Mobile Game Leaders: November 2024

Helloii! Welcome to the November version of Mobile Game Leaders. To compare the data with the previous month, check our October Report. Data source: AppMagic Global Leaderboard: Game Publishers Something Major? Pokémon TCG Pocket is dominating! We're talking about 140M$ IAP & 26M Downloads in November. Just started on October 29th, crazy... Hypercasual Studio Rankings Out of 171,535 Creatives on iOS Top GEOs by Impression U.S: 26% Japan: 6% U.K: 5% S.Korea: 5% Brazil: 5% France: 4% Canada: 4% Turkey: 3% Saudi Arabia: 3% Top Ad Networks by Impression AppLovin: 35% Facebook: 19% Unity: 11% YouTube: 7% Mintegral: 7% Tiktok: 4% Out of 351,705 Creatives on Android Top GEOs by Impression India: 11% U.S: 7% Brazil: 6% Mexico: 6% Turkey: 5% S.Korea: 5% Indonesia: 5% Ukraine: 4% Top Ad Networks by Impression AppLovin: 37% YouTube: 17% Facebook: 17% AdMob: 9% Mintegral: 7% […]

Ömer Yakabagi December 5

Highlights

AppLovin’s Adjust Faces Layoffs

Adjust Faces Layoffs Amid Leadership Changes Adjust just laid off 40% of its workforce. Adjust, the mobile app measurement and marketing firm acquired by AppLovin in April 2021, is undergoing significant changes, including staff layoffs and leadership restructuring. Adjust laid off 40% of its workforce, while AppLovin is reporting record profits. Why? Consolidation rocks. » AppLovin Monopoly Layoff Reports Surface Reports of layoffs at Adjust have surfaced across social media, although specific details regarding the number of employees or departments affected remain unclear. A WARN notice filed in California on November 13th indicated that AppLovin plans to lay off 120 employees. Additional filings suggest earlier layoffs, including 58 employees in October, 65 cuts in early October, and 61 layoffs in August. It is uncertain whether these layoffs are part of the same restructuring effort or separate rounds of job reductions. […]

Ömer Yakabagi November 25

Highlights

AppLovin Empire: Monopoly in Mobile Gaming?

Everyone is talking about Applovin. They have been reshaping Mobile Gaming, building an ecosystem that covers everything. It's become a one-stop shop spanning Ad Tech, UA, CTV, Monetization, Creatives, and even its own Games! Alright - Let's start with the fun part - NASDAQ! +625% since Jan. YES, your 100K would have been 625K in a year. How? Special thanks to Brian Truman for putting his 2 cents out here: Since ATT, on iOS Meta has had trouble with attribution. Yes, APP has a great team and killer ML chops. Their prediction algorithms are remarkable. But what makes APP truly the best is winning the attribution game. They have benefited tremendously from Apple’s shift toward privacy and SKAN.When serving an ad that they created via their own SDK they are collecting strong data points that are passed to the MMP […]

Ömer Yakabagi November 25

Journal

Game District Acquires a Majority Stake in Gleam Games

Game District, a game studio based in Southeast Asia, has taken a majority stake in Gleam Games, a Turkish company recognized for its puzzle game EverBlast. Southeast Asia-based Game District, with over 2 billion downloads, has acquired a majority stake in Gleam Games, one of the fastest-growing local players in the mobile gaming industry. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Gleam Games, founded by Eser Yoğurtcu, Berkay Bekil, and Furkan Bekil and recognized as one of the fastest-growing startups in the casual gaming industry, completed an investment round led by IstCapital in April 2023. Investors such as Fatih İşbecer, Fırat İşbecer, Ludus VC, and Tera Portföy also participated in the round, and the total investment of the company, which received an investment of 1 million dollars, reached 2 million dollars. “This acquisition is a big step towards our mission to become […]

Ömer Yakabagi November 19

Highlights

Embracer Sells Easybrain for $1.2 Billion

Miniclip has just scored big, acquiring Easybrain—Casual Puzzle Game Giant—for $1.2 billion. This deal not only reshapes Embracer's financials but also cuts their debt down to nearly zero, setting them up with a strong cash position to drive future growth. The acquisition is expected to close in early 2025. Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors highlighted the impact, saying, “Easybrain has been a core part of Embracer for over three years, driving incredible value. As the market shifts, Miniclip is the perfect home for Easybrain to keep leading in the ad-driven mobile gaming scene.” Based in Cyprus, Easybrain is known for its smash-hit casual puzzles like Art Puzzle, Pixel Art, Number Match, and Blockudoku, plus the globally popular Sudoku.com. These titles bring a loyal fanbase to Miniclip’s growing lineup, which already features recent acquisitions like Sybo and FuturLab, giving Miniclip a major […]

Ömer Yakabagi November 14

Highlights

MTG Acquires Plarium for $620M, Adding RAID to Its Portfolio

Aristocrat Leisure has agreed to sell Mobile Game Studio Plarium to MTG (Modern Times Group) for up to $820M, shifting focus to real-money gaming. The deal includes $620M upfront and up to $200M based on financial targets from 2025 to 2028. Who's MTG? Modern Times Group is an international Gaming group that owns and operates gaming studios with popular global IPs across a wide range of casual and mid-core genres. Portfolio? MTG’s portfolio is stacked with powerhouses like InnoGames, Hutch, PlaySimple, SnowPrint, Ninja Kiwi, alongside its dynamic VC Fund. How about Plarium? MTG’s acquisition of Plarium for $620M marks a pivotal moment in the mobile gaming industry, elevating MTG as a top-tier mobile gaming leader with a combined revenue surpassing $1.1 billion and an EBITDA over $277M. This acquisition brings RAID: Shadow Legends, an iconic mid-core RPG with a substantial […]

Ömer Yakabagi November 12

Journal

Playstudios to Cut 30% of Workforce: 200+ Layoffs Ahead

Playstudios, a game studio that runs online and mobile social games, is planning to reduce its workforce by about 30%, which will impact over 200 employees. This cutback is part of a reorganization plan aimed at saving up to $30M each year. Playstudios expects to spend between $14 million and $16 million, mostly for employee transition and severance costs. The company anticipates most of these layoffs will be completed by the end of this quarter. At the end of 2023, Playstudios reported having 697 full-time and 13 part-time employees across eight countries. After this announcement, Playstudios' stock dropped by 4.3% to $1.32 in after-hours trading. This reorganization news follows a disappointing third quarter, where Playstudios reported a loss of $3.1 million (or 2 cents per share), compared to a profit of $3.8 million (or 3 cents per share) during the […]

Ömer Yakabagi November 7

Highlights

Mobile Game Leaders: October 2024

Global Leaderboard Major Differences: Top Studios: Azur Games remains in the top position but experienced a drop in downloads from 105 million in September to 99M in October. VOODOO moved to 2nd place in October, surpassing SayGames, with an increase in downloads from 62 to 73 million. New Players in the October List: Rocket Succeed Together: This studio entered the top 10, taking the 10th position in October with 39 million downloads, replacing Bravestars. XGame Global: Ranked 17th in October, a new addition. Mini Games: Calm & Relax carried! Hungry Studio: Entered the rankings in 19th place in October, replacing JindoBlu in September. Hypercasual Rankings Out of 132,000 Creatives on iOS Top GEOs by Impression U.S: 40% Japan: 7% U.K: 7% Australia: 5% France: 5% Canada: 5% Top Ad Networks by Impression Unity: 34% Fyber: 27% Facebook: 22% YouTube: 14% […]

Ömer Yakabagi November 6

Journal

Supercell Acquires Space Ape Games

Supercell Acquires Space Ape, Launching London Office by Spring 2025 Supercell has completed its acquisition of Space Ape, which will become the company’s first official London office by spring 2025. The Finnish developer confirmed, “Space Ape will now be part of Supercell rather than operate independently.” ‘Supercell London’ will join existing studios in Helsinki, Shanghai, San Francisco, and Seoul. Supercell previously acquired 62%, a majority stake in Space Ape in 2017, increasing it to 75% in 2022 with a $37 million investment. Currently, Space Ape is collaborating with Supercell on Hay Day and previously launched Boom Beach Frontlines, a spin-off discontinued in 2022. Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen expressed excitement over the move, saying, “By joining forces with Space Ape, we’re strengthening our teams and expanding our mission to create memorable games people love to play for years.” Space Ape CEO […]

Ömer Yakabagi November 4

Journal

Mobile Gaming World: Finland

What do we know about the Finnish Mobile Gaming Scene? Here we go after our first shot "Mobile Gaming World: Türkiye". It wasn't easy to gather all these data and insights together, BIG THANKS to Joakim, Antti, Joni, Jani, Jere, Gus, Veli-Pekka, Neogames, GameCity Kajaani, and IGDA Finland. Appreciate the support! Helsinki was the mobile game start-up capital a decade ago, home to Nokia, Rovio, and Supercell. The scene attracted heavy investment, leading to successes like Fingersoft, Small Giant Games, and Seriously. However, no new hit studios since the 2020s... "We here in Finland, are at a disadvantage - and we're blind to it," Gus said. Finnish Mobile Gaming Scene We all know the giants. How about the data behind? 🦄 » Supercell Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, Hay Day, Squad Busters, and Brawl Stars... So far, Supercell has generated […]

Ömer Yakabagi October 18

Highlights

Mobile Gaming Today: 30

Hey Fam 👾 Mobidictum Istanbul Week! Hit me up if you’re there :) BTW, seen our September Report? Meme of the Week Does anyone like Ads, except for Felix? :)) Mobile Marketing 🧱 Zubov: LEGO & Fortnite 💵 Remiar: ReelShort » Money-printing Machine 🔗 Lancaric: Zipline Hook - Game-Changing Trend 🎯 Dogan: Maximizing CPM Without Losing Players 📊 Slashcev: Top Mobile Casual Games Benchmark Metrics 📈 Fomina: Successful Growth Strategy Behind Dice Dreams 💰 Braberg: Mobile Ad Revenue - Google Admob Mediation 🎨 Kananen: Forming Ads, Creatives, Marketing Messages 🧠 Weiss: Brain games in the top charts? 💡 Fodor: 10 Gaming Creative Takeaways 🧩 Kopelovich: Unpuzzle by HYPERCELL 🔍 Razmakhov: Creative Decode #9 Industry Highlights 🧱 Yakabagi: Turkey Blocks Discord 🗂️ Black: Data Dump Friday; Oct 11th 💥 Vasiuk: 10 Advice to Ruin Your Game 🎁 Farha: Best Free Resources […]

Ömer Yakabagi October 14

Highlights

Mobile Game Leaders: September 2024

Seasonality hit UA hard. Most Publishers saw a dip in downloads as UA budgets get slashed in September. Higher CPI: Competition! E-commerce & Retail brands dominate the market with massive ad budgets, driving CPIs up & up. Shifting User Attention: Holiday Shopping - yaaay! Black Friday & Amazon Prime Days sound cool, right? There we go with the drop in engagement with gaming ads. Lower UA Budget: Q4 is mostly the lowest-budget quarter. Gaming advertisers feel the pinch, having to cut back on UA spending as costs peak. Publisher Response: Many shift focus from new installs to retention and monetization, emphasizing in-game events and promotions. However, TikTok and Meta have rolled out enhanced probabilistic matching features, and these new models are likely to drive ad spend up on these platforms in the coming months. Let's start with New Games & […]

Ömer Yakabagi October 12

Ömer Yakabagi

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