The November 2025 Sensor Tower report reveals a mobile gaming market with total consumer spending of $6.68 billion (down 2.8% MoM) and downloads of 3.62 billion (down 4.1% MoM). The U.S. led revenue share at 32.3%, followed by China (iOS) at 14.4% and Japan at 12.4%.
Top-grossing games like Last War: Survival Game and Whiteout Survival maintained leadership through alliance-driven play and high-impact live ops such as Frostdragon Tyrant and Thanksgiving campaigns. MONOPOLY GO! held No.
3 with trio events (Campfire Racers, Harvest Racers, Thanksgiving Partners). Revenue growth leaders included MapleStory: Idle RPG (IP nostalgia), Honkai: Star Rail (new chapters and banners), Pokémon GO (dense event slate), and Uma Musume Pretty Derby (hot-spring/golden night campaigns). On the downloads front, Block Blast!
topped via Thanksgiving Harvest Adventure event, ROBLOX surged with Wicked: For Good and Yeat x Dead Rails crossovers, and Free Fire leveraged Digimon Adventure collaboration. Download growth leaders featured Solitaire Associations Journey (hybrid solitaire-word puzzle), I Am Monkey (physics sandbox), and Sonic Rumble (party-royale). For ad ops, actionable takeaways include investing in seasonal/crossover events for download spikes, leveraging IP and nostalgia for retention, and monitoring hybrid mechanics for user acquisition.
The data underscores the importance of coordinated live ops and accessible gameplay in driving both revenue and installs across global markets.
What's notable here is the clear bifurcation between revenue concentration and download growth drivers. The top revenue titles—Last War, Whiteout Survival, MONOPOLY GO!—are doubling down on alliance-driven, festive live ops, which suggests that for UA teams, the cost of acquiring users during these high-engagement windows may spike due to increased competition. Meanwhile, the download growth leaders—Solitaire Associations Journey, I Am Monkey, Sonic Rumble—highlight a shift toward accessible, shareable mechanics that offer lower CPI opportunities for performance marketers.
The key implication for monetization strategists is that hybrid mechanics (e.g., solitaire + word association) are breaking through, indicating that user acquisition strategies may need to diversify beyond traditional mid-core or hypercasual labels. Additionally, the geographic disparity—US leading revenue share (32.3%) but India dominating downloads (16.4%)—underscores the importance of market-specific UA calibration. With global downloads down 4.1% month-over-month, UA teams should reassess bid strategies for November vs.
December holiday seasons, as event-driven engagement may not sustain into the new year without fresh content cadences.
In 2025, non-game apps surpassed games in revenue, with total in-app spending hitting $167B. APAC publishers drove a $2.58B increase in gaming revenue. Short Drama and AI Assistant categories saw explosive growth, while Blinkit, Shopee, and DeepSeek led their sectors. For ad ops, this signals shifting user attention toward lifestyle, commerce, and AI tools, creating new inventory opportunities beyond gaming.
App measurement is fundamentally different from web analytics due to data fragmentation across ad networks, devices, and apps. A Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) like AppsFlyer bridges these gaps, enabling unified attribution, fraud protection, and LTV measurement. For eCommerce, granular event tracking, deep linking, and privacy-safe data collaboration are critical. Leaders should focus on metrics like IR, CPI, LTV, and ROAS, and adopt AI-driven optimization to overcome challenges like ad fraud and privacy changes. The future is Connected Commerce—integrating apps, web, retail media, and AI.
September mobile gaming softened overall but delivered clear live-ops wins. Global consumer spending hit $6.13B, down 7% MoM, with the US at 28.7%, China iOS 15.7%, and Japan 12.4%. Downloads reached 3.56B, down 5.2%, led by India at 16.2%. ROBLOX topped downloads and revenue growth; Honor of Kings stayed strong via seasonal content; Candy Crush and Pokémon GO used music, celebrity, and event-driven engagement. For ad ops, prioritize event-aligned UA/retargeting, IP collaborations, seasonal battle passes, and localized creatives for US/India/Brazil. Monitor launch spikes from Bus Fever Party!, Honor of Kings Chess, and Brain Puzzle 3 to time bids and creative refreshes.
February 2026 mobile game revenue hit $6.55B, down 8% MoM. Last War:Survival Game led globally via Valentine's Day event. Game for Peace entered top 5 after Lunar New Year + Ferrari collab. Whiteout Survival rose on festive mini-games. Pokémon GO saw revenue growth from Tour events. Wuthering Waves benefited from Version 3.1. Downloads reached 3.5B, down 16% MoM. Block Blast! led downloads; Rainbow Six Mobile and Subway Surfers City showed strong growth. Driving-themed games gained in emerging markets.
Ramadan drives high mobile engagement in the Gulf, but success hinges on pre-Ramadan acquisition for higher LTV and remarketing during the month. eCommerce peaks early; finance responds to mature market triggers; travel converts at Eid. Post-Ramadan, focus on retention over acquisition to stabilize. AI tools are operational but measurement lags. Key takeaway: plan early, leverage remarketing, and phase strategies by period.
The 2025 mobile market hit record highs across downloads, IAP revenue ($167B, +10.6% YoY), and time spent (5.3T hours). Non-game IAP surpassed games for the first time (+21% YoY). Generative AI apps surged, with downloads doubling to 3.8B and IAP tripling to $5B. Key ad ops insights: attention competition intensifies, UA shifts to lifetime value, and AI expands monetization opportunities across categories.
Adjust's 2026 predictions emphasize multi-platform measurement, AI-driven decision-ready insights, and linking optimization for growth. Key themes include aggregating signals for privacy-safe personalization, predictive analytics for long-term success, and evaluating paid and organic performance together. Regional highlights: Europe's gaming growth via monetization, China's AI-native entertainment, APAC's market divergence, Japan's demand for integrated measurement. Actionable takeaway: invest in unified analytics that connect mobile, web, and offline touchpoints to optimize user journeys and ROI.
Adjust's Halloween 2025 data across six weeks shows the holiday window opens well before October 31 and differs by category and market. Entertainment installs peaked the weekend before Halloween (up 42–44% vs. summer baseline), with OTT/streaming and video content installs up 120% on October 25 and 300% YoY. Photo and video sessions instead spiked on Halloween night itself (+6% global vs. the four prior Fridays; Canada +15%, Germany +13%, U.K. +11%, U.S. +9%, Mexico +7%). Single global send dates miss market-level peaks, so ad ops should time creative, push, and budget shifts per market—especially in Mexico, where activity runs through Día de los Muertos.
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