June 2024 saw Dungeon & Fighter Mobile claim the No. 1 worldwide top grossing spot, while Supercell became the No. 2 revenue-generating mobile games publisher, and supermarket simulation games started sweeping the top download rankings.
Each month we analyse the mobile market to uncover the top grossing games, most downloaded titles and top publishers, with data provided by AppMagic.
Below you can see the latest top games and companies, as well as the big stories and trends from the last month.
Top grossing mobile games
The big story: Dungeon & Fighter Mobile hits the top spot
In our last report, we noted that Nexon’s hot new mobile game, Dungeon & Fighter Mobile, published by Tencent, had broken straight into the top 10 grossing charts worldwide, despite only launching in China on May 21st.
Well now a full month in, and the China version of the title is the world’s top grossing game. According to AppMagic data, the title generated $233.5m in gross revenue from the App Store alone in June, a figure that doesn’t include estimates from third-party Android stores.
Nexon had expected a big hit from a franchise that has generated more than $22 billion to date, and it looks like it has one. One note of caution, however: huge launches in China aren’t unusual.
Remember Perfect World Mobile? Published by Tencent, the China version generated $120.7m during its launch month in March 2019. In March 2020, it picked up $11.7m, a decline of approximately 90% year-over-year. Recently, media conglomerate Perfect World reportedly laid off as many as 1,000 staff.
Dungeon & Fighter is a special IP – but even the PC version has been hit negatively by in-game economy problems late last year, sparking a revenue decline.
It’s a blockbuster launch, but as ever, the real trick is in the longtail.
Top grossing mobile games for June 2024
The other big story this month – what happened to Tencent’s Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile? Typically the top two grossing titles, the two games fell to No. 5 and No. 8, respectively.
Honor of Kings generated an estimated $133.4m in June, the game’s worst month since October 2019. PUBG Mobile, meanwhile, picked up $109.8m, its lowest point since June 2023.
Hitting the No. 2 spot for June was Dream Games’ Royal Match, accumulating $145.2m and solidifying its spot as the world’s biggest match-3 puzzle game. FirstFun’s Last War: Survival rose further up the rankings to the No. 3 spot after hitting $137.5m in June, the fast-rising game’s best month to date.
Elsewhere, Brawl Stars’ ascension has finally peaked, with the game falling to the No. 11 top grossing spot in June as player spending declined by 10.6% month-on-month to $86.1m in June. As for Supercell’s latest launch, Squad Busters ranked as the No. 34 top grossing game for the month.
Lastly, one game to keep watching: Kuro Games’ Wuthering Waves had its best month yet, accumulating $59.9m in revenue in June as it rose to the No. 14 spot.
Overall, the mobile games market generated $5.8 billion from worldwide player spending across the App Store and Google Play in June 2024, a decline of 8.3% Y/Y and 13.9% M/M.
Most downloaded mobile games
The big story: Check-out these Supermarket simulators sweeping the charts
Zego Studio’s new release Manage Supermarket Simulator generated 23.2m installs in June to rank as the No. 1 most downloaded game worldwide. It toppled Supercent’s Pizza Ready, which had ranked No. 1 in May and April, but fell to No. 6 in June with 14.7m installs.
While downloads are largely manufactured by user acquisition campaigns, there’s sign of an emerging genre trend in supermarket simulation this year. Digital Melody Games’ own Supermarket Manager Simulator ranked as the No. 18 simulation game worldwide in June with 4.5m installs.
There were a further seven games in the genre inside the top 500 most downloaded. Each of these titles was launched this year, except for Emir Tarek’s Supermarket Simulator Game 3D, which still only started scaling significantly in April. There were also two other titles focused on electronics and clothing stores.
Over on PC marketplace Steam, Nokta Games’ Supermarket Simulator ranks as the No. 36 top selling game at the time of writing, and ranks as the No. 87 title by the current number of players, hitting peak concurrent users so far today at approximately 18k.
Could this become a bigger trend over the next few months? We’ll be checking back next month for signs of growth.
Most downloaded mobile games for June 2024
Following Manage Supermarket Simulator was Roblox at No. 2, picking up 19.5 downloads in June, up 8.4% M/M.
Supercell’s Squad Busters ranked No. 3 for installs, picking up 17.4m installs during the month, according to AppMagic.
Overall, the global mobile games market generated 4bn downloads in June 2024, down 8.6% Y/Y and 17.5% M/M.
Top performing mobile games publishers
The big story: Supercell the world’s No. 2 top grossing games publisher
Supercell did it. Thanks in large part to the resurgence in Brawl Stars’ revenue and the launch of Squad Busters, the famous Finnish developer ranked as the No. 2 top grossing mobile games publisher worldwide across the App Store and Google Play in June.
It should be noted that these estimates do not include revenue from Supercell’s portfolio companies, including Space Ape Games and Metacore, which aren’t included in these estimates.
A lot of industry talk has centred on whether Supercell can get back to its best, particularly as the company makes some cultural and structural changes to how it greenlights projects and runs live ops.
Only Supercell could hit the No. 2 position and still have question marks around it, most notable whether Squad Busters will succeed or ‘fail’, i.e. will it reach $1 billion. Both AppMagic and Sensor Tower show a decline in revenue for Squad Busters since its global release, while Brawl Stars’ surge in player spending has peaked, at least for now.
How Supercell can keep Squad Busters going and growing for the long-term will be the key factor in whether it can maintain its position in the months ahead.
The top grossing mobile game publishers for June 2024
Tencent ranked as the No. 1 grossing publisher worldwide in June 2024, generating $702.4m. Supercell ranked No. 2, while Playrix charted at No. 3 with $180.4m.
Rounding out the top five were Scopely at No. 4 with $176.7m, and NetEase at No. 5 with $171.3m.
Top mobile games publishers for downloads in June 2024
The download rankings saw little movement in June, with Azur Games topping the charts at No. 1 with 124.1m installs. SayGames took the No. 2 position with 103.5m downloads, and Supersonic Studios ranked No. 3 with 80.5m installs.
Zego Studio, hot off the release of Manage Supermarket Simulator, ranked as the No. 5 publisher for global downloads with 71m installs.
Many of the companies and games listed above are finalists in the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2024. If you’re in the industry and want to take part in voting, you can do so using the link below:
Want to find out who the winners are at the live event? Register for a ticket to the ceremony, which takes place in Cologne on August 20th.
