The following analysis of mobile games marketing trends for September 2025 is based on advertising data from AppGrowing across 50 countries and regions, and 28 global media platforms.In the ranking of overseas mobile game advertising by category, casino, casual, and puzzle games occupy the top three spots.
Among new app releases, casino games maintain the lead, accounting for 53.85%. Casual games come second, with nearly 27.31% of new app releases. puzzle games account for 16.76%. Notably, although the overall number of arcade game ads is relatively small, new arcade apps constitute 22.46%, surpassing puzzle titles.
The top three in advertising volume are puzzle, casual, and role-playing games. However, when considering creative material count after de-duplication, strategy games surpass action titles.
In terms of Ad Creative Formats, video continued to dominate global mobile game advertising, accounting for 72.12%, while image assets made up 27.57%.Regarding video lengths, the 16-30 second segment remained the most prevalent in October, accounting for 48.72%.
01.Top Mobile Game Developers & Mobile Games
According to AppGrowing, Oakever Games continued to top the mobile game developer advertising rankings in October,
Among them, HungryStudios rose 21 places to enter the top 10. South Korean mobile game developer ITOXI also successfully entered the rankings with a large-scale ad volume for their new RPG, ranking 16th.
Within the Top 30 product release list, "Jigsawscapes@" retains its top position, though its ad volume continues to decline, decreasing by 11.64% month-over-month. Meanwhile, HungryStudios’ evergreen hit "Block Blast!" saw a sharp surge in October, with a 245.80% increase in ad spend, ranking third.
This issue features several new releases, most notably ITOXI’s "천상비K" and GameStudio’s "Home Pin 2." Both titles entered large-scale user acquisition phases starting in October, with month-over-month growth rates of 100.00% and 6944.32%, respectively. However, most other products still show a continuous downward trend, with declines mostly within the 20% range.
02.Top Pre-registering Games
In this period, nearly seven products are focused on the Korean market, with only the new "Saint Seiya EX - Official" from Efun Game targeting both North America and Europe.
Specifically, NetEase’s popular MMO "Nghịch Thủy Hàn" continues to demonstrate strong strength in China, ranking 5th on the App Store reservation chart and 3rd on Google Play. The game has gained attention both domestically and internationally for its innovative use of AI technology, creating intelligent NPCs and a "film crew" mode, with coverage from CCTV, The Wall Street Journal, and other major outlets.
According to AppGrowing, "Nghịch Thủy Hàn" officially launched in Vietnam on November 7, with its global servers of "Sword of Justice" launching simultaneously.
Nuverse Games’ "BLEACH:刀鳴" is positioned at 10th on the App Store reservation chart and 7th on Google Play. The game took four years and over a hundred million RMB to develop, faithfully restoring the story and battles of the "BLEACH" IP. Its global pre-registration volume has exceeded ten million, with a worldwide release scheduled for November 21.
03. Efun Game Global Advertising Layout
According to AppGrowing, Efun Game’s RPG "百花ランブル" launched in Japan on October 23 and quickly topped the local iOS free chart within two days.
Based on the "Top Publishers" feature of AppGrowing, it’s clear that in October, Efun Game allocated more budget to Japan, where "百花ランブル" is launching. The subsequent markets are Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, with advertising investment in Taiwan and Hong Kong being roughly comparable at 12.39% and 10.10%.
However, in terms of product investment share, the proportion of ad volume of another RPG hand tour "Saint Seiya EX-Official" that will be launched in America and Europe markets on November 13 is also noteworthy, at 23.82%.
Regarding the specific ad strategy for "Saint Seiya EX - Official," data from AppGrowing shows that the game began increasing ad spend from October 13. After October 16, daily ad volume exceeded 800 groups.
The game's ads, primarily showcases character models of the Saints from the "Saint Seiya" franchise, leveraging the IP’s influence to attract target audiences while highlighting dazzling combat effects to enhance visual appeal. Some creatives also feature rich pre-registration benefits to further motivate users to sign up.For example, this set of ads emphasizes "New game!" and "New gameplay!" at the start, promising a "brand-new passionate experience." These cues suggest that the game brings innovation to traditional themes to attract players seeking novelty, with smooth combat scenes, cool skill effects, and exquisite character modeling.
The video concludes with a call to action: "Participate in pre-registration and win prizes like the iPhone 17!", directly encouraging users to register and download.
Source：AppGrowing
