The numbers for January are in. Here are last month’s top grossing mobile games worldwide, according to Appmagic data.
There’s commentary on which way these top earners are trending and other interesting tidbits from outside the top ten below.
You can also find January’s top mobile game downloads through the link.
Honor of Kings passed $200m in monthly earnings for the first time ever last month – a new record. Its previous monthly peak was the $196m it earned in August 2022. Remarkably, month-on-month earnings were up by almost $40m from December to January.
Genshin Impact had a huge December, out-earning even Honor of Kings ($163m) and PUBG Mobile ($160m) as it grossed $164m. So Genshin’s $25m month-on-month drop to $139m in January 2023 isn’t cause for alarm – it was averaging out between $115-130m per month for most of 2022 before its bumper November and December.
Year-on-year trends show all the big players holding relatively steady, though the biggest movers of the established giants were Genshin Impact (down $20m) and Candy Crush Saga (up by $10m) if you compare January 2022 and January 2023’s earnings.
Through that year-on-year lens there are some huge ‘new’ hits. Lineage M earned $16m in January 2022, but this year was the 8th top grosser with $59.5m. Tencent’s CrossFire had a great year too; it earned $25m in January 2022 and is up to $56m for January 2023.
And of course there’s proper newbie Goddess of Victory: Nikke, which posted $95m revenue in November, its debut month. It then earned $58m in both December and January – totalling over $210m in its first three months on sale. Quite a start.
January’s top grossing mobile games: 11-20
11. Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Lingxi Games): $54.8m
12. Royal Match (Dream Games): $51.3m
13. Pokémon Go (Niantic): $50.6m
14. Gardenscapes (Playrix): $50.5m
15. Fate/Grand Order (Aniplex): $48.8m
16. Eggy Party (Netease): $46.1m
17. Uma Musume Pretty Derby (Cygames): $45.9m
18. Homescapes (Playrix): $42.7m
19. Battle of the Spatulas (Tencent): $41.8m
20. Puzzle & Dragons (GungHo): $39.6m
Netease’s answer to Fall Guys and Stumble Guys, Eggy Party, also exploded onto the scene last month, racking up $46m in January. It is sandwiched in between reliably lucrative duo Fate/Grand Order ($48.8m) and Uma Musume Pretty Derby ($45.9m) just outside the top ten.
Rising rapidly year-on-year is Royal Match, up from $29m in January 2022 to $51m last month – close to breaking into the top ten.
And in case you’re wondering what Battle of the Spatulas is – it’s a China-only Teamfight Tactics spin-off which suddenly spiked in January to hit over $40m revenue, having registered just under $20m in December 2022.
Elsewhere below the top ten rankings, Lineage W has dropped significantly year-on-year, having posted earnings of $73m in January 2022, but $34m last month. Same with Free Fire, which was just outside the top ten in January 2022 with $51m. It posted $25m in revenue for January 2023.
