LiveOps Report 2025

Global LiveOps Trends

Page 05

Midcore

Page 31

Casual

Page 16

Hybridcasual

Page 45

LiveOps trends in:

Contents

1

2

3

4

2

We work with
350+
companies, including many big names:

Our customers

3

Key premises:

How is the market categorized?

All market analytics are based on

AppMagic’s core categorization.

Click here to learn more

What is the basis for the market

analytics data?

Estimates for downloads and revenue are

derived from app positions in the Top Free

and Top Grossing charts across all
countries.

How are the LiveOps events classified?

In the LiveOps sections, event types and app

genre categorization are defined using the

LiveOps & Updates Calendar

tool and may

differ from the app’s main categorization.

This method highlights how live events are used across the market, providing more consistent and

comparable insights across titles. You can find more details on the chart calculation methodology
in

the footer of each slide.

Data recorded on December 25, 2025

Methodology

This report is based on AppMagic data for the period of 2022 to 2025 for the global trends overview, and December 2024 to November 2025 for the LiveOps

overview by segment, covering both Android and iOS platforms. The analysis of LiveOps events is based on the behavior of non-paying Android users in the

United States.

4

Global LiveOps Trends

5

Mobile games market growth

is slowing down

Revenue growth fell sharply from +3.2%

to +0.7%, while downloads growth also

slowed down from +6.0% to +4.1%.

Key takeaways

6

Revenue remains concentrated

in Midcore and legacy titles

Midcore titles make up 65% of top

performers, while games released in

2015–2020 account for nearly half of

the top-grossing revenue.

LiveOps activity continues to

intensify

The average number of LiveOps events

increased from 73 to 89 per month,

showing steady growth throughout the

year with a seasonal peak in October.

Collection mechanics

dominate LiveOps events

Collection-based mechanics appear in

nearly 80% of games, while Fishing and

Expedition remain niche, each used in

less than 20% of games.

New event launches peak in

spring

New event launches peak in March and

April (0.8–0.9 per title per month) as

teams focus on experimentation.

Win Streak and Lava Quest

drive competitive growth

Win Streak and Lava Quest grew the

most (over 50%), driven by denser

LiveOps schedules rather than new

event types.

Broader mechanics expand

beyond Casual

Gacha, Expedition, and Album

expanded into Midcore and

Hybridcasual.

LiveOps growth is not driven

by holidays

LiveOps growth is not driven by holiday

periods, despite their seasonal

concentration.

LiveOps Report 2025 | GLOBAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

6

The mobile games niche
has shown steady but slowing growth in both

downloads and revenue over the past two years
.

Downloads increased
by 6.0% last year, but their growth slowed to 4.1%

in the most recent period.
Revenue growth has also decelerated

significantly,
from +3.2% in 2024 to just +0.7% in the following year.

Yearly trend

Trends in downloads and revenue for 2022–2025 (Worldwide)

Dynamics of change in downloads and revenue for 2022–2025 (YoY)

Period

Revenue

YoY change, %

Downloads

YoY change, %

Dec’22 – Nov’23

$53.4B

–

54.9B

–

Dec’23 – Nov’2 4

$55.1B

3.2

58.2B

6.0

Dec’2 4 – Nov’25

$55.5B

0.7

60.6B

4.1

The data is based on AppMagic’s taxonomy. Revenue figures reflect IAP earnings solely, excluding income from ads and alternative revenue sources.

Revenue

Downloads

LiveOps Report 2025 | GLOBAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

7

Between December 2024 and November 2025, the majority of top-performing games in the global market were distributed across three main niches:
Midcore

(65%), Casual (3 4%), and Hypercasual (1%).

Review of the 2025 top grossing

Revenue continues to be heavily driven by older games:
titles released

between 2015 and 2020 accounted for 49% of top-grossing games in the

period, compared to just 22% from releases in 2023–2025, underscoring

the sustained strength of long-established titles.

Casual

Midcore

Casino

Puzzle

Tabletop

Simulation

Adventure

Kids

Arcade

Sports Games

RPG

Party Games

Hypercasual

2015–2020

2024

2021

2023

2022

25%

50%

75%

100%

2011–2014

Before 2011

2025

0%

LiveOps Report 2025 | GLOBAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

Among the top 100 Midcore titles, RPG was the leading revenue generator with 37%.

Among the top 100 Casual games, Casino accounted for 43% of revenue.

Within the top 100 Hypercasual games, Puzzles earned 61% of revenue.

RPG

Strategy

Shooter

Simulation

Action

Sports Games

Geolocation Games

Racing

Puzzle

Arcade

Action

Simulation

Strategy

Shooter

8

The data is based on AppMagic’s taxonomy. Revenue figures reflect IAP earnings solely, excluding income from ads and alternative revenue sources.

Since the beginning of the year, the number of

LiveOps events has continued to grow:
while

early in the year, projects launched an
average

of 73 LiveOps events per month, by the end of

the year, this figure came at as high as 89.
The

growth has been gradual: despite a peak in

October (91 events per game per month) driven

by holiday activity and the return of LiveOps

from the “quiet season,” the trend remains

stable at the moment—and upward in the

year-over-year perspective.

The increase in event density has also affected

the prevalence of different mechanics within

them.
The most popular mechanic featured in

events is Collection
, which is present in almost

80% of all analyzed games.
Mechanics related

to collecting and gathering elements have also

become especially popular
, such as Album and

Customization.

On average, the least popular mechanics are

Fishing and Expedition, with their presence

across games accounting for less than 20%.

Changes in event activity

The average number of LiveOps event launches per game per month

9

0

20

40

60

80

100

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

LiveOps Report 2025 | GLOBAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

*excluding events where mechanics are not listed

Album

Collection

Core Duplicates

Customization

Digging

Expedition

Lava Quest

Login Calendar

Lucky Wheel

Monopoly

Casual Casino

Fishing

Gacha

0%

20%

40%

Pick-a-Box / Card

Race

Renovation /

Makeover

Representation of mechanics in 2025

60%

80%

Tabletop

Win Streak

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Despite the increase in holiday event activity

during the fall and winter seasons, the
highest

number of new events (0.8–0.9 per title per

month) actually occurs in mid-spring
, namely

March and April.

This approach can be explained by the need to

rely on proven event formats during peak
holiday

seasons, while
spring serves as an ideal period

for experimentation
. It allows teams to actively

monetize an already acquired audience, while

still having time before the traditionally “quiet”

summer season.

Even newly introduced event types are often

supported by well-established mechanics
,

such as Core Duplicates (16% of cases) or

Collection (14%).

The least popular mechanics in new events are

Expedition (1%) and Fishing (1%).

New events

Monthly dynamics of new event releases per
title

10

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

LiveOps Report 2025 | GLOBAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

Сore Duplicates

Сasual Casino

Win Streak

Lucky Wheel

Digging

Album

Lava Quest

Login Calendar

Race

Pick-a-Box / Card

Сollection

Gacha

Customization

0%

5%

10%

15%

Monopoly

Tabletop

Renovation /

Makeover

Fishing

Expedition

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Distribution of mechanics across new events*

*excluding events where mechanics are not listed

Growing mechanics

LiveOps Report 2025 | GLOBAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

11

Among popular mechanics,
the strongest

growth was recorded in the competitive Win

Streak and Lava Quest mechanics,
each

increasing by over 50%.
This growth was driven

primarily by higher LiveOps density within

existing projects
rather than the introduction of

fundamentally new event types. Despite the

significant increase in launches, the adoption of

these mechanics outside the Casual segment

remains limited.

Among the less popular but more versatile

mechanics,
Gacha, Expedition, and Album

showed notable growth
, with their appearance

frequency increasing to 70–85%.
This was

largely driven by their expansion into Midcore

and Hybridcasual segments.

Casual Casino and Tabletop mechanics also

gained traction, though mainly due to the denser

LiveOps calendars in the Casino niche rather

than broader adoption across other genres.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Win Streak

Lava Quest

Gacha

Casual Casino

Expedition

Album

Tabletop

0

5

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

10

15

20

Win Streak

Lava Quest

Gacha

Casual Casino

Expedition

Album

Tabletop

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Monthly dynamics of the fastest-growing mechanics per game

The
fastest-growing mechanics by number of launches per game, %

Growing mechanics: Win Streak

LiveOps Report 2025 | GLOBAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

12

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

The Win Streak mechanic is widely used across

games, most commonly paired with Lava Quest
,

where players start simultaneously and must

complete a set number of levels in a row on their first

attempt, with the final reward shared between the

finalists. This combination is most prevalent in
Casual

and Midcore games, but it has also become common

in the Casino genre, for example, in
Bingo Bash: Live

Bingo Games
during the
Jingle Trek
event.

In Midcore projects, Win Streak is often part of the

more complex events
that mirror core progression or

introduce new gameplay. A notable example is
PUBG

MOBILE
with its recurring
1v1 Popularity Battle
,

where Win Streak provides additional rewards.

Games with Win Streak mechanics:

Mechanic’s presence:

48%

YoY growth:

60%

Royal Match

Fishdom

PUBG MOBILE

Pokémon

TCG Pocket

Economy & monetization

By economy tag

By monetization type

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Event Points

Leaderboard

Other Economy

Tasks

Random Drop

Event Currency

Free Gift

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Special Offers

Event Hard Currency Offers

Paid Pass

Other Monetization

Sales

Event Store

13

Most limited-time events are accessible to

different player segments, including both

paying and non-paying users
. However, the

vast majority of events, nearly 70%, are
primarily

focused on hardcore or paying players.

The most common monetization elements are

Leaderboard and Event Points.

Conversion-focused mechanics within events,

such as Free Gift, are also used. Toward the end

of the year, their adoption increased, with Free

Gifts appearing in events roughly 30% more

often.

By player type

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Paying

Hardcore

Whales

Casual

Veterans

New

LiveOps Report 2025 | GLOBAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

User motivation

14

Competitive events are the clear leaders

among socially driven event types.

Compared to the beginning of the year,

Competitive events have seen a 2 4%

growth

and are increasingly used across all niches.

The presence of Cooperative events in

schedules is growing more moderately
, with a

17% increase this year.

Most events are primarily focused on Session

Length and Short-term Retention, while

Long-term Retention and K-Factor remain

secondary drivers across all genres.

By
goal

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Session length

Short-term retention

Revenue

Number of sessions

Long-term retention

K-factor

By social motivation

0

10

20

30

40

50

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Competitive

Cooperative

LiveOps Report 2025 | GLOBAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Want to learn more about your competitors’ LiveOps?
Explore our LiveOps & Updates Calendar for all the first-hand insights!

Click here to learn more

LiveOps Report 2025 | GLOBAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

Holidays

Average number of holiday events per game

0

2

4

6

8

10

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Despite the steady month-over-month increase in

LiveOps event density observed over the past year,

this
growth is not directly driven by holiday

periods.
October, November, and December remain

the most holiday-heavy months, driven by

Halloween, Christmas, and New Year celebrations.

15

Most popular holidays in mobile games

Halloween

Carnival

Black Friday

Harvest

Easter

Chinese New Year

Moon Festival

St.Patrick’s Day

Thanksgiving

Mother’s Day

Super Bowl

Christmas in July

Labor Day

Pride

Back to School

Cinco de Mayo

Winter Holidays

Golden Week

4th of July

Valentine’s Day

Father’s Day

April’s Fool Day

Cyber Monday

Oktoberfest

Midsummer

Qixi Festival

Int. Children’s Day

Cherry Blossom

Int. Women’s Day

Memorial Day

Mardi Gras

Ramadan

Veterans Day

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Check out our
Winter LiveOps research piece
,

where we explore popular event formats and how

they are adapted for the winter holiday season.

At the same time,
the average number of

holiday-themed events per game during these

months has remained largely unchanged.
For

example, in December 2024, games launched an

average of 10 themed events per title, a level that

was also observed in November 2025.

The most frequently used holiday themes

continue to be Halloween, Christmas, and

Valentine’s Day
.

Casual LiveOps Trends

16

Travel Town

Monopoly GO!

Royal Match

Casual games are easy-to-play experiences with simple rules, short

sessions, and low complexity, which makes them accessible to a broad

audience.

Casual

Both classification and associated data are based on AppMagic’s taxonomy.

17

Casual downloads grow,

revenue lags

Downloads grew from +6% to +7% year

over year, while revenue slipped from

+5.6% to −1%.

Key takeaways

18

Puzzle grows, Casino

monetization weakens

Puzzle grows across revenue and

downloads, while Casino gains users

but loses revenue; other genres face

decline.

Casual LiveOps growth is

seasonal

Event density grows by about 15%,

driven by the fall and winter holidays.

Digging drives growth, others

remain niche

Digging is expanding the fastest, while

Expedition remains niche; Win Streak

and Album mechanics continue to

evolve.

Mechanic to watch:

Stamps

Stamp events are expanding beyond

the Casino, becoming a popular

monetization-driven mechanic in

Casual games.

Gossip Harbor
emerges as a

new trendsetter

High LiveOps intensity and $770M+ in

revenue position
Gossip Harbor
as a

new industry benchmark.

Mechanic to watch:

Puzzle

Puzzle collection is emerging as a

lightweight alternative to Albums,

integrated into core gameplay and

monetized through event offers.

Casual events target paying

and hardcore users

Around 70% of events focus on payers

and hardcore users, with monetization

driven by event offers, hard currency,

and paid passes.

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

18

Overall, the Casual segment
downloads have shown strong and

accelerating growth year over year
, increasing by +6% and then by +7%.

In contrast, revenue growth has been inconsistent
. It saw a moderate

increase of +5.6%, followed by a slight decline of –1% in the most recent

period.

Yearly trend

Trends in downloads and revenue for 2022–2025 (Worldwide)

Dynamics of change in downloads and revenue for 2022–2025 (YoY)

Period

Revenue

YoY change, %

Downloads

YoY change, %

Dec’22 – Nov’23

$19.8B

–

27.4B

–

Dec’23 – Nov’2 4

$20.9B

5.6

29.2B

6.6

Dec’2 4 – Nov’25

$20.7B

–1.0

31.3B

7.2

The data is based on AppMagic’s taxonomy. Revenue figures reflect IAP earnings solely, excluding income from ads and alternative revenue sources.

Revenue

Downloads

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

19

Genre

Rev Dec’23 – Nov’2 4

Rev Dec’2 4 – Nov’25

YoY change, %

Dls Dec’23 – Nov’2 4

Dls Dec’2 4 – Nov’25

YoY change, %

Action

$87.1M

$79.6M

–8.6%

3.1B

3.3B

4.5%

Adventure

$577.2M

$547.9M

–5.1%

771.4M

806.3M

4.5%

Arcade

$457.0M

$461.3M

1.0%

1.5B

1.6B

10.8%

Casino

$7.6B

$7.0B

–7.7%

1.5B

1.7B

11.8%

Game Collection

$15,968

$90,380

466%

186,929

774,772

314.5%

Geolocation Games

$7,285

$31,205

328.3%

122,261

138,660

13.4%

Kids

$492.2M

$548.7M

11.5%

4.7B

5.0B

7.2%

Party Games

$349.1M

$274.0M

–21.5%

847.8M

890.9M

5.1%

Puzzle

$7.6B

$8.2B

8.1%

7.0B

7.6B

8.5%

Racing

$50.3M

$54.6M

8.5%

1.9B

1.9B

4.5%

RPG

$531.7M

$431.2M

–18.9%

271.0M

253.4M

–6.5%

Shooter

$3.8M

$2.9M

–23.7%

132.4M

94.3M

–28.8%

Simulation

$2.0B

$1.9B

–4.5%

4.6B

4.9B

5.1%

Sports Games

$285.0M

$258.4M

–9.3%

869.5M

857.3M

–1.4%

Strategy

$64.6M

$102.9M

59.3%

123.1M

202.6M

64.5%

Tabletop

$868.6M

$934.1M

7.5%

1.9B

2.2B

14.9%

Tower Destiny

Survive

Color Clash

Haunted

Dorm

Changes in the Casual subgenre

Puzzle, Casino, and Simulation remain the

top 3 revenue-generating genres globally:

●
Puzzle showed solid revenue growth

(+8.1%) alongside strong downloads

growth (+8.5%).

●
Casino revenue declined notably

(–7.7%) despite a significant increase in

downloads (+11.8%).

●
Simulation experienced a slight

revenue drop
(–4.5%) while downloads

grew modestly (+5.1%).

Conversely, the
RPG and Shooter genres

faced substantial declines
in both revenue

and downloads. In addition to other major

growing genres,
significant growth was

also seen in Strategy
, with titles such as:

Analysis includes events from mobile games in the Casual category, based on AppMagic’s taxonomy.

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

20

The Casual segment largely follows the global

trend in event launches, with minor deviations.

Casual games deepen their schedules much

more heavily around the fall and winter

holidays compared to other niches
, while

January and February show a more noticeable

decline.

As a result, the
growth in event density is less

pronounced, averaging around 15%
compared

to the beginning of the year.

Collection (75%), Race (68%), and Album (66%)

remain the most widely represented mechanics

in Casual games.

Changes in event activity

21

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

The average number of LiveOps event launches per game per month

0

20

40

100

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

60

80

Album

Core Duplicates

Customization

Digging

Expedition

Lava Quest

Login Calendar

Lucky Wheel

Monopoly

Casual Casino

Fishing

Gacha

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Pick-a-Box / Card

Race

Renovation /

Makeover

Tabletop

Win Streak

Collection

*excluding events where mechanics are not listed

Representation of mechanics in 2025

Analysis includes events from mobile games in the Casual category, based on AppMagic’s taxonomy.

The Casual segment is far more dependent on

new event types than other segments, with

developers regularly experimenting with

mechanics.

As far as the new event releases go, Casual

games maintain steady activity throughout

most of the year
, with the exception of the

summer season (June–September). The highest

number of new events is observed in December

(0.7 per game) and during the February–May

period, which actively monetizes previously

acquired users.

Within the Casual segment, Casual Casino

titles account for a significant share and

largely drive the popularity of Casual

Casino
–type mechanics, currently the most

widely used.

However,
excluding the Casino niche, Win

Streak and Digging emerge as the most

popular mechanics for new events this year.

New events

22

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

0

0.6

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

0.4

0.2

Casual Casino

Digging

Lucky Wheel

Core Duplicates

Lava Quest

Album

Pick-a-Box / Card

Gacha

Monopoly

Renovation /

Makeover

Win Streak

Race

Customization

0%

5%

10%

Tabletop

Expedition

Login Calendar

Monthly dynamics of new event releases per
title

Distribution of mechanics across new events*

*excluding events where mechanics are not listed

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Growing mechanics

23

Among popular mechanics,
the strongest

growth in scheduling activity was recorded for

Digging and Expedition mechanics, showing

increases of 75–80%
.
The Digging mechanic

has been steadily gaining popularity
for a long

time, while Expedition only began to grow

actively toward the end of the year. At the

moment, it remains weakly represented in the

Casual segment, used by less than 2% of all

titles.

Strong growth is also observed in the Win

Streak and Lava Quest mechanics
, which are

often implemented together in Casual games.

However, Win Streak is also showing growth on

its own and can regularly be seen as both

standalone mode and part of events built around

the Pick-a-Box mechanic.

The Album mechanic also continues to evolve
,

gradually becoming more refined.
Short-term

albums (lasting up to two weeks) are

increasingly common, adding variety to the

gameplay experience.

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

Monthly dynamics of the fastest-growing mechanics per game

0

5

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

10

15

Core Duplicates

Win Streak

Lava Quest

Casual Casino

Expedition

Album

Digging

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Core Duplicates

Win Streak

Lava Quest

Casual Casino

Digging

Expedition

Album

The
fastest-growing mechanics by number of launches per game, %

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Mechanic to watch: Stamps

Mechanic’s presence:

24%

YoY growth:

96%

Since last year, stamp-based events have been

actively developing in the Casual segment. Most

often,
Stamp events are directly tied to

monetization:
players receive stamps for in-game

actions or for making purchases. After completing a

stamp card, players are rewarded with hard

currency, soft currency, or collectible cards.

This type of event has been most widely adopted in

Casino games, as well as in Slots, Coin Looter, and

related genres
. However, this year many

well-known Casual titles, such as
Match Masters
,

Travel Town – Merge Adventure
, and
Family

Island™ — Farming game
, have also been actively

using this mechanic.

Games with Stamp mechanics:

24

Travel

Town

Solitaire Grand

Harvest

Alice’s

Dream

Dice

Dreams™

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Gossip Harbor is a new trendsetter

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

25

Gossip Harbor

is the No. 1 Merge-2 title
from Microfun Limited, launched in 2022.
The game continues to grow year over year

and has surpassed $770 million in revenue.
In 2025, it expanded its LiveOps activity sizeably, with nearly
100 monthly events
in

Q3
alone. While the title rarely introduces entirely new event types, its approach to iterating on existing events stands out. And

you are welcome to explore its LiveOps in more detail in
our designated analytical piece
.

Many top-grossing games have already begun adopting its LiveOps and monetization strategies
, marking a shift away from

Royal Match
and

Monopoly GO!
as the main trendsetters.

Dynamics in the average number of monthly events

Dynamics in monthly event mechanic usage

Nov’23

Dec’23

Jan’24

Feb’24

Mar’24

Apr’24

May’24

Jun’24

Jul’24

Aug’24

Sep’24

Oct’24

Nov’24

Dec’24

Jan’25

Feb’25

Mar’25

Apr’25

May’25

Jun’25

Jul’25

Aug’25

Sep’25

Oct’25

Daily

Hourly

Long

Medium

Short

Q4’2023

Q1’2024

Q2’2024

Q3’2024

Q4’2024

Q1’2025

Q2’2025

Q3’2025

Oct’23

Album

Collection

Customization

Digging

Fishing

Lava Quest

Lucky Wheel

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

10

20

30

40

Monopoly

Pick-a-Box / Card

Race

Tabletop

Win Streak

Mechanic to watch: Puzzle

Mechanic’s presence:

18%

YoY growth:

25%

While the Album mechanic has gained well-deserved

popularity, it has also started to feel oversaturated for

users. As a result, some
Casual games are trying to

diversify their Collection mechanics, and one such

approach is Puzzle collection
.

Most often, collecting puzzle pieces is tied to the

game’s core activities
. During an event, players fill a

progress bar with puzzles by completing levels or

actively interacting with the game board (for example,

in Merge titles). Each completed milestone unlocks
one

puzzle piece. When a player unlocks all the pieces, they

receive the main reward for completing the event.
In

most cases, event monetization is implemented

through dedicated event offers.

Games with Puzzle mechanics:

26

Angry Birds

Dream Blast

Gossip Harbor

Disney

Solitaire

Word Collect

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Puzzle events in Gossip Harbor

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

27

Gossip Harbor
was one of the first titles in the

Merge niche to introduce Puzzle events back in

November 202 4.

By completing regular orders, players collect

puzzle pieces to assemble a picture on the event

screen. This fills a progress bar with milestones

and rewards, such as energy, boosters, and card

packs for the Album. Since its launch, the event

has already run nine times.

Many of these events were tied to major

holidays
, including Christmas, Halloween, and

the game’s anniversary, as well as more general

occasions, such as Spring and Fall festivals.

The event is primarily focused on short-term

user engagement and increasing session

length by deeply involving players in core

gameplay activities.

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Want to learn more about your competitors’ LiveOps?
Explore our LiveOps & Updates Calendar for all the first-hand insights!

Click here to learn more

Economy & monetization

28

The primary
focus of Casual games, in line with

the broader global trend, is on paying and

hardcore users, accounting for nearly 70% of

events.
In most cases, casual players can

participate in these events, but time constraints

and competitive mechanics such as

Leaderboards often prevent them from

collecting all of the rewards.

From an economy design perspective,
the most

popular solutions are Event Points and

Leaderboards
(almost 70%), while other

economy elements, such as Event Currency, are

used much less frequently.

The majority of monetization comes from

Special Offers, Hard Currency, and Paid

Passes.

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

By economy tag

By monetization type

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Event Points

Leaderboard

Other Economy

Tasks

Random Drop

Event Currency

Free Gift

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

By player type

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Hardcore

Paying

Casual

Veterans

Whales

New

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Special Offers

Event Hard Currency Offers

Paid Pass

Other Monetization

Sales

Event Store

User motivation

29

The primary focus of Casual events is on

competitive formats, often featuring

Leaderboards, Race, and Lava Quest mechanics.

This year, a slight increase was also observed in

Cooperative events, typically centered around

gift exchanges or team/guild-based activities.

However,
the

main growth continues to come

from competition-driven events, which

increased by 26% year over year.

Overall, these events are primarily designed to

boost Session Length and Short-term Retention,

while Revenue and Long-term Retention remain

secondary objectives.

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Session Length

Short-term retention

Revenue

Number of sessions

Long-term retention

K-factor

0

10

20

30

40

50

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Competitive

Cooperative

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

By
goal

By social motivation

Want to learn more about your competitors’ LiveOps?
Explore our LiveOps & Updates Calendar for all the first-hand insights!

Click here to learn more

LiveOps Report 2025 | CASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

Holidays

Casual games are significantly more

dependent on local holidays than other genres.

They often feature short, niche holidays that are

rarely used elsewhere, such as Cyber Monday,

Cinco de Mayo, or Mother’s Day.

The Casual space also frequently reuses visual

themes from past events.
Activities like

Christmas in July are common, where

Christmas-themed events are launched in

contrast to the summer setting used by most

other games.

This year, Black Friday also gained notable

traction: beyond monetization offers, nearly

30% of games launched unique in-game

events tied to this theme
.

The most popular holidays remain New Year,

Halloween, Easter, and Valentine’s Day.

30

Average number of holiday events per game

0

2

4

6

8

10

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Most popular holidays in mobile games

Halloween

Winter Holidays

Harvest

Carnival

Easter

4th of July

Pride

St.Patrick’s Day

Mother’s Day

Thanksgiving

Christmas in July

Back to School

Moon Festival

Cinco de Mayo

Golden Week

Int. Chess Day

Black Friday

Labor Day

Chinese New Year

Valentine’s Day

April’s Fool Day

Cyber Monday

Father’s Day

Oktoberfest

Astronaut Day

Cherry Blossom

Int. Women’s Day

Mardi Gras

Midsummer

Memorial Day

Veterans Day

Diwali

Earth Week

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

National Space Day

Spring Holidays

Super Bowl

100%

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Midcore LiveOps Trends

31

Whiteout Survival

Pokémon TCG Pocket

Clash Royale

Midcore games combine difficulty and fun, offering more complex

game mechanics, longer play sessions, and a moderate level of

strategy and skill required to progress.

Midcore

Both classification and associated data are based on AppMagic’s taxonomy.

32

Midcore growth remains

stable but slows in revenue

Downloads grew at 8–9% YoY, while

revenue growth is slowing down from

+3.7% to +2.3%.

Key takeaways

33

Strategy overtakes RPG as the

top subgenre

Strategy shows the strongest growth

(+18% in revenue, +19% in downloads),

while RPG declines; Shooters grow

moderately.

Stable LiveOps growth in

Midcore

Event density grows steadily

throughout the year, with rising use of

Fishing, Digging, and Album mechanics

alongside core formats.

Login Calendar leads growth

amongst mechanics

Login Calendar leads adoption (+93%),

with Monopoly, Digging (~30%), and

Album (+92%) also growing, although

Album remains unevenly implemented.

Growing mechanic:

Monopoly

Monopoly remains niche in Midcore but

is appearing more often in existing

titles, with some new adopters like

Legend of Mushroom
joining in 2025.

Co-op grows faster in

Midcore

Cooperative activities grow faster than

the Competitive, with LiveOps focused

on short-term retention and revenue.

Higher K-factor impact in

Midcore

Compared to other niches, the Midcore

segment shows a stronger K-factor

influence, driven by more active and

cohesive player communities.

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

33

The Midcore segment
shows a pattern of stable, sustainable growth

over the years both in downloads and revenue.

While
downloads growth has remained high
at 8-9% annually,
revenue

growth has been more modest
and is gradually decelerating (from

+3.74% to +2.25%).

Yearly trend

Trends in downloads and revenue for 2022–2025 (Worldwide)

Dynamics of change in downloads and revenue for 2022–2025 (YoY)

Period

Revenue

YoY change, %

Downloads

YoY change, %

Dec’22 – Nov’23

$33.3B

–

12.5B

–

Dec’23 – Nov’2 4

$33.7B

3.7

13.8B

9.1

Dec’2 4 – Nov’25

$33.9B

2.3

14.4B

8.3

The data is based on AppMagic’s taxonomy. Revenue figures reflect IAP earnings solely, excluding income from ads and alternative revenue sources.

Revenue

Downloads

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

34

Genre

Rev Dec’23 – Nov’2 4

Rev Dec’2 4 – Nov’25

YoY change, %

Dls Dec’23 – Nov’2 4

Dls Dec’2 4 – Nov’25

YoY change, %

Action

$1.6B

$1.2B

–22.4%

2.2B

2.1B

–2.8%

Adventure

$167.9M

$177.1M

5.5%

159.7M

176.4M

10.4%

Arcade

$996

$19,432

1851%

40,960

247,371

503.9%

Geolocation Games

$857.6M

$750.0M

–12.5%

58.6M

54.1M

–7.6%

Racing

$360.9M

$307.6M

–14.8%

1.1B

961.6M

–10.2%

RPG

$12.8B

$10.8B

–15.3%

1.4B

1.3B

–8.1%

Shooter

$2.9B

$3.2B

9.8%

2.2B

2.4B

8.2%

Simulation

$2.4B

$2.9B

17.4%

3.9B

4.2B

7.5%

Sports Games

$1.5B

$1.5B

–2.7%

1.1B

1.1B

3.2%

Strategy

$11.1B

$13.1B

17.9%

1.8B

2.1B

19.1%

Changes in the Midcore subgenre

Strategy and RPG are the top two

revenue-generating subgenres, with Strategy

overtaking RPG in the recent period.

●
Strategy emerged as the leading

subgenre with strong growth
: revenue

increased by +17.9%, supported by +19.1%

rise in downloads.

●
RPG, previously the segment leader,

experienced a significant revenue

decline
of –15.3%, accompanied by an

–8.1% drop in downloads.

Shooter demonstrated positive growth
in

both revenue (+9.8%) and downloads (+8.2%).

Honor of

Kings

Mobile

Legends

Kingshot

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

The biggest relative growth came from Strategy, due to games like:

35

Unlike the Casual segment, which is highly

dependent on seasonality, event density in

Midcore is growing more steadily.
Compared to

the beginning of the year, growth also reached

15%, while, when measured against December,

the increase is significantly higher at 23%.

At the same time, titles in this segment are

more likely to run high-activity events during

summer
, such as collaborations, anniversaries,

and half-anniversaries, which helps maintain

overall activity on a monthly basis.

The most popular mechanics in events remain

Collection and Login Calendar
, which are core

mechanics for the genre.

However,
in 2025, noticeable growth in

adoption across other games was observed for

mechanics such as Fishing, Digging, and

Album
, which are traditionally less common for

the genre.

Changes in event activity

36

The average number of LiveOps event launches per game per month

0

20

40

60

80

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

Album

Collection

Core Duplicates

Customization

Digging

Gacha

Login Calendar

Lucky Wheel

Monopoly

Casual Casino

Expedition

Fishing

0%

20%

40%

60%

Pick-a-Box / Card

Tabletop

Win Streak

80%

100%

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

*excluding events where mechanics are not listed

Representation of mechanics in 2025

The highest peak of activity for new events in

the Midcore segment occurs in March and

April,
a popular period for launching

collaborations at the beginning of the year,
when

most major holidays are already over and titles

focus on monetizing their audience. During this

period, the number of new events is especially

high, reaching 1.4–1.65 events per game per

month.

Most often, events reimagine existing core

gameplay into an event format
, allowing
players

to engage with familiar mechanics in a new way

(32% of events).

The second most common choice for new

events is Collection mechanics
, used in 15% of

all cases.

Mechanics that differ significantly from the

Core gameplay are used very rarely
(for

example, Monopoly sits at just 1%).

New events

37

37

Core Duplicates

Gacha

Login Calendar

Casual Casino

Album

Fishing

Lucky Wheel

Pick-a-Box / Card

Tabletop

Monopoly

Collection

Win Streak

Customization

0%

10%

20%

30%

Distribution of mechanics across new events*

*excluding events where mechanics are not listed

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

0

0.5

1.0

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

1.5

Nov

Monthly dynamics of new event releases per title

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Growing mechanics

38

The strongest growth among popular

mechanics is observed in Login Calendar.

Despite already being widely used, its adoption

increased by 93%.

Noticeable growth is also seen in the Monopoly

and Digging mechanics
, at around 30%, as they

now appear in schedules much more frequently

than before.

The Album mechanic has also shown explicit

growth (92%)
, but its presence remains

sporadic and unstructured. Games are gradually

introducing the mechanic, but its

implementation has not yet been standardized

within the segment.

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

Monthly dynamics of the fastest-growing mechanics per game

0

5

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

10

15

Core Duplicates

Gacha

Login Calendar

Digging

Monopoly

Album

Fishing

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Core Duplicates

Gacha

Login Calendar

Digging

Fishing

Monopoly

Album

The
fastest-growing mechanics by number of launches per game, %

100%

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

39

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

Growing mechanics: Album

In 2025, Midcore titles began actively adopting

Album and similar Collection mechanics in their

games.

While
Whiteout Survival
features a classic album as

part of a complex event, others adapt the mechanic
to

better fit their genre-specific requirements.

For example, in
Call of Duty®: Mobile
, during the

Collapse Mutation
event, players could collect

characters in a special event album.

Games with Album mechanics:

Mechanic’s presence:

12%

YoY growth:

92%

AFK Journey

PUBG MOBILE

Whiteout

Survival

Call of Duty®:

Mobile

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

40

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

Growing mechanics: Monopoly

The Monopoly mechanic is not significantly more

widespread in Midcore events overall; however, its

frequency within schedules of the games that

adopted it during the peak of
Monopoly GO!
’s

popularity has increased noticeably.

For example, in
Evony: The King’s Return
, the
Great

Expedition
event has been running on a regular basis

since 2024, with its most recent launch taking place in

December 2025.

At the same time, some games adopted this mechanic

for the first time this year. For instance,
Legend of

Mushroom
introduced its
Magic Monopoly

event for

the first time in April 2025.

Games with Monopoly mechanics:

Mechanic’s presence:

31%

YoY growth:

83%

Capybara Go!

Call of Duty®:

Mobile

Last

War:Survival

Evony: The

King’s Return

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Economy & monetization

41

Unlike the Casual segment, Midcore focuses

its events primarily on paying users and

whales
(almost 70%), while casual and new

users remain a secondary target.

Sales are also a less popular monetization

approach.
The main focus is placed on Special

Offers and Hard Currency sinks.

Leaderboards are used much less frequently as

well,
with the core monetization economy

centered around Event Points instead.

By economy tag

By monetization type

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Event Points

Leaderboard

Other Economy

Random Drop

Event Currency

Free Gift

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

By player type

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Paying

Whales

Hardcore

Veterans

Casual

New

Tasks

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Special Offers

Event Hard Currency Offers

Paid Pass

Other Monetization

Sales

Event Store

User motivation

42

In the Midcore segment, Cooperative activities

are more popular than elsewhere

and

have

shown stronger growth
compared to the

beginning of the year: +16% versus January and

+36% versus December 2024.

Growth in Competitive activities is less

pronounced,
reaching +16% compared to

December 2024 and +8% compared to January.

In terms of motivation
, Midcore games most

often focus on short-term retention and

revenue. However, compared to other niches,

the
impact of the K-factor is slightly higher in

the Midcore segment due to stronger

community presence.

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Short-term retention

Revenue

Session length

Long-term retention

Number of sessions

K-factor

0

10

20

30

40

50

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Competitive

Cooperative

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

By
goal

By social motivation

43

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

Growing trend: Cooperative Events

Cooperative events are gaining popularity in both

relatively simple games and full-scale 4X Strategy

titles. However,
while events are typically focused

on players within the same group or guild, some

games have moved away from this convention and

allow completely unfamiliar players to participate

together.
For example,
Legend of Mushroom

featured the

Drakebone Sanctum

event, which

enabled players from the same server to team up and

take part in a competitive activity.

There are also more traditional implementations.

For instance,
Dark War: Survival

launched the
Cozy

Xmas
Christmas event, which had alliance members

joining efforts to grow their common Christmas tree

by completing tasks.

Games with Cooperative events:

YoY growth:

16%

Diablo

Immortal

Rise of

Kingdoms

Whiteout

Survival

Brawl Stars

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Holidays

44

Average number of holiday events per game

0

2

4

6

8

10

Dec’24

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Most popular holidays in mobile games

Halloween

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Chinese New Year

Carnival

Winter Holidays

Black Friday

Valentine’s Day

St.Patrick’s Day

Easter

Harvest

Golden Week

Thanksgiving

Moon Festival

Qixi Festival

Int. Children’s Day

Father’s Day

Midsummer

Ramadan

Super Bowl

4th of July

April’s Fool Day

Mother’s Day

Pride

LiveOps Report 2025 | MIDCORE LIVEOPS TRENDS

Events in the Midcore segment are also largely

tied to major holidays
, such as New Year,

Halloween, and Easter.

However,
unlike the Casual segment, events

are released less frequently due to longer

event durations
, meaning the average number

of holiday events rarely exceeds 10 per game per

month.

The Midcore segment is also less dependent on

local holidays.

In contrast to Casual games,
niche holidays are

generally not celebrated, and shorter holidays

such as Thanksgiving or St. Patrick’s Day are

acknowledged less frequently.

The only notable exception is Valentine’s Day
,

which, despite its short duration, ranks among

the top three most frequently celebrated

holidays in the midcore segment.

The analysis is based on data from our LiveOps & Updates Calendar.

Hybridcasual LiveOps

Trends

45

Color Block Jam

Survivor.io

All in Hole

Hybridcasual games combine intuitive, easy-to-learn gameplay with

depth added through progression systems, unlockable content, and

monetization features such as ads and in-app purchases.

Hybridcasual

Both classification and associated data are based on AppMagic’s taxonomy.

46

Hybridcasual revenue

outpaces user growth

Revenue surged (+82% and +75% YoY)

while downloads stagnated and then

even declined (+3.5%
→
−4%).

Key takeaways

47

Puzzle becomes the top

Hybridcasual genre

Puzzle overtook Arcade, driving the

strongest revenue growth (+136%)

despite declining downloads.

Hybridcasual LiveOps is

expanding

Event density rose by 19%, with Core

Duplicates and Race as the most

common mechanics.

Lava Quest continues to

scale

Lava Quest remains a large and actively

growing mechanic (+114%), driven

mainly by denser LiveOps schedules.

Digging, Gacha, and Casual

Casino are expanding

Digging and Gacha are gradually

adopted from Casual games, while

Casual Casino shows uneven but

impressive growth (+132%).

Growing mechanic: Casual

Casino

Casual Casino mechanics are

expanding in Hybridcasual, moving

beyond Plinko to Slots, Gacha, and

other Random Drop offerings.

Hybridcasual focuses on

Competition

Hybridcasual events are mainly

competitive, driven by Lava Quest, with

LiveOps focused on session length and

short-term retention.

Hybridcasual is highly

seasonal

Event activity peaks during the fall and

winter holidays, while keeping quiet for

most of the year, with minor spikes

around Valentine’s Day and Easter.

LiveOps Report 2025 | HYBRIDCASUAL LIVEOPS TRENDS

47

The Hypercasual segment
has shown explosive revenue growth over the past
two

years
, increasing by 82% and then by 75%