We closely examined the Mobile Gaming Insights Report 2025 published by Adjust.
The global mobile gaming industry is at a defining moment. After a challenging 2023, the market proved its resilience in 2024, bouncing back thanks to strategic investments, technological advancements, and new growth areas.
With gaming app revenue set to reach $126.1 billion by 2025, alongside a projected 1.9 billion players by 2027, there’s a huge, renewed opportunity for innovation and growth.
In 2024, mobile accounted for 49% of total gaming revenue—outpacing console (28%) and PC (23%), reaffirming its mass appeal and resilient consumer demand. Gaming also remained the leading category on both the App Store and Google Play.
Mobile games are getting smarter, more immersive, and deeply personalized. But, innovation isn’t just happening in gameplay. Hybrid monetization has become an industry norm, with developers no longer relying on a single revenue stream.
In-app purchases (IAP), ads, battle passes, and subscriptions work together to maximize revenue while keeping players invested. And it’s working. Players aren’t just spending; meaningful rewards are now expected, from exclusive skins to personalized perks.
Hyper casual, hybrid casual, puzzle, and strategy games remain the kings of downloads. A new wave of ultra casual games is also emerging, catering to players who enjoy simpler mechanics with high replayability.
However, with competition rising and players seeking quick, engaging experiences, retention remains challenging for these genres. Studios are responding with social features, in-game communities, and live-service models that keep players engaged beyond day one.
In parallel, IP-based games like Monopoly Go! and Pokémon TCG Pocket are proving that brand recognition and nostalgia can be just as powerful as innovative gameplay, drawing in loyal fan bases and fostering strong player communities.
Meanwhile, competitive and multiplayer games continue to thrive, with live events, esports, and frequent updates maintaining high retention. Crossplatform functionality is further strengthening engagement, allowing players to seamlessly transition between mobile, PC, and console, increasing session times and overall player investment.
In 2025, success in mobile gaming won’t come from playing it safe. The studios that embrace AI to create better experiences, refine monetization, and deliver high-quality, localized ads and gameplay flows will define the next era of gaming. Are you ready to play to win?
“After a period of market volatility, mobile gaming is back on a growth trajectory. Installs are rebounding, making 2025 a moment to maintain momentum while improving retention and user stickiness.
Studios that invest in AI-driven personalization and embrace predictive engagement strategies like lifetime value optimization will see stronger, more sustainable growth.
As mobile-first adoption accelerates in regions like LATAM and MENA, game developers and marketers that prioritize long-term player relationships over shortterm acquisition will reap the rewards.”
Başak Zerman – Adjust Head of Sales, META
Game on: AI in mobile gaming for smarter worlds and stronger engagement.
AI is reshaping mobile gaming. From development to player engagement and monetization, it’s making games more intelligent, immersive, and efficient to run. Studios that master AI—without losing the human touch—will shape its future.
AI-POWERED GAME DEVELOPMENT
One of the most transformative shifts in game development is procedural content generation. AI is now capable of dynamically creating levels, textures, and entire game environments, ensuring unique experiences with each session. One of the most transformative shifts in game development is procedural content generation.
AI is now capable of dynamically creating levels, textures, and entire game environments, ensuring unique experiences with each session.
Non-playable characters (NPCs) have also evolved, they can now respond to player interactions in real time, leading to richer storytelling and more responsive gameplay.
Beyond design, AI is streamlining localization and voiceovers, enabling faster, more cost-effective global releases. Generative AI voice acting is accelerating multi-language rollouts, making high quality localization more accessible to studios of all sizes.
AI-DRIVEN PERSONALIZATION AND RETENTION
AI is revolutionizing engagement by adapting experiences to individual player behavior. Dynamic difficulty scaling, for example, ensures a balanced challenge, keeping casual players engaged while maintaining depth for experienced gamers. AI-powered recommendations tailor missions, rewards, and content, creating a seamless progression system that feels organic rather than pre-programmed.
AI enables studios to anticipate churn before it happens, using predictive modeling to identify disengaged players and trigger personalized incentives to keep them invested. This includes things like exclusive content, discounts, or engagement-driven rewards.
AI IN MONETIZATION: TRANSFORMING GAME ECONOMICS
Monetization strategies are shifting away from static models, with AI able to adapt in-app pricing in real time—based on player behavior—and optimize revenue across segments.
High-value players may see exclusive premium offers, while casual players are presented with lower, entry-price incentives. Advertising is also becoming more intelligent. AI-powered ad placements ensure that ads appear at optimal moments, reducing disruptions and improving engagement. This capability not only enhances user experience, it maximizes ad revenue and conversion rates.
AI IN USER ACQUISITION AND MARKETING
As UA costs continue to climb, AI is refining acquisition strategies through real-time A/B testing, enabling studios to quickly identify and scale top-performing ad creatives.
AI-driven cohort-based targeting is proving essential for precision marketing, particularly in cases where access to user IDs like the IDFA is restricted. By segmenting users based on in-game behavior rather than personal identifiers, studios can drive higher-quality acquisitions.
AI also enhances real-time bidding (RTB), enabling marketing teams to optimize spend across key platforms, top performing channels, and programmatic ad networks in real-time.
“Automation and AI have revolutionized the approach to UA and monetization, which has enabled the industry to become more product-driven than ever before. As a result, more new companies are breaking through, helping to fuel the market growth we see today. If you look at the top 20 games compared to a year ago, there’s far more change than before—proving that fresh creative ideas can still win.”
Başak Zerman – Adjust Head of Sales, META
Enter the new era of game discovery
The way players discover mobile games is evolving. UA from mobile ads, where all downloads take place via the App Store and Google Play, is no longer the only scalable way to find players. Developers are embracing new, diversified acquisition strategies that reach players where they spend the most time (and money).
EMERGING ACQUISITION CHANNELS DRIVING GROWTH
- Connected TV (CTV) & streaming ads: CTV ad spend is expected to grow by 13.8% in 2025, making it one of the fastest-growing UA channels. With more players consuming gaming-related content on streaming platforms, CTV ads provide a high-value opportunity to drive installs, re-engagement, and long-term retention.
- Influencer & community marketing: Short-form video is now a leading driver of organic game discovery. Top-performing games increasingly prioritize influencerled campaigns on TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Twitch, and Discord. Gaming communities powered by content creators and streamers have become some of the most effective engagement channels, as players trust recommendations from creators over traditional ads.
- Alternative app stores & web shops: As app store fees continue to rise, developers are taking control of their revenue streams. The push toward alternative app stores, directto-consumer (DTC) models, rewarded UA, and independent game stores is accelerating. Publishers are now leveraging web shops and third-party marketplaces to maximize margins and build direct player relationships.
HOW ADJUST HELPS:
- CTV AdVision: The first comprehensive measurement solution for CTV campaigns, which enables attribution of impressions, installs, and engagements from CTV ads, as well as insight into how CTV boosts conversion rates on other channels.
- • InSight: Identify which channels are truly driving growth and installs with our next-gen, AI-powered approach to incrementality analysis. Eliminate budget waste and focus spend on highperforming channels.
Breaking boundaries with cross-platform play
Cross-platform is becoming an industry standard in gaming, as players increasingly call for the flexibility to move seamlessly between mobile, PC, and console. Developers who successfully implement cross-play unlock higher retention, stronger lifetime value (LTV), and greater monetization opportunities.
KEY BENEFITS OF CROSSPLATFORM PLAY
- Increased in-game spending: Multi-platform players spend more on IAPs, including cross-platform battle passes, exclusive content, and premium in-game upgrades.
- Stronger multiplayer & social communities: Cross-play strengthens multiplayer communities by making competitive and cooperative play more accessible across devices. This drives longer session times and increases word-of-mouth organic growth.
- Success in high retention game genres: Cross-platform functionality is especially impactful in high-engagement genres like shooters (Battle Royale), strategy (MOBA), simulation, and sandbox games.
Titles like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile have already proven the value of cross-play, paving the way for more studios to embrace cross-device gaming.
HOW ADJUST HELPS:
- PC & Console: Unify the player journey across mobile, PC, and console, with accurate measurement of cross-platform installs, engagement, and monetization.
- Engage: Create seamless, branded player experiences across platforms with personalized, frictionless journeys that drive revenue. From web-to-app transitions and deep linking to audience segmentation, perfectly optimize the path to conversion.
Mobile gaming’s growth story in 2024
Gaming app installs grew 4% YoY in 2024, but sessions dipped 0.6%. January saw sessions rise 12% above average, with February installs up 15% YoY. July installs rose 8%, yet sessions fell 2%. By October, installs held at +4% YoY, but sessions dropped 8%, signaling retention issues. In December, installs fell 5% YoY but stayed 1% above the 2024 average, while sessions ended the year down 10%.
LATAM and MENA saw the most gaming app growth in 2024, with installs rising 8% and 10% YoY, and sessions up 7% and 5%. In contrast, North America saw the steepest decline— installs decreased 11% and sessions dropped by 14%. APAC posted a 4% increase in installs, though sessions lagged at -3%. Europe experienced a downturn, with installs decreasing by 1% and sessions falling 6%.
Balancing privacy challenges and mobile gaming performance
In Q1 2025, gaming App Tracking Transparency (ATT) opt-in rates (among users shown the prompt) rose to 37.9%, up from 37.5% in Q1 2024.
Arcade games saw the biggest jump, rising from 42.4% to 59.3%, while sports (54.1%), casino (38.3%), and action (45.9%) also grew.
Idle RPGs declined from 24.9% to 21.8%, and hyper casual games dropped from 47.5% to 43%. Getting opt-in messaging right is the key to building and maintaining a high rate.
Some regions saw notable increases, with Indonesia reaching 58.6% (up from 54.2%) and Malaysia climbing to 51.9% (from 46.9%).
Thailand also rose to 51.4% from 49.7% and in MENA, rates hovered around 50%.
Some markets saw minor declines, such as the UAE, which dropped from 50.6% to 49%, and Saudi Arabia, which declined slightly from 51.7% to 50.7%.
The U.S. remained steady at around 32%.
Key takeaways:
- Gaming app installs grew by 4% YoY in 2024, with LATAM (+9%) and MENA (+7%) leading growth.
- Hyper-casual games dominated the installs share at 27%, with action games accounting for 21% of total sessions.
- Strategy installs grew 83% YoY in 2024 and casino sessions increased by 32%.
- In 2024, gamers spent the most time playing action games, with an average session length of 45.15 minutes.
- Racing games experienced the largest increase in CTR, rising from 18% in 2023 to 26% in 2024, while hybrid casual games maintained the highest CTR, 28%.
- The median number of partners per app rose from 5.7 to 6.2, with hybrid casual games leading at 12.3 partners.
- Day 1 retention for games globally decreased from 28% to 27%, but casino saw an increase from 16% to 19%.
- RPGs saw a significant increase in ARPMAU from in-app purchases, rising from $5.36 to $6.48
For detailed data on all of this and more, you can download Adjust’s Mobile Gaming Insights 2025 Report 2025 from here.
