As many as eight mobile games have generated more than $1 billion in consumer spending so far in 2021.
According to Sensor Tower, the revenue was generated between 1 January 2021 and 14 December 2021 across the App Store and Google Play.
The highest-grossing titles this year were PUBG Mobile and Honor of Kings, both from Tencent, which generated $2.8 billion in player spending each, a rise of 9 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.
The third-highest grossing game was Genshin Impact from Mihoyo, which generated $1.8 billion this year. Since its launch in September 2020, Genshin Impact has generated a total of $2.4 billion on mobile devices alone.
In fourth place was Roblox, which accumulated $1.3 billion in player spending on mobile devices, an increase of 20.3 per cent year-over-year. Similarly, Coin Master from Moon Active generated $1.3 billion placing fifth, an increase of 13.8 per cent year-over-year.
Record highs
Placing sixth is Pokémon Go from Niantic, which is streamlined for its best year to date at $1.2 billion. In the seven months from November 2020 to July 2021, Pokémon Go generated $1 billion in player spending, averaging its earnings at $1 billion each year.
In seventh and eighth place are Candy Crush from King and Free Fire from Garena, generating $1.2 billion and $1.1 billion respectively.
Three more games passed the billion dollar mark this year in comparison to 2020, with newcomers being Genshin Impact, Free Fire, and Candy Crush Saga.
Before the end of the year the total number of unicorn games may yet reach nine, with Uma Musume Pretty Derby from Cygames generating $965 million since its release in February 2021, despite only being available in Japan.
By the end of the year, Sensor Tower has forecast that mobile games will generate a total of $89.6 billion in worldwide player spending.
