Our data digest column breaks down the latest data, research and financial results into digestible chunks.
Read on for the numbers you need to know about minus the fluff.
This column is sponsored by Xsolla, which can help you to create a seamless online store where web purchases can quickly generate new revenue – from launch to beyond. Get started here.
Q3 according to Sensor Tower
Gross mobile game spend hit $20.4bn in Q324, up a fraction year-on-year from the $19.7bn posted in Q323, according Sensor Tower’s meaty Q3 Market Index report.
That splits out as $13.3bn spent on iOS during Q324, and $7.07bn through Google Play, with iOS up year-on-year from $12.65bn in Q323 and Android down from $7.98bn the year prior.
Top earning games for the quarter were, predictably, Honor of Kings, Monopoly Go and Dungeon & Fighter Mobile, with Garena Free Fire, Offline Games and Roblox leading the download charts.
Sensor Tower said that the top six grossing games above – Honor of Kings, Monopoly Go, Dungeon & Fighter Mobile, Royal Match, Roblox and LastWar – all earned over $400m in total consumer spend during Q324, and Honor of Kings was “one of several” to pass the $500m mark. My Supermarket Simulator 3D was the only new game to break into the download charts for the period.
The breakdown of spend by genre above shows strategy games earnings rising while RPG declines, most notably in APC markets like Japan, China and South Korea. An 81% spike in consumer spend within the action genre was down to Dungeon & Fighter, with 99% of spend in China.
Rovio accounts for 18% of Sega’s game earnings
Sega Sammy’s game division saw first half sales rise 22% year-over-year to reach 95.6bn yen (~$622m) for the six months ended September 30, 2024, with last August’s acquisition of Rovio cited as a contributing factor to the increase.
The Angry Birds maker generated sales of 17bn yen (~$110m) during H1, which was nearly 18% of the total. Rovio is expected to contribute 43.3bn yen (~$281.5m) in sales during its first full business year as a Sega subsidiary, about 18.5% of the wider division’s projected 235bn yen (~$1.53bn) total.
Playtika revenue dips 1.5% in Q3
Playtika has posted revenue of $620.8m for its Q3 ended in September, which was down 1% sequentially and 1.5% year-over-year. It reported DTC platform revenue of $174.4m, an increase of 0.4% sequentially and 8.3% year-over-year.
Net income for the period totalled $39.3m, down 54.6% sequentially but up 3.7% year-over-year, while credit adjusted EBITDA was $197.2m, an increase of 3.2% sequentially and drop of 4.1% year-over-year.
The Israeli publisher, which expects to close its previously announced acquisition of SuperPlay during the current quarter, also released the following numbers as part of its Q3 results:
- Average daily paying users totalled 301K, up 1% sequentially and 0.7% year-over-year
- Average payer conversion of 4%, up from 3.7% in Q2 and 3.6% in Q3 2023
- Revenue across its top three games increased 1.1% sequentially and decreased 0.8% year-over-year
- Bingo Blitz revenue was $159.9m, a 2.7% increase sequentially and 6.8% rise year-over-year
- Solitaire Grand Harvest revenue came in at $79m, up 6.5% sequentially but down 0.2% year-over-year
- Slotomania revenue was $128.7m, a 3.8% sequential drop and 9.3% year-over-year decline
More players are accepting app tracking, says Singular
Following two quarters of declines, opt-in rates for app tracking transparency (ATT) on iOS rose considerably in Q3 2024, according to research from analytics and attribution firm Singular.
While the ATT opt-in rate fell to a historical low of 13.85% in Q2, it rebounded to 16.35% in Q3, drawing closer to Q3 2023’s record opt-in rate of 18.9%.
18.59% of gamers agreed to ATT when prompted, compared to around 11.92% on non-gaming apps. That gap of 6.67% was basically flat compared to Q2, having been closer in Q4 2023 (1%) and Q1 2024 (4.1%).
The genre most likely to attract a positive response to ATT was adventure (26%), followed closely by casual (26%) and card (25%) games.
Trivia (15%), family (15%) and hypercasual (14%) are generally low performers. The genre least likely to attract a positive response to ATT was casino (6%).
Singular’s giant report has plenty more data to chew on, including cost per install on iOS and Android, the genres with the most downloads and highest click-through rates, and ad spend split between platforms.
Take-Two’s mobile revenue rises 15% in Q2
Revenue for Take-Two’s mobile business during Q2 was up 14.5% year-over-year to $740.2m. Mobile accounted for 55% of all Take-Two revenue ($1.35bn) during the quarter. It also made up 55% ($1.46bn) of the Grand Theft Auto publisher’s total revenue ($2.69bn) during H1.
Top revenue drivers on mobile included Toon Blast, Match Factory, Empires & Puzzles, Words With Friends, and Take-Two’s hypercasual portfolio. Citing Sensor Tower data covering April 2023 to March 2024, the company said it had 15 of the top 200 grossing US mobile games based on in-app purchase revenue.
For comments from Take-Two’s management and more of its Q2 numbers, check out our previous reporting here.
AppLovin’s Q3 revenue jumps 39% to $1.2bn
Adtech giant AppLovin has reported strong results for its Q3 2024 earnings this month, with revenue up 39% year-over-year to $1.2bn, and profitability as measured by adjusted EBITDA up 72% to $722m.
Revenue for its ad business during the three months ended September 30 increased 66% year-over-year, while revenue for its games arm rose 1% to $363m.
Unity reports 18% revenue decline for Q3
Engine giant Unity saw Q3 revenue fall 18% year-over-year to $447m. Net loss for the quarter was flat year-over-year at $125m, while profitability as measured by adjusted EBITDA dropped 2% to $92m. See our previous reporting for a more detailed breakdown of Unity’s quarterly results, and news about its appointment of a new CFO.
