The 2025 mobile game UA landscape: Inside XMP & Insightrackr’s newest report
| Date | Type | Companies Involved | Key Datapoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 3, 2025 | report | Insightrackr Mintegral Mobvista | User Acquisition |
- Mobile game downloads grow by 7.4% to 38.9 billion from Q1 to Q3.
- Mobile game revenue grows by 13.2% to $82.5 billion.
- Hypercasual games lead the market by downloads.
- RPG & strategy games generate the most revenue overall.
XMP by Mobvista and Insightrackr have jointly released the Global Mobile Gaming UA Trends & Strategy Report 2025, offering a comprehensive look at how mobile game user acquisition and creative strategies are evolving this year. The report also uncovers how top mobile game advertisers are embracing new ad formats, AI-driven creatives, and smarter UA strategies to stay ahead.
In this article, find some of the key findings in the report, including the current state of play across global mobile game categories and emerging ad creative trends that are shaping performance in 2025.
The State of Play in 2025
First, let’s talk app installs. Our analysis found that global mobile game downloads totalled an estimated 38.9 billion between Q1 – Q3 2025, marking a 7.4% increase year-over-year (YoY). Coinciding with this trend, we also found expansion in global mobile game revenue (from in-app purchase and advertising), which is now estimated at a whopping $82.5 billion – a 13.2% YoY increase. Of that, 32.2% came from in-app advertising (IAA) and 67.8% from in-app purchases (IAP).
Breaking down the data, first by app categories, our analysts found that hyper-casual leads the pack with 5.7B downloads between Q1 and Q3 2025. Puzzle (4.5B) and Action Games (3.3B) follow closely behind.
However, despite their large number of installs, none of these categories were revenue leaders. In fact, Role-Playing Games ($7.2B) and Strategy ($6.8B) games dominated the field, generating the most revenue overall, most likely through large numbers of in-app purchases.
Now we know the landscape, how do the best apps make their mark? Let’s take a look at ad creative insights to uncover three ways to increase performance.
Inside the Campaigns: How Top Games Achieved Global Domination
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Video Remains Dominant
Video continued to dominate mobile game advertising in Q1–Q3 2025, accounting for nearly 81% of total creatives. It’s no surprise that video leads as the most adopted video format, given its ability to tell stories, shape narratives, and capture attention like nothing else.
With video, playables rise in popularity
Advertisers are increasingly combining video and playable formats, reflecting a shift toward more interactive and engaging ad experiences. In fact, video + playable combinations now outnumber image + video 10.9x, highlighting advertisers' growing appetite for high-engagement, interactive campaigns.
AI-Built Ad Creatives Are Emerging at Scale
From AI-generated avatars to dynamic visual storytelling, advertisers are increasingly embracing generative tools to enhance efficiency, relevance, and user resonance. Though big studios are able to iterate faster, AI tools enable ad creative democratisation, letting even the smallest of companies scale up their marketing.
With this in mind, how can marketers take their automation further? That’s simple: with XMP.
What is XMP?
XMP, developed by Mobvista, is a cross-channel media buying platform that empowers efficient media buying across global channels through multi-channel automation, creative insights, and data analysis.
The platform supports bulk campaign creation, unified creative management, and seamless data integration, streamlining operations and optimising ad performance.
XMP allows developers to analyse campaign, creative, and monetisation data all in one place. Teams can easily view and compare ROAS by app, campaign, or creative, while the in-depth creative reports help pinpoint high-performing assets for smarter optimisation.
Its real-time, always-on campaign assistant enables 24/7 monitoring and automatic management. Users can customise rules and triggers to automate tasks such as notifications, budget reallocations, or bid adjustments, ensuring campaigns remain efficient and high-performing at every stage.
Want to learn more? Discover XMP today, and scale up faster.
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