There’s a deluge of new data and research to wade through every week.
So every Wednesday we’re here to break it all down into digestible chunks: data drop has just the numbers you need to know about, minus the fluff.
This column is sponsored by MobileAction, the premier mobile UA optimization platform. Contact us to learn how our campaign management and app store marketing intelligence tools can help you generate more downloads efficiently.
Playtika could pay up to $165m for Youda Games
News broke yesterday that Playtika has paid an initial €81.3m ($89.3m) for Youda Games’ portfolio from Azerion Group. The deal could be worth as much as €150m ($165m) after earnouts based on performance.
Youda’s Flagship game Governor of Poker 3 currently earns the developer around $1.5-1.7m per month in IAP according to Appmagic, and has generated just over $90m from 14.6m downloads over its lifetime. Other notable Youda titles include Governor of Poker 2 ($6.5m lifetime), Monopoly Poker ($3.8m) and Poker World ($2.8m).
So after branching out into casual games with the acquisition of Seriously, Reworks and Wooga – it even tried to buy Rovio, remember – this deal suggests Playtika is now sticking to what it knows best: social casino games.
China-only Eggy Party hits $200m, 30m DAU
Industry chatter is intensifying around Netease’s Fall Guys/Stumble Guys contender Eggy Party. Despite still being China only, Netease has now earned over $200m from the game to date from 58m downloads according to Appmagic.
And an excellent Financial Times report suggested last week that Eggy Party now has 30m DAU and even has local rival Tencent jealous of its success. A western release is coming soon, surely.
UA tips from mobile’s top 10 advertisers
Here are June’s top 10 iOS game advertisers worldwide by in-app ad impressions, according to this column’s sponsor MobileAction:
From the above data, the UA firm notes:
- The average game used 11.6 ad networks and 2471 unique ad creatives
- The median game used 12 ad networks and 1921 unique ad creatives
- 9 of the top 10 games used 10+ ad networks
- All 10 of the games used 9+ ad networks
- 8 of the top 10 games used 1000+ unique ad creatives
Across those top 10 iOS game advertisers 60% of creatives were video, 11% were static, 4% were playables and 25% were banners.
Here’s the very different top 10 game advertisers worldwide on Google Play, ranked by in-app ad impressions for June:
These Android numbers are a little smaller compared to iOS, MobileAction notes:
- The average game used 10 ad networks and 1969 unique ad creatives
- The median game used 11 ad networks and 1644 unique ad creatives
- 7 of the top 10 games used 10+ ad networks
- All 10 of the games used 4+ ad networks
- 7 of the top 10 games used 1000+ unique ad creatives
Later in the blog, tips for ad creatives included using tried-and-tested ‘humorous failure’ footage and TikTok-style UGC ads where ‘real’ players speak straight to camera.
Mobile drops in otherwise healthy EA financials
Mobile was the only real negative in EAs Q124 earnings. While the wider business posted a healthy 21% YOY rise in net bookings, mobile earnings were down YOY by 4% – from $314m in Q123 to $303m in Q124.
EA even cheekily tried to gloss over this by reporting that mobile net bookings were up 3% YOY, or 5% in constant currency, if you exclude the cost of sunsetting Apex Legends Mobile. That’s not how it works, lads.
Other mobile tidbits here:
- FIFA Mobile “delivered record Q1 net bookings”, which nearly doubled YOY
- FIFA added over 65m new players in Q124 and grew DAU 15%
- EA’s mobile business was broadly “ahead of expectations”, said EA. FIFA Mobile, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes and The Sims FreePlay were namechecked
- EA has “focused and refined” its approach to mobile, it said – a nod to January’s move to close Apex Legends Mobile, cancel Battlefield Mobile and shutter developer Industrial Toys.
Mobile game spend in Japan to hit $12.6bn in 2023
Here are just the games bits from Adjust and Data ai’s very in-depth report on the Japanese app market.
- Annual mobile game spend in Japan could hit $12.6bn in 2023
- Game installs were down 22% YOY in 2022, but spiked in January 2023 with installs 30% higher than the 2022 average. Q1 2023 is up 12% compared to Q4 2022
- RPG is Japan’s most popular genre, accounting for 13% of all gaming app installs
- Hypercasual, adventure and puzzle games all tied for second place on 12%, with action games at 10% and simulation and sports on 6% each
- In 2022 Japanese gamers were the biggest monthly spenders per device worldwide on iOS, averaging $10.30 spent. Japan was second worldwide on Android in terms of per device spend with $9.80
- 30% of Japanese players opt-in to tracking when faced with Apple’s ATT prompt
- Gaming is “making a slow but steady comeback” in 2023 with a 12% and 6% increase in installs and sessions from Q4 2022 to Q1 2023
- From Q4 2022 to Q1 2023 games spending grew 13% from $3bn to $3.14bn
- Puzzle games account for 19% of all gaming sessions
- Gen Z players are into Monster Strike, Project Sekai Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku and Puzzle & Dragons
- Pokémon GO, Monster Strike and Puzzle & Dragons are favoured by male players
- Disney Tsum Tsum, Project Sekai Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku and Toon Blast are female players’ preference
- Gen Z players love ‘party royale’ games way more than any other age group; younger millennials are more likely to play MOBAs and older millennials prefer puzzlers. Gen X and baby boomers mostly play card games like solitaire
- The likes of Goddess of Victory: Nikke and Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle are driving recent RPG growth
- Uma Musume Pretty Derby and eFootball PES 2021 have boosted the simulation genre significantly
- Adventure games are huge on iOS, while Android players over-index on puzzle games
- In Q1 2023, the paid vs. organic install ratio dropped from 0.73 to 0.7 compared to Q4 2022 due to rising UA costs
- Hypercasual’s paid vs. organic install ratio dropped from 2.6 to 2.45, while simulation notably increased paid share from 0.57 to 0.89
- Japanese gaming sessions have been trending broadly downwards in line with global trends, though they recovered in March ’23
- Puzzlers and RPGs were the stickiest in terms of sessions by vertical in 2022, while hypercasual was weakest here, as you’d expect
Amanotes’ Magic Tiles 3 has 40m MAU
“Magic Tiles 3 is currently enjoyed by 40+ million gamers every month,” said music game specialist Amanotes as it announced a partnership with music tech firm Recreational this week. Amanotes’ games now have a total of 100m MAU combined, it added.
Earlier this month Amanotes also said it had passed 3bn total downloads across its portfolio, with Magic Tiles 3 contributing over 1bn and Tiles Hop closing in on a billion.
