Sensor Tower recently released its latest report on the state of mobile gaming at the beginning of 2025, which shows the trends that are poised to guide the market this year and how it’s changed over 2024. The findings of the report show that mobile gaming had positive year-over-year growth in in-app purchase (IAP) revenue for the first time since 2021. However, it also shows that downloads are down 6%, indicating perhaps that gamers are spending more time consistently in existing mobile game ecosystems, a change from previous market dynamics.
The report covers the various genres of games that saw success in 2024, and also covers the shifts in the emerging markets. The latter, it says, are responsible for some of the biggest increases in engagement in the market. Another major takeaway shows that fewer new games are succeeding on the market and gamers seem to overwhelmingly preferring core titles. There were over 200 new games in the top 1,000 in the U.S. in 2020, but only about 100 in 2024.
Jonathan Briskman, Sensor Tower’s Principal Market Insights Manager, told GamesBeat in an interview, “Looking at some of the successes in the past year or two, the most important question developers need to ask themselves is how they are going to acquire a playerbase sufficient to support their game. Pokémon TCG Pocket tapped into one of the biggest IPs in the world with gameplay that triggers nostalgia for almost anyone under the age of 40 (and many above!)… Players often have a game or games they’re spending time in already, and new entrants need a very strong argument to convince these players to spend time on their game instead.”
Shifts in monetization for 2025’s mobile games
Sensor Tower’s report shows the differences between the genres with the highest number of downloads and those with the highest IAP revenue. While simulation and puzzle titles show the greatest share of 2024’s downloads, it’s the strategy genre that dominates in global consumer spend. In fact, year-over-year spending for IAP revenue for strategy games grew by 16% in 2024, and it accounted for 21% of all IAP revenue.
Briskman attributes this to major strategy developers refining their systems to make it both welcoming and easy for new players to understand while also pushing creative ad strategies to longtime players. A recent study from Mobile Premier League suggested that players can have a strong reaction to in-game ads, which can have a negative effect on the game’s overall player goodwill.
Briskman added, “One trend is the continuing rise of hybridcasual games. These games use cheaper assets, so they are cheaper to make. They use easy to market gameplay reminiscent of hypercasual but also progression systems that increase lifetime value. Also, they use a combination of in-app purchases and ad monetization, making them less vulnerable to market shifts that damage either monetization strategy.” He cited Habby’s Capybara Go and Last War: Survival as interesting case studies.
Overall, Sensor Tower reports that the mobile gaming market hit $80.9 billion in 2024 despite (or perhaps because of) the shift towards core games. In addition to strategy titles, shooters such as Free Fire showed the most global download growth, while casino genre games such as Monopoly Go! showed the most IAP revenue growth.
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