AppMagic

Mo.co Goes Global. Full LiveOps Deconstruction vs Squad Busters 🌐

With mo.co launching globally yesterday, we took the opportunity to reflect on one of the core reasons why most Supercell titles remain top-performers years after release — their LiveOps strategy. In our latest article, we explore how this approach plays out across Supercell’s two newest games.

Inside, we dive into:
— How is LiveOps structured in both games?
— What are the key differences in their monetization?
— What are the key highlights — and areas for improvement — in each game’s LiveOps?

Find all the answers here 💡

GamesBeat: Market Reaction to Squid Game Season 3

Our friends at GamesBeat just explored how the market responded to Squid Game’s latest season using AppMagic data.

Here’re a few insights from Dean Takahashi:

1️⃣ Of 322 Squid Game-inspired mobile titles, only 5% remain live — most removed due to low quality, IP issues, or lack of support.

2️⃣ Roblox saw a spike in new UGC modes after Season 2’s release in Dec 2024, fueling an all-time high in downloads — all without paid UA.

3️⃣ While Netflix grew the franchise through VR and reality formats, its 2024 mobile game may have missed the 2021–2022 hype peak. By Season 3, audience fatigue showed: 915k peak daily installs after season 2 vs 258k after season 3.

Check out how other games tapped into the trend — 3 seasons later!

Squid Game Finale: 95% of Games Eliminated. Who Is Winning the Trend?

With Season 3 finally out, we looked into how Squid Game left its mark on mobile—and who actually gained from it. And… the number of apps with the keyword “squid” launched during the new season dropped from 2,554 in 2021 to just 65 in 2025!

❗️Out of 322 launched games, 305 are now removed from stores!

But it’s not all grim, as many devs managed to win big along the way: hundreds of hypercasuals cashed in early, Netflix launched its own title, while Roblox and Fortnite were swamped with viral UGC.

Plus, countless of other titles won from the trend by using viral elements in ASO or creatives 💡

In our new article, we tried to answer:
— Who gained the most from the Squid Game hype?
— How can trending media boost your ASO and ad performance?
— What’s the biggest mistake of Netflix’s original game?

Don’t miss it out!

Squad Busters & mo.co: Breaking Down Gameplay, Monetization & LiveOps

Supercell vowed fans with two global launches within 1 year: Squad Busters and mo.co. Let’s break down the key experiments they ran and what’s worth bookmarking 😉

🎮 Gameplay
Squad Busters started as a casual PvP with quick matches and random boosts, but later evolved into a more midcore experience with greater player control and tactical depth.

mo.co launched as a midcore PvE game with role-driven progression and customizable builds — yet offered the most casual-friendly gameplay mode among all Supercell titles.

💸 Monetization
Squad Busters initially leaned on gameplay-affecting consumables, but later pivoted to a purely cosmetic monetization.

mo.co, on the other hand, started off with cosmetics-only monetization — but since these are barely noticeable in battle, we might expect more functional layers to come.

📆 LiveOps
You, probably, need to make some coffee first? ☕️
After you return, read the full analysis of LiveOps in our deconstruction.

Squad Busters 2.0 and mo.co: What We Learned from Supercell’s Experimental Era 

After 6 years without global releases, Supercell returned with two new titles: Squad Busters (2024) and mo.co (2025). Both took an experimental path, skipping the traditional soft launch 🚀

One year in, Squad Busters reached $70M in revenue — not quite at Brawl Stars’ $340M mark. In May, it dipped to $1.2M — a number Brawl Stars and Clash Royale never hit post-launch 📉

As for mo.co, while still in its own type of soft launch, it brought in $2.5M so far — below what we usually see from Supercell titles 💭

With the dust settling, we took a closer look at what worked and what didn’t, answering the questions:

🎯 Skip soft launch vs invite wall: how are these two experimental launches affecting metrics today?

🎮 Casual vs midcore: targeting opposite audiences early on — how are the games balancing them over time?

💸 Pay-to-win vs cosmetics-only: how are the monetization models evolving for long-term success?

📆 Diverse events vs diverse core: how Supercell is applying its golden LiveOps formula to both titles?

Check out the full deconstruction here!

SuperPlay reached $1B in User Spending

The publisher made its mark back in 2019 with its hit casino title Dice Dreams. The game now brings in 79% of the studio’s total revenue, ranks #3 in the Casual Casino market, and continues to lead the portfolio with $15M in May 2025 🎲

Next is Domino Dreams, earning $9M in May and making up 17% of the portfolio. Since launching in 2023, it’s grown steadily and now holds stable at around $8.5–9M monthly. Similar art style, different core — this one swaps dice rolls for domino puzzles 🧩

Last but not least is Disney Solitaire, SuperPlay’s 2025 release that keeps popping up in Top Trending. A tripeaks solitaire powered by Disney IP, it already makes up 4% of revenue and hit $12M in May — quickly catching up to Dice Dreams 💫

Will Disney Solitaire become number one game in the portfolio? 🤔

Check out more SuperPlay stats here!

Meet LiveOps Advanced Search: Spot and Compare High-Impact Competitor Events

To help you save time, budget and boost the revenue, we created LiveOps Advanced Search — a powerful tool with a database of 100+ games, 50+ event tags, and countless filter combinations. It lets you:

🏆 Compare performance of similar event types across genres to bring the most impactful ones into your game

💰 Sort events by actual revenue impact — not just whether they existed

🧩 Use a filter set like ‘community + paid pass + veterans’ to identify which metrics this event type boosts and which audience segment it motivates

👀 Search for trendy templates using keywords like “summer” or “tournament” — and catch them before everyone else

👉 Learn more about LiveOps Advanced Search, its use cases, and benefits

Top 10 Grossing Sub-Genres & Their Olygopoly Index (2025)

While monetary value is an important factor when choosing a sub-genre to enter, don’t overlook entry barriers — one of which is how monopolized the market is 🏆

A useful indicator here is the Oligopoly Index — the market share held by the top 5 games. The higher the index, the harder it is for new titles to break through 🥊

To speed things up for you, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 grossing sub-genres in 2025 along with their Oligopoly Index:

1️⃣ 4X Strategy
iAP revenue (2025): $3.8B
Olygopoly index: 50,67%
Leading titles: Last War: Survival, Whiteout Survival
Top games

2️⃣ Match-3
iAP revenue (2025): $2.5B
Olygopoly index: 71,22%
Leading titles: Royal Match, Candy Crush Saga, Gardenscapes
Top games

3️⃣ Team Battler
iAP revenue (2025): $1.9B
Olygopoly index: 35,76%
Leading titles: Honkai: Star Rail, Fate/Grand Order (English), DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE
Top games

4️⃣ Slots
iAP revenue (2025): $1.5B
Olygopoly index: 25,34%
Leading titles: Lightning Link Casino Slots, Jackpot Party - Casino Slots, DoubleDown™ Casino Vegas Slots
Top games

5️⃣ MMORPG
iAP revenue (2025): $1.4B
Olygopoly index: 23,58%
Leading titles: Fantasy Westward Journey (梦幻西游), Lineage M (리니지M), Justice Online (逆水寒)
Top games

6️⃣ MOBA
iAP revenue (2025): $1.2B
Olygopoly index: 98,36%
Leading titles: Honor of Kings
Top games

7️⃣ Casual Casino
iAP revenue (2025): $1.1B
Olygopoly index: 96,28%
Leading titles: MONOPOLY GO!, Coin Master
Top games

8️⃣ Battle Royale
iAP revenue (2025): $1B
Olygopoly index: 95,61%
Leading titles: PUBG MOBILE, Free Fire
Top games

9️⃣ Idle RPG
iAP revenue (2025): $0.9B
Olygopoly index: 26,55%
Leading titles: Capybara Go!, Legend of Mushroom, Heroes don't have flash (英雄没有闪)
Top games

🔟 Merge
iAP revenue (2025): $0.8B
Olygopoly index: 65,86%
Leading titles: Gossip Harbor, Travel Town, Seaside Escape, Merge Mansion
Top games

Will Habby’s New Game Become a Hit?

On June 9, Habby globally launched Wittle Defender — a new game clearly inspired by The Tower from Tech Tree Games, but with Habby’s signature touch:

— Roguelike abilities from Survivor.io and Archero
— Hero collection mechanics similar to Souls
— Classic Habby-style meta and progression, just like in Capybara Go and other titles

So far, the game has hit over $300K in daily revenue — a solid start by industry standards, though not quite on the level of Survivor.io, Capybara Go, or both Archeros at launch 🎢

Still, it’s too early to judge. What really matters is how well the game retains and monetizes players in the mid and long term 👀

Will Wittle Defender become Habby’s next classic? The time will tell.

Let’s keep an eye on the game’s metrics via its AppMagic public card!

CSR 2 – Realistic Drag Racing Hits $1B in User Spending

CSR 2 is the second-best performing game in the Arcade Racing market, holding 14% of total iAP revenue for the lifetime. Within the Drag Racing genre, it’s the undisputed leader, accounting for 70% of the market in 2025. It’s also Zynga’s fourth-highest earning title, contributing 7.5% of the company’s total iAP revenue 🔥

How did CSR 2 stay on top for so long? Here are a few of our guesses:

1️⃣ CSR 2 is one of the first mobile racers with near-console visuals — rain, reflections, detailed interiors.

2️⃣ Unlike arcade racers, CSR 2 focuses on drag racing, whose short format works great for mobile.

3️⃣ Advanced tuning mechanics like gearbox adjustments or tire pressure appeal to car enthusiasts.

4️⃣ Social features such as real-time races, crew-based events, and seasonal competitions build community and drive long-term engagement.

5️⃣ Brand partnerships (Lamborghini, Ken Block, etc.) attract new users and reignite interest among long-time players.

Though CSR 2 has plateaued at around $4M in monthly revenue since 2022, it shows how finding the right niche and mastering it can keep a game consistently generating revenue — even nearly a decade after launch 💪

👉 Learn more on CSR 2’s AppMagic public card.

Clash Royale Hits Highest Monthly Revenue in 3 Years

In May, Clash Royale spiked to $27.7M in monthly revenue — its highest in three years and a 46% year-over-year increase.

What’s behind the surge? Once again, smart LiveOps from Supercell.

1️⃣ New Offers & Seasonal Promotions
Clash Royale launched several seasonal events — A Tale of Thieves and The Undead March — each built around dual-track battle passes. By connecting events and rewards, Supercell encouraged spending while setting clear short-term goals to boost retention.

2️⃣ Influencer visibility
Streamers like Jynxzi (1.12M subs) and ohnepixel (583K subs) have increased Clash Royale coverage on YouTube, helping to renew the interest to the game and highlight the ongoing promotions.

Did we miss anything? Let us know if there’s more to the story👇

Have a closer look at Clash Royal’s metrics at its AppMagic public page!

Brawl Stars Has Just Released a New MOBA Event

⚙️ How it works
On June 5, Brawl Stars introduced a new MOBA-style event called Brawl Arena, with gameplay similar to what we see in Dota 2 or League of Legends:

— Two teams of three players leveling up and fighting each other
— Two lines with towers and thrones to destroy
— Waves of creeps on the lines with neutrals and bosses in the forest

📈 Short-Term Effect
The event launched alongside the new season, bringing a usual revenue spike, though not one of the game’s largest. While it’s too early to isolate Brawl Arena’s specific impact, it’ll be interesting to see whether the mode returns and if it drives further revenue fluctuations!

✨ Long-Term Effect
Staying true to its strategy, Supercell took a complex genre and made it accessible to a broader audience. The result is another innovative mode that’s easy to pick up for both new and veteran players: bringing novelty to the gameplay, boosting retention, and potentially fitting into a larger long-term strategy.

👉 Watch the event footage and explore its gameplay, performance, and role in the overall event grid in our LiveOps & Updates Calendar

Top 10 Grossing 4X Strategy Games (2015–2025)

The 4X Strategy genre just hit a historic high: $695M in monthly IAP revenue as of May 2025 — a 28% year-over-year growth 🚀

Today, two major leaders — Last War: Survival and Whiteout Survival — dominate the genre, accounting for 38% of total 4X revenue in May alone. They’re not only topping the 4X charts but also rank among the highest-grossing games in general, second only to Tencent’s MOBA Honor of Kings!

These days the genre is evolving rapidly, with bold experiments in gameplay, narrative, UA, and LiveOps. We covered some of these shifts in one of our articles.

However, it wasn’t always like this! For example, if we look back at the top 10 grossing games of 2023, we won’t find a single 4X Strategy title there 🫣

The genre has gone through ups and downs — marked by waves of innovation and transformation.

All this you can spot in the video ✨

Or dive deeper via the link!

Zenless Zone Zero Celebrates Its First Anniversary With A Major Revenue Spike

This month, the game kicked off its first anniversary celebrations — and what better gift than a spike in daily revenue, right? On June 6, Zenless Zone Zero saw a major jump, reaching $5.95M in daily revenue — 5% higher than its launch peak and almost as large as the ATH spike in December's update!

So, how did the studio drive this boost?

1️⃣ Version 2.0 Release
June 6 marked the launch of Version 2.0, the game’s first major content expansion and the start of Main Story Season 2. This update introduced a brand-new region — Waifei Peninsula — and added three new characters.

2️⃣ LiveOps: Anniversary Events & Perks
→ The ‘Festival Channel’ event let players claim one free standard S-rank Agent and a free W-Engine of their choice.
→ Additional rewards through events like Failume Gift and En-normous Surprise, offering Tapes and Boopons.
→ A 7-day login event with 480 Polychromes up for grabs.
→ Golden Proxy Awards Annual Ceremony shows player's yearly achievements and and offers rewards for creating and sharing a poster.

1️⃣ ASO
→Added ‘1st Anniversary’ to the game title
→ Updated icon with ‘1st’ badge
→ Changed subtitle to the attention-grabbing: “Anniversary perks giveaway”

Project Makeover’s New Summer Event Proves its Strategy Works

Project Makeover couldn’t start the summer better than by introducing a new collectible card album with a summer theme — ‘Summer Tale Cards’ 🃏🏝️

⚙️ Mechanics
Each album includes 24 sets of 8 cards with varying rarities. Cards can be earned by completing events, levels, via Cliques, offers, and passes. Completing sets and albums grants rewards like hard currency, unlimited lives, and more.

⏳ Period
Project Makeover launched its first album in summer 2024 and has since completed a full seasonal cycle with four releases. This year, the event returns— proof the mechanic performs well. ‘Summer Tale Cards’ will run for the three month of summer.

✨ Effect
1️⃣ Randomized gacha keeps players engaged, while duplicates slow down content consumption.
2️⃣ Cards tie into other events and level progress, boosting short, mid and long-term motivation simultaneously.
3️⃣ Albums also encourage social interaction — players can trade cards, adding a collaborative element.

Find out how other titles use album events and which events perform best in summer in our article 😉

‘How to’ with Anton Slashcev: Deep Market Research with Market Segments dashboards

📣 We're launching a new 'How to' series to share fresh ways to apply AppMagic tools—based on real cases from our partners and clients!

Anton Slashcev is an experienced gaming producer currently leading the studio Playhero and one of your favourites LinkedIn writers.

🎯 One of his key tasks is deep market analysis to spot potential blue ocean genres.

To do that, he uses:

1️⃣ Market Segment Comparison to find genres with high year-over-year growth

2️⃣ Market Segment to check which genres have:
— High success rate among newcomers
— Low oligopoly index: small share taken by the top 5 projects

This method helps him spot rising mobile game trends ahead of others!

Top 10 Puzzle Subgenres in 2025

Welcome to our new series where we break down big genres to spotlight rising subgenres and standout games developers should keep an eye on 😉

We’re kicking off with Puzzle — one of the loudest genres lately. So far in 2025, it has generated $4B in IAP revenue, growing 15% year-on-year (YoY) 🚀

Match-3 remains the dominant subgenre, bringing in 58% of Puzzle revenue, up 9% YoY. It’s driven by well-known Royal Match and Candy Crush 👑

Merge follows with 18% of Puzzle revenue, showing impressive 64% YoY growth. The subgenre thrives on Merge-2 titles with complex meta layers like Gossip Harbor, Travel Town, and Seaside Escape 🔥

Two smaller subgenres worth watching due to their fast growth are Block Puzzle (12x YoY) and Sort Puzzle (1.2x YoY). Block Puzzle’s rise is largely driven by Block Blast!, while the Sort Puzzle space is more diverse, with titles like Goods Puzzle: Sort Challenge and Magic Sort! gaining traction 🔎

Puzzle games are rich in innovation, especially in LiveOps. For example, right now market leaders are actively launching summer events.

🏝️ Learn more detail in our recent article