August saw major shakeups in the mobile game market, notably the launch of Epic’s Game Store on mobile devices, which opened Fortnite and Fall Guys to millions of potential new players. What does the arrival of Epic’s Game Store say about the future of alternative app stores, and do these stores have the power to rival the Google Play and the App Store?
Last month also introduced some major updates to the biggest mobile games. Ad monetization in Merge Mansion continued its rollout to selected accounts, Squad Busters removed some key items that were proving controversial with players because of their ‘pay-to-win’ element, and State of Survival upped its minigame ante with the introduction of a new digging minigame and a kitten-themed Match3 event.
Speaking of Match3, the relatively new release Truck Star from Century Games is racing ahead as it continues to scale in an incredibly competitive genre. What can the game teach us about finding success in the Match3 market? And what can the surprising performances of Love and Deep Space in the US and Marvel Snap in China teach us about growing games in new markets?
You can find more information about the biggest mobile game updates, developments, and game launches from August below, available exclusively on the GameRefinery platform.
August’s casual game updates
Merge Mansion used to be the only major title in the Merge2 genre without monetized ads, but the introduction of ad monetization to selected accounts in April 2024 is starting to pick up pace as it aligns its monetization strategy more closely to its competitors. At the time of writing, ad monetization currently applies to energy purchases, shop refreshes, and selected shop item purchases.
Angry Birds: Dream Blast added a limited-time Super Bomb win streak event with similar mechanics to the “super lightball” permanent win streak in Royal Match. During the event, players could transform their normal bomb into a super bomb by beating ten main progression levels, but this doesn’t need to be in a row. The super bomb doubles the effect of a regular bomb power-up in levels and lasts until the player plays a level, incentivizing them to pay for continues or extra moves to extend the streak.
Solitaire Grand Harvest saw out Summer with a two-week collaboration based around the Snoopy IP for Snoopy’s Camp. Players took part in collaboration events to receive event currency and items for the main Decoration event. Almost all of the events active during the collaboration had a Snoopy theme, and players could even pick up special event battle passes, IAP bundles, and login bonuses based on Snoopy.
After the collaboration, the game also added a super lightball win streak event, Shiny Windmill, which is similar to the super lightball win streak in Angry Birds. Players could activate the booster by completing five levels and keep it active by holding their win streak. The booster works similarly to the game’s Windmill booster but can be used once at any time during a level.
Additional casual gaming highlights and other news
After a long fight between Epic and Apple, the Epic Games Store finally arrived on mobile, globally for Android users and only in the EU for iOS users. The launch of the Epic Games Store on mobile introduces Fortnite and Fall Guys to millions of potential customers. The PC and console versions launched in-game quest events to incentivize players to download the Store and game on their mobile devices.
As an example, Fall Guys had mobile launch quests that required players to download and complete five levels in the mobile version of the game. Completing this quest rewarded players with the Holobean Costume and Yeetus Hammer Pickaxe that can be used in both Fall Guys and Fortnite.
Match3 game Truck Star, developed by Century Games (best known for the megahit Whiteout Survival), has continued to scale since its release in May. Part of the game’s success can be attributed to its truck renovation meta, which taps into the same themes and audience as Chrome Valley Customs by Space Ape Games. Truck Star’s continued success in a fiercely competitive genre highlights the benefits of tailoring gameplay mechanics, design, and aesthetics for a specific audience.
Another game that surprised us with its performance in August is the sci-fi dating sim Love and Deepspace, which continues to go from strength in APAC but is blowing up in the West. This is pretty unusual, given the core audience is in Southeast Asia. Still, the 2.0 update at the end of July and its introduction of new datable characters caused a surge in download numbers, while a follow-up update in early August propelled the game to the US top 20. Revenue also saw a boost, as the August update featured a particularly enticing gacha, offering exclusive content about all four datable characters as the main reward.
August’s midcore game updates
Squad Busters removed consumable keys and Mega Units from the game, items that allowed players to gain an advantage in matches by purchasing and collecting the consumables outside of matches. While there were cooldowns for key usage and a randomness factor involved with finding Mega Units in matches, these items were controversial for many players due to their pay-to-win elements and OP nature.
Any existing Mega Units the player had unlocked were automatically converted into a corresponding skin for the characters when the items were removed. The latest update also introduced a new area, Lava World, available to all players for one week before converting into an end-game area.
We spend a lot of time at GameRefinery talking about the benefits of minigames, and State of Survival is one of the biggest proponents of their UA and revenue-generating power. Over the years, State of Survival has hosted everything from Vampire Survivors-like shoot ‘em up minigames to mahjong solitaire and boardgame minigames with casual casino elements, and August saw two new additions to its minigame roster.
- Jungle Gems digs into the trendy digging minigame event type, offering players a series of levels to progress through with a digging mechanic. This involves using items to clear tiles from a grid and find new items, but the event also featured boost items and idle reward mechanics.
- Paw-Some Puzzle Party is a kitten-themed minigame featuring a set of Match3 levels in three different difficulties. Players attempt to reduce the opposing player’s health to zero in classic Match3 gameplay with the help of kittens, who each have a special Match3 skill.
Each monthly season update, Clash of Clans introduces new content in the form of Battle Pass, limited-time challenge events, and various cosmetic skins. August’s update was an Anime-themed special, which marked a major first for the game as the anime skins it introduced are a completely different art style from the core game, potentially widening its appeal to players who are fans of anime games and art styles.
Additional midcore gaming highlights and other news
Top Heroes, a 4X casual action RPG hybrid by River Game (developer of the 4x merge hybrid Top War), continued to scale as it hit and sustained its position in the top 50-grossing. The game has been scaling steadily, and August was its highest revenue month ever. This can be attributed to its unique combination of two completely different genres, as well as its utilization of casual action RPG layers in its UA campaigns.
China is a tough market for CCGs as most successful card battlers are based on well-established IPs like War of the Three Kingdoms. That said, the Chinese version of Marvel Snap (漫威终极逆转) doesn’t seem to be having any issues winning over Chinese players. Only two weeks in and the game is sitting at grossing 40 and DL 40.
It’s worth noting that Hearthstone is gearing up for its comeback in September after the game was pulled from the market due to a conflict between NetEase and the game’s developer, Blizzard. Can Hearthstone also find a home in China’s competitive CCG market? We’ll bring you the update in next month’s issue of the GameRefinery Analyst Bulletin!
The Chinese version of AFK Journey (剑与远征：启程) is sitting stable in the top-10 grossing chart, while downloads are down from its peak at #2 to the top-40. This new version of the game highlights another instance of a Chinese publisher releasing a game domestically after its initial launch in Western markets.
Over in Japan, Netease’s realistic racing game, Racing Master (レーシングマスター) has made a surprising entry, marking the first racing game in quite some time to achieve significant success in the market. It held a stable position in the top 20 grossing games and even hit the top spot for downloads. It’s a 3D racing game where players collect cars and compete in synchronized PvP races, but there’s a heavy focus on character customization with plenty of skins, hairstyles, and other options to choose from alongside car customization.
While car customization is common in successful racing games, player customization is less common, helping Netease widen the game’s appeal. Of course, a launch collaboration with the J-pop group Perfume also helped get the game in front of new players.