At the end of last month, Destiny: Rising made its global debut, immediately claiming the No.1 spot on the U.S. iOS download chart and peaking at No.22 on the top-grossing list. Seven years have passed since NetEase invested $100 million in Bungie in 2018 and announced a new joint project. In that time, the mobile shooter landscape has been largely dominated by incumbents. Why, then, has Destiny: Rising managed to shake up the market—and what does this breakthrough mean for NetEase? 01.Why Destiny: Rising Stood Out Part of the success lies in the strength of the Destiny IP. The original Destiny launched in 2014 with first-day sales reaching $500 million, while Destiny 2 became the best-selling U.S. title of 2017 […]

In Sensor Tower's latest global revenue ranking, Kingshot joined Whiteout Survival at the top, securing both the No.1 and No.2 spots for Century Games. Meanwhile, its newly launched merge title, Tasty Travels: Merge Game, also entered the chart at No.29. The company has become nothing short of a hit factory. Riding its momentum, parent company Century Huatong's stock price has surged, with market capitalization surpassing ¥100 billion (≈ US$13.8 billion) in July 2025—cementing its status as a leading A-share gaming giant. Looking back, Century Huatong's ¥6.939 billion acquisition of Century Games from FunPlus was seen by many as a high-stakes gamble. A decade later, it is now considered a masterstroke. 1. A ¥6.9B Acquisition and the ¥2B Performance Gamble Rewind […]

Habby may not be a permanent fixture at the center of the mobile gaming industry, but whenever it drops a new title, the spotlight inevitably follows. Its latest release, Wittle Defender, launched globally in early June and quickly climbed into the top 10 on the iOS grossing charts across Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan of China. According to Sensor Tower, the game has generated $2 million in iOS revenue over the past two weeks. Following the successes of Capybara Go! and Archero 2, Wittle Defender marks Habby's third breakout title within a single year. It's almost as if the studio has cracked a repeatable formula for success—one that consistently delivers solid results. Despite feeling familiar in both gameplay and marketing […]

Following the breakout success of Whiteout Survival, which sparked a wave of enthusiasm for the "simulation management + 4X" hybrid model, a number of publishers rushed to get in on the action.Most recently, EWORLD's prison-themed 4X game Lands of Jail has made a strong showing. According to Sensor Tower data, the game's revenue surged 342% in April alone, surpassing $4 million in combined iOS and Android revenue over the past month. The United States emerged as the top-grossing market, accounting for 33% of total revenue, followed by Germany with 13%. So, how did Lands of Jail leverage the unusual appeal of a prison setting to stand out? And what else contributed to its breakthrough performance in an increasingly saturated genre? […]

According to Sensor Tower, Century Games' Whiteout Survival has raked in a staggering $2 billion in global in-app purchase revenue—this figure excludes China's third-party Android channels. As the title celebrates this milestone, AppGrowing has detected the emergence of a new 4X game from Century Games that is beginning to make waves across global markets. In just one month, the game—Kingshot—climbed from around No. 200 to the top 50 on the U.S. iOS grossing charts. It also broke into the top five of the free games ranking and the top 100 grossing games on South Korea's Google Play store. After hands-on testing, it's clear that Kingshot signals Century Games' ambition to replicate the success of Whiteout Survival. 01.Medieval Theme Meets Casual […]

In the latest global revenue rankings for Chinese mobile game publishers released by Sensor Tower, Leniu Games made its debut at No. 27. Leniu Games has long been associated with aggressive user acquisition, but as the mobile internet dividend fades, the company has actively joined the sweeping wave of transformation. Globalization is one of the key themes of this transformation. However, in previous years, Leniu Games had little presence in the global market—until now, when a single title propelled it to No. 27 on the list. 01.Breaking New Ground with a Single Product I9: 인페르노 나인 (hereafter referred to as I9) was the key driver behind Leniu Games' recent success. Not only did it break into the fiercely competitive South […]

A year ago, at Tencent's annual staff meeting, Chairman Pony Ma criticized the gaming business for "resting on its laurels." Just one year later, this assessment has transformed into "a very impressive achievement." The overseas business has been emphasized once again, and it was revealed that Tencent's share of overseas game revenue is now close to half of its domestic business. In 2019, Tencent began accelerating its steps toward global expansion. Last year, the overseas gaming business was even seen as the company's biggest hope for internationalization. This year, Pony Ma once again gave positive feedback on the overseas business. 01.New and Old Products Jointly Pushed Revenues to New Highs According to the released financial reports, Tencent's overseas gaming business […]

In the latest edition of SensorTower’s Global Revenue Rankings for Chinese Mobile Game Publishers, Microfun has surpassed Papergames and 37 Interactive Entertainment, securing the sixth position on the list. This achievement is attributed to two of its merge games—Gossip Harbor: Merge & Story and Seaside Escape: Merge & Story. In November last year, these two games topped the global merge game revenue rankings, with Gossip Harbor even surpassing Genshin Impact, reaching Top 4 on the global mobile game revenue chart at the time. Earlier, AppGrowing conducted a follow-up report on Gossip Harbor. In brief, Gossip Harboris a Merge-2 (two-in-one) game that follows the classic cycle of “tap to generate items, merge items, complete orders, earn coins, renovate.” However, the game […]

The theme is often the key to breaking through in SLG games. Some seemingly unconventional themes can sometimes achieve unexpected success, such as the "mafia" themes in two SLG games, Mafia City and The Grand Mafia by YoTa Games, or the "ant" theme SLG The Ants: Underground Kingdom by StarUnion. Last November, Tap4Fun launched Top Girl, which also features a highly eye-catching theme — girl groups. Not only that, the characters of these girl groups are also generated by AI. After launching, Top Girl demonstrated strong market competitiveness. By the end of November, it had made its way into the top 200 on the U.S. iOS game revenue charts, and now it has climbed to around the top 100. Tap4Fun […]

      According to SensorTower, Tencent's SLG mobile game Age of Empires Mobile saw significant revenue growth in October, ranking eighth on the global mobile game revenue growth chart with $10.7 million in revenue. According to 伽马数据（CNG）, SLG games accounted for an impressive 38.9% of revenue among the Top 100 overseas mobile games developed in China last year, vastly outperforming the second-place RPG genre at 16%. The revenue-generating capabilities of SLG games need no further emphasis. Conquering the SLG category would undoubtedly be a significant boost to Tencent Games’ global expansion. Now, Age of Empires Mobile seems to be that critical entry ticket. But what kind of game is it, and how has it managed to break through the […]