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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Sensor Tower snaps up Appmagic
Sensor Tower has acquired Appmagic, promising to turn its new buy into its “small and medium-sized business offering”.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition comes a little over two years after Sensor Tower completed the acquisition of fellow former rival market intelligence firm data.ai.
Grand Games raises $70m
Istanbul-based hybridcasual studio Grand Games has secured $70m in Series B funding.
With six live games and more than 50m downloads worldwide, Grand currently employs around 75 people and two of its titles – Magic Sort and Block Out – recently ranked number one and two on the US iOS downloads chart, the company says.
This latest funding round brings total funding to $103m. It was led by Balderton Capital’s Growth Fund, alongside Bek Ventures and Laton Ventures.
InMobi acquires MobileAction
Global tech firm InMobi has acquired MobileAction for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2013, MobileAction describes itself as an AI-powered analytics company, known for its expertise in Apple Ads and App Store Optimisation. Its clients include Google, Meta, Doordash, Square, Zalando, Playtika, and Priceline.
“The acquisition strengthens InMobi Advertising’s ability to help brands reach new app users across the iOS ecosystem, both through organic growth, and AI-powered optimisation,” the company said.
Kohort raises $7m
Mobile gaming analytics company Kohort has completed a $7m Series A fundraising round to help build UA agents for mobile game makers.
The funding, led by The Raine Group, will be used to launch a “full suite of UA agents” to boost campaign optimisation, deep research and automated reporting.
Smartly swoops for Incrmntal
Smartly has completed its acquisition of Incrmntal, an AI-powered intelligence and incrementality measurement platform.
The partnership pairs real-time causal measurement with Smartly’s “creative and media optimisation capabilities”, which hopes to drive growth so marketers can act quickly on insights and give brands and agencies greater control.
Smartly says it supports over 800 brands and manages over $7bn in ad spend globally.
AppLovin revenue is up 59%
AppLovin’s Q1 2026 results show revenue of $1.84bn, up 59% YoY and 11% sequentially.
Net income saw even greater gains, up 109% from $576m in March 2025 to $1.2bn as at 31st March, 2026, with April the “largest month for consumer-vertical advertiser spend” in the company’s history.
The quarter extended “a multi-quarter run of consistent growth, record margins, and strong cash generation”, the company said.
Action and strategy games represent over 50% of mobile IAP revenue
Action and strategy games account for half of all mobile IAP revenue, according to a new report from Sensor Tower.
It claims that while Steam leads the charge on growth, mobile games focus better on monetisation. However, it does suggest that the classic gacha formula – which kept RPGs at the top of the mobile charts throughout 2023 – is “finally losing its steam”.
“On the mobile side, download numbers are still sliding, but revenue is warming up,” the report states. “This shift in strategy appears to be intentional. Instead of just hunting for new installs, publishers are doubling down on the players they already have, focusing on engagement and monetisation from their core player base rather than chasing volume.”
A huge Brawl Stars comeback and the release of Dungeon Fighter Mobile did drive a temporary 78% growth spike. However, the report suggests “that momentum didn’t last, as the category took a 30% dip in 2025”.
Playtika revenue is up almost 10% YoY
Playtika has reported revenue of $744.7m, up 9.7% on the previous quarter, and 5.5% year-over-year, with record direct-to-consumer revenue of $291.8m – up 62.8% on the same period last year.
With the firm performing “ahead of expectations”, new CFO Tae Lee – who stepped into the role on May 5 – said the company’s performance reflects a “planned, front-loaded investment cadence as SuperPlay scales, which we expect to normalise over the year.”
This is the result of a boost in average daily paying users and a consistent 4.5% average player conversion rate.
“We delivered a strong start to 2026, led by continued momentum in Disney Solitaire and another quarter of record-breaking performance in Direct-to-Consumer,” said CEO Robert Antokol.
In the same earnings call, Antokol also said Playtika had completed its transition to a casual-first mobile game publisher, and is effectively leaving social casino behind.
