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 minus the fluff.
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Royal Kingdom ads boost Dream’s revenue and downloads
Splashing out on celebrity endorsements featuring the likes of Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart, Modern Family and Friends stars saw Dream Games’ digital ad spend increase 142% between Q1 2025 and just the first two months of Q2.
That’s according to a new Sensor Tower report which analyses the significant impact that multiple celebrity ad campaigns have had on the puzzle game’s performance in recent months.
Royal Kingdom downloads grew 581% between April 12 and May 3, while revenue jumped 30%.
Daily active users also rose 213% between April 1 and May 25, helping the game climb 88 places to the 25th spot year to date (as of May 25) in overall US category rankings.
After Dream Games launched what is likely the most expensive celebrity mobile game ad campaign ever, we looked into how much stars got paid for their appearances. A recent report from AppsFlyer also included an analysis of the impact celebrities have in mobile game advertising.
King veterans Studio555 raise $4.6m
Studio555 has raised €4m ($4.6m) in seed funding which will be used to develop a game-like app that lets users create interior design spaces without requiring technical expertise, VentureBeat reports.
The funding round was led by HOF Capital and Failup Ventures, with participation from the likes of Small Giant Games co-founder Timo Soininen, Supercell co-founder Mikko Kodisoja, and King co-founder Riccardo Zacconi.
Entrepreneur and CEO Joel Roos co-founded the Nordic tech company in 2023 with Candy Crush Saga veterans Axel Ullberger and Stina Larsson, who are serving as CPO/creative director and CTO respectively.
Bigger Games lands $25m
Istanbul-based Bigger Games has raised $25m in a Series A funding round led by Goodwater Capital, GamesBeat reports.
Arcadia Gaming Partners, the mobile gaming fund launched by Tripledot co-founder and former Facebook exec Akin Babayigit, also participated in the fundraise, as did Bek Ventures, Laton Ventures, and angel investor Mert Gür.
Hoop Stack maker Bigger plans to use the funds to further refine and scale its match 3 puzzle adventure Kitchen Masters. CEO and co-founder Hakan Ulvan said the firm is also prioritising growing its marketing team over the next 12-24 months.
Clash Royale monthly revenue spikes to $27.7m
Supercell’s Clash Royale achieved its highest monthly revenue in three years in May, Appmagic reports. Boosted by the launch of its latest season, A Tale of Thieves, plus a greater presence on influencer channels, the game is estimated to have generated $27.7m last month.
Having launched in 2016, Clash Royale lifetime revenue now stands at $3.3bn and user spending at $5.45bn. The game has been downloaded over 656m times to date, with revenue per download of $4.99.
Ten Square’s D2C store nears 25% of total bookings
Ten Square Games says it’s closing in on its target of generating 25% of its bookings through its D2C store. Launched in May 2023, the TSG Store is a browser-based marketplace which lets players buy in-game content for the Polish developer’s two flagship titles, Fishing Clash and Hunting Clash.
In March, the store accounted for 19.1% of bookings across its portfolio, including 26.1% of Fishing Clash’s and 17.5% of Hunting Clash’s. And in May, the store achieved its highest levels of bookings to date, generating 30% of combined bookings in Fishing Clash and Hunting Clash.
CSR 2 tops $1bn in user spending
Nine years since its release, NaturalMotion’s CSR 2 has reached $1bn in user spending, according to Appmagic.
The data firm says the drag racer has earned Zynga $601m in lifetime revenue and 158m downloads, and has a global RPD of $3.81.
CSR 2 is reportedly Zynga’s fourth-highest earning title by IAP revenue, accounting for 7.5% of the publisher’s total.
Southeast Asia IAP revenue hit $625m in Q1
During the first three months of 2025, IAP revenue for mobile games in Southeast Asia (SEA) grew 1% from the previous quarter to reach $625m – enough for the market to rank seventh globally, according to Sensor Tower’s latest regional report.
Collectively, SEA was also the second biggest global market by downloads in Q1, trailing only India. Downloads were up 3% from the previous quarter to 1.93bn.
Despite its relatively small population compared to the likes of Indonesia and the Philippines, Thailand was SEA’s biggest IAP revenue generator in Q1 with $162m. Contributing factors include its strong digital payment infrastructure and effective localisation.
Indonesia dominated SEA mobile game downloads in Q1 with 870m, which was up 9% from the previous quarter. Its closest competitors were the Philippines and Vietnam, with 366m (-1%) and 329m (+2%) downloads respectively
SEA’s top sub-genre by IAP revenue in Q1 was 4X strategy. It saw quarter-over-quarter growth of 17.6%, and Last War: Survival was the top app by revenue within the category.
The top sub-genre by downloads was platformer/runner arcade games, which saw a quarter-over-quarter increase of 16%. The most downloaded app within the sub-genre was Super Bear Adventure.
Moonton’s MOBA Mobile Legends: Bang Bang led quarter-over-quarter earnings growth to overtake Konami’s eFootball at the top of the SEA earnings chart for Q1.
Hungry Studio’s Block Blast saw the highest downloads growth quarter-over-quarter, but came second in terms of overall downloads to Garena Free Fire, which retained the top spot it also held in Q4.
Fallout Shelter has reached 230m installs
Fallout Shelter has been installed over 230m times since release in 2015, according to Bethesda.
The download figure was published to coincide with the game’s tenth anniversary. To celebrate, Bethesda is giving away some exclusive virtual items and log-in bonuses. Fallout Shelter was also released for PC in 2016, for Xbox the following year, and for PlayStation and Nintendo Switch in 2018.
Revenue spiked last April after the game received a major update featuring content inspired by the hit Fallout TV series.
Crossovers boost PUBG and Call of Duty Mobile revenues
GameRefinery’s latest monthly mobile games market review includes news on crossover-fuelled revenue spikes for PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile.
According to its data, which covers the US market and iOS only, daily revenue for Tencent’s battle royale shooter jumped by over 300% in the 48 hours following the May 7 launch of an Attack on Titan collaboration, which featured a themed battle pass and multiple gachas.
A COD Mobile crossover with another popular Japanese anime also proved a big success. Featuring events, challenges, and rewards based on The Seven Deadly Sins, the collaboration saw daily revenue on iOS double over the first two days of its launch.
New MOBA mode boosts Brawl Stars revenue
Daily Brawl Stars revenue increased by 84.25% ($421k) on June 5, coinciding with the launch of the game’s latest season and a new 3v3 MOBA-style mode called Brawl Arena. While notable, the revenue spike that accompanied the new season was “not one of the game’s largest”, according to Appmagic.
Guess Their Answer surpasses 100m downloads
Trivia game Guess Their Answer has hit 100m downloads, publisher TapNation has announced.
According to the Paris-based company’s website, its games have achieved over 1.4bn downloads and have 60m monthly active users.
Its most downloaded titles are Thief Puzzle: To Pass a Level (300m+), Ice Cream Inc. (290m+) and Giant Rush (205m+).
