Mobile Game Market Review November 2023

Dec, 2023 1
Mobile Game Market
Review November 2023
Even as we near the end of another year, mobile game developers continue to
surprise us with experimental approaches to their live events. Most notably, we saw a
number of midcore titles locking exclusive event content behind paywalls, including
Free Fire, State of Survival, and Last Fortress: Underground.
Of course, the casual market also got in on the action. But events on that side of the
market were repeats of what we’ve seen before, with many titles looking to the hugely
successful Royal Match for inspiration. Namely, two of its most successful event types
that first launched earlier this year, the “Social Win Streak” and “Digging Minigame,”
have started cropping up in everything from Monopoly GO! to BTS Island.
But Royal Match isn’t the only trendsetter on the market right now, with the massive
success of Triple Match 3D seemingly pushing an entire subgenre into the spotlight.
More specifically, November saw two new match 3D games enter the top-100 grossing,
while King and Spyke Games launched their own match 3D spin-offs of Candy Crush
and Tile Busters.
We also can’t forget the global launch of Warcraft Rumble, which saw it shoot to the
number one download spot in the US. You’ll find more information on that, as well as all
the other major updates that landed this November, right here.
ANALYST BULLETIN

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If you’ve been keeping a close eye on our Live Events Tracker, you’ll already be
well aware of the growing number of different event types across the casual
market. That trend was particularly prevalent during November, with two
exciting additions making their way into a multitude of titles.
The first of which is what we’ve termed the “Social Win Streak.” In this battle
royale-inspired mode, players are put into large groups (usually around 100
users) and tasked with individually completing a back-to-back assault course
of levels. If a player fails a level before reaching the end, they are knocked out
of the event, while those who make it to the finish line get an equal share of a
grand prize pool. Players who fail must wait a set period, typically around 30
minutes, until they can re-enter. Those who win can also usually have another
go the following day.
These Social Win Streak events were first introduced in Royal Match in March
2023 as part of the
Lava Quest, but they’ve now begun to creep into several
other games. These include Matchington Mansion’s Treasure Hunter event and
BTS Island’s Mud Race, which were both almost mechanically identical to Lava
Quest and offered up in-game currency as a shared reward.
November’s casual mobile
game updates
2
In Matchington Mansion’s Treasure Hunter event, all players who can reach the destination share the Treasure Chest equally.

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The second event type that appears to be growing in popularity is the “Digging
Minigame.” In these events, players face a grid resembling a dig site made up
of several pieces. By playing the main game, players can earn a mining pick
(or similarly named equivalent), which they can use to dig their way through
part of the grid and uncover valuable in-game rewards.
Once again, this event type
started in Royal Match, which appears to have
become a source of inspiration for other casual games. The games that
hopped on the trend in November are Monopoly GO! with its
Egyptian
Treasures event and Chrome Valley Customs with its Crusher Carnage event.
Both new additions follow the same standard template laid out by Royal
Match back in June 2023, although Chrome Valley Customs ditches the
historical theme for a scrapyard, which is more in line with its overall
garage-themed aesthetic.
Monopoly GO’s Egyptian Treasures is an event where you reveal artifacts from a grid with pickaxes to earn rewards.

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On another note, Stumble Guys joined the growing list of top-performing
games utilizing user-generated content with the new Stumble Workshop,
allowing players to create and share their own maps for use in private game
modes.
The map creator features work similarly to those in other popular games,
including
PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, and Stumble Guys’ Chinese competitor Eggy
Party. Scopely has stated they intend to update and expand upon the feature,
but there are already a number of different objects players can use to create
their own innovative race maps.
During November, Stumble Guys also had an extensive collaboration with
Spongebob Squarepants that included various unique limited-time modes,
offers, and gachas.
Stumble Guys’ Spongebob collaboration event.

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Match Factory, a polished 3D match game from Peak, launched
worldwide at the beginning of November and scaled throughout the
month. It has reached the top-grossing 100 in the US.
Additional casual gaming
highlights and other news
Match Factory
Following the massive success of Triple Match 3D, several new titles in the 3D
match subgenre have entered the market and shot straight into the
top-grossing 100:
King announced plans to make its mark on the subgenre with the new
soft launch game
Candy Crush 3D.

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Spyke Games, the makers of Tile Busters, also launched its 3D match
spin-off
Blitz Busters last month. Currently, it’s going through a shadow
launch, with the title yet to scale and UA close to zero. It’s worth noting
that Tile Busters already has “daily 3D match levels,” but this is the
central focus in Blitz Busters.
Another example is
Tile Match 3D from Mojoly Limited. This game
launched back in 2021, but the genre’s rising popularity saw downloads
jump during November. Revenue increased shortly after, with the game
peaking at around the top-grossing 70.
Tile Match 3D has been steadily improving in performance over the last year, but the most significant surge occurred around October and November.

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Following its global release in October, Nintendo Switch players all over the
world have been enamored with a quirky watermelon game called
Suika
Game. In fact, it’s proven so popular that Google ranked it as the seventh most
searched-for video game term in 2023. Mobile game developers appear to
have been taking notice, with a number of clones entering the market that
have rapidly been climbing up the download ranks over November, including:
I want Watermelon, DL 46
Watermelon 3D: Fun Merge, DL 158
Fruit Merge – Watermelon Game, DL 166
Fruit Merge Watermelon Game 3D, DL 25
Watermelon Game: Monkey Land, (not in sustained DL ranks, but did
once hit DL 200)
November’s midcore game
updates
Free Fire launched a new limited-time event only accessible through a paywall
called the
Luminous Pass. Conceptually, it’s pretty simple—players top up 100
Diamonds and, in exchange, unlock seven days of login rewards and exclusive
daily missions, while also getting to spin a wheel after matches for more
rewards.
From the daily login rewards, players could obtain various weapon skins and
an outfit. If a player paid to access the event but didn’t log in on one of the
reward days, they could still get that daily item but would have to pay
additional diamonds. The daily missions included challenges such as knocking
down and eliminating enemies. Once completed, players obtain tokens that
could be exchanged for different items, such as double EXP cards and a
unique motorbike to use in-game.

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Regarding the reward wheel, players got a chance to spin after finishing a
match. Various in-game rewards were up for grabs, including an Urban
Skyboard as the grand prize. Players were limited to five spins a day but
automatically unlocked the grand prize after 20 tries if they weren’t otherwise
successful.
Free Fire’s Luminous Pass event
During November, pay-gated event content has emerged as a growing trend,
featuring in several other titles alongside Free Fire.
One of the most notable examples is
State of Survival’s Resident Evil
collaboration event, which added Chris Redfield (one of Resident Evil’s most
iconic characters) to the game as a playable hero with sixty new RPG story
missions. To play as Redfield and experience all the new story content, players
must first obtain the character from an event gacha. The first event pull each
day is free, but subsequent attempts require purchasing survival coin bundles
from the in-game store.

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Last Fortress: Underground also experimented with pay-gated events with Pin
for Fun, which added a limited-time minigame only accessible to players
who’d unlocked a permanent in-game building locked behind IAP called the
Bar. Those taking part could obtain exclusive cosmetic items.
State of Survival’s Resident Evil collaboration event
Accessing Last Fortress’ Pin for Fun requires purchasing a permanent building called the Bar.
Meanwhile, League of Legends: Wild Rift launched a limited-time Arena mode
where four teams of two face-off in a battle royale-esque standoff. This mode
is unique as, rather than being one large-scale battle, the fight is broken down
into several 2v2 rounds in small arenas. Each of the four teams of two only has
a limited number of lives (similar to
auto-chess games), which they lose each
time they are defeated in a round.

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In the mode, players are restricted to using a limited pool of randomized
Champions, meaning they might only sometimes have access to their favorite
(or most powerful) characters. However, by purchasing the Arena Privilege
Pass event booster, players can increase the number of Champions they have
to choose from and gain various other benefits, such as increased event
currency to earn even more rewards.
You can read the full deconstruction of the event on the
GameRefinery Live
Event tracker.
Arena limited-time mode gameplay.
Additional
midcore gaming highlights
One new game that has been scaling well over the past month is Black Clover
M, a turn-based RPG based on the popular action anime and manga of the
same name. Fans of Black Clover appear pleased with how the developer has
handled the IP, with the game entering the top 50 grossing during the first
week of launch.

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Some of the most interesting things about the game include that equipped
items and gear have an inventory management mechanic, certain characters
can team up to use a linked super attack, and players can explore limited
areas. The game is developed by Vic Game Studios (a studio created by a
lead developer of Seven Deadly Sins Grand Cross, another anime/manga IP
game). Garena is the Black Clover M’s global publisher and had an event in
Free Fire to promote the game at launch.
Black Clover M is a turn-based RPG game that utilizes a well-known action anime/manga IP.

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Blizzard’s tactical battler Warcraft Rumble launched worldwide in early
November at Blizzcon, with an initial spike pushing it to a grossing rank of 12
and DL 1 in the US. Launch downloads have since dropped, but the title is still
holding steady in the top 50 grossing. The game plays similarly to Clash Royale
but is more PvE-focused. It also has more unique, larger maps that make it feel
like a casual World of Warcraft-themed RTS.
The game features a season-based PvP mode and a bunch of interesting
feature implementations, including a choice of gacha tomes and one of the
most unique refreshing ware stores (The G.R.I.D.) we’ve ever seen. You can view
Warcraft Rumble’s complete deconstruction and feature breakdown on the
GameRefinery SaaS page.
Warcraft Rumble gameplay
A prequel to a popular roguelite title in China, Soul Knight Prequel ( 元气 骑 士前 传 ,
CN), hit the top of the download charts and peaked at a top-grossing 27 last
month.

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Want more mobile gaming
insights?
Get in touch with the team
www.gamerefinery.com
Learn more about
Liftoff at:
www.liftoff.io
The game has a pixel-art style and is all about slashing monsters to upgrade
power, gear, characters, and more. Currently, the game is only available in the
Chinese market, and something has yet to be announced regarding a
Western release. If it does make its way overseas, we’ll be keeping a close eye
on its performance, as there are only a few select examples of stand-alone
titles in the roguelite subgenre that have performed well.
Soul Knight Prequel (元气骑士前传) is a prequel to a popular roguelite title in China.