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, offering the #1 web shop solution for mobile games that generates more value, purchases, and revenue. Get started here.
Monopoly Go leads August’s US mobile market
US consumer spending on video game content in August rose 11% YoY to $4.18bn, according to data from Sensor Tower and market research firm Circana.
The increase was attributed to the release of NBA 2K26, which was the month’s best-seller on both PlayStation and Xbox, and a 6% bump in mobile game spending. US spending on video game content across all platforms in the first eight months of 2025 is flat YoY at $32.85bn.
The top 10 mobile games by US consumer spend in August (plus their rank change compared to July) were:
1. Monopoly Go (-)
2. Royal Match (-)
3. Last War: Survival (-)
4. Candy Crush Saga (-)
5. Clash Royale (+2)
6. Pokémon Go (+6)
7. Kingshot (+1)
8. Whiteout Survival (-3)
9. Free Fire (-3)
10. Royal Kingdom (-1)
“This is a new age of the US top ten,” said Sensor Tower senior insights analyst Sam Aune. “Newcomers like Kingshot and Royal Kingdom are scaling and breaking in, while mainstays like Playrix’s Gardenscapes and Homescapes have been banished to the top twenty.”
“Other evergreen titles like Clash Royale and Free Fire have made comebacks. Free Fire is especially notable for having overtaken Call of Duty: Mobile in the past few months in the US, something it hasn’t done since 2022. Monopoly Go remains at the top in the US, though its lead isn’t nearly as towering as it was in early 2024. While some remain pessimistic about this mature era in mobile gaming, there are still opportunities for growth.”
Azur is Q3’s top hypercasual publisher by downloads
Appmagic’s top 10 hypercasual publishers by downloads list shows Worms Zone .io publisher Azur leading the rankings with 293m downloads in Q3.
Azur is followed by Voodoo with 178m and Supersonic Studios with 163m. SayGames and Supercent rounded off the top five, with 159m and 149m downloads respectively.
Azur has topped the hypercasual downloads chart for several years now. It racked up 1.2bn installs in 2024, and 609m downloads in the first half of 2025.
MTG raises FY25 guidance, announces share buybacks
MTG used its 2025 Capital Markets Day to revise its financial targets, announce cost saving initiatives and launch a share buyback programme. The Swedish roll-up firm raised its prior FY25 forecast of organic growth of 3-7% to 7-9%.
It also upped its full year revenue forecast from SEK 11.4bn ($1.198bn) to SEK 11.7bn ($1.23bn). Its full year adjusted group EBITDA margin of 21-24% was unchanged.
MTG also confirmed new medium-term targets of annual gross revenue growth of 3-7%, adjusted EBITDA margin of over 24%, and unlevered cash conversion of over 60%. The firm said it intends to launch a share buyback programme of up to SEK 400m ($42m), running until May 15 2026.
Adjust’s reveals global ‘UA leaderboard’
AppLovin-owned Adjust has published the latest edition of its mobile app growth report, which looks at where the industry is expanding and where there’s most potential for user acquisition.
It assigns a ‘growth score’ to regions, countries, app types and game genres. These scores are based on four inputs (installs, cost efficiency, engagement and retention) and have been used to compile a global “user acquisition leaderboard”.
Adjust analysed the top 5,000 apps and their performance in the first half of 2025 for the report. Games achieved the highest growth score of any app type in H1 2025 at 45.8. The next highest growth scores were recorded by publications (30.8), utilities (27), entertainment (26.2 and finance (24.6).
When it comes to game genres, hypercasual leads globally with a growth score of 35.8, followed by hybridcasual (34.5) and card (34.1). The next highest growth scores were achieved by music (33.6), swap (33.6), and board (32.7) games.
India had the highest growth score (52.2) of any country in APAC, followed by Indonesia (40.1) and Vietnam (36.2). The top gaming subvertical growth scores in APAC were music (41.2), card (35.7), swap (35.3), board (34.6) and hypercasual (34.6).
The European countries with the top growth scores were Finland (33.3), Norway (33.1), Denmark (32.7), Austria (31.9) and Italy (31.7). The top gaming subvertical growth scores in the region were card (36.3), swap (35.3), board (34.4), hybridcasual (33.3) and slots (33).
LATAM growth scores were led by Argentina (38.7), ahead of Colombia (38), Mexico (32.1), Chile (30.8) and Brazil (30.4). The top gaming subverticals across the region were arcade (36.7), action (36.6), card (35.5), hypercasual (35.3) and board (34.2).
Türkiye had the highest growth score (34) in MENAT, followed by Saudi Arabia (30.3) and UAE (29). The leading gaming subvertical growth scores in MENAT were for card (37.1), arcade (34.1), board (34), hypercasual (34) and music (32.9).
In North America, Canada had a growth score of 29.6 and the US recorded a score of 28.6. The top gaming app subvertical growth scores in the region were for swap (32.8), board (31.4), idle RPG (31.1), hybridcasual (31) and card (30.5).
Mobile gaming IAP spend grew to $21bn in Q3
A new report from M&A advisory firm Aream published by InvestGame based on Sensor Tower data says mobile gaming IAP spend returned to growth in Q325.
Sensor Tower data shows global IAP revenue hit $21bn, which was up from $20.3bn in Q2 and $20.5bn in Q324. It marked the highest quarterly total since $21bn recorded in Q321.
Global downloads in Q3 totalled 11.9bn, which was down from 12.3bn in the previous quarter and 12.9bn a year earlier. Asian-headquartered mobile publishers lead the market year to date in both IAP revenue and downloads.
So far in 2025, publishers based in China have generated $12.26bn (+7% YoY) in IAP revenue. Next up is the US with $5.85bn (-13%), followed by Japan with $3.16bn (+16%), Singapore with $2.23bn (+22%) and Turkey with $2.12bn (+20%).
Chinese publishers lead installs year to date with 3.87bn (+9% YoY). Vietnam follows with 3.75bn (+10%), ahead of Cyprus with 3.15bn (-10%), the US with 2.98bn (+2%) and Hong Kong with 2.42bn (+12%).
The US leads in average MAU by publisher HQ in 2025 with 1.89bn (+6% YoY). It’s followed by Vietnam with 1.73bn (+22%), China with 1.68bn (+11%), Cyprus with 1.28bn (-3%) and Hong Kong with 1.04bn (+29%).
Q3 saw 50 M&A deals, says Drake Star
Drake Star data shows there were 50 M&A deals announced during Q3 2025 – the highest count in four quarters. Nine of these deals (18%) were for mobile games companies.
The value of these acquisitions will exceed $55bn, which is how much Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and US-based private equity firms Silver Lake Management and Affinity Partners will pay to take EA private.
Q3 also saw a rise in the number of private financing rounds for the first time since Q1 24. The number of private placements increased 4.5% QoQ to reach 115 in Q3.
These raised $680m, with mobile accounting for $324m across 26 deals. They included Good Job Games ($60m), Appcharge ($58m) and Million Victories ($40m).
