Insightrackr has released the Mobile Game Downloads and Revenue Rankings for July 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: My Talking Tom Friends 2 / Tile Club / Pikmin Bloom
Top 15 Mobile Games by Downloads
The Standout in the Top 5
According to Insightrackr, the top positions in July’s Top 15 mobile game by downloads remained as stable as ever, with the only standout being Tile Explorer, which overtook Ludo King to break into the top five.
Tile Explorer, a stacking match-3 game from Oakever Games, entered the Top 15 in June thanks to large-scale user acquisition and short drama-style ad creatives (click here for the recap). In July, its downloads continued to surge, growing 63.14% MoM.
Changes among Newly Ranked Products
However, another hit from the previous ranking, Music Piano 7: Rush Song Games, saw its performance decline. This music game ramped up user acquisition in June, driving a sharp spike in downloads (click here for the recap); yet in July, downloads fell 19.69% MoM, dropping it out of the Top 10.
Among newly ranked titles, the Tom Cat IP sequel My Talking Tom Friends 2 emerged as July’s download dark horse, soaring 8,570.04% MoM to take 9th place.
In addition, GamoVation’s casual game Tile Club also performed well, with downloads rising 27.75% MoM, earning it a spot in the Top 15.
Top 15 Mobile Games by Revenue
Reshuffle in the Top 3
In the app revenue rankings, Insightrackr’s data shows a reshuffle in the Top 3. Free Fire MAX continues to hold the No. 1 spot, though its revenue saw a notable MoM decline. Meanwhile, Supercell’s Clash Royale and Paeezan’s Match Garden climbed to second and third place, respectively.
Shifts of Classic Games
Launched in October 2024, the Pokémon IP card game Pokémon TCG Pocket saw its July revenue jump 93.21% MoM, pushing it into the top five.
Pikmin Bloom, from the same developer as Pokémon GO, Niantic, also recorded revenue growth, climbing seven spots to enter the Top 15.
In addition, evergreen titles Roblox and CookieRun: Kingdom both posted notable gains, with double-digit MoM growth placing them at 10th and 11th, respectively.
Notably, India’s version of PUBG, BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA, saw revenue plunge by over 70% MoM in July. Its national pro league, BMPS 2025, kicked off in late May and peaked in popularity during June, but the conclusion of the finals in early July brought a sharp cooldown.
Mobile Game Advertising Case Analysis
01 My Talking Tom Friends 2
Targeting the Americas Market
My Talking Tom Friends 2 officially launched globally on both platforms in July 2025. It is the sequel to the virtual pet simulation game My Talking Tom Friends, developed by Outfit7 under the Tom Cat IP.
According to Insightrackr’s monitoring, My Talking Tom Friends 2 began scaling up user acquisition immediately after launch, with daily active creatives jumping from under 100 to 400–500 starting mid-July.
My Talking Tom Friends 2 primarily runs ads on the Mintegral, which accounts for 90.66% of campaigns excluding ad library data. The sub-channels focus mainly on casual and simulation games.
Currently, downloads are mainly from India, Brazil, and the U.S., while revenue is heavily concentrated in the Americas—over 40% comes from the U.S., Brazil, and Mexico. As a result, ad spend is somewhat tilted toward these regions.
“Video + Playable Ads” Combination
In terms of creatives, My Talking Tom Friends 2 deployed a large volume of “video + playable ads” combinations.
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Video Creatives |
Playable ads
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In the creative examples, the videos use live-action filming, with one person holding the camera while another plays the game on a giant screen and provides commentary. The oversized screen quickly grabs attention at the start, and the live-action, hands-on presentation feels natural and approachable, reducing the sense of “advertisement.”
The playable ads recreate in-game scenarios, requiring players to follow prompts to interact with the virtual pets. After three rounds of interaction, a CTA button appears, converting the peak of player engagement into actual downloads.
02 Tile Club
Global Broad Targeting Strategy
Tile Club is a match-3 game launched in 2023 by GamoVation. Its gameplay and presentation are similar to Tile Explorer, which we analyzed in the previous report (click here for the recap).
Tile Club also adopts a global broad targeting strategy, with its top market, Argentina, accounting for less than 4%, and daily active creatives remaining stable at around 600–800.
Similar to Tile Explorer’s channel strategy, Tile Club primarily uses AppLovin, AdMob, and Mintegral for traffic. However, its sub-channel selection leans more toward popular casual games, such as Block Blast!, followed by utility apps.
Video Creatives Inspired by Royal Match
Both games favor the “video + playable ads” combination for their creatives, though the specific content of the ads differs significantly.
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Video Creatives |
Playable ads |
Tile Club’s video creative strategy is clearly influenced by the top match-3 title Royal Match: the videos feature a character trapped in a predicament, signaling for help to the player watching the screen. The way to rescue the character is by clearing the rising bricks. This engaging setup easily keeps viewers watching, while the “rescue” cue motivates them to try the game themselves.
In the playable ad, the content shifts to classic match-3 gameplay, with the large “brain age” calculation window at the top borrowed from a classic puzzle game design.
03 Pikmin Bloom
A Casual Version of Pokémon GO.
Pikmin Bloom from Niantic is based on the classic Nintendo IP Pikmin. The mobile game adopts an “AR + walking” gameplay similar to Pokémon GO, where players collect and nurture different types of Pikmin while walking, earning it the nickname of a casual version of Pokémon GO.
In July, Pikmin Bloom’s daily active creatives saw a slight increase, reaching nearly 600 at peak. Excluding ad library data, traffic mainly comes from the AdMob, with the sub-channel Block Blast! accounting for over 50%.
The game’s ad spend is focused on Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, together making up more than 50% of the total. Accordingly, Japan is the top source of downloads at 38.08%, followed by the U.S. at 17.32%.
Revenue, however, is led by the U.S. market at 34.86%, with Japan and South Korea together contributing close to 50%.
Q&A-style Creatives
The ad creatives showcase Pikmin’s diverse and cute designs, emphasizing the core gameplay mechanic: players collect different types of Pikmin by walking.
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Video Creatives |
Video Creatives |
On the other hand, to highlight the strong connection between the AR game and real life, some video creatives include Q&A elements to boost interactivity—for example, asking “Which type of Pikmin will you encounter in the park?”—sparking players’ interest in visiting specific locations to find rare Pikmin.
That’s all for this issue. Match-3 games remain one of the mobile genres most likely to achieve rapid user acquisition. Classic IP games, by increasing ad spend and pairing it with high-quality creative assets, are more likely to drive player conversion and generate in-game revenue.
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