This article is part of an ongoing series of data-driven articles from PocketGamer.biz and App Annie highlighting trends in the global mobile games sector using App Annie’s Game IQ analytics.

While the global mobile games market is growing in every region, Europe remains a world leader in development and publishing.

New research from App Annie shows that the 10 highest-grossing games from European headquartered companies generated close to $2 billion in the third quarter of 2021.

To put this in context, that is almost nine per cent of the total global consumer spend for the quarter.

Puzzle popularity

Puzzle games are a key strength for European developers, with six of the top-ten games being ‘match’ titles, including perennial favourites Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga, Toon Blast, Gardenscape and Fishdom.

The top-grossing list also shows that a small number of companies are responsible for a huge amount of the biggest games.

Two companies, Playrix and Supercell, have three games in the list, with King (Activision/Blizzard) following with two and Moon Active and Peak (Zynga) both with a single entry.

The top ten also shows that the most popular mobile games can build a loyal audience over the course of years, with many of the games enjoying sustained success. Coin Master was originally launched in December 2010, while Candy Crush Saga was first published in April 2012.

“Europe is a powerhouse for mobile games. The top 10 highest-grossing games published by European-HQ’d companies generated nearly $2 billion of global consumer spend in Q3 2021 alone.

"These 10 titles represented nearly nine per cent of total consumer spend in games for the quarter, an impressive feat in a rapidly growing market. According to App Annie’s Game IQ taxonomy, Match games dominate as a genre with six of the 10 top games.

"Strategy games also make an appearance with two of the top 10 games, both of which are Supercell titles (Clash of Clans and Clash Royale), in addition to Action > Brawl game, Brawl Stars. Many of these titles are long-standing crowd favourites with Coin Master going on its 11th year (first launched in Dec 2010).

Toon Blast, Brawl Stars and Homescapes are the newest launches, yet have all been on the app stores for nearly four years — first launching in 2017. This shows the staying power, audience loyalty and consumer enjoyment for these titles in the market.”  said Lexi Sydow, Head of Insights, App Annie