The following analysis of mobile games marketing trends for April 2025 is based on advertising data from AppGrowing across 50 countries and regions, and 28 global media platforms.
In this month's breakdown of mobile game ad placements by genre, casino games saw a surge in new launches—new titles accounted for nearly 60% of all casino games currently running ads.
Driven by this influx, the casino category overtook both casual and puzzle category to become the most advertised mobile game genre in April.
However, in terms of ad volume, casual, puzzle, and RPG games remained the top three genres. Casino games, despite being highly dependent on paid acquisition, ranked only seventh in overall ad impressions.
As for creative formats, video ads remained dominant, making up 73.58% of all creatives. Image ads accounted for 26.23%. Among video creatives, 16–30 second durations were the most favored, comprising 54.97% of all video placements.
01.Top Mobile Game Developers & Mobile Games
According to AppGrowing, Oakever Games once again claimed the top spot on the April mobile game advertiser leaderboard, marking its third No.1 placement since February.
Mid/light core game publishers continued to dominate the rankings. Only three Chinese companies—Level Infinite, Phantix Games, and IGG—promoted mid/hard core titles, and all were positioned in the lower half of the chart.
In the Top 30 product ad ranking, Jigsawscapes® replaced Vita Mahjong as the most advertised title, despite seeing a 27.65% drop in ad volume month-over-month. Across the board, most top-buying titles in April saw a pullback in ad spend, with only six titles achieving MoM growth.
One standout was Lands of Jail by IYAGAMES, which launched in late April. Its ad volume rose by 29.89% compared to the previous period, securing the No. 20 spot on the chart. The title—a hybrid simulation x 4X game with a prison-themed setting—may not offer genre-breaking gameplay, but its provocative concept gives it a competitive edge in the market.
02.Top Download & Pre-registering Games
By total downloads, Block Blast! held the No.1 spot on the Google Play Games chart once again. Garena's tactical shooter Garena® Delta Force surpassed 12.1 million downloads, landing at #9.
By growth rate, Garena® Delta Force also topped the Google Play MoM download growth chart, followed closely by Once Human, NetEase's open-world survival game. Prior to its mobile launch, Once Human had already exceeded 20 million PC downloads globally, with 30 million pre-registrations for the mobile version, according to official figures.
In the pre-registration rankings, 無盡夢迴 took #1 on the App Store and #2 on Google Play. Developed by Kwai's SPARK NEXA studio, this action roguelike launched domestically in November 2023 and previously broke into the Top 40 on China's iOS grossing chart.
Also noteworthy is Ujoy Games, whose anime-themed RPG 모에라이: 운명의 계약 secured #4 on both the App Store and Google Play pre-registration charts. Magic Chess: Go Go by Moonton Games topped Google Play's pre-reg chart as a spin-off from the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang IP.
03. Ujoy Games Global Advertising Layout
Ujoy Games was founded in 2019 and found early success the following year with the South Korean release of Light of Thel, which generated over 50 million RMB in monthly revenue.
In 2022, the company followed up with the idle card game Solar Revival, which broke into the top 10 of the South Korea App Store's best-selling games chart.
Their 2023 title PIXEL HERO, with its pixel-art style, once again topped South Korea iOS and cracked Google Play's Top 5, hitting monthly revenue of over RMB 100M.
According to AppGrowing's Top Publishers insights, South Korea remains Ujoy Games' most important global market, receiving over 54% of its paid media traffic.
Ujoy Games' current flagship title, 모에라이: 운명의 계약, is the localized Korean version of 命运圣契 by Chinese developer 极致互动. Its Traditional Chinese version (命运圣契：少女的羁绊) launched in February and made the Top 10 Grossing iOS Games in Hong Kong, Macau & Taiwan of China.
In early March, Ujoy opened pre-registrations for the South Korean market and began paid UA campaigns. With the game set to launch on May 16, ad volume ramped up significantly—exceeding 1,000 daily creatives by late April.
Creative strategy centers around anime heroines, leveraging 3D models and flashy combat effects to highlight the game's visual appeal. The ads also stress generous player rewards and high-damage output to boost the perceived satisfaction of character progression.
For instance, one featured ad opens with a live performance-style sequence, where a 3D character introduces key game benefits on a futuristic stage, including a banner reading "80 free draws". The ad then cuts to dazzling combat visuals with fast-ticking damage numbers to reinforce power progression. It ends with a provocative key visual of a seductive anime girl, maximizing appeal and driving conversions.
