Buzz
Revamping Genshin Impact characters led to a decrease in revenue. Uma Musume Pretty and Demon Slayer collaborated to boost earnings.
Based on data from App Intelligence by SocialPeta and other sources, I've compiled the top 10 mobile games by revenue, downloads, and advertising globally in March 2022, hoping to assist many in the mobile app industry navigate global market trends.
Global mobile gaming market overview for March: Roblox and Genshin Impact reported revenue declines on both Apple Store and Google Play in March. The download charts for 5 new games and puzzle games continued their steady rise. Revenlation Online intensified advertising efforts ahead of its Japanese version release and led the game rankings by advertising on iOS.
Top 10 games by revenue
In terms of global mobile game revenue, Roblox topped the charts with nearly $81 million in March. However, revenue for this game on both iOS and Android showed a monthly downward trend, decreasing by 10.9% on iOS.
Genshin Impact sees rare revenue decline on both Apple and Google Play, dropping by 26.6% and 19.2% respectively from the previous month. The Rerun of Raiden Shogun, Sangonomiya Kokomi, and other characters didn't meet expectations, resulting in decreased revenue across both platforms. Clearly, Genshin Impact's revenue heavily relies on its characters.
Monster Strike, a mobile game developed by the Japanese company XFLAG, reported a significant 69.6% revenue increase from Google Play compared to the previous month. The game's second release, in collaboration with the popular manga series Demon Slayer in March, introduced 5 famous characters including “Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku,” “Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui,” and 'Nezuko Kamado'. This collaboration was a huge success as it coincided with the launch of Demon Slayer Season 2 project.
The second highest-grossing game is Uma Musume Pretty Derby, an anime-style mobile game published by Cygames. The game earned over $77 million in revenue in March, with a monthly growth rate of 20.4% from Google Play. The soaring revenue is the result of frequent updates in March: Events such as White Day on March 14, the final chapter of the first part “Dream Rough” of the main story released on March 18, and “Tonight at Ligne Drote (今宵、リーニュ・ドロワットで)” released on March 28.
Next, in terms of downloads in March, Subway Surfers continues to top the charts among the most downloaded mobile games on the App Store. In March, the game garnered over 4.7 million downloads from the App Store, a 46.9% increase compared to the previous month.
In March, 5 new games made it to the top 10 most downloaded games. Among them, Army Commander, a casual game by Lion Studios, quickly gained popularity shortly after its global release on February 27, and Wordle! saw a surge in downloads due to its name similarity to the popular web-based game. Following that success, Wordle! had 8 updates in March, attracting users with frequent updates and optimizations.
With lingering effects from livestreaming, 'Talking Tom & Friends' franchise products continue to achieve increasing download numbers. Among them, My Talking Tom 2 stands out with over 9.3 million downloads from the App Store, marking a 14.8% increase from the previous month.
Two notable games with high downloads on the App Store are Fishdom, boasting 2.7 million downloads, a 58.8% increase from the previous month, and the sports-themed simulation game 8 Ball Pool™ with 2.8 million downloads, up by 40% compared to last month.
Top 10 Games by Ad Revenue
Now, let's examine the advertising criteria for March. The MMO game Revenlation Online has begun pre-registration for its Japanese version: AZUREA-空の唄.
The game commenced advertising on March 1st and topped the iOS charts with 2700 ads distributed. The official launch is scheduled for April 13th.
The coloring game Doodle Mobile Coloring Book! leads in advertising among all puzzle games in March, with 2300 ads distributed on iOS, marking a 69.3% increase from the previous month. According to data from SocialPeta, the game focuses its advertising efforts in the US, Australia, and the UK markets.
Yotta Games' Grand Mafia has overtaken Mafia City as the most advertised mobile SLG game in March, with over 7000 ads distributed on both iOS and Android, representing an 8.3% increase from the previous month.
