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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Scopely hits $15bn in lifetime revenue
Scopely released ’15 stats for 15 years’ as part of its anniversary celebrations this week. Conveniently, it says it has amassed $15bn in lifetime revenue in those 15 years, with 2bn lifetime downloads, ‘hundreds of millions’ of players each year and over 3,000 staff across four continents and over 30 countries.
It has also acquired over 10 teams and games, and says it owns six ‘billion dollar plus’ game franchises.
Fortnite V-Bucks prices rise so Epic can “pay the bills”
Starting on March 19, Epic will be charging more for V-Bucks because “The cost of running Fortnite has gone up a lot”. Epic says the price rises are “to help pay the bills”.
Fortnite’s Battle Pass will now cost 800 V-Bucks, having previously cost 1,000 V-Bucks. The ‘V-Bucks grant’ in Fortnite Crew will also drop from 1,000 to 800.
Over 1bn play mobile games daily, says Axon research
AppLovin’s Axon division conducted some research with Kantar to better understand the average US mobile player. A survey of ‘2,500 US mobile gamers’ suggests that the demographic split closely resembles the average US citizen.
“Mobile gamers closely mirror the U.S. adult population across age, gender, income, education, and geography,” says the blog. “They are pet owners, sports fans, food enthusiasts, and budget-conscious shoppers. They live in urban and rural communities. They work full-time jobs. This is not a niche audience. It is mass reach.”
70% per cent of the players surveyed open a game every day, says Axon, and 97% play weekly. This being Axon, there were also some insights on the impact of ads on the mobile gaming experience.
“Thirty-eight percent of mobile gamers report purchasing a product within three months of seeing an ad in a mobile game,” the blog continued. “Among those buyers, seventy-one percent acted the same day. Thirty-seven percent purchased something they had not previously considered. The ad introduced them to it.”
Unity reportedly exploring $1bn sale of China business
Unity Technologies is considering selling its China business, Bloomberg reports. The San Francisco-based engine maker has employed an advisor to sound out interest in Unity China, and could target a valuation above $1bn, its sources claim.
Unity China is a regional joint venture established in 2022, backed by local partners including Alibaba, China Mobile, miHoYo, and ByteDance. Niko Partners says it’s estimated to generate annual revenue in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and that as of mid-2025, it had 4.5m cumulative registered developers.
Apple ‘collecting $41m’ in iOS commission daily from top publishers
Apple is estimated to be collecting $41m in iOS commission from the top 200 game publishers daily. That’s according to data from mobile gaming DTC platform Appcharge.
The iPhone maker generally charges a 30% platform fee on all App Store IAPs, as does Google with its Android Play Store. However, last week Google announced plans to reduce its store fees, which will effectively be going down to 20%.
Mini Golf Club hits 1m downloads on Google Play
Mini Golf Club has surpassed 1m downloads on Android, according to publisher BoomBit. The online multiplayer game, which sees players compete in fast-paced mini golf tournaments, was released in December 2025 and is also available on iOS.
Survey finds competition is the biggest hurdle for mobile game devs
Research published by engine maker Unity suggests competition is the biggest obstacle for mobile game studios today. Having surveyed 300 developers for its 2026 Unity Gaming Report, 33% of those polled said competition was the largest hurdle they faced, closely followed by user acquisition (30%). Almost one in five (17%) respondents identified discoverability as the top challenge they face.
When it comes to which platforms studios are targeting to expand the reach of their games, 30% of respondents said they plan to release their next title on PC, narrowly ahead of mobile (28%). Handheld gaming platforms (16%) came in next, ahead of traditional consoles (13%), the web (8%) and XR (3%).
Asked how they think the industry can grow, 29% of respondents said diversified business strategies can help the sector maintain momentum. Over a quarter (26%) of those surveyed said mobile could help spur growth, followed by improvements in player targeting (19%), deeper integrations and partnerships with players outside of games (9%), and better discoverability on existing digital storefronts (8%).
