Premium Power
Balatro approaches $1 million in seven days on mobile
Solo developer LocalThunk released a mobile adaptation of the popular card game on September 26th
In The Zone
Zenless Zone Zero surpasses $150 million, but it’s no Genshin Impact…
HoYoverse’s latest RPG has achieved a mighty milestone but much slower to the mark than its forebears
Genshin Goliath
Genshin Impact hits $6.3 billion in time for fourth anniversary, but is it running on fumes?
HoYoverse’s flagship game dipped below $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time
Top Grosser
Dungeon & Fighter: Mobile surpasses $800 million in four months
The beat ‘em up made almost $10 million in a single day this June
Afk In Asia
AFK Journey surpasses $150 million with Asian market dominance
Chinese players contribute 22% of AFK Journey’s revenue despite being late to the starting line
Profit Plummet
Keywords Studios makes $18.7 million loss despite 6.6% revenue rise
Sinking operating profit has been attributed to "several exceptional items"
Monster Milestone
How Monster Hunter Now claimed $225m in its first year through innovation, inclusion and evolving monetisation
Capcom’s monster IP and Niantic’s location-based gaming know-how prove a winning formula
Profit Plummet
Huuuge Games’ profits down 30.6% YoY but top games hit major milestones
Despite declines in revenue and profit this Q2 Huuuge Casino and Billionaire Casino both surpassed $2 billion in lifetime revenue
Hot Five
Hot Five: Final Fantasy falls, Unity shares down to decade low, but Coin Master hits the jackpot
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Milestone
Coin Master hits the jackpot with $6 billion in revenue
The US is the largest contributor to the game's revenue, amassing $2.4 billion in player spending
Masters Monetisation
Pokémon Masters EX turns five: Lessons from an IP and monetisation masterpiece
Half a decade on, as the mobile games industry evolves, so too does the fine art of monetisation…
Flagship Fishing
Ten Square Games profits up 22.8% as restructure takes effect
Fishing Clash continues to generate more than half of all net bookings, but Wings of Heroes makes a growing contribution
Profit Power
East Side Games turns a profit in Q2 as it moves further out of the red
It's time for a turnaround as the games studio recorded a loss of more than $130,000 in Q2 2023
Afk In Asia
China spends $5.1 million on Lilith's AFK Journey in first five days
The Chinese market is now its second-biggest, accounting for 7% of lifetime revenue in less than a week, despite a four-month lead in the West
Revenue Arise
Netmarble turns a profit after years in the red, with highest quarterly earnings since IPO
₩782 billion ($570.4 million) in revenue led to ₩162 billion ($118.2 million) net profit
Profit Power
Square Enix’s Q1 profits more than triple despite revenue decline
The company generated ¥69.9 billion in net sales and ¥10.8 billion in profit this Q1
Playtika Profits
Playtika’s profits surge 63.4% to $86.6 million as it reverses 'no new games' strategy
Direct-to-consumer revenue increased but overall revenue is down in Q2 2024 as the company reveals a return to game production
Profit Power
NCSoft profit bounces back with 59% of revenue on mobile but not all Lineage games are thriving
The dev recorded $51.7 million in net income during Q2 2024, up 133% year-on-year
Apple Vs Android
Mobile games revenue growth is at a snail’s pace on Apple as Android closes the gap
Android users spent $10 billion on mobile games in H1 2024, versus $13.8 billion on Apple
Profit Plummet
Nintendo profits down 70.6% with falling sales across Switch and other IP ventures
Q1 sales are down considerably with no new hits to follow 2023’s Mario movie and Zelda game
Growth Story
The US spearheads mobile games sector back to growth as Asia markets stumble
A deep dive into the data of the industry's long-awaited upswing
Proof Is In The Profit
Web3 tech firm Improbable makes its first profit after metaverse pivot
The company shifted focus to the metaverse in 2022, and achieved its first ever annual profit in 2023
Rallying Revenue
Game of Thrones: Legends fires past $1 million with daily earnings rising fast
Zynga’s latest match-3 launch raked in $109,627 on August 4th
Hot Five
Hot Five: Squad Busters breaks $50 million, EA’s mobile blueprint, and Finland’s "survive to 2025" mantra
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
Platform Growth
Roblox bumps up daily active users by 21% Y/Y as revenue grows to $894m in Q2
UGC platform racked up 17.4 billion hours of play during the last quarter
Ea Q1 Financials
Electronic Arts: "FC Mobile is the blueprint for our mobile strategy"
Their profits may be down 30% but EA Sports FC Mobile made record net bookings while FC Mobile Madden NFL 24 earned double digit growth
Resleriana Revenue
Atelier Resleriana adventures past $50 million via the power of fan-favourites
Most lucrative day coincided with release of Klaudia, a main character from best-selling game in the series Atelier Ryza
Microsoft's Mobile Mystery
Microsoft made $88 billion profit in FY2024 thanks to Activision Blizzard boost
Xbox revenue was up 61% in Q4 2024, but mobile specific figures remain a mystery
Cash Splash
Q2 mobile app spending hits a new record of $36.2 billion
Apple owners are responsible for the latest spending surge for Q2 2024, though downloads in the quarter declined
German Gaming
German mobile gamers spent €2.9 billion in 2023, 98% via in-app purchases
The German video games industry more broadly generated €9.97 billion last year
Squad Spenders
Squad Busters takings pass $50 million, but how does it compare to Supercell’s greatest hits?
The US currently represents the game's biggest market share, where it's earned $19.6 million so far
Pokemon Power
The Pokémon Company caught $10.8 billion from merch and licenced goods last year
License Global’s latest Top Global Licensors Report places Pokémon seventh among all licensors based on 2023 revenue
Milestone
Monopoly Go! hits $3 billion in revenue
The game leads leads Hasbro's licensing-portfolio with Q2 revenue growing 20% year over year led by Monopoly Go!
Pokemon Power
Pokémon Unite catches $83 million on mobile as it celebrates first three years
Pokémon Gold mascot Ho-Oh rises to the occasion via time-limited event for third anniversary
Monetisation Design
Fundamentally Games' Oscar Clark on designing long-term games revenue
The Fundamentally Games CEO breaks down the best practices of monetisation design
Ark Ahoy
Ark: Ultimate Survivor Edition coming to mobile later this year as original nears $50m in revenue
All of Ark: Survival Evolved’s DLC will be included in the package
Mobile Milestone
Wuthering Waves sails past $100 million in under two months
According to AppMagic data, players in Japan have contributed 23% of its mobile earnings thus far
Rpg Revenue
Zenless Zone Zero surpasses $50 million in 11 days
HoYoverse’s latest launch gets a big start, but revenue is declining
Financial Outlook
Goddess of Victory: Nikke propels developer Shift Up to $2.5 billion valuation
The Seoul-based company has just issued and sold nearly 7.3 million shares at 60,000 won each
Gacha Giants
From Honkai: Star Rail to Wuthering Waves, gacha giants made $357 million in June
The gacha genre was dominated by Eastern developers last month, with the HoYoverse portfolio putting them out on top
Simulation Star
Gakuen Idolmaster got 1.5x Squad Busters’ downloads during its launch month
The idol title earned 40% of Bandai Namco Entertainment’s domestic mobile revenue during the period
Toon Turnaround
Toon Blast surpasses $2.5 billion with newfound revenue resurgence
Peak Games’ 2017 title is on the rise again with its best H1 since 2021
Slumbering Success
Pokémon Sleep earns $100 million with its eyes shut
Living the dream: With one week to go before its first anniversary, Pokémon Sleep has caught plenty of Zs but even more cash
Triumphant Trio
Zenless Zone Zero has earned almost $25 million in five days
AppMagic estimates suggest HoYoverse’s latest launch is behind those of its Genshin and Honkai stablemates, despite 50m+ downloads in 72 hours
Hot Five
Hot Five: Apple fees hit ads, Squad Busters’ first month reviewed, and Pokémon Go's eight years on top
Our quick-fix roundup of the hottest stories on PocketGamer.biz
High Hopes
Supercell's great expectations
For almost any other studio, Squad Busters would be a major hit. But is it enough for Supercell?
Critical Hit
Pokémon Go catches nearly $8 billion in eight years
Niantic's blockbuster fell to its lowest revenue since 2017 - but its web shop could be hiding true player spend
Top Charts
June 2024 mobile game charts: Dungeon & Fighter Mobile hits No. 1, and Supercell rises to No. 2
Our monthly look at the global mobile game rankings across the App Store and Google Play
Busting Out
Supercell’s Squad Busters hits $24m net revenue in first 30 days
Supercell's latest picked up 40m installs during its first 30 days
Classic Celebration
Garena Free Fire celebrates seventh anniversary with $4 billion in lifetime revenue
The celebration includes "classic features" with a focus on nostalgia