In the dynamic realm of hyper-casual games, the third quarter of 2023 witnessed notable trends and shifts, dissected by industry analysts Anatoly Maximov and Oleg Rakitskiy. AppMagic’s analysis provided a nuanced exploration of market dynamics and the performance of top games during this period.
General mobile app market trends of Q3 2023
As the industry delved into Q3, the overarching trend revealed an 8% decline in total installs compared to Q2 2023, settling at 3.5 billion. This recurrent contraction during the transition from Q2 to Q3 observed consistently in recent years, marked a substantial shift. A broader lens on the scenario, considering Q3 2022, depicted a pronounced year-on-year decline from 4 billion installs.
Region-specific dynamics played a pivotal role. Tier-1 East emerged from a previous downturn, showcasing a 7% rise in downloads, totaling 113 million. In contrast, Tier-1 West experienced a 10% decline, reaching 529 million overall, while other countries saw a 7% decrease, amounting to 2.8 billion installs.
Top 10 game downloads in Q3 2023
Transitioning to the spotlight on top games, familiar names such as Bridge Race and Going Balls maintained their positions, showcasing the resilience of established players. However, notable shifts were observed within this landscape. Tomb of the Mask witnessed a 14% decline in installs, contrasting with Burger Please!, which exhibited a robust 13% increase.
Among newcomers, three titles stood out:
My Perfect Hotel (28M Installs): An Idle Arcade game portraying a bellboy managing hotel tasks. Initially released in April 2022, a strategic update in July 2023 propelled monthly downloads from a modest 2M-5M range to an impressive 13M.
Magic Piano Tiles: music game (26M Installs): Crafted by Pakistan-based XGAME STUDIO, this music game differentiated itself by utilizing regional playlists, aligning the soundtrack with the user’s geolocation.
Twerk Race 3D — Running Game (22M Installs): An Arcade Runner with a distinctive gym management meta layer. Despite its initial release in September 2021, the game gained significant traction in the summer of 2023. This resurgence followed creative overhauls and user experience enhancements, including incorporating trending characters and more transparent gameplay displays.
As the quarter unfolded, a distinctive absence of games directly inspired by social media trends was noted. Instead, the market observed the persistence of clones of popular games and an emerging trend of games seamlessly blending a hybrid meta with a hyper-casual core. Insights from Dmitry Yaminsky from Azur Games underlined the escalating challenge of launching hit games, emphasizing the strategic importance of refining successful projects and identifying growth points in the current dynamic market.
As the industry traverses these shifts, the next quarter is an intriguing unknown, promising further evolution and adaptations in the ever-dynamic hyper-casual game industry. For the full version of the analysis read Top 10 Hypercasual Games in Q3 2023.
NEXT: Mobidictum Monthly Games Industry Report September 2023 is released
