Mobile Gaming Today: April’22 Week

Highlights Journal 21 Ömer Yakabagi April 22

Ömer Yakabagi

123 Posts

Ciao Fam,

Heading to HGC Berlin soon. Hit me up if around 🕺🏻

👌🏻 Top Gaming Content

» Royal Kingdom’s Hollywood Power Play: Last Hurrah or Royal Rebirth?

Launching a new Match-3 game in today’s mobile market is like trying to sell umbrellas in the Sahara. Saturation, soaring CPIs, and razor-thin differentiation margins make even the most technically sound games struggle to scale.

When Dream Games soft-launched Royal Kingdom two years ago, they entered this same storm, which quickly showed itself.

After years of pivots and a rocky soft launch, Royal Kingdom is back. This time with what may be mobile gaming’s priciest celebrity campaign, starring LeBron James, Jimmy Fallon & Shakira. Dream Games’ high-stakes play has reignited speculation: is this a desperate revival, or the launchpad for a broader Royal IP?

Now, nearly a clone of Royal Match, Dream’s flagship hit, Royal Kingdom, raises questions around cannibalization and strategy in a saturated Match-3 market. But this could be a smart move, serving as a “vacation title” to re-engage lapsed players or refresh loyal spenders with familiar gameplay and a new twist.

With big names, bold moves, and radio silence from Dream, Royal Kingdom might not be the crown jewel, but it could still play a crucial role in expanding the empire.

⚡️Game of the Week: Disney Solitaire

⚡️ Disney Solitaire: A Promising Start to Something Bigger

Let’s be honest: Most solitaire games are fine. Some are fun. But Disney Solitaire? It’s something else.

SuperPlay teamed up with Disney (help from Playtika) to launch a game that feels like flipping through a deck of nostalgia.

The game dropped globally on 17th April 2025, and it’s basically what happens when TriPeaks solitaire crashes into the Disney universe and they decide to throw a party. Think: cards, characters, cozy vibes, and just enough challenge to keep things interesting.

🤟🏻 Industry Highlights

» What’s Wrong with Gin Rummy Stars from BeachBum?

The LiveOps schedule is fully packed, all the features are in place, and the core mechanic is very engaging. But sometimes, it feels like they either don’t care or just know nothing about me as a player. The game could benefit from a personalized approach.

🔥 Google’s Adtech Monopoly Ruled Illegal

A federal judge just struck a seismic blow to Google’s adtech dominance.

🧌 How to Model Extraction Economies

The answer to extraction shooters lies in system design. By creating a model, we can derive implications that help guide key design decisions and frame challenges in a quantifiable way.

😶‍🌫️ Best Game Devs don’t work at Blizzard, Riot, King, Playrix, or Supercell.

Some of the best minds in game dev are building alone or in tiny teams.

And they’re not just making noise. They’re topping the charts.

🧩 Puzzle games are harder to make than they look.

Great puzzle games all follow these principles.

💰 Mobile Gaming after 2024 & Q1 2025?

iOS is heavily driven by casual genres.

📲 Mobile Games losing ground to Social Media?

Industry believes YES. But what does DATA say? 🤔

🎸 Gaming Industry: At A Glance

We’re seeing early signs of renewed vitality as we enter 2025, following a highly challenging couple of years marked by funding contractions and market hesitations.

👉🏻 Mobile vs. Steam

How it started (2023): “Mobile is broken, so we’re pivoting to Steam now. 😅”

How it’s going: “Here’s the DATA! 🥁🥁🥁”

⓷ Three Stages of Mobile Game Production

Prototype, Soft-launch & Live Ops

🐛 How to increase game retention?