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.
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Plenty of useful numbers from data.ai this past week, starting with a snapshot of what went down in Q3:
The headline act here is Dream Games’ Royal Match, which came out as top earner while Honor of Kings dropped four spots to fifth compared to Q2 2023.
Scopely’s Monopoly Go sneaked in ahead of Tencent’s monster MOBA in fourth, and Pokémon Go was up six places.
Tic Tac Toe is the most notable new hit in terms of installs. The MAU rankings are pretty static, besides the continued rise of EA Sports FC – formerly FIFA – which has done well to maintain momentum after a huge boost around the World Cup in Qatar nearly a year ago.
As above, there’s also a look at the trending games from the last quarter, which places Tic Tac Toe and My Perfect Hotel as the biggest risers since Q2 on installs. Monopoly Go and Royal Match are tearing up the top grossing listings, and it’s interesting to note Tencent’s extraction shooter Arena Breakout picking up momentum on downloads and MAU. DBZ Dokkan Battle and Whiteout Survival also made big gains in the top earners rankings compared to Q2.
More granular by-territory data is available for those that grab the full report.
This indie roguelike now seems to be on every format possible, and is coming to Netflix soon too. Over in China, where it is published by Bilibili, it has now got 5m installs according to a press release – a solid number for a premium game.
New State Mobile hits $20m, 35m installs on its second birthday
A press release alerted us to PUBG spin-off New State Mobile’s second birthday update this week, so we checked in on how it’s doing according to Appmagic.
The data suggests that it has now earned Krafton over $20m since launch from 35m installs. A disappointing figure, you’d say, given the scale of the IP.
Newzoo’s 2023 generation report
New research from Newzoo re-affirms what you may already be thinking – in the words of the report: ‘with every new generation, gaming expands its reach’:
This chart shows what percentage of each generation has engaged with gaming in the last six months:
There’s also a split of how generations interact with games, whether playing, watching online or ‘other’ (which includes engaging in game communities, listening to podcasts and more):
Younger players are using games to socialise a lot more than older generations, and also define themselves as ‘gamers’ more, mostly among the gen alpha, gen z and millennial demographics.
The generational split by platform shows mobile dominant in each category, with similar proportions by platform across the generations, and a drop off among baby boomers:
Later, demographic splits by genre show puzzle games to be more popular among gen X and boomers, and adventure games top for the other generations. Younger players also value open worlds and exploration more.
There are a couple of spender breakdowns, too. The above chart suggests that younger players spend more on games, and most on mobile; the below chart has some interesting spending profiles per platform and per generation, splitting them out into minor, average and big spenders:
There’s more in the full report here.
Monster Hunter Now hits 10m installs
Niantic and Capcom collab Monster Hunter Now has passed 10m installs, according to an X post from the official account. It is biggest in its native Japan by a long way, according to Appmagic data, and has earned Niantic and Capcom around $44m since its September 14 launch..
Southeast Asia on course for $7bn revenue in 2027
The latest market snapshot from Niko Partners predicts that the Southeast Asia games market will grow to hit $7.2bn in 2027.
It also says that the six key markets in the region – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – are estimated to generate $5.8bn from PC and mobile games revenue in 2023.
Build a Queen breaks out in September
More useful stuff here from data.ai, this time based on last month’s trending and top grossing titles. Looking at month-on-month installs, it says that Supersonic’s Build A Queen topped the growth chart in September, with Dragonheir, Nextbots in Backrooms: Sandbox, Monster Hunter Now and Soccer Manager 2024 also rising quickly. Build a Queen now has over 20m lifetime downloads, says Data.ai.
Topping the download chart for September was Subway Surfers, followed by Free Fire, Build a Queen, Roblox and My Perfect Hotel. Royal Match, Ludo King, Tic Tac Toe, Real Car Driving and Nextbots complete the top 10 downloads for September.
As above, the top ‘breakout’ game by spend in September was Seven Knights Idle Adventure, with fellow new entry Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis also making a splash at seven in the ranking, which is based on month-on-month spending increase.
Finally, top earners overall for September were usual suspects Royal Match, Monopoly Go, Candy Crush Saga, Roblox and Coin Master. Honor of Kings, Pokémon Go, Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail and Gardenscapes complete the top ten.
