Insightrackr has released the Mobile Game Downloads and Revenue Rankings for January 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.
Top 15 Mobile Games by Downloads
In the top half of the download rankings, Cat Chaos: Prankster by Vietnamese developer Mirai Studio debuted at number 3, following Roblox and Block Blast.
Other games maintained stable download rankings with minimal fluctuations.
In the lower half, games exhibited more significant download growth. Prison Survival: Tap Challenge ranked 8th with a 334.63% MoM increase in downloads. This action survival game draws inspiration from the popular series "Squid Game," incorporating related gameplay mechanics and design elements.
In January, it garnered substantial downloads, even surpassing Netflix's official release, Squid Game: Unleashed, which ranked 12th and also saw its downloads double month-over-month.
This trend may indicate the emergence of another wave of casual survival games.
Super Bear Adventure experienced nearly a sevenfold increase in downloads in January, marking the highest growth among the listed games, with its ranking climbing over 400 places. Google Play reports its downloads have exceeded 100 million.
Top 15 Mobile Games by Revenue
In terms of revenue, Pokémon TCG Pocket saw a 45.50% month-over-month increase in January, achieving three consecutive months of revenue growth since its launch, and securing the top spot in this period's revenue rankings.
Playrix, a leading casual game company, observed revenue increases across several titles. Notably, Township experienced a 97.26% month-over-month growth, while Fishdom ranked second in overall revenue.
The casual music game DuoMix: Incredible Spooky Beat recorded the highest month-over-month revenue growth in this period's rankings, with an increase of 10,601.63%. Similar to Horror Spranky Beats from the December's rankings, it focuses on music creation as its primary gameplay.
Mobile Game Advertising Case Analysis
01 Cat Chaos: Prankster
Released by Vietnamese developer Mirai Studio in late December 2024, Cat Chaos: Prankster allows players to assume the first-person perspective of a cat, performing pranks to create chaos without being discovered by the elderly homeowner.
Insightrackr's monitoring data indicates that since its launch, the game's ad creatives have steadily increased. In January, the daily active ad creatives consistently exceeded 250, peaking at 350.
Geographically, Latin America and Southeast Asia are its primary target markets, with Brazil leading in both detected ads and estimated revenue.
The ad creatives feature a cute and simple art style, emphasizing the game's stress-relief aspect as a hyper-casual title.
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Playable Ad |
Video ads start with real cat interactions to quickly capture attention, then transition to in-game footage showcasing first-person prank scenarios, allowing players to experience the mischievous fun of being a cat.
Playable ads shift the perspective to the elderly homeowner discovering the cat's pranks and reacting, with exaggerated plot developments enhancing the game's appeal and encouraging downloads.
02 Prison Survival: Tap Challenge
Developed by Vietnamese developer Higame Global and released in November 2024, Prison Survival: Tap Challenge is a hyper-casual mobile game themed around prison survival.
The game's scenes and gameplay design incorporate classic elements from "Squid Game," such as the "glass bridge" and "dalgona candy" challenges.
Insightrackr data shows that in January, the game maintained a steady advertising pace, with daily active ad creatives fluctuating around 100.
Geographically, the ads were most detected in the United States, followed by the Philippines, Mexico, India, and other markets. The Indian market contributed over 60% of downloads and about 10% of revenue.
The ad creatives strategy involves recreating classic challenge scenes from "Squid Game" in 3D style and integrating them with various hyper-casual game mechanics.
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Playable Ad |
For instance, in a playable ad, the dalgona candy scene is transformed into an interactive button selection, enhancing player engagement.
03 DuoMix: Incredible Spooky Beat
Similar to Horror Spranky Beats, DuoMix: Incredible Spooky Beat combines horror elements with music rhythm creation.
Ad creative data indicates that despite increased advertising in late January, the daily active ad creatives remained only between 20-30, suggesting that advertising is not the primary growth strategy.
Geographically, the ads focus on Latin America and Southeast Asia. Indonesia and Brazil, populous countries in these regions, contributed the most downloads and revenue, respectively.
Horror-themed music games have been gaining popularity in recent months, frequently appearing on various app store charts and generating rich user-generated content on social media, leading to substantial organic downloads.
These games typically attract attention through eerie sound effects and bizarre designs, coupled with dynamic music experiences that provide sensory stimulation to players.
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