GameRefinery has shared a new report named Mobile Game Market Review September 2022. The report contains last month’s updates for the US, China, and Japan mobile game markets.
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The company began the analysis by mentioning many popular titles that introduced new battle passes in September, such as Hearthstone, Diablo Immortal, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Merge Mansion, Fishing Clash, and Three Kingdom Tactics.
GameRefinery stated that these types of monetization techniques are expected as Apple has increased App Store prices in the eurozone and parts of Asia. The company shared a research summary and moved on to the US market overview.
Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle tops the charts in the US on the iOS platform
According to the analysis, Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle’s latest update earned it the top spot on the iOS platform in the US market. League of Legends: Wild Rift added a 1v1 mode, along with a new battle pass currency and shop.
Diablo Immortal has also doubled its downloads thanks to its Forgotten Nightmare update, as the update contained a new season, items, events, and the first major dungeon since its launch back in June. Games like Garena Free Fire, Project Makeover, Marvel: Contest of Champions, and Lily’s Garden also introduced various updates, improvements, and new features.
Candy Crush Saga had its tenth anniversary, while Guns of Glory: Conquer Empires, Rise of Kingdoms, and State of Survival passed the five, four, and three-year milestones, respectively. All three games held various celebratory events. Dragon City Mobile partnered with The Walking Dead for themed dragon depictions of characters from the show.
Music collaborations saw Solitaire Grand Harvest match with Jane Seymour for a collectible album event, and Roblox matched with The Chainsmokers for various in-game music. Cookie Run: Kingdom announced a collaboration with BTS that will take place next month.
The report states that the US market saw new entries into the top 200, namely One Punch Man – The Strongest (99), Triple Match 3D (150), Infinite Magicraid (126), Wolf Game: Wild Kingdom (147), and The Legend of Neverland (148).
League of Legends: Wild Rift went up nearly tenfold in the Chinese market
GameRefinery shares that as a cause of the latest update that included monetized gachas and a new 1v1 mode, League of Legends: Wild Rift’s revenue in China went up nearly tenfold.
Three Kingdoms Tactics (三国志·战略版) added a battle pass, while Fantasy Westward Journey (梦幻西游) introduced a new dungeon for high-level players, a new event, and a new limited-time character.
Game for Peace (和平精英), PUBG’s Chinese version, included a character-based mode and a space theme as part of their partnership with The Chinese Space Flight Program. Call of Duty Mobile teamed up with the Ghost in the Shell IP to add a number of design features in-game. Onmyoji (阴阳师) also held an event with different modes, competitions, a battle pass, and a new shop.
In light of the analysis, the new kids on the block for the top 200 in the China market were as follows: One Punch Man – The Strongest at number 50 and Annulus, along with Ants: The Underground Kingdom, both ranking within the top 100.
The Japanese market saw Legend of Slime (131), 咸鱼之王 (within the top 70), Mori no Fantasy: The Legend of the World Tree (within the top 20), and Last Fort: Survival (within the top 100) as the new entries that made it into the top 200 list. The report contains further details on the topic and can be accessed here.
