Insightrackr has released the Mobile Game Downloads and Revenue Rankings for August 2025, based on its monitoring data of the global mobile market.
The rankings are divided into the Top 15 Mobile Games by Downloads and the Top 15 by Revenue, with an analysis of the advertising and ad creative strategies of popular games for the month.
Spotlight Case Studies: Fate War / HAIKYU!! FLY HIGH / Prison Blox: Obby 3D Parkour
Top 15 Mobile Games by Downloads
According to Insightrackr’s app download rankings, Roblox, Block Blast!, and Subway Surfers once again secured the top three positions in August.
Subway Surfers released its World Tour: Greece 2025 update and launched a crossover collaboration with 8 Ball Pool, driving a 3.32% MoM increase in downloads.
Rising Stars and Breakout Performers
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My Talking Tom Friends 2 continued its July momentum, climbing two spots with a 7.10% MoM download growth, likely boosted by family and parent–child users during the late-summer holiday period (click to review its creative strategies).
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Royal Match (Dream Games, Turkey) saw a 16.02% MoM increase and jumped five ranks after adding 100 new levels, launching the new Royal Dairy map, and kicking off a “Sports Collection” season event.
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Dream Games’ second title Royal Kingdom outperformed Royal Match, growing 11.63% MoM, with Insightrackr data showing a notable uptick in ad exposure in August.
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Hole.io (Voodoo) rose five places with an 11.96% MoM boost, proving the black-hole-eating gameplay still captivates players. (click to review its creative strategies).
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Shooter title FPS Strike Ops: Modern Arena delivered the month’s biggest breakout, surging 52.15% MoM and leaping 24 spots, fueled by aggressive user acquisition campaigns in emerging markets such as Vietnam.
Notable Declines
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Tile Explorer (Oakever Games) dropped to No. 10 with a 29.42% MoM decline in downloads.
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Vita Mahjong (Vita Studio) and Free Fire MAX (Garena) also slid, with downloads falling 19.47% and 13.03%, respectively, reflecting increased summer competition and category fatigue.
Top 15 Mobile Games by Revenue
Clash Royale Reclaims the Top Spot
Supercell’s Clash Royale returned to No. 1 in August, posting an 18% MoM revenue increase, likely driven by its new “Fired Up!” season and competitive card-balance updates.
Free Fire MAX slipped to second place as revenue fell 36.89% MoM, signaling continued softening.
Standout Revenue Gainers
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Roblox climbed two positions with a 34.07% MoM revenue jump, fueled by several hit experiences—such as Grow a Garden and Steal a Brainrot—that set new concurrent-player records.
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Brawl Stars, another Supercell title, rose five spots with a 33.40% MoM increase, underscoring the studio’s strong August performance.
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The biggest surprise came from Sudoku, which skyrocketed 5,734.52% MoM, leaping 880 ranks to break into the Top 10.
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Hong Kong developer Prudent Owl saw its social casino game Lavish Luck Casino gain 28.39% MoM, jumping eight positions, with nearly all revenue originating from the U.S. market.
Mobile Game Advertising Case Analysis
01 Fate War
New SLG Title With Innovative Gameplay
Veteran developer IGG officially launched its new SLG game Fate War globally on August 5.
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Art & Setting: Continuing the cartoon style of Lords Mobile, Fate War moves the action to a post-apocalyptic mythic world. Players act as tribal chiefs, summon deities, battle evil forces, and guide their clans to rebuild their homeland.
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Gameplay: Built on a classic 4X framework, the game adds a dynamic weather system, large-scale team dungeons, and Roguelike elements. It also supports both portrait and landscape modes, allowing convenient one-hand play or a fully immersive widescreen experience. Overall, Fate War delivers a familiar SLG base with clear attempts at differentiated innovation.
Strong Early Metrics and Bold Creative Strategy
According to Insightrackr, Fate War accumulated over 1.2 million downloads in August, driven primarily by Europe and North America.
Ad spend was equally aggressive, with daily active creatives surpassing 1,800 and targeting key regions including North America, Japan, and South Korea.
As Lords Mobile enters its ninth year, Fate War is positioned as IGG’s natural successor—tasked with both extending the company’s SLG success and reinforcing its global brand presence.
On the advertising side, IGG shows remarkable testing intensity:
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Conventional Creatives: Seasonal environmental transitions and deity character showcases—staples in SLG marketing—remain core.
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Innovative Ads: The team experiments with hyper-casual gameplay mechanics merged with SLG elements like resource building and territorial expansion, creating lightweight yet strategic visuals.
Innovative Ads
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AI-Generated Content: Borrowing popular AIGC short-video styles from social media, IGG produces striking, surreal concepts—such as “interviewing babies of different races” or “miniature humans”—to spark curiosity and boost CTR and CVR.
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AI-Generated Content |
AI-Generated Content
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02 HAIKYU!! FLY HIGH
Garena’s mobile game HAIKYU!! FLY HIGH, adapted from the hit anime Haikyuu!!, launched on July 31 across multiple overseas markets. According to Insightrackr, the title amassed roughly 2 million downloads in its first month, with Indonesia, Brazil, and Thailand accounting for more than 40% of total installs.
Authentic Anime Experience Meets Strategy Gameplay
The game blends strategy, sports competition, and card-based team RPG. Players draw and train volleyball athletes of varying rarities to create their own “dream team.”
Faithful to the original anime, HAIKYU!! FLY HIGH recreates key storylines and characters, features fully 3D match visuals, and includes the original Japanese voice actors—clearly targeting dedicated anime fans.
Targeted Ad Campaigns Highlight Core Fan Appeal
Current top ad markets are Thailand, the United States, and Malaysia, focusing on Western and Southeast Asian audiences.
Creative assets emphasize anime authenticity:
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Fast-Cut Character Reels: Short videos pair trendy, high-energy music with quick photo montages to showcase a wide roster of characters, satisfying fan expectations for variety.
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Hybrid Game-Anime Clips: Ads splice in-game 3D match footage with iconic anime scenes, heightening emotional resonance and encouraging downloads from the franchise’s core fan base.
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Fast-Cut Character Reels |
Hybrid Game-Anime Clips |
03 Prison Blox: Obby 3D Parkour
According to Insightrackr, Prison Blox: Obby 3D Parkour launched in late July and quickly surpassed 5 million downloads in August, with Brazil, Vietnam, and Indonesia topping the install charts.
Authentic Anime Experience Meets Strategy Gameplay
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Name Power: “Blox” clearly nods to Roblox, tapping into its global brand recognition.
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Hot Theme: Prison break concepts have repeatedly proven their mass appeal this year.
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Visual Hook: A LEGO-style character icon attracts casual gamers and stands out in app stores.
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Gameplay Sweet Spot: Lightweight 3D parkour and obstacle courses remain evergreen in global casual markets.
These factors combined to drive explosive early growth.
Aggressive UA & Creative Strategy
User acquisition focused on Southeast Asia and Latin America—especially Vietnam, Malaysia, and Mexico—with daily active ad creatives climbing steadily from mid-August.
AdMob and Mintegral served as primary traffic channels excluding ad library data.
For creatives, Prison Blox leans into viral “brainrot” trends: over-the-top, absurd scenarios that create instant visual contrast.
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“Brainrot” Trends |
Playable Ad |
The team also deploys a video + playable ad combination—teasing curiosity through short clips, then letting users try the game—to maximize engagement and conversion, a proven formula in the casual gaming space.
For more global mobile marketing data and trends, follow Insightrackr or Signup Now for a free trial.