($8.9m, +12%), with growth split across the US (+2.0m MoM, +11%), South Korea (+1.2m, +39%) and the UK (+842K, +32%) around its 20th anniversary on September 1.
Heartopia is now making $20m a month
Life sim Heartopia has hit $20m in monthly IAP revenue according to AppMagic. That’s a new record for the Simulation genre, surpassing Aobi Island’s previous benchmark of $7.7m per month.
The data firm estimates that XD Network’s life sim has now generated over $130m in lifetime IAP revenue from ~37m downloads since it launched in January this year.
Pocket Worlds acquires Hotel Hideaway
Pocket Worlds has acquired Hotel Hideaway, the 3D social world built by Sulake, the Finnish studio behind Habbo Hotel. Hotel Hideaway has racked up more than 32m registered users since its 2018 launch and currently has around 300,000 monthly active players. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
It joins Highrise and Everskies under Pocket Worlds, which claims it has over 80m registered players.
Clash of Critters breaks into the top ‘coin looter’ games
Farlight Games’ Clash of Critters broke into the top five grossing ‘coin looter’ titles in June, says AppMagic. It earned $5.5m in IAP revenue in June before climbing further to hit $8.9m in August. That puts it fourth among the genre’s top-grossing titles.
The game has generated over 12.5m installs and $24m in IAP revenue since its May 2026 global launch, standing out from genre norms with plinko-style mechanics instead of slots or dice. Its top markets are the US (40%), Japan (13%) and Singapore (5%).
Newzoo: mobile revenue set to hit $121.1bn in 2026
Newzoo’s 2026 Global Games Market Report forecasts mobile revenue will grow 6.8% year-on-year to $121.1bn in 2026, making up 56.6% of the total $213.9bn global games market.
That growth comes despite downloads falling 25% year-on-year in H1 2026, with the report noting that spend now increasingly comes from established live-service titles rather than new players acquired by UA. Cost per install has also risen 30% to $0.56 globally, with the paid-to-organic ratio up 61%.
StoryToys revenue up 43% in H1
Everplay Group’s half-year results show StoryToys, the kids’ edutainment arm behind Lego Bluey and Disney Coloring World, grew revenue 43% to £15.9m in H1 2026, while active subscribers rose 22% to 408k.
Downloads topped 18m and monthly active users peaked at 9.3m during the half.
Playkot’s Age of Magic hits $120m lifetime revenue on its 8th anniversary
Playkot says its RPG Age of Magic has generated $120m in revenue and surpassed 20m installs worldwide since launch eight years ago.
