data.ai has revealed the winners of its Top Publisher Award 2022 that recognise the top mobile games and app publishers worldwide by consumer spend over the past year.

Unsurprisingly, Tencent took first place, a position that the firm has held for five consecutive years due to the strong performance of its flagship title, Honor of Kings.

In second place is NetEase, which has also held its place for five consecutive years. Data.ai has stated that the firm has held its place due to the success of its MMORPG Fantasy Westward Journey.

data.ai noted that a number of mobile games publishers saw "tremendous" growth in 2021, with multiple companies jumping ten spots, including CyberAgent (12th), miHoYo (14th), 37games (25th), Kakao Corp (41st), Ultrapower (45th), Topwar Studio (47th), and Stillfront (52nd).

The breakout titles for these firms that saw significant growth in 2021 included Genshin Impact, Uma Musume Pretty Derby, Puzzles and Survival, Odin Valhalla Rising, Age of Z Origins, Top War: Battle Game, and Property Brothers Home Design, respectively.

APAC makes headway 

Publishers located in the APAC region dominated the list and make up over half of the top 52, at 33. Greater China had the second largest number of publishers on the list with 17, followed by the US with 15.

"We congratulate the elite Top Publishers across the globe. It is our privilege to work with these mobile leaders and play a part in their world class performance," said data.ai CEO Theodore Krantz.

"Our mission is to help illuminate the digital landscape to help these companies enhance their mobile and digital experiences."

After a strong year for mobile games in 2021, Q1 2022 consumer spending on mobile games reached $22 billion, up 42 per cent from pre-pandemic spending in Q1 2020.