Based on its continuous monitoring of the global mobile market, Insightrackr releases the February 2026 rankings for mobile game downloads and revenue. The rankings are compiled using Insightrackr’s estimated app downloads and total revenue (IAP + IAA), resulting in the Top 15 Mobile Games by Downloads and Top 15 Mobile Games by Revenue.
This report combines ranking results with an in-depth analysis of ad spend and creative strategies for key titles.
This month’s featured case studies include Dream11: Fantasy Cricket App, My Garden Tale, and Last Asylum: Plague.
Top 15 Mobile Games by Downloads
Overall, the February 2026 global mobile game download rankings continued to show a stable top tier alongside intensified volatility in the mid-tier. Most titles faced MoM pressure on downloads, but several long-running and evergreen products offset the broader decline through ranking recoveries.
In the Top 3, Block Blast! maintained its No. 1 position with no change in ranking. Downloads declined slightly MoM by 2.71%, underscoring its continued stability at the top. Roblox held steady at No. 2, though downloads fell MoM by 9.78%, indicating softer momentum.
Within ranks 4–10, Vita Mahjong rose two places to No. 4 and was one of the few Top 10 titles to achieve positive growth, with MoM downloads up 0.72%. Ludo King also climbed one position to No. 7, posting a notable MoM increase of 9.78%.
Notably, Solitaire Associations Journey held steady at No. 12, but downloads declined MoM by 22.45%. The title previously led the “Solitaire + Word puzzle” hybrid trend in the second half of last year, which Insightrackr analyzed in the September rankings (click to read).
Top 15 Global Mobile Games by Revenue
Compared with the relative stability on the download side, revenue rankings in February showed more concentrated fluctuations. Among the Top 15, four titles recorded MoM revenue declines, while the rest supported overall scale through top-tier recovery or single-title spikes.
At the top, Clash Royale remained firmly in No. 1, despite a MoM revenue decline of 24.31%. Its leadership was driven more by absolute scale than by growth.
Clash of Clans moved up one spot to No. 2, delivering relatively stable performance with MoM growth of 2.96%.
Dream11: Fantasy Cricket App vaulted an impressive 44 places to No. 3, making it the largest variable in this month’s revenue rankings.
In terms of growth, Dream11 posted the highest MoM increase among all ranked titles at 574.60%, directly propelling it into the Top 3 by revenue. Brawl Stars also showed strong recovery momentum, with MoM growth of 54.51% within the Top 5.
On the downside, Pokémon TCG Pocket recorded the steepest decline at 25.92% MoM, followed by Clash Royale at 24.31%.
Moblie Game Creative Case Studies
01 Dream11: Fantasy Cricket App
Dream11: Fantasy Cricket App, developed by Sporta Technologies, is one of the most representative fantasy sports platforms in India. Since its launch in 2019, the app has built strong brand recognition.
In February, the title became one of the most prominent revenue-side variables.
From an ad spend pacing perspective, Dream11 does not follow a high-intensity, always-on scaling model. In mid-January, daily active ad creatives averaged around 40, rising to approximately 80 per day by the end of the month.
A clear ramp-up began in early February, reaching about 120 creatives per day by mid-month and peaking at roughly 140, before quickly tapering off to below 100 toward month-end.
This curve reflects a classic “expand–validate–expand again” pattern, more aligned with concentrated campaigns around major events or key moments than with long-term paid UA expansion.
In terms of channel structure, Vungle accounted for 48.20%, followed by Meta Audience Network at 20.21% and AdMob at 18.76%. This structure aligns well with the app’s mature lifecycle and monetization model, clearly prioritizing high-conversion and high-paying users over broad volume expansion.
Geographically, the top three targeting markets were India, the United Kingdom, and Japan. However, downloads were overwhelmingly concentrated in India, accounting for 91.48% of total installs. Revenue concentration was even higher, with 98.26% generated from India, indicating that core commercial returns remain tightly anchored in its primary market.
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From a creative strategy standpoint, ad creatives were strongly content-driven.
Livestream clip formats featured hosts discussing match scenarios, enhanced with exaggerated sound effects and post-production elements to boost entertainment value.
Short skit-style ads precisely tapped into rival fan dynamics and emotional tension, using “Let’s See” as an open-ended closing line to encourage conversion.
This highly localized, emotion-driven creative approach aligns closely with the product’s focus on conversion efficiency in a mature market and product stage.
02 My Garden Tale
My Garden Tale is published by Modo Games and is the globally released version of the Chinese simulation title My Garden World (我的花园世界). The game officially launched internationally on February 1.
In terms of advertising, the title followed a very typical new-game launch scaling model.
Campaigns began one week prior to launch, with around 100 daily active ad creatives. On launch day and the following day, creative volume surged rapidly to over 900, clearly targeting chart performance and rapid user acquisition. This was followed by a gradual pullback, stabilizing below 400 creatives per day by the end of February, signaling entry into a more rational scaling phase after completing initial validation.
Regarding channel structure, after excluding ad library data, AppLovin accounted for 78.79% of placements, reflecting a highly concentrated channel mix.
Geographic data also showed strong concentration. The top three targeted markets were the United States (54.00%), Canada (9.01%), and Mexico (5.06%).
Downloads came almost entirely from the United States (92.73%) and Canada (7.27%), while 100% of revenue currently originated from the United States.
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From a creative perspective, more than 90% of ad creatives were video-based, supplemented by playable ads.
AI-generated narrative short videos used a “female humiliation → comeback through management” hook to precisely trigger emotional resonance, then seamlessly transitioned into actual gameplay.
Playable ads provided extremely low-barrier management interactions, allowing users to quickly receive positive feedback.
This “narrative hook + lightweight playable” combination is highly effective for amplifying conversions during the cold-start phase of a new release and aligns closely with the product’s early launch stage.
03 Last Asylum: Plague
Last Asylum: Plague is published by 37GAMES and is a new SLG title set against the backdrop of the medieval Black Death. Visually, it uses the plague doctor as a core anchor, creating strong first-impression differentiation within a highly homogenized SLG vertical.
The game underwent an extended period of high-intensity campaigns prior to launch. From mid-January to early February, daily active ad creatives remained stable at 300–400.
After February 5, volume increased significantly, peaking at around 670 creatives on launch day. Post-launch, daily volume continued to hover around 600 without a rapid decline.
This pattern indicates a deliberate strategy to scale aggressively through the launch window rather than short-term testing.
Channel allocation was highly concentrated on AppLovin at 83.38%, followed by Yandex at 5.55% and Moloco at 3.86%.
Geographically, the top three targeted markets were the United States (9.41%), Russia (8.96%), and the United Kingdom (6.71%). The top download sources mirrored this distribution closely: the United States (26.83%), Russia (13.57%), and the United Kingdom (6.68%).
The strong alignment between targeting and downloads suggests a focused and disciplined initial market selection.
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Its ads were primarily video-based, supported by a smaller number of image and playable ads.
AI-generated surreal visual hooks—such as extracting a bone labeled “No Ads” from a mouth—were highly memorable.
At the same time, videos presented lightweight management mechanics in a dramatized format, lowering the cognitive barrier typically associated with SLG gameplay.
Overall, the strategy combined “strong visual differentiation + simplified gameplay expression,” making it well suited for rapid awareness building during the new-product phase and laying the foundation for subsequent large-scale user acquisition.
The above summarizes global mobile game downloads, revenue performance, and advertising activity for February 2026.
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