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.
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.
Papaya ordered to pay Skillz $420m in damages
Competitive mobile gaming firm Skillz is to receive $420m in damages from rival Papaya Gaming after the latter firm was found guilty of false advertising.
A US judge found Papaya guilty of using bots and predetermined outcomes at scale, meaning that many advertised prizes were won by bots, and not humans. The court said Skillz could also receive at least $652m in the profits Papaya made from the fraudulent activity.
PlaySimple files for $355m IPO
MTG’s Indian subsidiary PlaySimple Games has filed for an initial public offering worth up to 31.5bn rupees ($335m).
Founded in 2014, PlaySimple has a casual puzzle games portfolio of over 30 live games including Word Search Explorer, Daily Themed Crossword, Crossword Jam, Word Trip and Word Jam.
Swedish roll-up group MTG acquired PlaySimple in 2021 for around $360m. It plans to remain a majority owner following the completion of the IPO.
March’s top grossing games in the US
According to Sensor Tower data published by research firm Circana, the top 10 mobile games by US consumer spend in March (and the change in ranking compared to February) were:
1. Monopoly Go (-)
2. Last War: Survival (-)
3. Royal Match (-)
4. Candy Crush Saga (-)
5. Gossip Harbor (-)
6. Kingshot (-)
7. Whiteout Survival (-)
8. Pokémon Go (+1)
9. Township (-1)
10. Royal Kingdom (-)
“While Pokémon Go maintained its momentum from the high performing Road to Kalos event in late February, this performance is expected to cool off in April,” said Sensor Tower insights analyst Bryan Isagholian.
“Monopoly Go has seen revenue decline by over 10% QoQ for the second consecutive quarter, yet the title remains firmly in first place. Conversely, Gossip Harbor has delivered three consecutive quarters of revenue growth.”
US consumer spending on video game content across all platforms in March rose 8% year-over-year to $4.55bn, driven by the console segment. Year to date spending on content is up 3% YoY to $12.83bn.
India Q1 mobile game revenue jumped 15% YoY
Mobile game revenue in India increased 15% YoY in Q1 2026, significantly outperforming the global average of 0.4% YoY, Sensor Tower reports.
The research firm didn’t specify game IAP revenue for Q1. Instead, it said IAP revenue across the overall mobile app market topped $300m, with non-gaming apps generating over $200m.
The highest earning games during the quarter were Garena’s Free Fire, Krafton’s PUBG Battlegrounds, Moon Active’s Coin Master, King’s Candy Crush Saga, and Konami’s eFootball. The puzzle genre emerged as a key growth driver, with revenue up 78% YoY.
Sensor Tower said game downloads remained stable in Q1 at over 1.7bn. Gametion’s Ludo King, Free Fire, and Miniclip’s Cricket League took the top three spots on the download chart, with Supercent’s Pizza Ready and Miniclip’s Carrom Pool rounding off the top five.
Delta Force hits daily revenue peak of $7m
Delta Force hit a new daily revenue high of $7m on April 17, Appmagic reports. It followed the launch of one the game’s most significant updates of 2026, which added new maps, a fresh operator and a paid limited-time event.
Tencent’s game earned $144m in IAP revenue during the first three months of this year, which was almost 6x as much as it did in the first quarter of 2025. Lifetime revenue stands at $556m, with the game racking up 75m downloads.
Since Q3 2025, the only shooter to earn more quarterly revenue than Delta Force is PUBG Mobile. The former accounts for 2% of the shooter market’s lifetime revenue and generated 14% of it in Q1 2026.
PUBG Mobile is the top-earning shooter by lifetime revenue, with $9.9bn from 1.3bn downloads. It’s followed by Free Fire ($3.5bn, 2.1bn), Call of Duty Mobile ($2bn, 456m), Knives Out ($1.9bn, 97m) and CrossFire: Legends ($1.6bn, 96m).
Tile Explorer and Vita Mahjong top March’s ad charts
Vita Mahjong’s eight-month run as the most heavily advertised game on both iOS and Android has finally been broken, with Oakever’s Tile Explorer topping March’s iOS ad chart.
SpinX Games’ Cash Frenzy, Oakever’s Zen Word, and Nebula’s Mahjong Blast rounded off the iOS top five, based on data from ad intelligence platform SocialPeta.
Vita Mahjong remained the most heavily advertised game on Android in March, with Tile Explorer in second place, ahead of Zen Word, Hungry’s Block Blast and Oakever’s Jigsawscapes.
Stillfront’s games reached 38m MAU in 2025
Stillfront’s games portfolio, which includes Supremacy, Big, Empire, Albion, Board, Jawaker and Bitlife, attracted 38.45m monthly active users in 2025. That figure was down 21.3% YoY, according to the firm’s recently published annual report. Daily active users also declined 20% YoY to 7.22m, while average revenue per daily active user was up 6.5% YoY to SEK 2.12 ($0.22).
In 2025, net revenue for the Swedish roll-up group fell 15% YoY to SEK 5.71bn ($619.4m). It also reported a reduced annual operating loss of SEK 1.74bn ($188.7m), while EBITDA was down 6.2% YoY to SEK 2.01bn ($218m), and adjusted EBITDA dropped 7.5% YoY to SEK 2.08bn ($225.6m).
PvX Partners secures $10.5m Series A funding
Financing platform PvX Partners has raised $10.5m in a Series A funding round led by T-Accelerate Capital, Z Venture Capital and Drive by DraftKings. The firm’s earliest backers, Play Ventures and General Catalyst, made follow-on investments in the round too.
PvX also said it has surpassed $750m in committed UA financing, which is up from $250m announced in October 2025. The Singapore-based firm, which has worked with companies including Top App Games, Mysterytag, Playsome, Fumb Games and Smash Games, is aiming to quadruple its deal volume in 2026.
Spill Games closes $3.1m seed funding round
Bengaluru-based Spill Games has raised $3.1m in seed funding from Centre Court Capital and PeerCapital, The Economic Times reports.
Founded in 2024 by Om Misra, Tapan Ranjan and Harsh Garg, who previously worked together at MTG’s PlaySimple, Spill’s portfolio includes Zen Math Crossword, Sticker by Number, Fruit Merge, Cozy Finds and Grill Master. It has around 300,000 MAUs.
Over the next 18 months, Spill plans to test more than 20 prototypes, and it’s targeting a diversified catalogue of five to ten profitable games.
“A large part of this funding will go into growth, especially user acquisition, which is critical in building global free-to-play gaming businesses, backing promising titles with conviction, and continuing to deepen our technology advantage,” said Spill CEO Misra.
