In-Game Events
Download PDFNov, 2021 In-Game Events
Snapshot
November 2021
•Using a Category -> Genre -> Subgenre hierarchy we
are able to differentiate games in a meaningful way and
offer accurate insights for all individual game types
currently found in the market
• Our taxonomy is created together with industry
experts and is based on thorough testing and
data-analysis of the market
• In this report we are focusing on in-game events
GameRefinery’s Genre Taxonomy
GameRefinery uses a three-layered
approach to categorize games
Mobile game events come in all shapes and sizes. Whether they’re seasonal events celebrating
Christmas and Halloween, non-recurring and recurring live events, or promotional collaborations
with non-gaming brands, developers across the world are utilizing them in creative ways to boost
their revenue and player count. The Chinese mobile game Sky: Children of the Light celebrated one of
its biggest revenue spikes in history thanks to a September 2020 collaboration with the virtual
YouTube star Kizuna AI. It proved that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel when you can tap into a
passionate fanbase; Kizuna played the game on her channel and an in-game Kizuna accessory kit
was released for $20, the demand for which led to the game surpassing $1m in daily revenue (iOS
market, CH). Genshin Impact found similar success in the West through its Lantern Rite event ringing
in the 2021 Lunar New Year, with a new gameplay mode, character, storyline and gacha mechanics
causing revenue to grow from $200k to over $1.25m in just over a day (iOS market, US).
Perhaps it’s no surprise to learn that 90% of the top-grossing 100 mobile titles use seasonal events,
whereas 40% of the top 100 in the US iOS market are collaborating with brands for partnership
events. The great thing about events is that their various implementation methods mean they can be
used in pretty much any genre of game.
As the mobile gaming market continues to grow, events such as those featured in this report will only
become more popular, especially with so many brands trying to establish themselves in the gaming
world. The challenge to developers is figuring out which events are worth exploring, and which
mechanics are worth implementing as part of an engaging and rewarding online ecosystem.
Event Overview
Key points
•Seasonal events occur in 90% of the top 100-grossing mobile games.
• In the US market, some of the most popular seasonal events are based around public holidays such as Christmas, New
Year, Halloween and Thanksgiving, but region-specific events are being utilized in other parts of the world, such as Quixi
Festival (double 7) in China and Sakura (Cherry Blossom season) in Japan.
• Successful events lead to the re-engagement of the existing player base and acquisition of new players.
• Events are a great way to test run new features and trends. For example, Township’s Christmas event in 2020 was an
intriguing mix of two latest trends, mini-games and renovation events.
• Time-limited skins, characters, weapons sold through themed currency and special gacha are some of the most
profitable revenue streams for events.
• Promotional collaboration events have seen a steady rise in the US iOS market and now appear in over 40% of the top
100 grossing US iOS titles. As a result, more non-gaming brands are entering the gaming space.
Seasonal Events Calendar… there are always more
New Year
Lunar New Year
Valentine’s Day
Easter
St. Patrick’s Day
May Day
Midsummer
Oktoberfest
4
th
of July
Harvest
Festival
Thanksgiving
Halloween
Christmas
Typically the most significant
seasonal events in the US mobile
game market are New Year,
Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day,
Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving,
and Christmas. However, there
are several other smaller
seasonal events that provide an
excellent opportunity to give
some seasonal joy to your
players.
Event data
90% of top-grossing 100 games use seasonal events
Many top games change their storefront to represent
the seasons as well (icons more common /
screenshots a bit rarer)
Common seasonal event types
1. Just UI changes to
represent the ongoing seasonal festivities 2. Event related offers
(e.g. Halloween skins in the shop) + previous 3. Playable content /
event tasks/rewards + all the previous
Seasonal event examples from the top US games
Genshin Impact –
Lantern Rite event
Genshin Impact is no stranger to
massive and impressive events. It once
in a while also ties these events to
current seasons, such as this year to
Lunar New Year.
This big Lantern Rite event had unique
“tower defense-like” gameplay, a bunch
of quests, an event store with its own
currency, and most importantly, the
game introduced a new character
through an event storyline → acquirable
through related new banner gacha (the
main reason for the revenue spike).
Read more about Genshin Impact’s Lunar New Year
event Lantern Rite in the GameRefinery service
Lunar New Year
event Lantern Rite
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Seasonal event examples from the top US games
Township – A Surprise
for Santa event
Township’s Christmas event in 2020, A
Surprise for Santa, was an intriguing
mix of two latest trends, mini-games
and renovation events.
The event included an endless-runner
style mini-game where you earned
tickets used in the game’s
renovation/decoration meta (similar to
Home Design Makeover or Property
Brothers). The progression in the event
was restricted by event energy, which
could be bought with premium
currency.
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Seasonal events to consider – China
”5/5, 7/7, 11/11”
●The Dragon Boat Festival, aka. “double five,”
is a traditional summer festival celebrated on
the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar
calendar, which is usually in June.
● “Chinese Valentine’s Day” is known as the
Qixi Festival in Chinese or “double seven”
since it is celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th
month of the lunar calendar, which was in
August in 2021. The traditional Chinese day of
romance.
● The National Day of China is celebrated on
October 1st, but it also includes seven days of
holiday in total, called the Golden Week. During
the long holiday, people have time to travel or
visit their homes (and play games).
● Singles’ Day or “Double Eleven” is an unofficial
holiday in China, known for being the largest
shopping day in the world by consumer
spending. Originating as a day to celebrate
single people, it has been heavily
commercialized by online retail companies such
as Alibaba, and it is also extremely common for
mobile games in China to feature IAP events
around the day.
Seasonal event examples from the top Chinese games
Princess Connect!
Re:Dive – Summer Event
In the summer of 2021, turn-based
RPG Princess Connect! Re:Dive (公主连
结Re:Dive) had a summer event with
swimsuit versions of the characters
available from a limited-time gacha as
well as a limited-time game mode.
Despite the very simple implementation
of the event, the game’s revenues had a
clear spike after the update.
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Summer Event
Seasonal event examples from the top Chinese games
Dream of the Three
Kingdoms Mobile –
Chinese New Year event
During the last Chinese New Year, the
Chinese MOBA Dream of the Three
Kingdoms Mobile (梦三国) tied the
Lunar New Year celebrations to the
introduction of its new pet system.
During the event, players were able to
purchase event-only pets as well as
skins. This revealed to be a very
profitable plan for the game, as its
revenues went up after the update.
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Lunar New Year event
Seasonal events to consider – Japan
●Golden Week is a national holiday week from the
end of April to the beginning of May. People travel
long distances to see their families – and play tons
of games while transporting or spending time in
their hometowns, so it is the perfect time to
monetize with limited-time events and IAP offers.
● When the Sakura (cherry blossoms) season starts
in late March, or more commonly in early April, it
shows everywhere. Mobile games are not an
exception, as they’re filled with beautiful in-game
items and UI designs related to these blossoms.
● June Bride concept : It’s said that couples who
marry during June live happily ever after. Therefore,
in June, Japanese games are also filled with special
versions of characters wearing bridal dresses,
tuxedos, or traditional Japanese wedding attire.
● Japanese New Year or “Shogatsu” is one of the
longest national holiday stints, hence the perfect
time for gaming. Many of the mobile game
companies have huge IAP sales and special gacha
offers during the period. In addition, it is very
traditional to give players unique New Year’s gifts
(in-game items or other things) once they log in to a
game.
Seasonal event examples from the top Japanese games
Gotoubun no Hanayome
Itsutsugo-chan ha Pazuru
wo Gotoubun Dekinai –
Hanami event
A puzzle RPG based on the popular
manga and anime series Quintessential
Quintuplets, 五等分の花嫁五つ子ちゃん
はパズルを五等分できない。 ,
incorporated a social aspect into its
Hanami event experience. Players
created teams of max five players, and
each team member could temporarily
boost the team’s event points from
gameplay once a day. To coordinate the
buffs, a team chat was also added to
the game. In addition to the two event
gachas, this update brought new
additions to the game’s IAP side,
reflecting a spike in the game’s
revenue.
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Hanami event
Read more about 五等分の花嫁五つ子ちゃんはパズルを五等分
できない。 Hanami event in the GameRefinery service
Seasonal event examples from the top Japanese games
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
June Bride
event
Puzzle & Dragons! –
June Bride event
June is one of the most popular months
to get married in Japan, and “June
Bride” is a term that you’ll often see in
Japanese manga, anime, TV dramas,
and social media. So it’s no surprise
that June Bride-related content has
made its way to mobile games.
Puzzle & Dragons!’s ( パズル&ドラゴン
ズ ) June Bride event included a special
wedding-themed gacha and characters
in their bride and groom attires. The
special currency for the event,
bouquets, could be collected from
event dungeons and exchanged in the
event shop.
Promotional Collaboration Events have seen a
steady rise in the US iOS market since 2017
Promotional collaboration events in mobile games are still a
hot topic after a steady rise in popularity in the US market
since 2017. According to GameRefinery data, by October
2021, 42% of games in the US top-grossing 100 had
implemented the feature in one form or the other, reaching an
all-time high. Meanwhile, only 10% of US games outside the
top 100 had the feature, making it a highly differentiating asset
for your game.
But did you know that collaboration events are an even bigger
thing in China and Japan than in the US? In China,
collaboration events have been rising sharply in popularity as
well, reaching 51% within the Chinese top-grossing 100, while
outside of the top 100, only 15% had it. However, in Japan,
within the top 100 games, a whopping 62% had implemented
collaboration events, and even outside of the top 100, it was
28%. Japan can be said to be ahead of the curve on this front
since collaboration events reached peak popularity in Japan
already in 2017, with a staggering 75% of top 100 games
using the feature at the time.
The feature “Promotional Collaboration Events” has seen a steady rise in the US iOS market ever since
GameRefinery started tracking it (source: GameRefinery SaaS).
Collaboration events are a great way to utilize synergy effects
across IPs, thus boosting all stakeholders’ brand awareness.
In the host game, where the event takes place, there are
potential positives in terms of:1. Re-engaging the existing player base . A
collaboration event can be a surprising and unique
(as these are often one-off) occasion –
reinvigorating your players and facilitating a strong
pull-effect.
2. Acquiring new players . In the best-case scenario,
a number of fresh players with a high affinity to the
collaborating brand will enter your game when they
hear about your awesome event. To maximize this
opportunity, it might be a good idea to consider the
following:
a. Is the collaboration brand’s user demographic aligned with my game’s target audience, e.g.,
core gameplay and visuals?
b. To what extent does the collaboration enable me to tap into new audiences?
PUBG Mobile x
Resident Evil 2
PUBG Mobile’s collaboration with
Resident Evil 2 in February 2019 gave
the Battle Royale formula a
horror-themed spin.
The event offered various cosmetic
items known from the IP through
different gachas. Some cosmetics were
able to be also earned by playing a
“Survive Till Dawn”-limited-time game
mode where players were able to play
Battle Royale match on a map infested
by various zombies from Resident Evil.
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Implementation examples from top games:
Promotional collaboration events
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Disney Twisted Wonderland
collaboration
LINE: Disney Tsum
Tsum x Disney Twisted
Wonderland
One great way to tap into new
audiences is to collaborate with a game
that is likely to have a similar audience
to your game.
Disney-themed Match3 game LINE:
Disney Tsum Tsum (LINE :ディズニー ツ
ムツム ) collaborated with another
Disney-themed game, Disney Twisted
Wonderland, by introducing three
characters from the game during a
month-long Disney Twisted
Wonderland themed event. The event
included an increased gacha chance for
the new characters, a log-in calendar,
and different event missions, which
gave a nice boost to the game’s
revenue.
Implementation examples from top games:
Promotional collaboration events
Successful collaborations with non-gaming
brands: Case Kentucky Fried Chicken
KFC wouldn’t probably be the first one to come to
your mind when you think about which brand would
be a suitable fit for a collaboration event in a mobile
game. However, after the seventh collaboration
event, it looks like KFC is the IP that every single
Chinese game wants to have in their event portfolio.
Many of the non-gaming collaborations that you see
in mobile games revolve around in-game items that
are the digital representation of real-life things, like
fashion items. So having a bucket of Kentucky Fried
Chicken in the game might feel strange and the
brand connection loose. However, both parties get
significant positive synergies by wide brand outreach
through the game and the physical stores, which
potentially converts into a bunch of new customers
and players.
Mobile Legends: Bang
Bang x Transformers
Mobile Legends x Transformers
collaboration event in September 2021
resulted in one of the biggest revenue
spikes of the game’s history.
The event consisted of various event
tasks that could be completed for
exclusive cosmetic rewards, but the
main revenue driver for the event was
the event gacha with special cumulative
purchase mechanics. The event gacha
was the only way to get the main
rewards of the event – super detailed
limited-time Transformers character
skins.
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
More successful collaboration examples with non-gaming brands
Transformers
collaboration
Read more about Mobile Legends: Bag Bang’s Autobots
vs. Decepticons event in the GameRefinery service
Sky: Children of the Light
x Kizuna Ai
The Chinese release of Sky: Children of
the Light (光·遇) did a collaboration
event with the Chinese version of virtual
YouTuber Kizuna Ai in September 2020,
sending sales through the roof, peaking
at a million dollars per day.
The event was quite simple, though. It
only featured Kizuna Ai playing the
game in her videos in her usual
humoristic style and an in-game Kizuna
Ai accessory set being sold for 128
RMB (roughly 20 USD). That goes to
show what a devoted fan base can
make happen.
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
More successful collaboration examples with non-gaming brands
Kizuna Ai
collaboration
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