Strategy Genre Snapshot

Oct, 2021 Strategy Genre

Snapshot

October 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 the
Strategy genre

under Mid-core

GameRefinery’s Genre Taxonomy

GameRefinery uses a three-layered

approach to categorize games

The Strategy genre has always been one of the cornerstones of modern midcore/hardcore mobile

gaming. For example, it is the third biggest genre in the US, with about 17% of the market share.

Games like Clash of Clans and Game of War – Fire Age were among the super hits in the early days of

smartphone gaming, and the genre hasn’t stopped there. If we look at the current statistics for the

genre, it is VERY MUCH driven by 4X strategy. For example, from the current top-grossing 200
strategy

games in US iOS, 20 out of 25 falls under the 4X strategy subgenre. Interestingly 3/5 of these games

that are NOT 4X strategy games are Supercell’s games.

But even though the 4X strategy has dominated the genre, the trend of implementing elements from

other genres into 4X continued among the top games. For example, Top War (merge) has been
scaling

a lot, and Puzzles & Survival (match3) entered the top charts as a new game.

MOBA is a historically tough subgenre for the US mobile market, with only Mobile Legends: Bang
Bang

+ Brawl Stars able to sustain among top-grossing 200 games. The past 12 months saw launches of

League of Legends: Wild Rift and Pokémon UNITE (only a few days ago when writing the report). LoL

had a strong launch, and the game is super solid, but ever since the launch, it has struggled with its

monetization and has already dropped outside top-grossing 200 games in the US. Will LoL turn their

boat around, or can Pokémon UNITE sustain its position to get more MOBA action for the US top

charts in the long run? That remains to be seen.

Short Strategy Genre Overview

•
Currently, Strategy is the third biggest genre in the US iOS market, contributing about 17% of the market’s revenues.

•
4X strategy success found with “genre-blending” continues (=bunch of elements outside of traditional 4X strategy mechanics

implemented on top of 4X Strategy features to appeal to a wider audience).

•
Top War (merge elements) scaled heavily this year

•
New game Puzzles & Survival (match3 elements) entered the top of the charts

•
State of Survival (RPG/line-defense elements) took the top spot of 4X strategy subgenre

•
Supercell (dominating player in Strategy outside 4X strategy subgenre) is back on a positive track after a period of decline

•
Long term power progression, strong event loops, and social elements are the cornerstones of most modern mobile 4X

Strategy games

•
Strategic resource optimization with a very competitive social landscape motivate most Strategy players

Key points

Market

•
Top games and their market share

Top games and their current market share

within the
Strategy genre in the US on iOS

Key takeaway:
1) Only one brand new game within the top 10 grossing strategy games during the past year, Puzzles & Survival. 2)

Supercell is the only company with other types of Strategy games in the top 10 other than 4X Strategy. 3) All Supercell’s games

have turned the tide back to a positive trend after a longer period of decline. 4) Top War scaled heavily with a massive revenue

increase compared to the situation last year.

Source: GameRefinery SaaS Dashboard

*

Top games and challengers in the
Strategy
genre (US iOS)

Key takeaway:
The strategy market in the US is very crowded, and most of the top-grossing games are getting quite old. Most noteworthy new additions

during the past year: Puzzles & Survival, Warpath. Pokémon UNITE + The Lord of the Rings: War are JUST released games when this report was written, it

remains to be seen how they sustain in the long run. Another interesting factor is that League of Legends: Wild Rift was released last year, but currently, it

cannot sustain in the top-grossing 200 charts. MOBAs have had a tough time in the US mobile market, with only Mobile Legends / Brawl Stars maintaining their

position in the top for an extended period. Will LoL turn their boat around, or can Pokémon UNITE sustain its position? That remains to be seen.

Source: GameRefinery SaaS Dashboard

30d average

top grossing

rank

Days since release

1-100

101-200

New

Old

State of Survival:

Zombie War

West Game

Rise of Empire: Fire

and War

Star Trek Fleet

Command

Top War: Battle Game

Rise of Kingdoms

Brawl Stars

Age of Z Origins

Game of Thrones:

Conquest

Evony

Mobile Legends:Bang

Bang

Last Shelter: Survival

Clash of Clans

Lords Mobile

Clash Royale

Mafia City

War and Order

+5 years

0

King of

Avalon

Guns of Glory

Puzzles & Survival

Pokémon UNITE

Warpath

The Grand Mafia

Kiss of War

نﯾطﻼﺳﻟا

مﺎﻘﺗﻧا

The Lord of the Rings:

War

Features & Updates

•
Top updates

•
Implementation examples

Top features with the biggest importance

within the
4X Strategy
sub
genre

4X Strategy is the dominating subgenre in the Strategy genre. There

are a couple of things that make these games tick that become quite

clear when looking at the data.

1) Long term progression loops with different kinds of permanent

boosts/perks (such as technology trees), training/upgrading troops,

constructing/upgrading buildings etc. often combined with a very

rich/deep economy of several currencies. The possibility of constantly

becoming more and more powerful is the main principle of most the

Strategy games both in terms of engagement and monetization.

(especially in 4X games which form the majority of the genre).

2) Complex live ops structures. Most strategy games have quite

complex event calendars running several different types of

recurring/non-recurring events to keep players engaged

3) Social is the key. If we look at top Strategy games, pretty much all
of

them are built on top of the idea of competition and social

collaboration with other players.

Of course these are just a handful of features, check the GameRefinery

service for more data on over 250 features.

Source: GameRefinery SaaS Dashboard

Interesting feature additions from the past year:
Rise of Kingdoms –

Champions of Olympia-game mode

Source: GameRefinery SaaS Dashboard

Rise of Kingdoms –

Champions of Olympia

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform – Update Comment

See more screenshots of the feature

in the GameRefinery service!
!

Interesting feature additions from the past year:

State of Survival x Walking Dead- collaboration

Source: GameRefinery SaaS Dashboard

State of Survival

– Walking Dead collaboration

Collaboration events are an ever-increasing way for mobile

games to create engagement and offer something new (43%

of the US iOS top 100 grossing games have had these types
of

IP-collaboration events). But often, these events run for a

couple of weeks or so, but State of Survival went FULL-ON

with its collaboration with Walking Dead. The massive event

spans almost a year now with tons of content ranging from a

new game mode to characters familiar from the TV

show/comics to collect.

This collaboration has been one of the factors, alongside

other mega-events brought to the game, that has contributed

to the even bigger scale that this game has been able to gain.

This has resulted in it becoming the biggest 4X strategy game

in revenues in the US over the past 12 months.

See
in-depth updates and mechanics for this

collaboration and others by checking out the

GameRefinery’s game Update History
!

Motivations

•
The motivation framework

•
Strategy player motivational profile

•
GameRefinery uses a proprietary motivation model

consisting of twelve different Motivational Drivers, each

covering a separate player root motivation.

•
These Motivational Drivers are also grouped based on their

nature to form meaningful pairs or “motivational groups” –

for example Improving skills and Completing Milestones fall

under Mastery.

•
Motivation results are based on a survey including over 7000

respondents. The survey was targeted towards mobile game

players in English speaking western countries (US, UK,

Canada, New Zealand and Australia). The sample is

representative of the smartphone users when it comes to

age, gender, income and household size.

GameRefinery’s Motivation Framework

Looking at the average motivational map of

Strategy games, we can see in one quick

glimpse what are the primary motivators for

most Strategy players. Naturally,

management-related factors, exploration,

and highly competitive elements rise as the

key motivators for mobile strategy players.

Motivational Drivers of the
Strategy
games

Motivational drivers describe the main reasons players enjoy playing the game

Source: GameRefinery SaaS Dashboard

Score 5 = very important, 1 = not important

We Know Mobile Games

We answer not just
what
is happening on

the market but
why
and
how
it is happening

Found this report and data interesting? Want to know more

about mobile game genres, features and your competitors?

Visit our website at
www.gamerefinery.com

and log in for

free!

You can also schedule a live demo by contacting yours truly

at
erno@gamerefinery.com

GameRefinery is part of Vungle. Learn more about Vungle

at
www.vungle.com

Get started with the
GameRefinery SaaS
service to start delving into

market data and player insights for thousands of games