Quarterly mobile game spending tops $20 billion for first time in two years, Monopoly Go! breaks records with $770 million

Sensor Tower has published a report on the mobile market for the first quarter of 2024. Here are the key findings regarding mobile games, including revenue, downloads, and other data.

Monopoly Go!

• According to Sensor Tower’s Q1 2024 Digital Market Index, quarterly mobile game spend surpassed $20 billion for the first time in two years — it reached $20.3 billion, up 2.9% year-over-year.
• Player spending on iOS grew nearly 6% year-over-year to $13 billion, while consumer spend on Google Play slightly declined to $7.3 billion (-1.3%).

• Downloads continued to decline, hitting 12.8 billion (down 6.8% compared to the same period last year).
• Despite a 13% decline, RPG remained the top-grossing genre globally — $4.56 billion. It is followed by Strategy ($4 billion), Casino ($3 billion), Puzzle ($2.91 billion), and Simulation ($1.25 billion).
• Player spending in mobile RPGs decline in all major markets, including Japan (-24%), the US (10%), and China (9%).
• The only genres that saw growth in revenue were Lifestyle (+36%), Casino (+34%), Puzzle (+17%), Strategy (+7%), and Shooter (+4%).

• When looking at the top genres by downloads, Arcade remained the leader with 2.22 billion, down 17% year-over-year. It is followed by Puzzle (1.81 billion, -5%), Simulation (1.44 billion, -14%), Lifestyle (845 million, -15%), and Shooter (508 million, +9%).

• Monopoly Go! was the main driver for the impressive growth in Casino game spend. It was also the highest-grossing mobile title globally, with $770 million in quarterly revenue. Scopely’s blockbuster also broke the previous record of Honor Kings — $765 million in the second quarter of 2021.
• The top 5 mobile games by global player spending remained unchanged. Monopoly Go! is followed by Honor of Kings, Royal Match, Roblox, and Candy Crush Saga.
• miHoYo still has two titles in the top 10 — Honkai: Star Rail (#9) and Genshin Impact, which fell four positions to #10.
• Garena Free Fire was the most downloaded mobile game in the first quarter, but Sensor Tower didn’t disclose the number of installs. It is followed by Roblox, Royal Match (↑5 positions), Subwawy Surfers (↓1), and Ludo King (↑1).
• Wood Nuts & Bolts Puzzle and Pizza Ready! broke into the top 10, jumping 299 and 122 positions, respectively.

• Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, launched at the end of Q1, ranked 4th in download growth and 23rd overall. Analysts didn’t share any data on its revenue.

More data, including the top apps by downloads/revenue and digital ad spend, can be found in the full report.