The latest analysis by GameRefinery, A Liftoff Company, of the US and Japan’s key mobile game markets has just been released. The analysis includes new releases, special events, and game updates.
GameRefinery analysts stated that July was a big month for IP collaborations in the most popular mobile titles, mainly with films and television shows. These included Match Masters and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stumble Guys and Barbie, PUBG and Dragon Ball Z and Survivor!.io, and Spongebob Squarepants.
Following the successful release of Pokémon Go and Pokémon Smile, the Pokémon Company continued to expand its mobile ecosystem in July with the long-awaited release of Pokémon Sleep. The unusual combination of Pokémon collecting and sleep tracking seems to have struck a chord with mobile users, with the title ranking #1 in downloads in Japan since its launch.
Monopoly GO! added its first cooperative event, Baking Partners, which tasked players to partner up and make a cake to unlock special rewards. The event had no notable impact on downloads, but iOS revenue increased significantly following its launch and has maintained momentum since the event concluded.
Diablo Immortal added the franchise’s first new character class in almost ten years, the Blood Knight. The new class can be played by creating a new character or changing an existing one using the game’s free ‘class change’ feature. For now, the only way for Diablo fans to try out the Blood Knight is by playing Immortal, which resulted in a 400% spike in downloads on the day of the update.
After an initial strong launch, the card-collecting RPG Harry Potter: Magic Awakened has fallen radically in performance after last month’s US launch, despite performing relatively well in China. Similarly, Tencent’s extraction shooter Arena Breakout has struggled to find a strong audience following its global release, despite its high production values and popularity in China for some time.
The full analysis can be read on GameRefinery’s website.
