Asia dominates 2025’s biggest mobile releases as top 10 new games make $2.2bn

• Kingshot, Delta Force and SD Gundam G Generation Eternal were the most lucrative launches of 2025.
• Four of the five biggest releases came from Asian studios, one fewer than in 2024.

2025 has seen multiple new mobile games become breakout hits, some sequels to well-known winners and others storming the app stores by complete surprise.

Among their ranks were Kingshot, Archero 2, and Delta Force, though there were fewer revenue phenomena without a Dungeon & Fighter: Mobile in China, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, or Love and Deepspace to lead the pack.

Unlike last year, no new release rushed to the billion-dollar mark in 2025. The top 10 newcomers had much closer battles for their final rankings.

The year brought an increase in overall player spending on mobile, with AppMagic estimates suggesting a total $72.6 billion was spent by players between January and November on the major app stores - up 1% from the $72.1bn spent during the first 11 months of 2024.

Last year’s top 10 new games generated $3bn between them in 2024. 2025’s 10 biggest newcomers made $2.2bn combined, marking a 27% fall.

Still, a strength for the broader industry this year was a fairer spread of spending across those top new titles. The 10 biggest newcomers all made at least $100 million in gross player spending and were all available in H1 2025, unlike 2024 when releases like Pokémon Pocket emerged late in H2 and still managed to thunderbolt up the charts.

Continuing to dominate

2025 was another big year for Asia, following the region’s full sweep of the top 10 leaderboard in 2024. This time around the top contenders were slightly more diverse, but Beijing-based Century Games came out on top with Kingshot, the 4X strategy game that’s already catapulted beyond $500 million.

A sizeable disparity remained between Asia and the West with four of the five top games coming from the former, namely Kingshot, Delta Force, SD Gundam G Generation Eternal, and Archero 2. The one exception was Color Block Jam from Türkiye's Rollic.

Broadening out to the top 10, the only other title developed outside of Asia was Disney Solitaire, developed by Playtika subsidiary SuperPlay in Israel. Even so, this was more diverse than in 2024 when all of the top 10 new releases were developed in Asia.

While Asian developers led the charts again this year, four of the top five games found their most lucrative audiences in the US.

Outside the top five, Chinese gamers had more of an impact with some entries available exclusively in their home country.

It’s worth noting that games like Valorant Mobile, Mabinogi Mobile, and Hero Has No Flash had strong performances in the rankings in spite of a lack of Android data, due to the prevalence of alternative stores in the absence of Google Play. This means a number of China exclusives managed to rank solely based on iOS estimates.

Asia’s domination came through a combination of existing IPs and new flagships, with many top performers also being available cross-platform.

Where Winds Meets, developed by Everstone Studio and published by NetEase Games, is one such example, available on PC, PS5, iOS, and Android. It ranks among the year’s biggest mobile newcomers as it sets the tone for Everstone’s open-world ambitions going forward.

Meanwhile, Archero 2 has leveraged Habby’s hybridcasual knowledge from Capybara Go to the original Archero, which coined the subgenre’s name. It builds upon an established IP and has succeeded in doing so.

Best and brightest

Diving deeper into the greatest triumphs of 2025, every one of the top five games has come from a different developer and publisher.

An emerging trend among them is diversified revenue streams. Where 2024’s top performers predominantly or even exclusively relied on player spending, a hybrid approach from a number of 2025’s top games - featuring in-app purchases and ads - means many of these titles’ total revenues are actually higher than estimates suggest.

1: Kingshot

Gross Player Spending - $586.5 million

Release Date - February 2nd, 2025

Combining a medieval setting with tower defence gameplay, Kingshot leads this year’s new releases as Century Games’ latest 4X strategy title. The game’s strong year has come in tandem with Whiteout Survival’s ever-rising revenue, with the pair securing Century Games' top spot in our Top 50 Mobile Game Makers list for 2025.

Kingshot has only flung to further milestones since launch, with nine months of consecutive growth pushing it past $500m this November.

While Century Games is a Chinese studio, Chinese players have contributed just 1% of global spend - not including alternative app stores. Meanwhile, the US market leads at 43% of global player spending, followed by South Korea and Japan at 9% and 7% respectively. The App Store has led spending globally.

Kingshot has leaned into the strengths of hybridisation, with its midcore roots bolstered by casual game mechanics and real-world holiday celebrations for Halloween, Thanksgiving, World Hello Day, and more. As its revenue has grown this year, so too has spending in 4X strategy games overall.

2: Delta Force

Gross Player Spending - $431.8 million

Release Date - April 21st, 2025

After soft launching in China late in 2024, free-to-play tactical shooter Delta Force expanded to mobile marketplaces globally on April 21st, 2025. Its gross player spending has totalled $431.8m since, and when including soft launch revenue, it hit the $500m milestone on mobile this December. The title claims second place in this year’s rankings either way.

Nearly eight months on from global release, Tencent subsidiary Team Jade has continued to make the majority of mobile revenue from players in China, who represent 96% of Delta Force’s lifetime spend. The region is followed by the US and Japan, claiming second and third place at just 1% of lifetime spending each.

Downloads are somewhat more diverse, with estimates suggesting 65% have come from China, 11% from the US, and 2% from Japan, again comprising the top three markets.

Since its global launch, Delta Force has driven an increase in player spending through in-game events like a bi-weekly summer challenge, a Summer Pass, and a treasure hunt. In September, special event modes and challenges like the Warfare Challenge and Gator Frenzy were introduced, the latter broadening the threats players face by sending them into crocodile lairs.

3: SD Gundam G Generation Eternal

Gross Player Spending - $300 million

Release Date - April 16th, 2025

SD Gundam G Generation Eternal released on April 16th, 2025, as a stellar example of how timing can be key. Its launch followed one week after the new Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX anime premiered on Amazon Prime in Japan, taking advantage of an established IP with the same mech suits appearing in-game.

And, the game released just in time to make a mech-load during Golden Week. Landing on mobile two weeks before the regional holiday, the Japanese IP from Japanese dev Bandai Namco excelled during the holiday in a way few international games fully achieve, ranking second only to Pokémon Pocket for Japanese revenue during the period.

SD Gundam G Generation Eternal soon went on to surpass $100m in player spending this June. Fast-forward to December and it’s tripled that sum.

The brand may be over 40 years old, but Eternal’s ranking this year isn’t just down to the power of IP; it’s also about gameplay and monetisation, driving this title to surpass lifetime earnings of 2019’s Gundam Breaker Mobile and 2021’s Mobile Suit Gundam UC Engage already.

4: Archero 2

Gross Player Spending - $175.9 million

Release Date - January 7th, 2025

After defining the hybridcasual genre with the original Archero, Habby’s sequel Archero 2 has delivered new dungeons, faster combat, even more skill customisation, and more than 1,000 floors of the Sky Tower to conquer.

The roguelike shifts perspective with a new protagonist, pitting players against the Lone Archer from the original title, as the battle against the Demon King rages on.

Archero 2 stealthily soft launched in 2024, so quietly that fans weren’t even certain Habby was involved. It started out in Canada, expanded to parts of Asia like China and Hong Kong, and finally entered the limelight with a global launch on January 7th, 2025.

Archero 2 has made $175.9m in gross player spending since that global launch and over $200m including its soft launch. Spending has been led by the US at 25%, followed by 16% from Japan and 14% from South Korea, showing closer results than many games on the list.

The title has successfully monetised through in-app purchases and subscriptions, the latter securing ongoing spending from retained players. And true revenue is likely higher still with Habby utilising in-game ads for an extra source of income.

5: Color Block Jam

Gross Player Spending - $148.2 million

Release Date - June 28th, 2024

Color Block Jam may have technically released in 2024, but it’s really taken off in 2025 and become a record-breaking title for Rollic. Estimates suggest it made just $250,000 in player spending last year, but it’s scaled up to almost $150m in 2025 with in-app purchase levels previously unheard of at the studio.

60% of its spending has come from the US, while the UK and Japan follow at 6% each.

And Color Block Jam is proof that Rollic’s shift to hybridcasual is paying off, with even more revenue when including ads. Rollic VP of gaming Utku Erdinç confirmed this to us, sharing that ad revenue remains a factor in the game’s success, though in-app purchases make up a bigger share. He also entertained the idea that Color Block Jam could be "the hardest puzzle game to ever scale this big".

The colourful puzzler tasks players with strategically sliding shapes around each other and towards matching doors, clearing them from the screen within a time limit. It sells extra lives and boosters to help players clear levels.

Honourable mentions

Just missing out on the top five, Where Winds Meet has generated $132.4m and may be on the verge of boosting ahead. It’s been available on mobile in China since January and has just expanded globally this December, picking up $557,000 overseas during its launch weekend.

Disney Solitaire ranked seventh, a new major player in the solitaire genre and the biggest new game of its kind this year. It was another exception to Asia’s domination in the charts.

Meanwhile, Cygames appeared twice in the top 15 with its new card game Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond and the global version of its athletic gacha Umamusume: Pretty Derby.

The latter has raced beyond $2.5bn in Japan since 2021, but Cygames didn’t consider an overseas launch a surefire success. This year, the studio finally took the gamble and has picked up an extra $73.4m outside Japan in half a year since.

Back in Asia, Valorant Mobile has earned $93.2m in China, offering players 10 game modes at launch including some mobile originals. Tencent has proclaimed it the country’s most successful mobile launch of 2025.

And, 2024 latecomers Last Z: Survival Shooter and Royal Kingdom have blossomed in 2025 too, not officially making the list but still picking up noteworthy sums of $331.9m and $327.6m respectively. Royal Kingdom marks another Western success, even outperforming Royal Match's first year.

As we enter 2026, it’s likely the trend of hybrid monetisation methods will continue. Whether Asian developers dominate again, or if studios in the West and MENA can continue inching into the top 10, only time will tell - but China's continued growth has become a threat to Western studios.

Data accurate to AppMagic estimates as of December 15th, 2025.

To see the top companies of the year, check out the Top 50 Mobile Game Makers list.

Meet the world's top games companies and learn about the hottest new industry trends at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2026, taking place on January 19th to 20th.