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.
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IDFA and TikTok denting US mobile game downloads, says Ball
Analyst and commentator Matthew Ball published his State of Video Gaming in 2025 presentation yesterday, noting on X that “despite tens of millions more US smartphone owners, IDFA and TikTok (social video) have resulted in fewer quarterly mobile game downloads in the US than in 2018.”
The report also notes that the global games industry is actually shrinking in real terms, and that VC investment in the space has plummeted since the highs of 2022. It also estimates that mobile now represents 55% of the total games market.
It’s worth reading the mobile section of the presentation, pages 27-42, here, which also highlights the difference between COD: Mobile and the newer Warzone Mobile (as we’ve also reported previously) as an example of how dominant older games are compared to new launches.
Apple accused of overcharging UK consumers $1.8bn
A class action lawsuit accusing Apple of overcharging UK consumers by up to $1.8bn went to trial on Monday, Reuters reports.
The claim, which was brought on behalf of some 20m iOS users, alleges that Apple’s commission charges of up to 30% on sales are unfair and only possible due to its “100% monopoly” on the distribution of apps.
Plaintiffs argue that this anti-competitive set-up allows Apple to reap exorbitant profits from third-party developers (some of whom are seeking their own compensation in a separate case), with the cost ultimately being passed on to consumers.
Apple says 85% of developers don’t pay any commission at all, contends that these charges reflect “the enormous benefits conferred through Apple’s innovation by the iOS ecosystem as a whole”.
Aonic invests $10m in rewards platform Mega Fortuna
Gaming and tech group Aonic has invested $10m in loyalty and rewards platform Megafortuna, best known for its ‘play and earn’ app Richie Games.
The deal also includes an option for Aonic to acquire the entire share capital of Mega Fortuna for a valuation of up to $70m.
Grand Games secures $30m investment
Grand Games has raised $30m in a Series A funding round, TechCrunch reports. It was led by Balderton Capital, with participation from existing investors Bek Ventures, Laton Ventures, and angel investor Mert Gür.
The Istanbul-based studio was founded by veterans of Zen Match maker Good Job Games. It released its first titles, Magic Sort and Car Match, in April and July 2024 respectively.
Together they generated over $4m in gross IAP revenue within three months, according to the company, which also said it is planning to open new studios in the Turkish city.
AppsFlyer’s top app marketing data trends
Marketing and analytics firm AppsFlyer has published a report reflecting on 2024’s mobile app marketing trends in ad spend, revenue, paid acquisition, remarketing, owned media, and creative.
Among its findings, user acquisition ad spend rose 5% year-over-year to reach $65bn globally (excluding China). This increase was driven by 8% growth in non-gaming apps, while gaming apps were down 7%. Within gaming, UA ad spend for hypercasual grew 3%, while there were declines in casual (-1%), sports and racing (-6%), casino (-12%) and midcore (-21%).
Gaming IAP revenue remained stable or fell slightly in 2024, with casino games up 4% year-over-year, midcore declining 2%, and casual down 5%.
IAA revenue grew 7% in gaming, driven by the adoption of hybrid monetisation strategies. Midcore was up 21% year-over-year, hypercasual rose 8%, and casual was up 1%.
In gaming, there was a “slight” year-over-year increase in paid installs, with sports and racing games up 18%, casual games rising 14%, and midcore up 6%. Paid installs among hypercasual games fell 4% compared to 2023, while casino games were down 15%.
Paid remarketing conversions grew 10 times faster than paid installs across non-gaming and gaming apps. Gaming remarketing conversions last year were up 27% compared to 2023.
In terms of overall game installs, Venezuela saw the biggest year-over-year growth (+25%) in 2024, followed by Pakistan (+12%) and Uzbekistan (+11%). There were declines in the US (-4%) and the UK (-4%).
Across gaming categories there were year-over-year increases for midcore (+5%), casual (+4%) and sports and racing (+1%) games. And there were declines for casino (-5%) and hypercasual (-10%) titles.
MAG offloads Sventertainment and quiz app Primetime
MAG Interactive has offloaded Sventertainment and its live trivia app Primetime in a bid to streamline its operations and boost profitability.
Having acquired the Swedish developer and its quiz title in 2020 in a deal that was potentially worth up to $7m, it has sold them back to founder Martin Palm for 1 SEK ($0.9).
On an annual basis, the company expects the divestment to result in reduced operational costs of $1.1m, reduced revenue of approximately $620k, and increased profitability (EBIT) of $443k.
Zenless Zone Zero hits $250m
Pocketgamer.biz ran the numbers via Appmagic on Mihoyo’s latest launch Zenless Zone Zero, and notes a big spike during December 2024 that pushed the game past $250m in lifetime revenue on mobile.
It notes that a new single-day revenue peak was reached on December 18, when the gacha RPG earned $8.6m.
