adminMobile games market growth slowed in 2025, according to new research from AppMagic. Revenue increased by just 0.2% year over year, while downloads rose by 4.6%. Both figures were lower than in 2024, pointing to a more competitive market where expanding revenue and attracting new players may be harder.
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Mobile games market growth slows as the sector matures
AppMagic reports that mobile game revenue growth fell from 3% in 2024 to 0.2% in 2025. Download growth also eased, dropping from 6.6% to 4.6%. The figures show that installs continued to rise, but at a slower pace, while overall revenue was nearly flat.
The company describes the market as entering a more mature and competitive phase. It points to rising saturation and exhaustion in markets that had recently supported expansion. For developers and publishers, these trends make it useful to assess performance through more than total downloads: retention, spending and the value of each player can also help explain how a game is performing.
Top mobile games see limited overall growth
Within the top 10 mobile games market, AppMagic says growth is largely stagnating. Changes in regional performance appear to redistribute installs and revenue rather than create broad-based expansion. Small gains in the UK, Germany and France offset declines in key Asian monetisation markets, including South Korea.
AppMagic says this reflects intensifying competition for a relatively fixed base of players and spending. This does not mean every game or country is declining; it means that overall growth is less widely shared. When reviewing market performance, it is therefore important to distinguish between global totals and the results of individual regions or titles.
Strategy games lead genre performance
Strategy games were the fastest-growing mobile genre in 2025. Revenue rose by 16% year over year, and downloads increased by 15%. By contrast, casino and role-playing games (RPGs) recorded weaker results.
- Casino games: Revenue fell by 7.6%, while downloads declined by 15.8%.
- RPGs: Revenue dropped by 16.6%, and downloads decreased by 9.1%.
These differences show why genre-level data can provide useful context alongside the overall market picture. For readers comparing game categories, check both revenue and downloads: the two measures can move by different amounts and reveal different aspects of performance.
Latin American downloads fall as revenue rises
AppMagic says Latin America is showing signs of market saturation, with downloads falling sharply in several countries. Colombia recorded a 10% decrease, Ecuador 9.8%, Peru 8.9% and Argentina 8.4%.
Revenue moved in the opposite direction in some of these markets. Argentina’s revenue increased by 33.2%, while Colombia’s rose by 23.6%. The contrast between falling downloads and growing revenue highlights the value of tracking each measure separately; download changes alone do not describe the full revenue picture.
AI becomes common in mobile game advertising
AppMagic also reports that AI is increasingly present in mobile game advertising. According to the company, 56% of the top 100 grossing games have used the technology in their marketing. The figure relates to advertising and marketing use, rather than establishing how AI affects game development or commercial results.
What the 2025 figures mean
Overall, mobile games market growth slowed in 2025, but performance varied by genre and region. Strategy games grew, while casino and RPG titles declined; some Latin American markets also recorded higher revenue despite fewer downloads. For a balanced view of the industry, compare year-over-year revenue and download figures, and consider how results differ across markets and game categories.
