The following analysis of mobile games marketing trends for September 2024 is based on advertising data from AppGrowing across 50 countries and regions, and 28 global media platforms.
In September 2024, the top three categories for mobile game advertising remained consistent: Casual, Casino, and Puzzle.
Among them, Casino games continued to aggressively release new titles, with new advertising campaigns accounting for 32.19% of the total in September.
The top three categories in terms of ad volume were Casual, Puzzle, and Role-playing Games. After deduplication, the number of creative assets for Casual and Puzzle games were quite similar.
The majority of the advertising materials for overseas mobile games in this period were video-based, accounting for 79.46%. Most of the videos were between 16 and 60 seconds long.
01.Top Mobile Game Developers & Mobile Games
According to AppGrowing data, 12 Chinese developer accounts were ranked among the top 30 mobile game advertisers in September.
Notably, two developer accounts under Century Games ranked within the top 10, with their main product being Whiteout Survival.
According to SensorTower, the game's revenue grew by 14% MoM in August, maintaining its position as the top-grossing outbound mobile game.
On the Top 30 Products by Ad Volume list, Whiteout Survival saw a massive 638.4% increase in ad volume, securing the top spot for this period.
The previous leader, MONOPOLY GO!, dropped to second place, significantly reducing its ad spend by 35.6% MoM.
IGG had three games in the Top 30, all of which were SLG titles. Doomsday and Lords Mobile remained in the top 10, while Viking Rise, a Viking-themed game, saw fewer ads and ranked 30th.
最後的道長, a new MMO game from SP-Game, launched in early September in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, entering its large-scale promotion phase and rising to 5th place.
Another notable game is Vita Mahjong, which saw a 33.03% increase in ad volume, placing it within the top 10 for this period.
This game, developed by Vita Studio, is a Mahjong-themed match-three game, using traditional Chinese Mahjong as its art theme.
It attracted a large number of users interested in Mahjong culture by featuring a Mahjong table as the game background and Mahjong tiles as the elimination pieces.
02.Top Download & Pre-registering Games
In terms of Google Play downloads, Casual and Mid-core games continued to dominate the charts in September, although a Hard-core game, Garena's battle royale game Free Fire, entered the top 3.
Another version of this game also took 8th place. Additionally, EA SPORTS FC™ Mobile Football by EA entered the top 15, with over 9 million downloads.
Looking at the download growth rate, the top 15 saw more Mid-core and Hard-core games.
The top two spots were taken by Cardcaptor Sakura: Memory Key, a mobile game based on a manga IP, and 異世界的魔王大人, both of which are Anime-style games.
One standout product is 桃源深處有人家, a Chinese-themed simulation management game published by NovaStar-game.
This product was published by Tencent in the Chinese market and has received positive market feedback. The game currently has over 10 million registered users and once broke into the top 20 of the iOS best-selling chart.
Looking at the pre-registration rankings, Rise of Arks: Raft Survival took the top spot on the App Store.
This game combines simulation management and SLG gameplay, similar to Century Games ' hit game Whiteout Survival, but with a "sea survival" theme instead of "snow survival".
The game underwent testing and iterations last year and officially launched globally in October 2024.
Another notable entry is Habby's new game, Capybara Go!, which ranked 6th on the App Store pre-registration chart and 5th on Google Play.
This is a Roguelike adventure RPG, featuring the trendy Capybara pet character. Players take on the role of a Capybara and encounter various random events and challenges.
The game also includes tower climbing, arenas, and dungeons. Along with Habby's signature paid progression systems, it also integrates the popular "loot box" mechanic.
Meanwhile, XD's Go! Go! マフイン！ ranked 8th on both platforms' pre-registration charts.
03.Ujoy Games Global Advertising Layout
Ujoy Games, a well-known Chinese publisher, initially targeted the Korean market with games like 게페우스M (2020) and Solar Revival (2022), both of which reached the top 10 in Korea’s best-selling charts.
In recent years, Ujoy Games has actively expanded into other markets, achieving success in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, and the West.
According to AppGrowing’s Global Publisher Insights, Japan and South Korea remained the key markets for Ujoy Games in September, with over 20% of its ad spend allocated to these regions.
The company's main products in this period were 히어로즈 키우기, アッシュエコーズ, and Heroes of Crown: Legends, all of which were heavily promoted in Japan and South Korea.
히어로즈 키우기, in particular, was the biggest focus for Ujoy Games in September. This is an adventure game based on the Dragon Ball IP with a distinct anime pixel art style. Like the Mosaic Heroes advertising strategy in Korea, 히어로즈 키우기 also promoted "4,000 free draws" as a hook to attract users with high in-game rewards.
For example, one of its video ads combines quirky humor with parody by showcasing Darwin's evolution theory in the context of combat, transforming characters from apes to humans. The pixel art style enhances the uniqueness of the ad, catching players' attention, and the "4,000 free draws" promotion further entices players to download the game.
（Source: AppGrowing）
