This article is part of an ongoing series of data-driven articles from PocketGamer.biz and App Annie highlighting trends in the global mobile games sector using App Annie’s app market data.
In this week’s column, we’re looking at its latest regional report, entitled ‘Winning the attention war: consumers in nine major markets now spend more than four hours a day in apps’.
Considering the specific data around mobile games, the report – which compares downloads in Q1 2021 to Q4 2020 – highlights the breakout power of Zynga’s High Heels.
The hypercasual game from recently-acquired Turkish studio Rollic has been heavily marketed on TikTok, becoming something of a meme itself on the video sharing platform.
It’s also demonstrated global appeal, being the #1 most downloaded game in the US and UK, #3 in China, #6 in Russia and #7 in Germany.
The other two notable breakout hyper-casual games in the quarter were DOP 2: Delete One Part and Phone Case DIY.
But proving that mobile gaming is more than just hypercasual was Activision/King’s Crash Bandicoot: On the Run, which managed more than 20 million in its first four days.
Indeed, despite this report covering the entire three month Q1 period and On the Run only being available for a week of this, it still managed to hit the #1 position in Germany, #2 in the US, #3 in the UK and #9 in France.
To find out more about the most popular apps and games of Q1 2021 check out App Annie’s Q1 2021 Market Index: Top Apps & Games Rankings report.
