Mobile Legends: Bang Bang from Moonton achieved explosive growth, pushing lifetime gross revenue past $502.5 million as of Sensor Tower data. User spending increased annually, peaking at $214.1 million in 2019, up 36% year-over-year, with December 2019 as its best month ($24.4 million) following version 2.0. Asia drove 61% of revenue ($307 million), making it the top-grossing MOBA in Asia excluding China, ahead of Tencent's Honor of Kings ($251.4 million).
Malaysia led with $87.5 million (17% of total), followed by Indonesia ($69.2M, 14%) and the US ($64.1M, 12.8%). Google Play contributed $340 million (68% of revenue) and 250.7 million (89%) of 281.3 million total downloads. Average revenue per download is $1.80.
Top download countries: Indonesia (100.1M, 36%), Philippines (41.2M, 15%), Vietnam (21.3M, 8%). First-mover advantage in key markets like Malaysia, Indonesia, and the US helped it surpass Honor of Kings outside China.
Top 1% of publishers got 80% of global app downloads in Q3 2019. In games, they earned 95% of revenue. Discoverability and ASO are crucial for the remaining 99% to compete.
In 2019, users spent $83.5 billion globally on apps and mobile games, up 17% from 2018. App Store revenue hit $54.2 billion, while Google Play reached $29.3 billion. Games accounted for 74% of spending. First-time installs totaled 114.9 billion, with Google Play leading growth.
TikTok had its best month in February 2020 with nearly 113 million downloads, 96% Y/Y growth. India led with 46.6M installs, followed by Brazil and US. Revenue hit $50.4M, up 784% Y/Y, mostly from China.
TikTok surpasses 1.5 billion downloads, ranking 3rd most downloaded non-gaming app in 2019. India leads with 31% of installs, China 11.5%, US 8.2%. Revenue hits $175M, mainly from China (48.3%) and US (35.7%).
Fate/Grand Order surpassed $4 billion in lifetime player spending, with 81.5% from Japan. It generated $1 billion annually in 2018 and 2019, and became Japan's top-grossing mobile game in 2020.
TikTok hit 738M downloads and $177M revenue in 2019, growing 5x from 2018. India led downloads (44%). China topped revenue (69%). Q4 was best quarter. App faces privacy challenges but growth persists.
August mobile gaming saw stable revenue at $6.57B and downloads at 3.76B. Honor of Kings led revenue through major events, while Tencent titles accounted for 5 of top revenue growth spots, driven by China. Download trends highlighted open-world crime games (Gangstar Mirage City), ASMR unboxing (Mystery Dumpling), and casual vehicle titles, with high growth in India, Brazil, and Turkey. For ad ops, seasonal events, limited-time cosmetics, and localized partnerships are key to engagement; emerging genres and fast-growth markets present new user acquisition opportunities. Live-ops pacing is critical for monetization.
Japan's mobile gaming market remains a revenue powerhouse, generating over $10B in IAPs in the past year despite a slight decline. Downloads are down, but engagement is stable, indicating a mature, high-value audience. Gaming ranks third in Japan's digital ad spend, with the ad market at record highs. Ad ops teams should align with major events and new releases for monetization spikes, balance casual puzzle UAC for volume with strategy/RPG for LTV, and consider cross-platform campaigns.
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August mobile gaming saw stable revenue at $6.57B and downloads at 3.76B. Honor of Kings led revenue through major event...