Here are ten more 2026 predictions from well-known mobilegamer.biz readers – you can find part one here, featuring wisdom from execs at Funplus, Ustwo, Top App Games, Appsflyer and more.
Luken Aragon, King
The most successful brands will use true player insights and thoughtful timing to create experiences that feel personal, purposeful and impossible to ignore. That’s how attention turns into loyalty and long-term growth.
Naomi Alderman, Zombies Run
There will obviously be a lot of AI-made not-very-good games. I think if we’re looking at what’s happening in the wider world, in a world of slop there’s a lot of interest in ‘I can spend time on this very intellectually challenging thing’ as a status signifier.
I think alongside the slop we’ll probably see more information games, games that demand lots of knowledge and thinking. Whatever ‘everyone is doing’ leaves room for differentiation if you’re doing something else, and doing it really well – that’s certainly been my experience with Zombies, Run!
Berkley Egenes, Xsolla
Looking ahead to 2026, I predict web shops will become the primary hubs for both player engagement and monetization. With platforms like Google already testing the waters by allowing developers to add external purchase links, developers are increasingly moving beyond traditional app ecosystems.
This opens the door for cross-game economies and more personalized, direct connections with players. As this trend continues to grow, we’ll see browser-based platforms take the lead, offering seamless experiences that reshape the way we play, interact and spend.
Gil Tov-Ly, Appcharge
In 2026, we will see more formal DTC leadership roles appear, but the real change is scope. The VP of DTC (or equivalent) will own a full commercial line of business – strategy, budgets, KPIs, and cross-functional roadmaps that cut across UA, monetization, live ops, BI, and finance.
Studios that treat DTC as a true P&L owner, not a side-project under monetization, will move faster and take bigger swings. Put simply, 2026 is the year DTC stops being a side hustle and becomes the way the most serious studios are built, run and loved by their players.
Romy Halfweeg, Poki
I’m expecting to see successful mobile games and their players increasingly porting to and playing on the web. This shift will be fuelled by the market’s increasing demand for cross-platform consistency, coupled with the rising quality of web games.
Peter Hansen-Chambers, PHC Consulting
I believe 2026 is the year AI truly reveals itself to the mobile games industry. We should start to see the first wave of genuine AI-first studios launch titles built upon new philosophies, not just new tools. This is not simply about utilising new tools to improve efficiency to save money, but about innovating on the way studios are structured, the way teams collaborate and how AI is engaged with, in order to drive performance.
This will shake up established incumbents, who will be challenged in terms of the way they are structured, the way they work and their use of AI.
Ian Masters, Flick Games
More and more premium PC-first games will launch on mobile with a free-to-start model. Though impossible to scale with UA, they will find their niche, help de-risk games and provide a nice change for players who don’t like F2P.
Jacob Eiting, RevenueCat
In 2026, gaming app creation will surge with developers vibe coding games natively for iOS and Android. We are already seeing general app development in spaces like retail, health and fitness explode due to AI democratizing access to who has the skills to launch an app. But so far in 2025, the gaming industry hasn’t seen the same surge, in large part due to platforms like Unity being necessary for game development. In 2026, we will see creators bypass this, going solo with AI to bring more games than ever before to app stores.
Anton Gorodetsky, My.Games/InvestGame
2026 will mark the year mobile gaming breaks away from platforms and fully embraces D2C. The top-grossing studios will shift players toward direct accounts, direct payments, and direct content drops. Personalized live-ops, AI-optimized offers, and creator-driven content pipelines will make the traditional “storefront → publisher → player” model obsolete. By the close of 2026, the ultimate competitive edge won’t be user acquisition or IP — it’ll be directly owning your player relationships.
Christian Lövstedt, Midjiwan
The rise of cross-platform online multiplayer mobile games is sure to continue at full speed through 2026, with more of those titles starting to trouble the established giants. I believe we’ll also see an increase of IP-driven games flooding the market.
As seen in console, IP can prove a safer bet with regard to revenues. As challenges like discoverability and sustainability persist, IP is looking increasingly appealing to major mobile publishers.
