H1 2021 White Paper on Global Mobile Games

SocialPeta Data Research Institute
WHITE PAPER
ON GLOBAL
MOBILE GAMES

With the rapid development of the game industry, “involution” has become 
an inevitable consequence in the game market. As the saying goes, if you 
know yourself and know your enemy, you will gain victory a hundred times 
out of a hundred. So, a company’s product strategy and publishing strategy, 
for a top product, and unexpectedly successful product, or a directly com-
peting product, would be greatly affected by whether the company has 
quick access to correct ad intelligence.   
Competition in the global market is getting more intense as the number of 
creatives is surging and CPM is significantly increasing. 
According to the overall data, there are 3 major trends in the global mobile 
game market.  
First, market competition is getting increasingly intense, which can be seen 
from the number of advertisers and the number of ad creatives. In Q3 2021 
as compared to Q3 2020, the number of advertisers maintained at around 
26,000, but ad creatives increased by 200% YoY, indicating very fierce com-
petition.   
Preface
VP of SocialPeta：Constance Gao
Second, more ad creatives are taking the form of video which dominates and 
accounts for over 85% of all forms of ads. It can be very challenging for a team to 
produce a great number of creatives. But having access to the ad creatives of other 
games or competing games can greatly help improve the production efficiency of 
creatives.  
Third, the cost is soaring. The average CPM on Facebook increased by 34% in 2021. 
Without any cost intelligence about the specific areas, an advertising budget can’t 
be set, which will undermine the smooth running of the advertising and further 
lead to the inefficient acquisition of customers.
 
Besides, Android advertisers have been making as much advertising effort as iOS 
advertisers, which is a noticeable result of the iOS privacy policy.  
Personalized promotion has become a mainstream model. It’s worthwhile to pay 
attention to local platforms in local markets.  
And, there have also been some changes in choosing a target market. Early export-
ing strategies were globalization. Companies didn’t know which were key areas and 
therefore adopted globalization strategies. As game companies gained more and 
more experience in exporting games, they gradually developed special skills in 
exporting certain types of games into certain areas. For example, Kunlun focuses 
on the Southeast Asia, and efun on China’s Taiwan. Now companies would decide 
where to export games based on their resources and the game features. Many 
games have target users before they are published, or even have target markets 
even before they are developed.  
With those companies getting established over time, market conditions and trends 
of all areas have been known to the whole industry. For instance, the US, Japan, and 
South Korea are classified as T1 markets with higher paying user rates and higher 
ROI. The UK, France, and Germany are T2 markets with a considerable user base 
and high spending ability. Russia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia are T3 
markets. However, the classification of markets was confirmed largely based on 
the experience of exporting games.
 
01

2021 Mobile Game
Marketing Insights
01 02
/ 02 / 16
/ 31
/ 53 / 47
Insights into Advertising on Top
Platforms Worldwide
Insights into Top
Countries/Regions Worldwide
03 04
Industry Insights
05
Trend of Ad Creatives
for Mobile Games Worldwide
CONTENTS

2021 Mobile Game
Marketing Insights
1
02

A Slowdown in the Growth of Mobile Game Advertisers in the Post
-Pandemic Era
Nearly 65K mobile game advertisers this year
There was a significant slowdown in the growth of mobile game advertisers in 2021, a YoY increase of 5% which was noticeably lower 
than last year’s 44%. The market had maintained stable development in the Post-Pandemic Era. At this rate, the number of mobile 
game advertisers worldwide is expected to surpass 70K in 2023
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: 2017- 2021.
03
Game AdvertiseM-o-M Growth Rate

Average duration of creatives each year
Average Duration of Creatives is 32.5 days
Average duration of creatives
increased YoY in 2021
The duration of creatives was getting longer as more and more “classic creatives” with 
longer duration released in market.
Average duration of creatives
in 2021
days
32.5
87.9%
YoY
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: 2017- 2021.
04

The proportion of Video Creatives Increase Year by Year
Video creatives are often about (including but not limited to): GamePlay, 
real people scenario, UE4 videos, game trailer, KOL endorsement, game 
screenshots…
Users prefer to watch video ads nowadays when 5G networks have covered many countries/regions with the development of global 
mobile network technologies, video creatives have become the mainstream of advertising games as a result of the constant upgrad-
ing of mobile devices, and short video platforms and KOL influencers grew rapidly in 2021.
Share of mobile game creatives by type in 2021
Number of video creatives in 2021: 5.6M+
Share of creatives by type each year
Video 86.01%
Image 11.65%
Other 2.34%
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
05
2017                   2018                     2019                    2020
VideoImage Playable Carousel Html

A Slowdown in Advertising Mobile Games in H2 2021
There were about 20K monthly active adver-
tisers, with a peak of 21384 active advertisers 
in July, and January saw the least number of 
17885 advertisers.
April saw the most ad creatives for a single 
advertiser, with an average of 588 creatives 
per mobile game advertiser. In H2 2021, aver-
age creatives for mobile games slowed down 
to reach 371 creatives per mobile game 
advertiser in November.
Active Advertisers
Average Number of Creatives
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
06

Many Regions Saw a Rise in the Number of Game Advertisers
North America remained Top 1 with a total of over 41K mobile game advertisers, up 18.72% YoY.Europe, Oceania, Southeast Aisa, 
and Africa had a decreased number of advertisers, with advertisers 3000 less than last year in Europe.
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. The specific countries/regions will be presented later in this report.
07
20202021 YoY Change in Advertisers
YoY Change in Advertisers

Casual games had the most advertisers of over 18K
Casual games had the most advertisers, while RPGs had the
most creatives
RPGs had the most creatives of totally over 6.6M, 
accounting for 13.28%;
followed by casual games and puzzle games with 
creatives accounting for 12.75% and 12.16% 
respectively.
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
08
Proportion of
game materials

HK, Macao & Taiwan regions of China and strategy games had the
most average creatives
HK, Macao & Taiwan regions of China had an average of 895 creatives per 
advertiser.Followed by South America with 780 creatives per advertiser and 
Southeast Asia with 794 creatives per advertiser.Strategy games maintained a large number of ad creatives, an average of 
1315 creatives per advertiser;
followed by role-playing games and casino games.
Average ad creatives per advertiser worldwide
Average creatives for different game genres
Source: SocialPeta，, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date：2021/1/-2021/12. The specific countries/regions will be presented later in this report.
09
1400
1200
1000 800600
400 200 0

Duration of creatives worldwide (Day)
Creatives in North America were consumed the fastest, with an average dura-
tion of only 40.6 days
Followed by creatives in mainland China and Europe, with an average creative 
duration of 42.3 days and 44.5 days respectively.Creatives for arcade games had the shortest average duration of only 
30.1 days;
Followed by creatives for card games androle-playing games, with an 
average duration of 30.6 days and 31 days respectively.
Creatives in developed areas and for hard-core games were of
a short duration

Average duration of creatives for different game genres
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. The specific countries/regions will be presented later in this report.
10
45
40
35
3025
20 15
10 5
0

Android advertisers greatly outnumbered iOS advertisers, accounting for 66.73%
Percentage
of Number
of Advertiser
iOS
548
Comparison of the
number of creatives
Apple IDFA Tremendously Impacted the Advertising of iOS Advertisers
Average creatives per advertiser on Android were close to that on iOS as more game companies chose to place ads on Android
Android
542
Average Creatives per
Advertiser
66.73%
33.27%
Percentage
of Number
of Creatives
66.54%
33.46%
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
11

Global Mobile Games by Advertising TOP30 (iOS)
TOP 1
TOP 2
TOP 3
Note: Advertisers are sorted by the number of deduplicated creatives
Source: SocialPeta–advertiser analysis, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
12
BoleGaming
BoleGaming
Yotta Games
BoleGaming
Bianfeng Games
Yotta Games
BoleGaming
Tap4Fun
Doodle Mobile
Lilith Games SpringGame
COL
Wildlife Studios
BoleGaming
MobilityWare
Wildlife Studios
AviaGames
Betta Games
LuckiosGame
Doodle Mobile
Magic Tavern
Pixonic
Wildlife Studios
DHGames
AviaGames
Betta Games
Lion Studios
KamaGames
Goat Games
Nexters
iOS
iOS
iOS

Top 20 Mobile Games on App Store by Downloads and Revenue
Source: SocialPeta–App Intelligence. The downloads and revenue were generated on the App Store
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
13
Revenue TOP20
EJOY
NetEase
Tencent
Revenue TOP20
Tencent
NetEase
Mihoyo
Tencent
Downloads TOP20
Magic Tavern
Downloads TOP20
Tencent
Tencent

Mobile Games Worldwide by Advertising TOP30 (Android)
TOP 1
TOP 2
TOP 3
Source: SocialPeta–Advertiser Analysis, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
14
Note: Advertisers are sorted by number of deduplicated creatives
BoleGaming
BoleGaming
BoleGaming
Yotta Games
Talefun
Yotta Games
Learnings
BoleGaming
Tap4Fun
Lilith GamesBianfeng Games
Garena
IM30
Green Panda
VOODOO�
OneSoft
Lilith Games
Learnings
COL
Doodle Mobile
IGG
Fuero Games
Learnings
Learnings
Yalla Group
Playrix
Rollic Games
Pixonic
Goat Games
PoseidonJoy
Android
Android
Android

Top 20 Mobile Games on Google Play by Downloads and Revenue
Downloads TOP20 Downloads TOP20 Revenue TOP20 Revenue TOP20
Source: SocialPeta-APP Intelligence. The downloads and revenue were generated on Google Play, excluding any third-party Android platforms.
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
15
miHoYo
Tencent

Insights into Advertising
on Top Platforms Worldwide
2
16

Meta Platforms
As the first app that surpassed 2 billion MAU worldwide, Facebook itself has a 
fairly large amount of traffic, not to mention the platforms owned by it, including 
Instagram with over 1 billion MAU, Audience Network with over 0.1 billion MAU, 
and also the well-known social messaging tool, Messenger.
On October 28, 2021, Facebook announced that it was rebranding partly as “Meta.”
17

Top 10 Advertisers on Meta Platforms
Source: SocialPeta–Advertiser Analysis; sorted by the total popularity of creatives
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. Popularity: it is a numerical value related to ad duration, views, and market effect. Creatives with a higher popularity are more competitive.
18
ColoringSLG
Puzzle
Casino
Casino
Casino Puzzle SLG
Simulation Puzzle Coloring SLG
Puzzle
Casino
Casino
Casino SLG
Puzzle
Puzzle
Puzzle Coloring
SLG
Puzzle
Casino
Casino Puzzle SLG
Puzzle
Puzzle
Puzzle Coloring
SLG
Casino Puzzle
Puzzle
Casino
Casino Puzzle Board
Puzzle

Meta Platforms Had the Most Game Advertisers Worldwide
Number of game advertisers on Meta in 2021
Total
AdvertisersAverage Monthly
Advertisers
47.1K
45.3K
43.5K
43.4K15.3K
14.6K
14.2K
14.0K
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
SocialPeta Data Research Institute
19
47.1K+

Insights into Advertising of Mobile Games by Genre on
Meta Platforms
Casual game advertisers were the most, a total of over 51.8K advertisers 
accounting for 17.24%. Followed by advertisers of puzzle games and action 
games, accounting for 8.15% and 6.78% respectively.RPGs had the most creatives, a total of 5.8M creatives accounting for 14.95%. And 
RPG advertisers were about 18.2K.
Casual games
had the most advertisers; RPGs had the most creatives
Casual: 17.24%           Puzzle: 8.15%           Action: 6.78% Role-Playing: 14.95%         Casual: 12.21%         Puzzle: 11.95%
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
20
Share of
Creatives Share of
Advertisers

Advertising Cost Trends of Mobile Games on Meta Platforms
Advertising cost increased; CPM increased by 34% YoY.
CPC($)
An average of $2.88
up 81% YoY
CPM($)
An average of $20.99
up 34% YoY
An average of 1.28%
down 29% YoY
CTR(%)
Source: SocialPeta–Cost Intelligence, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
21

Mobile games in the US had the highest adver-
tising cost, with an average CPM of $28.18, CPC 
of $4.42, and CTR of 1.08%.
Overall, the US had the highest advertising cost, 
with CPM increasing by 93% as compared to last 
year.
CPM increased in Asian-Pacific countries/re-
gions which occupied half of the Top 10 spots.
Advertising Cost Trends of Mobile Games on Meta Platforms
Average CPM for mobile games
in the US surpassed $28
（Sorted by CPM from high to low）
Source:  SocialPeta–Cost Intelligence, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
22

Google Platforms
It’s become a habit for overseas people to “Google it” whenever they are planning to 
do something, go somewhere, or buy something. It’s important to seize the critical 
moment and present your digital ads properly and timely on Google when people 
are Googling products or services that you can offer.
Whether on computers or mobile devices, a timing ad can help convert people into 
valuable customers.
In November 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion, making YouTube one 
of its subsidiaries.
23

TOP 1
TOP 2
TOP 3
TOP 1
TOP 2
TOP 3
Top 10 Advertisers on Google Platforms
Source: SocialPeta–Advertiser Analysis; sorted by the popularity of all creatives
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. Popularity: it is a numerical value related to ad duration, views, and market effect. Creatives with a higher popularity are more competitive.
24
PuzzleMOBA
Coloring RPG
RPG
Coloring Casual SLG
SLG
Word RPG
MOBA SLG
RPG
RPG
Action SLG
SLG
RPG
Shooter

Insights into Media Buying of Mobile Games on Admob
Total Creatives
980K+
Total Advertisers
22.1K+ 22.1K+
5.4K+ Total Advertisers
Monthly Advertisers
980K+
142K+ Total Creatives
Monthly Creatives
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
25

Popular KOL about Games on YouTube
invictor
Good KOL can help products quickly enter local markets
15.1M
1
SubscribersSpain, Spanish
Techno Gamerz
23.1M
5
Subscribers India, English
Mythpat
10.9M
2
SubscribersIndia, English
AboFlah
22.6M
3
SubscribersSpain, Spanish
Mikecrack
29.8M
4
Subscribers Kuwait, Arabic
Source: Noxinfluencer, an overseas influencer marketing platform. Sorted by NOX ratings of influencers
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
26

Insights into Media Buying of Mobile Games by Type on Platforms
Owned by Google
Casual game advertisers were the most, a total of over 4.7K advertisers 
accounting for 18.08%. Followed by advertisers of puzzle games and simu-
lation games, accounting for 14.51% and 8.6% respectively.
Casual games had the most advertisers; Puzzle games had the most creatives
Casual: 18.08%            Puzzle: 14.51%         Simulation: 8.6% Puzzle: 16%            Role-Playing: 13.82%          Strategy:12.66%
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
Puzzle games had the most creatives, a total of nearly 180K 
creatives accounting for 16%. And puzzle game advertisers were 
about 4.0K.
27
Share of
Advertisers Share of
Creatives

Vungle is a trustworthy global mobile Internet advertising platform dedicated to 
providing superior traffic monetization and helping advertisers acquire highly active 
and high-quality users. Vungle is also committed to changing how users receive 
in-app ads. With Vungle’s unique and innovative advertising format, developers can 
maximize the monetization of in-app traffic. Vungle is a platform on which advertis-
ers display their ads globally in order to acquire new users and retain valuable 
users.
Data-oriented and based on user experience, Vungle has been creating innovative 
ad forms, ad creatives, and other products. So far, ad creatives on Vungle have 
reached more than 1 billion mobile devices, bringing visitors and revenue to adver-
tisers and traffic sellers. Vungle is headquartered in San Francisco, USA, with 
branches in many places worldwide, including Beijing, London, Berlin, Tokyo, 
Seoul, Singapore, Los Angeles, New York, and Helsinki.
28

Percentage of All Types of Creatives on Vungle
Mid-core and hard-core games
(RPG & Builder) are one of
the major types of games on Vungle
With the most creatives
accounting for 45%
45%
11 %8%
With the second most
creatives accounting for 11%
Accounting for 8%
Percentage
of all types
of creatives
Match3
Match3
RPG
RPG
Builder
Builder
Data on this page are provided by Vungle
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
29

Overview of Creatives for Mid-Core & Hard-Core Mobile Games
on Vungle
In terms of the ad forms for mid & hard core games, the conversion rates of 
horizontal videos and vertical videos are very close. But it can be seen from the 
percentage of ad creatives that vertical video ads are clearly superior. Overall, 
video ads are indispensable to advertising Mid-Core & Hard-Core games. Devel-
opers are advised to choose vertical video ads at early stages to increase the 
exposure of their products.
Orientation of VideosAd Forms Video LengthEnd Card
As far as video lengths are concerned, videos of over 30 seconds achieve the 
best performance and the highest conversion rate. Because it’s the least time 
needed to fully explain the complicated gameplay of integrated games currently 
in the market. 
And, ads with end cards have a clear advantage in conversion rate, and are 
indispensable to Mid-Core & Hard-Core games. 
Data on this page are provided by Vungle
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
70%56%63%43%
30
Conversion rates of horizontal and 
vertical videos: 0.02% & 0.15%.
Vertical videos have enduring 
appeal. Conversion rates of rewards and 
interstitials: 0.14% & 0.15%.
Video ads are indispensable.
Overall, videos of over 30 seconds 
achieve the best performance.
Storekit (iOS) is No. 1.
Playable ads are indispensable to 
medium & heavy games.
Conversion Rate
0.15%
0.10%
0.14%
0.06%
Video Length
30 to 34
25 to 29
20 to 24
35 to 44
End-CardStorekit
Playable
STATIC (FSC) Conversion Rate
0.12%
0.37%
0.14%
30%

Insights into Top
Countries/Regions
Worldwide
3
31

Due to changes in version numbers and marketing patterns, advertisers in mainland China have begun to
transfer from legend and Xianxia games to money-making and casual games.
Insights into Mobile Game Advertisers in Mainland China
Share of advertising by game genres
RPGs had the most advertisers, accounting for 23%; 
while puzzle games had the most creatives, accounting for over 30%.
Number of advertisers each month
The total number of advertisers in 2021 was 10.5K; with 3.7K monthly advertisers.
In H2 2021, advertisers reduced significantly due to tightened regulation in mainland China.
Source: Chinese version of SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021
32
Role-playing Casual
Puzzle
Arcade
Strategy
Action
Simulation
Card
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Adventure Sports
Other
Active Advertiser
Active Creative

Top 10 Mobile Games in Mainland China
App Store
Source：Chinese version of SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. The downloads and revenue were generated on the App Store
33
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10 Advertising TOP10

Advertising of RPGs played an important role in the markets of HK, Macao, and Taiwan
Insights into Mobile Game Advertisers in HK, Macao, and Taiwan
Casual games had the most advertisers, accounting for 17%; 
while RPGs had the most creatives, accounting for over 15%.The total number of advertisers in 2021 was 12.1K, with 6K monthly advertisers.
Share of advertising by game genres
Number of advertisers each month
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
34
0%
20%
10%
Role-playing
Casual
Puzzle
Strategy ActionSimulation
Card Adventure
Other
Casino Board
Active Advertiser
Active Creative

Top 10 Mobile Games in HK, Macao, and Taiwan Regions of China
App Store
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10 Advertising TOP10
Google Play
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. The downloads and revenue were generated on the App Store and Google Play, excluding any third-party Android platforms. 
35

Casual and puzzle games had the most advertisers and creatives
Share of advertising by game genres
Casual games had the most advertisers and creatives, accounting for 
26% and15% respectively.
Number of advertisers each month
The total number of advertisers in 2021 was 40.4K,with 13.3K monthly advertisers.
Insights into Media Buying of Mobile Games in the USA
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
36
Active AdvertiserActive Creative
30%
20%
10% 0%
Role-playing
Casual
Puzzle
Arcade
Strategy Action
Simulation
Card
AdventureOther
Casino

Top 10 Mobile Games in the USA
App Store
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10 Advertising TOP10
Google Play
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. The downloads and revenue were generated on the App Store and Google Play, excluding any third-party Android platforms. 
37

More strategy game advertisers in Japan, while more RPGs advertisers in South Korea
Share of advertising by game type
Casual games and puzzle games had the most advertisers 
in Japan and South Korea. There were more RPGs advertisers 
in South Korea and more strategy games advertisers in Japan.
Number of advertisers each month
The total number of advertisers in Japan in 2021 was 10.9K, with 5.4K monthly advertisers.
The total number of advertisers in South Korea in 2021 was 9.6K, with 4.8K monthly advertisers.
Insights into Advertising of Mobile Games in Japan & South Korea
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
38
20%
10% 0%
Role-playing
Casual
Puzzle
Arcade StrategyActionSimulation
Card
Adventure
Other
Active Advertiser
Active Creative
Board

Top 10 Mobile Games in Japan
App Store
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10 Advertising TOP10
Google Play
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. The downloads and revenue were generated on the App Store and Google Play, excluding any third-party Android platforms. 
39

Top 10 Mobile Games in South Korea
App Store
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10 Advertising TOP10
Google Play
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. The downloads and revenue were generated on the App Store and Google Play, excluding any third-party Android platforms. 
40

Insights into Advertising of Mobile Games in the Southeast Asia
Share of advertising by game type
Casual games had the most advertisers, accounting for 18%; 
while RPGs had the most creatives, accounting for over 16%.
Number of advertisers each month
The total number of advertisers in 2021 was 17.1K,
 with 7.6K monthly advertisers. Number of advertisers peaked in August.
Creatives for RPGs accounting for 16%;
A higher percentage of creatives for casino games than that in other Asian-Pacific regions
Source: SocialPeta，, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
41
20%
10% 0%
Role-playing
Casual
Puzzle
Arcade StrategyActionSimulation
Card
Adventure Other
Active Advertiser
Active Creative
Casino

Top 10 Mobile Games in the Southeast Asia
App Store
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10 Advertising TOP10
Google Play
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. The downloads and revenue were generated on the App Store and Google Play, excluding any third-party Android platforms. 
42

Top products mostly contained the element of fight; Creatives for strategy games were outstanding
Share of advertising by game type
Top 3 types of games by number of advertisers were casual, puzzle, 
and simulation.Strategy games had a noticeable number of creatives,
 accounting for nearly 12%.
Number of advertisers each month
The total number of advertisers in 2021 was 11.7K, with 5.3K monthly advertisers. Advertisers for 
each month in H2 2021 remained stable.
Insights into Advertising of Mobile Games in the Middle East
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
43
20%
10% 0% Role-playing
Casual
Puzzle
Arcade
Strategy Action
Simulation
Card AdventureOther
Active Advertiser
Active Creative
Board

Top 10 Mobile Games in the Middle East
App Store
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10 Advertising TOP10
Google Play
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. The downloads and revenue were generated on the App Store and Google Play, excluding any third-party Android platforms. 
44

Insights into Advertising of Mobile Games in the CIS
Share of advertising by game type
Casual games had over 3K advertisers, accounting for nearly one-fifth. 
Strategy and role-playing games contributed a great number of 
creatives in the CIS.
Number of advertisers each month
The total number of advertisers in 2021 was 12.1K, with 5.4K monthly advertisers.
Casual game advertisers had an absolute advantage in numbers.
Players preferred shooter games.
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
45
20%
10% 0%
Role-playing
Casual
Puzzle
Arcade
Strategy Action
Simulation
Adventure Other
Active Advertiser
Active Creative
Casino
Board

Top 10 Mobile Games in the CIS
App Store
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10 Advertising TOP10
Google Play
Downloads TOP10 Revenue TOP10
Source: SocialPeta, based on data retrieved from backend data sources
Date: Jan-Dec 2021. The downloads and revenue were generated on the App Store and Google Play, excluding any third-party Android platforms. 
46

Trend of Ad Creatives for
Mobile Games Worldwide
4
47

SLGs are in long-cycle operation, so continuous advertising is very important for SLGs. 
However, advertising cost for hard-coregames has been rising higher and higher and is now very close to games’ profit. 
Lords Mobile
Creatives for Heavy SLGs Start to be Light
The Ants Kiss of War
Under such a general background, 
many SLG companies sought to 
acquire casual game players by 
adding casual, puzzle or other light 
elements in the creatives. 
Though the overall retention rate of 
casual game players is low, game 
companies still want to try it 
because of the relatively low cost 
and large scale of casual users.
Source: SocialPeta
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
48

According to the mobile game creatives retrieved from 
SocialPeta backend data sources, more and more SLGs 
had real people creatives. SLGs used to focus on UE4 
creatives, but Lilith Games spent a lot on real-people trail-
ers for Warpath upon its release in March this year, which 
marked the beginning of real-people ads for SLGs. 
Compared to the UE4 storylines in the past, it’s hard for 
real-people creatives to deliver those wild imaginations, 
but it will be more convincing with real people on camera 
and it will enhance the social performance of SLGs. 
More and More SLG Advertisers
Start to Try Real People Creatives
Rise of Kingdoms
State of Survival
The Lord of the Rings
Source: SocialPeta
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
49

Compared to acquiring users through original 
creatives, it’s more efficient to do that by working 
with celebrities. The celebrities in the following ads 
all have lots of royal fans and hence they have great 
influence. Moreover, each of them is of a quality fit 
for the product tonality. As a result, it’s easier to get 
people to download and play the game.
“Celebrities” Help Boost the Popularity of Mobile Games
Mariah Carey
with Family Island ”
for Christmas South Korean movie star Kwon Sang-woo with
Mobile Legends released in South Korea
State of Survival with
Daryl Dixon (portrayed by
Norman Reedus) from AMC’s The Walking Dead
The famous football star,Cristiano Ronaldo
endorsed Free Fire
Source: SocialPeta
Date: Jan-Dec 2021.
50

Match-3 + X games and business simulation games are medium 
games played mainly by females. Therefore, creatives for those 
games mostly tell stories from female perspectives about awful 
things female players may encounter in real life, for example, a 
broken family, a broken heart, childcare, makeups, and so on. 
The creatives tell how miserable the heroines’ lives are to make 
players feel sorry for them and want to download the game and 
change their lives.
Advertising of Medium Casual Games Values Female Perspectives
Family Farm
Adventure Homescapes Project Makeover
Family Quarrel
Marital
Breakdown  School Bullying
Source: SocialPeta
Date: Jan-Dec 2021
51

Traditional “Gameplay” is no LongerDull Thanks to Multiple Elements
Gameplay is the core of creatives
+Comparison+Bad ending+Short Video+Real People Playing
&Other fun elements
Source: SocialPeta
Date: Jan-Dec 2021
52

Industry Insights
Media, platforms, consulting companies,
and game companies
5
53

Chinese mobile gaming market was still 
on the rise in 2021, but at a much lower 
rate compared to last year with the 
demand driven by stay-at-home econo-
my being fully unleashed. Meanwhile, 
with the government’s constant attention 
on gaming industry and the introduction 
of various policies to guarantee the 
healthy and smooth development of the 
industry, the Chinese mobile gaming 
market has started to focus on refine-
ment and globalization of games. As 
predicted by IResearch, the Chinese 
mobile gaming market will see a steady 
1.Macro Trends in the Gaming Industry
growth in the following 2 years, transition-
ing from a market seeking innovation and 
high speed to a market seeking high quality 
and stabilization.
Going global will be a key strategy for game 
enterprises, especially top game enterpris-
es, in 2022. Our prediction shows that the 
overseas markets will require games to be 
more refined in the future than in the previ-
ous 2 years. The operating modules in 
general will transition from modules of 
language areas, to modules of continents, 
and further to modules of different coun-
tries. In the future, games will be seeking to 
Going global will be a key strategy for
top enterprises in 2022
54
distinguish themselves in advertising, marketing, and 
other specific things about the game’s release. The Middle 
East market will be important for games seeking to go 
global. Middle East has great potential due to its high pene-
tration of Internet and rapidly growing game industry.
2. Micro Trends in the Gaming Industry
From the micro level, the two hot topics in the Chinese 
gaming industry in 2021 were “metaverse” and “game 
investment”, both implying that industry participants 
sought to diversify their income and wished to break the ice 
in the industry. With the possibility of a quick technological 
breakthrough, VR/AR games that originate from cloud 
gaming and metaverse will receive more attention from 
investors till they are finalized. With the increasing interest 
of players in games, some traditional mobile games will 
reposition themselves. For example, card RPGs will gradu-
ally have a mixed gameplay. The once-minority genres of 
games, including board wargaming SLGs, online co-op 
games, and anime-style PVE shooters, will gradually 
expose to the public and receive a number of core users.

2021 witnessed major changes in the advertising industry. The 
release of iOS14.5 drove many advertisers out of personalized 
advertising of iOS system ads, placing all advertisers on the same 
starting line to replan advertising on iOS. But based on the updates 
of advertising systems on various top platforms, advertising 
platforms in the future will value users’ privacy more, data optimi-
zation systems will involve more black-box testing and rely more on 
AI learning models for optimization. Therefore, how to reach target 
users effectively will be a major question to be discussed during the 
exploration of the media buying industry. 
Advertising Industry Forecast for 2022
Google’s currently major products AC1.0, AC2.0, AC2.5, AC3.0, and 
Facebook’s Automated App Ads (AAA) all forced advertisers to 
change their advertising strategies from focusing on personaliza-
tion to creativity. So, it’s believed that advertisers will be competing 
in their creative ads for a long time to come.
How to connect products with ad creatives? How to tell stories of 
creative ads in way to attract more users and cater to their taste? 
Those are the key questions to solve before winning the competition 
of creative ads. We’ll also research how to know more about target 
users’ preferences and tell stories of ads to get users interested. 
55

1.Cryptocurrency & NFTs
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will grow bigger in 
gaming, becoming a mainstream alternative to 
centralized and custodial ownership of virtual 
assets. This is already providing opportunities 
for players, creators and developers within 
gaming the ability to monetize and collaborate in 
new exciting and decentralized ways. 
2. Monetization
“We expect more studios to lean toward broad 
market casual – to shift from hyper-casual to 
longer life cycle games with higher monetization 
potential. We also expect to see more games 
doing both ad and IAP monetization. 
——Idil Canal, General Manager of Business 
Solutions, AppLovin3. UA/Performance
2022 will see mobile developers investing more 
into alternative mobile payment methods. 
Discounts will be provided to incentivize users to 
create accounts for this separate payment flow.
——Jerome Turnbull, Vice President of Growth, 
AppLovin
4. App and Creator Economies are Gold
Mines for Marketers
Marketers’ toolboxes have been forever changed 
and expanded as we emerge from the pandemic 
and live in a vibrant creator economy world. 
Consumer behaviors, particularly their use of 
apps on mobile devices to conveniently conduct 
and enjoy all aspects of life, coupled with the 
proliferation of content creation platforms, are 
creating greater opportunities for marketers to 
more easily monetize and market to defined, 
engaged audiences.
——Katie Jansen, AppLovin Chief Marketing 
Officer
5. Global M&A Activity Is Surpassing All
Expectations
M&A is going to continue to be robust, maybe 
outstripping the enormous volume in 2021 due to:
DEMAND – companies need to continue to trans-
form themselves to remain relevant and competi-
tive given the rapid change and global competi-
tion, driven primarily by technology.
SUPPLY – more and more companies are being 
formed given the lower cost to start a business 
and access to widening pools of VC/and related 
capital, as well as access to the IPO/SPAC 
markets.
6. Business Impact from Covid-19
While the pandemic impacted and slowed down 
many companies, we have seen some businesses 
grow very quickly despite the circumstances. 
Fundamentally, companies now on the other side 
of the pandemic are doing very well and growing at 
a very high rate, and valuations reflect that. 
56

The mobile advertising industry has been evolving 
quickly in the past year, for 2022, Chartboost predict:

1.User privacy is more important than ever. Apple and 
Google are releasing privacy protection policies that 
give advertisers challenges on user acquisition with-
out IDFA. Chartboost and other networks are devel-
oping privacy safe solutions to keep delivering good 
performance to our clients. We recommend advertis-
ers to start as early as possible with the SKAN User 
acquisition test when we still have the benefits of 
using probabilistic matching in parallel because it 
will keep us ahead of the game when we lose that 
57
ability. We also predict that with SKAN limitations, advertisers 
will focus more on ad creative design and optimization.

2.Hybrid model monetization is a trend. Developers are not 
satisfied with the waterfall solution only and are integrating as 
many bidding partners as possible for higher ad revenue. 
Chartboost offers Helium as a hybrid model monetization solu-
tion that supports both bidding and non-bidding networks and 
delivers the highest ad revenue and efficiency to developers. 
3.Developers are exploring innovative IAP mechanics and social 
features to increase user engagement and retention. For 
gaming developers, Limited time IAP-offers, Piggy bank and 
battle pass are good choices and worth trying. Developers are 
expanding their social features like in-game chat, PvP modes 
and guilds. 

Report Specification
1.Copyright2.Exemption
This white paper is produced by SociaiPeta’s Ad Intelli-
gence team. All the text, pictures, and tables in the report 
are protected by trademark and copyright laws. Some of 
the text and data are collected from public information and 
owned by original authors. Without the written permission 
of relevant companies, any organization or individual shall 
not reproduce or transmit this report in any form. Any 
unauthorized. 
business use of the report is deemed a violation of copy-
right and other laws and regulations as well as relevant 
international conventions.  The industry data and related market forecasts in the white paper are obtained through 
desktop research, industry interviews, market surveys and other research methods by 
internal researchers in combination with SocialPeta product data estimates, and are used 
for industry reference only. 
The survey data released in the report are obtained through sample surveys, with the data 
results subject to the samples. Given the limitations of survey methods and samples and 
the limited scope of survey data collection, the data only represents the basic situation of 
when the surveys occurred and who the surveys targeted, and only serves the purpose of 
the surveys at the time to provide a basic reference point for markets and users. 
Given the limited research methods and data acquisition resources, the report is only avail-
able to users as market reference data. SocialPeta do not assume legal responsibility for 
the data and views contained in the report.
58

About SocialPeta
With SocialPeta, you can gain insight into your 
competitors’ advertising data. You will be 
informed of and inspired by advertising data of 
different dimensions from global networks, 
media and advertisers.
Get inspiration from 1B ad creatives.
We cover 80+ global ad networks across 70 coun-
tries and regions, including Unity, Twitter, 
YouTube, Facebook and Tik Tok. We have accu-
mulated 1B ad creatives, updating 1.2 M+ ad 
creatives on a daily basis. SocialPeta will be a 
great help when you run out of inspiration for ad 
creatives.
Web: www.socialpeta.com
Email: summer@socialpeta.com
Contact
59

SocialPeta Global Partners
60

SocialPeta Data Research Institute
#1 Advertising
Intelligence Platform