AppMagic: The Most Downloaded and Best-Selling Mobile Games of August 2024
Based on data from AppMagic, the App2Top editorial team has prepared a report on the most downloaded and top-grossing mobile games of the past month — My Supermarket Simulator 3D, Supermarket Master 3D, and AFK Journey.
Most Downloaded Games of August
From the perspective of strong new releases, August was weak. In the global free top charts, only two new items actually made it (the Asian version of AFK Journey can only formally be considered one). We'll discuss them a bit later, but for now, note the following:
- The trend of life simulators, which came to mobile from Steam, continues to grow stronger: starting from spring, we've seen a new entry in this genre on the charts almost every month (these games are usually about simulating work in a grocery store);
- Free Fire by Garena remains consistently strong in the charts, benefiting from the conflict between Epic Games and mobile platforms;
- Despite the long-declared downfall of hyper-casual games, the collection of minimalist projects, Offline Games, has been performing excellently these last few months, as we mentioned last time — the app is just a few steps away from hitting the 100 million downloads mark;
- Compared to the previous month, several projects have seen a significant drop in downloads, falling off the tops, such as My Talking Hank: Islands (from 12.7M installs to 4.4M), Zenless Zone Zero (from 12.5M installs to 1.6M), and the Chinese version of Need for Speed: Mobile (from 3.7M installs to 0.7M).
Now onto the new successful releases.
My Supermarket Simulator 3D
Publisher: Pakistan’s Playspare
About the Game: a standard mechanics simulator of a small grocery store owner. Players are tasked with a range of responsibilities — from purchasing and displaying goods to cleaning and working as a cashier. The key feature setting this new entry apart from numerous similar projects is its neat interface and stylized cartoon graphics akin to Fortnite.
Observation: since its release in July, the game's installs have been growing very gradually. There wasn't an explosive rise in download metrics. The game has been building its audience steadily. As for revenue, things took a different turn. At the beginning of September, the game's daily earnings from IAP, which previously averaged around $10,000, began a rapid climb — doubling so far.
Metrics:
- Total downloads for August — 10.4M;
- Downloads from Google Play for August — 8.8M;
- Downloads from the App Store for August — 1.6M.
Supermarket Master 3D
Publisher: Japanese developer Takeshi Ube / CE-Games
About the Game: another supermarket simulator. However, compared to other similar games, Supermarket Master 3D is significantly simplified. It has fewer mechanics and more closely resembles a hyper-casual cashier simulator. Also, unlike competitors in the niche, the project features a vertically oriented screen.
Observation: judging by the download curve, the publishers focused on promoting the game on iOS. This platform accounts for the majority of downloads, while the main monetization is ad-based (with no data on IAP revenue at all). However, the project is showing a decline in downloads. Perhaps significant in-app purchases are not yielding the expected level of organic reach for the team.
Metrics:
- Total downloads for August — 7.8M;
- Downloads from Google Play for August — 1.8M;
- Downloads from the App Store for August — 6M.
Debuting at the top with AFK Journey will be discussed in the revenue section.
Top-Grossing Games of August
When it comes to top-grossing titles, the most notable debut is that of AFK Journey by Lilith Games. The game itself launched back in March, but the initial release was only in Western regions, where it earned over $40 million. The appearance of the game in the revenue top is due to the Asian release. In its first month of sales in China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, the game earned over $45 million. As a result, it entered the revenue top ten for the month (but only on iOS).
Also notable in the chart is the absence of miHoYo's games. The release of Zenless Zone Zero last month, by the company's standards, was not very successful. The project managed to stay in the chart for only a month. In August, its sales fell by three times — from $60 million to $22 million. It's clear that for any other mobile game, a monthly revenue of tens of millions is a success, but we're discussing a project from a company whose previous games consistently grossed $100 million in the first months.
