SensorTower: Chinese mobile game publishers’ global App Store and Google Play revenue rankings in April 2020

As many countries around the world are in a state of home isolation, the revenue of the Western mobile game market, led by the United States, hit a record high in April, becoming the growth engine of the global mobile game market. At the same time, Chinese mobile game manufacturers achieved a 14% month-on-month growth in March, and their revenue in this period increased further.

Sensor Tower Store Intelligence Platform shows the revenue rankings of Chinese mobile game publishers in the global App Store and Google Play in April 2020. The 30 mobile game publishers on the list earned more than US$1.74 billion worldwide in April, an increase of 6.7% over the previous period, accounting for 27.5% of the total global mobile game revenue in the period.

Special note: This report only counts publisher revenue and does not include third-party Android channel revenue in China.

With the launch of the S19 season and the release of new heroes, new skins and other content, the revenue of "Honor of Kings" in April increased by 43% month-on-month, returning to the top of the iOS mobile game best-selling list in China, and driving Tencent's game revenue to increase by 9% month-on-month. It is worth noting that on the first day of the just-passed May Day holiday, "Honor of Kings" set a new record for daily revenue. This national mobile game, which has been on the market for more than 4 years, is still breaking through circles and further expanding its IP influence.

Due to the significant growth in revenue from its doomsday survival SLG mobile game "State of Survival", FunPlus's revenue for this period increased by 11.2% month-on-month, reaching a record high. At the same time, the revenue of "King of Avalon" launched at the end of 2016 and "Gunpowder Age" launched in 2017 has remained stable so far. "State of Survival" complements the previous two SLG mobile games in terms of subject matter, further expanding FunPlus' overseas market territory.

As most parts of Europe and the United States still implemented stay-at-home orders in April, gambling games reached an unprecedented popularity. The revenue of many games under BoLe Technology increased significantly, causing the publisher's revenue to increase by 19% month-on-month and 210% year-on-year, setting a new record in revenue.

The highly anticipated "Princess Connect Re:Dive" was launched on April 17th. In less than two weeks, it ranked 7th on the April domestic iOS mobile game best-selling list, leading Bilibili's revenue to increase by 378% month-on-month, once again allowing the industry to witness the explosive power of two-dimensional mobile games.

Since its launch in the Japanese market in March, Happy Elements ' "Idol Dream Festival!! Music" (hereinafter referred to as "Music") has seen a steady increase in revenue. At the same time, the original work "Idol Dream Festival!! Basic" has seen its revenue gradually recover after adding the story and illustrations of "Music". While launching derivative works, Happy Elements has also given new vitality to the original work. The publisher's revenue for this period increased by 56% month-on-month, which is a model for launching original IP series in the Japanese market.

Thanks to the outstanding market performance of the 3D ancient-style development mobile game "Floating Life for You", Wanyou Times' revenue increased by 30% again in this period, based on a 42% month-on-month increase in March. As the first hit female-oriented mobile game in China in 2020, the game's revenue still maintains a strong growth momentum. At present, the average payment per download of "Floating Life for You" on iOS in China is US$8.9, an increase of 28.6% over the same period of the mobile game "Palace Strategy" launched in 2018. However, compared with "New Smiling Proud Wanderer" and "Young Three Kingdoms 2" launched at about the same time, the average payment per download of "Floating Life for You" on iOS is only about 35%, showing that the scale of female mobile game players in China is already considerable, but there is still broad room for growth in terms of payment.

In addition to the list, there are 36 Chinese mobile game publishers shortlisted in the global top 100 revenue, including Tap4Fun , China Online , Zhuohang Network , Mengjia Network , Hero Entertainment and Dianchu Technology .