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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IAP revenue topped $20bn in Q4 2024
IAP revenue from the App Store and Google Play in Q4 2024 increased by 2.6% year-over-year to $20.23bn.
That’s according to data from Sensor Tower, which published the estimate in its Q4 2024 digital market index report.
IAP revenue from iOS games grew 5% YoY to $13.5bn, while revenue from Android titles fell 1.6% to $7.08bn.
App Store games generated 65% of total IAP revenue in Q4 2024, slightly more than the 63.5% they did a year earlier.
Game downloads in Q4 fell 4.2% year-over-year to 12bn, with Google Play accounting for 83% of the total.
Google Play game downloads declined 6% YoY to 9.9bn, while App Store game downloads increased 5.8% to 2bn.
Strategy was the top genre in terms of IAP revenue in Q4, generating $4.8bn, which was up 27% YoY.
That was enough to surpass the RPG genre, which saw revenue decline 20% YoY to $3.87bn.
When it came to downloads in Q4, three genres dominated, accounting for approximately 60% of the total.
Puzzle games led the way with 2.43bn downloads (-2% YoY), ahead of simulation titles with 2.39bn downloads (+3% YoY) and arcade games with 2.29bn downloads (-5% YoY).
Honor of Kings generated the most IAP revenue in Q4, as it did in Q3, while Garena Free Fire also retained its spot at the top of the worldwide download chart.
Following its release in late October, Pokémon TCG Pocket placed at number seven on the IAP revenue chart and at number five on the download rankings for Q4.
AppLovin’s Max used by 55% of top grossing games
GameBiz Consulting has published an analysis of the mobile mediation space in 2025, which shows the extent to which AppLovin’s Max is dominating the market.
Based on Appmagic data for March, it calculated which mediation products were being used by the 175 most downloaded games featuring ads, and the 60 highest grossing games that included ads.
Of the top downloaded games it analysed, almost three quarters (73.2%) used MAX, which came in ahead of AdMob (11.4%), LevelPlay (5.7%), Own (4.6%), FairBid (3.4%) and unknown (1.7%).
MAX had a 55% mediation market share for the top grossing games, followed by LevelPlay (25%), AdMob (13.3%) and unknown (6.7%).
‘Screw puzzle’ games generated $27m in Q1
Screw puzzle games are one of the best growing genres of 2025, according to new figures from Appmagic. In Q1 2025, the genre topped $27m in revenue, which was almost four times more than it generated in the same quarter last year.
In April, screw puzzle games accounted for 34.3% of overall hypercasual games revenue, which was second to block puzzle titles (48.8%), but far ahead of sort puzzle (7.4%) and other genres (9.5%).
The wool puzzle category is a sub-genre of screw puzzle games that’s currently gaining traction. While just seven wool-themed games had been released before 2025, 19 have launched this year, including 14 in April and May, Appmagic says.
Recent releases are looking to emulate the install performance of Wing Soft’s Wool Sort, which replaces screws with thread spools. Released in February, it’s the top trending screw puzzle game over the last three months with over 4m downloads.
However, Wool Sort’s heavy reliance on an ad revenue driven monetisation model means its lifetime earnings of $45k compare unfavourably to the genre’s top performers, including IAP leaders like Rollic’s Screw Jam.
Embracer’s mobile revenue down 31% after Easybrain sale
Embracer’s mobile segment saw net sales for Q4 fall 31% year-over-year to SEK 943 million ($99.2m), driven by the divestment of Easybrain, which was completed on January 23.
However, for the three months ended March 31, the company said mobile games sales grew 30% organically, compared with 3% organic growth in Q3.
Adjusted EBIT in Q4 declined 82% year-over-year to SEK 91 million ($9.6m), generating a 10% margin, which was down from 38% a year earlier.
The top five revenue generating titles in the quarter included four from DECA Games, which houses eight internal studios including CrazyLabs. They were Bus Frenzy – Traffic Jam, Glow Fashion Idol, Alien Invasion and Coffee Mania.
Total installs in Q4 fell 18% year-over-year to 204m, daily active users declined 3.4% to 28m, and monthly active users dropped 3.1% to 222m.
NetEase Q1 revenue up 7% to $4bn
Chinese tech giant NetEase’s net revenue for Q1 increased 7% year-over-year to hit RMB 28.8bn ($4bn).
Games and related value-added services accounted for 83.3% of its total quarterly revenue, generating RMB 24bn ($3.34bn) during the three months ended in March, which was up 11.6% year-over-year.
97.5% of the gaming segment’s net revenue came from online titles, compared with 95.2% in Q1 2024.
Gross profit for the quarter was up 8.8% year-over-year to RMB 18.5bn ($2.5bn).
Among its operational highlights, NetEase said the mobile version of multiplayer survival game Once Human claimed the number one position on the iOS download charts in more than 160 regions when it was released in April.
Voya Games raises $5m to launch Craft World
Berlin-based VOYA Games has raised $5m to help launch its debut title Craft World. The funding round was co-led by 1kx and Makers Fund, with participation from RockawayX, and angel investors Jeff Zirlin, co-founder of Sky Mavis, and Sébastien Borget, co-founder of The Sandbox.
Currently in testing on iOS and Android and scheduled to launch this summer, Craft World is a web3 casual resource management game which sees players rebuilding civilisation after a meteor hits earth.
VOYA’s co-founders include CEO Oliver Löffler, who also co-founded Idle Miner Tycoon maker Kolibri Games, which was later acquired by Ubisoft.
Oncade raises $4m for new game monetisation platform
San Francisco-based Oncade has raised $4m in a seed round led by a16z CSX. The funding will be used to help launch a new game monetisation platform which lets developers sell directly to players off-platform through community-driven stores.
Oncade was co-founded by CEO Stavros Lee, who was formerly director of engineering at OUYA and Razer, and COO Greg Reisdorf, who was previously multiplayer creative director at Call of Duty studio Sledgehammer Games.
