The US spearheads mobile games sector back to growth as Asia markets stumble

• AppMagic data shows global mobile games revenue rose by 2.1% year-over-year in H1 2024 to $40.64 billion
• The United States is spearheading global growth in player spending, with revenue up 12.29% Y/Y in H1 2024 to $13.26bn
• Monopoly GO!, Royal Match and Roblox contributed to industry growth in the first half of the year

It’s official, for the first six months of the year, the global mobile games industry is back to revenue growth.

According to AppMagic data analysed by PocketGamer.biz, player spending across the App Store and Google Play for games in H1 2024 grew by 2.1% year-over-year to $40.64 billion in gross revenue ($28.4bn net).

Revenue in Q2 2024 rose by 1.7% Y/Y to $19.94bn, though this was down from $20.7bn in Q1. Player spending in Q1 2024 was up 2.5% Y/Y, as well as up from $19.96bn in Q4 2023.

Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower recently released a report stating that Q2 2024 saw 4% overall player spending growth Y/Y for the mobile games market, hitting $19.7 billion during the quarter.

But where is the industry growth coming from? We used AppMagic data to crunch the numbers. It’s worth noting, however, that these estimates do not include revenue from web shops, third-party Android stores (which generate significant revenue in countries like China), other third-party marketplaces, ads and non-mobile platforms. All revenue listed is gross player spending - AppMagic lists net revenue in its platform.

Western market shines

The six ‘Tier-1’ Western countries, which AppMagic defines as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States, saw revenue increase by 9.7% Y/Y in H1 2024 to $17.49bn. 

For the full-year of 2023, the countries saw a combined 0.78% growth. Prior to a decline in revenue of 8.51% in 2022, these countries saw combined growth of 11.93% Y/Y in 2021.

During Q2, revenue rose by 8.73% Y/Y to $8.68bn. Player spending has actually been increasing on a yearly basis in these countries for the last four quarters, rising by 10.68% in Q1 2024, 4.48% in Q4 2023, and 2.5% in Q3 2023.

The United States has spearheaded growth in the West and globally. Player spending in H1 2024 rose by 12.29% Y/Y to $13.26bn. In H1 2023, player spending had dropped by 2.89% Y/Y, while for the full year, revenue rose by 0.37%.

On a quarterly basis, just like at a worldwide level, the US has seen four quarters of Y/Y growth. Revenue was up by 11.64% to $6.59bn in Q2 2024. In Q1, player spending increased by 12.94% Y/Y, in Q4 2023, sales grew by 5.1%, while in Q3 2023, revenue rose by 2.34%.

The second highest revenue-generating market in the West during H1 2024 was Germany, accumulating $1.28bn, a rise of 3.5% Y/Y. In Q2, revenue grew by 1.66% Y/Y to $626.3m, which was actually the slowest quarter of growth since a decline in Q3 2022.

The UK rounded up the top three with $973.7m revenue generated in the first half of the year, a rise of 2.17%. In Q2 2024, player spending actually fell in the country by 1.5% Y/Y to $484.7m.

Asia market stumbles

As noted earlier, these estimates only track the App Store and Google Play, so it is difficult to get a full picture of the Asia market - particularly with Google Play unavailable in China and only App Store revenue to go on in the country.

According to AppMagic, the five Eastern countries it designates at Tier-1, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, generated a combined $17.86bn in revenue in H1 2024, a decline of 5.05%. This still puts player spending above top Western countries.

Meanwhile, Q2 2024 player spending was also down 5.15% to $8.6bn. The last time there was Y/Y growth on a quarterly basis was in Q3 2021.

In 2023, Tier-1 Eastern countries saw a combined decline of 7.59% Y/Y to $37.15bn.

China was the top revenue-generating mobile games market in the East during H1 2024, generating $7.61bn in revenue, marking a decline of 2.67% Y/Y. In Q2, the sector saw $3.69bn in player spending, down 3.13%. Its last growth period on a quarterly basis was in Q1 2022, when player spending rose by 0.34% Y/Y.

The second highest grossing mobile games market in the East during the first half of the year was Japan, which saw revenue decline by 10.41% Y/Y to $5.94bn. Player spending on the App Store and Google Play in the country has been in freefall for years, seeing double digit yearly declines going back as far as Q4 2021. The last growth period it saw was in Q2 2021 when player spending rose by 2.88%.

South Korea, which ranked third for Eastern markets, saw player spending decline by 0.53% to $2.52bn in H1 2024. In Q2, player spending fell by 1.21% to $1.22bn.

The world’s most lucrative games in H1 2024

To understand a bit more about the industry’s growth in H1 2024, we took a look at the top games during the period and compared their yearly growth, as well as analysing their most lucrative countries.

The top 10 games by revenue in H1 2024 (including the top grossing country, total revenue in that period, and Y/Y growth/decline) were:

1. Honor of Kings (China) / $1.34bn (down 4.93% Y/Y)
2. Monopoly GO! (United States) / $980.2m (up 828.63% Y/Y) - Partial H1 2023 data
3. PUBG Mobile (China) / $856.9m (down 3.46% Y/Y)
4. Royal Match (United States) /  $854m (up 69.12% Y/Y)
5. Roblox (United States) / $777.7m (up 20.2% Y/Y)
6. Candy Crush Saga (United States) / $733.2m (down 1.97% Y/Y)
7. Last War: Survival (United States) / $603.6m (Started scaling October/November 2023)
8. Honkai: Star Rail (China)  / $531.9m (up 30.99% Y/Y) - Partial H1 2023 data
9. Whiteout Survival (United States) / $525.5m (up 552.43% Y/Y) - Partial H1 2023 data
10. Coin Master (United States) / $511.4m (down 9.23% Y/Y)

Seven out of the world’s top 10 grossing games had the United States as their most lucrative country for App Store and Google Play spending, while the remaining three saw China take top spot.

Both Tencent's Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile, particularly lucrative in China, both saw revenue fall.

Meanwhile, Scopely’s Monopoly GO! has proven to be a global sensation, driving up industry revenue with it.

Elsewhere, other impressive growth drivers have been Dream Games' Royal Match, Century Games’ Last War: Survival, and FirstFun’s Last War: Survival - all three of which had the United States as their most lucrative country.

HoYoverse’s Honkai: Star Rail also came to the fore, finding success in China and around the world.

Please note: All AppMagic figures unless otherwise stated are gross revenue, to account for App Store and Google Play's 30% fees. Estimates do not account for player spending on non-mobile platforms, third-party Android stores, web shop revenue or ad revenue.