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 […]
Recently, Acecraft: Sky Hero broke into the upper ranks of the U.S. iOS download charts. The title is published by Moonton, best known globally for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. What sets Acecraft: Sky Hero apart is its distinctive retro rubber hose animation style, a visual choice rarely seen in today’s mobile market. This article draws on AppGrowing data to examine the game’s advertising strategy. Advertising Overview According to AppGrowing, the Android version of Acecraft: Sky Hero launched a total of 13,255 ads, spanning 74 regions and 13 platforms. In-Feed ads dominated placements with over 56%, followed by Rewarded Video (21%) and Native (11%). From a creative perspective, videos made up nearly 69%, including 23% standard video and 45% vertical video, […]
Destiny: Rising is a sci-fi RPG shooter mobile title jointly developed by NetEase and Bungie, based on the Destiny IP and set in a parallel timeline during the post-Dark Age. The game launched its first closed Alpha test on November 1, 2024, and was officially released worldwide on August 27, 2025. This article draws on AppGrowing data to analyze Destiny: Rising’s advertising strategy. Advertising Overview According to AppGrowing, the Android version of Destiny: Rising ran a total of 1,829 ads, spanning 26 regions and 11 platforms. In-Feed ads accounted for over 71%, followed by Rewarded Video (17%) and Native (6%). In terms of creative format, videos made up nearly 80%, with standard video ads exceeding 40% and vertical video close […]
Mobile Game Analysis
Century Games’ Global Breakthrough: From Acquisition Gamble to Industry Kingmaker
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 […]
In March 2025, FunPlus launched the Android version of Tiles Survive! across multiple regions. The title blends simulation management with 4X gameplay, positioning itself directly against today’s most profitable 4X hit, Whiteout Survival. Notably, Whiteout Survival itself was developed by Century Games, a studio FunPlus sold to Century Huatong in 2018. This article, drawing on AppGrowing data, examines the advertising strategy behind Tiles Survive!. Advertising Overview According to AppGrowing, the Android version of Tiles Survive! ran 10,299 ads across 60 regions and 8 ad platforms. Ad format mix: In-Feed ads dominated at 73%, followed by Native at 12%, and Rewarded Video at around 8%. Creative assets: Videos made up the clear majority at 85%+, with images accounting for less than […]
Here is an analysis of the global non-gaming App user acquisition marketing trends for July 2025, based on ad data from 50 countries/regions and 28 global media platforms, according to AppGrowing's report. In July 2025, tool apps continued to account for the largest share of active advertisers among global applications, with the highest proportion of new advertisers as well, rising further to 26.16%. Beyond tools, the share of new advertisers also exceeded 10% in both the entertainment and education categories. From an ad volume perspective, entertainment once again topped the charts, with short-drama and novel apps maintaining large-scale ad placements. Yet when measured by the number of unique creatives, shopping apps retained the lead. Looking at creative formats and video length […]
Developed by Japanese publisher gumi Inc., ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 オラオラオーバードライブ is an RPG adaptation of the iconic anime IP JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. The game opened pre-registration in late June 2025 and is slated for release in late September. Drawing on AppGrowing’s data, this report examines its advertising strategy. Advertising Overview According to AppGrowing, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 オラオラオーバードライブ ran 1,414 ad creatives across 1 market and 7 ad platforms. Format distribution: In-Feed ads dominated, accounting for over 55%, followed by Rewarded Video (31%) and Native ads (~12%). Creative types: Images made up ~38%, while videos accounted for over 61% — with standard videos close to 37% and vertical videos around 24%. Ad Volume Peaks Following the launch of pre-registration in early June, the game began advertising in […]
The following analysis of mobile games marketing trends for July 2025 is based on advertising data from AppGrowing across 50 countries and regions, and 28 global media platforms. In July’s ranking of new game launches by genre, Casino, Casual, and Puzzle took the top three spots. Casino titles saw their share of new launches rise further to 45.27%, far ahead of other categories. Casual followed with nearly 30%, while Arcade titles accounted for 26.26% of new launches. By ad volume, Casual, Puzzle, and Role-Playing ranked in the top three. Puzzle titles recorded fewer ads than Casual games, but the gap in the number of unique creatives was relatively small. In terms of creative formats, video continued to dominate global mobile […]
Developed by Florere Game, Last Z: Survival Shooter is a 4X title that began gaining traction in the U.S. market in May. Its ranking on the iOS top-grossing chart has climbed steadily, now securing a spot in the top 10. Leveraging AppGrowing’s data, we analyze the game’s advertising strategy in detail. Advertising Overview According to AppGrowing, Last Z: Survival Shooter has launched 15,343 ads across 74 regions and 10 ad platforms. In terms of format, in-feed ads dominate with over 80%, followed by native ads at nearly 8%, and rewarded video ads at around 7%. Creative assets are overwhelmingly video-based, with videos making up over 90% of all creatives. Among these, standard video accounts for under 3%, while vertical video […]
Garena’s Free Fire recently celebrated its 8th anniversary with a high-profile crossover featuring the popular anime IP Naruto, which helped the title re-enter the top 10 grossing games on the U.S. iOS chart. Having launched in 2017, Free Fire has maintained eight years of consistent operations. This article leverages AppGrowing’s data to analyze the game's current advertising strategy. Advertising Overview According to AppGrowing, Free Fire has run 279,164 ads across 95 regions and 10 ad platforms. In terms of format, native ads dominate the mix, accounting for over 50%, followed by rewarded video ads at nearly 34%, and in-stream video at around 9%. When it comes to creative formats, images account for roughly 47%, while videos make up over 44%. […]