The Rise of Midcore Mobile Games
Download PDFJul, 2022 The Rise of Midcore
Mobile Games
July 2022
Snapshot Report
•
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 must-have features that
the top-grossing Midcore games have.
GameRefinery’s Genre Taxonomy
GameRefinery uses a three-layered
approach to categorize games
It used to be the case that the mobile gaming market was dominated by Casual and Hyper
Casual titles such as
Candy Crush
and
Merge County
. While these and many other titles in the
Casual and Hyper Casual market are still popular, the growing popularity of Midcore games
such as
Diablo Immortal
,
Call of Duty: Mobile
, and
Apex Legends Mobile
is a sign that the
mobile market is evolving and providing new experiences that cater toward the needs of PC
and console gamers.
There are plenty of numbers backing this up. If we take a look at Midcore and Casual mobile
games released in the past 365 days, nine Midcore titles still feature in the top-200 grossing
chart (US), compared to just three Casual games.
That’s not to say that Casual and Hyper Casual games are no longer popular, but the
popularity of Midcore games shows that AAA developers and publishers from the world of
major video games are starting to take the mobile market more seriously.
The vast majority of Midcore games are AAA experiences, many of which have been ported
from best-selling PC and console franchises to mobile. Of course, many big names have
experimented with mobile ports in the last decade with mixed results, but we’re starting to
see more consistency when it comes to quality now. What’s impressive about many of these
AAA Midcore games is that they retain the quality of their PC and console counterparts while
adapting to the mobile market with specific gameplay and monetization features. In this
Snapshot Report, we dive into what’s setting them apart and the features making them so
successful.
The rise of midcore mobile games overview
Key points
•
Nine Midcore mobile games that have been released in the past 365 days currently feature in the top-200 grossing chart
(US), compared to just three Casual mobile games.
•
The Midcore category’s market share accounts for nearly 37% of US mobile game revenue (iOS), making it the only game
category that has grown between Q1/2021 and Q1/2022.
•
More intuitive control systems that allow for experiences similar to PC and console gaming differentiate top
revenue-driving AAA Midcore games from other competition.
•
Successful Midcore games distinguish with their multiple monetization streams, including gachas and new Battle Pass
styles, to thrive in the competitive mobile market. For example, over 65% of the top Midcore games contain more than
five different gachas.
•
Top Midcore games offer a busy calendar of live events and content updates. For example, 80% of top Midcore games in
the US combine events with their special event currency, which is an effective way to increase sinks in the game’s
economy temporarily.
•
There’s a new trend of Midcore games implementing external web stores to bypass in-app purchase fees.
Market
What does the Midcore mobile gaming
market in the US currently look like?
Top games and their current market share within the
Midcore category in US iOS
Key takeaway
: The Midcore category’s market share accounts for 36.73% of the US mobile game market revenues (iOS, Q1/2022), making
it the only game category that has grown between Q1/2021 and Q1/2022 (by 1.55%). When we compare the market situation between
Q1/2022 and Q1/2021 within Midcore games, the biggest market challenger is Supercell’s
Clash Royale
, which managed to increase its
market share by more than 4% a year. Moreover, compared to Q1/2021,
Lords Mobile: Tower Defense
and
Top War: Battle Game
have had
to give up the top 10 positions as
Clash Royale
and 4X Strategy game
Evony
established their position in the top 10 by gaining more market
share.
Numbers are from iOS games, US market. (Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform)
Midcore market (US) in the past year – what has happened?
Key takeaway
: Below, we take a look at the
Midcore
and
Casual
games (which have always been considered more appealing to large
audiences in the US) released in the past 365 days which have sustained their position in the top-grossing 200. It’s interesting to see
only
three Casual games
compared to
nine Midcore games
. Next, we’ll take a look at what the new top challengers in the Midcore
category look like.
Interested to know more? Head to Market Explorer in the
GameRefinery service to explore the market data more!
30d average
top-grossing
rank
Days since release
1-100
100-200
365
0
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Diablo Immortal
Dislyte
Apex Legends
Mobile
Ni no Kuni:
Cross Worlds
Bloodline:
Heroes of Lithas
Zen Match
Last Fortress:
Underground
King’s Choice
Merge County®
“New Stars”
“Rising Challengers”
Cube Master 3D
– Classic Match
The Lord of
the Rings: War
Garena
Free Fire MAX
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
The top three Midcore superhits in the past six months:
Diablo Immortal
Diablo
Immortal
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Read the full overview in the GameRefinery service →
Special notes from the analyst
●
The fast-paced action RPG controls
are ported extremely well to mobile,
and the gameplay is smooth and
fluid.
●
Playing the main storyline is
comparable to a compelling quality
PC/Console single-player RPG.
Monetization isn’t pushed too hard
until the endgame.
●
The game utilizes interesting ways
of storytelling while introducing
different game features such as
factions, game modes, and
progression mechanics.
The top three Midcore superhits in the past six months:
Dislyte
Dislyte
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Read the full overview in the GameRefinery service →
Special notes from the analyst
●
Promoting (raising the max level
for) a certain element character for
the first time to the max triggers a
five-day login bonus. Moreover,
subsequent max promotions of
that element give a one-off reward.
●
Multi-battles allow the player to
start up to 10 battles of
auto-battle, during which the
player can leave it in the
background and continue playing
other parts of the game freely.
The top three Midcore superhits in the past six months:
Apex Legends Mobile
Apex
Legends
Mobile
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Read the full overview in the GameRefinery service →
Special note from the analyst
●
Having played hundreds of hours
of the original PC/console Apex
Legends, it really impressed me
how well Respawn has managed
to capture the feeling of the
original’s gameplay in mobile
devices.
2022 is a big year for
AAA midcore mobile games
AAA mobile games are dominating the midcore
mobile market, but what are the essential features
that are helping AAA Midcore games succeed?
Essential design features that help AAA midcore games
succeed on mobile
At the end of last year, we asked if 2022 would be
THE year for AAA in mobile. It’s certainly been a
jam-packed year so far, with new mobile games
offering spectacular gameplay experiences for the
players.
But for many developers and publishers,
transitioning big IP to mobile can be a challenge.
From control methods to monetization and the
weight of consumer expectation, the deck is often
stacked against titles that try to make this shift.
From a game design perspective, we share the
features that are contributing to the success of AAA
midcore games. Of course, not every developer has
the same resources of AAA development teams, but
being aware of the features they’re using is valuable
knowledge for smaller-scale developers.
AAA Midcore mobile games:
Essential design features
Let’s start with the basics, meaning the feel of the game. Moving from a complex controller and mouse/keyboard setup to a mobile
screen is a massive hurdle. Games such as
Call of Duty: Mobile
,
Genshin Impact
, and most recently,
Diablo Immortal
, have managed
to crack this to emulate precision and control, delivering an experience more akin to what mobile (and console) gamers expect from
AAA premium games.
Looking at GameRefinery’s player motivations data, we can see that the typical Midcore players are motivated by the excitement and
thrill of the adrenaline rush from acquiring and mastering the reaction-based skills that, for example, multi-touch controls typically
require.
#1 Controls and gameplay
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Call of Duty: Mobile – Four Finger setup
AAA Midcore mobile games:
Controls and gameplay
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
Regarding control mechanics, it’s also
interesting to see that the two top Midcore
games by revenue in the US market,
Genshin Impact
and
Diablo Immortal
, are
two of the few Action RPGs/MMORPGs
where
aiming is a core part of the game
mechanics
.
For example, Genshin Impact’s control/feel
of the game is much closer to a AAA
premium console game when compared to
most other mobile Action RPGs.
Aiming is
important part of
the core gameplay
Yes
No
Genshin Impact
Diablo Immortal
AAA Midcore mobile games:
Controls and gameplay
What also differentiates
Genshin
Impact
and
Diablo Immortal
from
typical RPGs is that they are much
more focused on core gameplay
so that combat, story, exploration,
and quests are more involving
compared to, for example, usual
Action RPGs where autoplay is
commonly used to grind resources
for the progression in the meta
(character upgrades, etc.).
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
The game has
triggerable
autoplay
Yes
No
Interested in digging deeper into features that distinguish top games
from others? Our Market Explorer is the perfect tool for that!
While a healthy player engagement keeps
the blood in your game circulating, it is
monetization that provides the oxygen that
games need to survive. Multiple
monetization routes through Battle Pass,
direct purchase bundles, and gachas help
ensure your game is a commercial success.
Our
recent report
provides valuable insights
into innovative monetization feature
implementations, covering the ever-evolving
Battle Pass to new types of gachas and the
latest developments in IAP offers, but what
are the must-have monetization features
that the top-grossing games have? Let’s
take
a look!
AAA Midcore mobile games:
Essential design features
PUBG: MOBILE – Royale Pass
#2 Multiple monetization routes
We’ve written extensively about the growth
of the Battle Pass and how it’s being used
by some of the biggest games on mobile, so
it’s no surprise that more than a third of the
top 20% of Midcore games contain a Battle
Pass Plan.
However, what is surprising is the feature’s
degree of adoption between top Midcore
games and Midcore games outside of the
top 20%, making the Battle Pass plan a
clear differentiating feature between
best-performing games and others.
75% of the US (iOS) top 20% grossing Midcore mobile games utilize the Battle Pass feature,
while only 25% of games outside the top 20% have it. (Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform)
The popularity of Battle Pass plan among Midcore games
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
AAA Midcore mobile games:
Multiple monetization routes
There are plenty of innovative ways in which Battle Passes are being utilized. Find interesting BP
implementations using our Implementation Examples tool in the GameRefinery service.
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
PUBG MOBILE –
Royale Pass EZ Mission License
Innovative developers can also find ways to create
multiple monetization routes within a single feature.
PUBG MOBILE
‘s RP EZ Mission License is an extra
purchase on top of players’ premium battle pass
purchase. It unlocks weekly missions for the player
faster, letting them earn weekly Mission Cards (used
to
auto-complete tasks) which rewards the player with
more RP (battle pass progression points) from Season
Match Time rewards.
But the interesting thing here is the pricing. It varies
based on how many consecutive seasons of the BP the
player has purchased. If they have purchased more
than three consecutive BPs, they get the EZ Mission
License for free. So, its primary function is to drive the
constant consecutive BP purchases and keep players’
“purchase streak going.”
AAA Midcore mobile games:
Multiple monetization routes
The gacha system is one of the most effective ways developers can monetize their mobile games, which is why they are currently
dominating the mobile game market and can be found in even the biggest IPs. 76% of the US top 20% Midcore games use
limited-time gachas, and over half of the top Midcore games contain more than five different gachas.
Interestingly, even though the growing popularity of gachas has made them evolve and we’ve seen several innovative
implementations of gacha mechanics, special gacha mechanics are still not that common among top Midcore games in the US. Only
30% of the US’s top 20% of Midcore games utilize them. Special gacha mechanics include gachas such as
Box Gacha
, where each
pull removes the earned item from the reward pool, so each consecutive pull increases the chances for the rarest items (often the
price also goes up for consecutive pulls) or in-gacha stores, where you accumulate gacha-specific currency for each pull, which is
used at its own store (also a way to build pity mechanic and give player agency to choose their rewards for pulling multiple times).
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
AAA Midcore mobile games:
Multiple monetization routes
The popularity of gacha mechanics among Midcore games (US, iOS)
How do top games implement gacha mechanics? Find more exciting examples
with our Implementation Examples tool in the GameRefinery service
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
AAA Midcore mobile games:
Multiple monetization routes
Genshin Impact – Limited-time gachas
In
Genshin Impact
, characters are introduced with high-quality storylines/missions that are often tied to
various events. Players can purchase these characters from the limited-time banner gacha, the main
monetization mechanic in the game.
Despite the game’s daily baseline revenue being relatively high, every new gacha release creates a massive
spike in the baseline revenues, as seen in the iOS graph above from the past 12 months.
Genshin Impact’s revenue and downloads past 12 months
One
interesting trend
we’re currently seeing, especially among
Midcore games, is
mobile game publishers’ external web
stores for selling certain in-game items to bypass Google and
Apple store cuts.
At the time of writing, we’ve spotted a few
mobile games doing this so far, for example:
Game of Thrones:
Conquest
,
Clash of Clans
,
Marvel Strike Force
, and
Star Trek Fleet
Command
.
So what’s the deal with these web stores? Most mobile games
are free-to-play titles and make most of their revenue through
in-app purchases such as in-game currencies, battle pass
subscriptions, or cosmetic items. Given that many of the most
popular mobile games make upwards of $100k every single day,
it’s no surprise that studios are looking to move some of their
in-app purchases to external channels where Google and Apple
can’t take a cut.
What remains to be seen is how many publishers will follow in
the footsteps of these games by setting up their own web stores.
What remains an issue is the visibility and accessibility of these
web stores. Apple and Google don’t allow the advertising of
these
web stores in-app, so mobile game publishers are currently
dealing with the challenge of getting the word out there about
these web stores.
Trend spotlight:
External web stores for selling in-game items
Game of Thrones: Conquest web store
Supercell store
for Clash of Clans
Star Trek Fleet Command web store
Another lesson to learn from the most successful
mobile games is that they offer players multiple
gameplay events, limited-time game modes, and
numerous new maps, characters, and weapons to keep
players engaged.
Successful mobile games know how to leverage
events.
Take
COD: Mobile
, for example – there are
always two to three smaller events tied to various
limited-time modes/new maps on the go that require
gameplay to unlock multiple cosmetics. This is
complemented with bigger gameplay events at least
once a month. In addition to the events, COD brings
tons of purchasable content on high cadence through
gachas, direct purchases and Battle Pass.
Offering variety and choice also supports a workable
cosmetic economy. Not everyone wants to buy the
same
cosmetics, so top games present new (and available
only limited-time) items on a very regular basis.
AAA Midcore mobile games:
Essential design features
#3 Massive content cadence
Call of Duty: Mobile’s revenue spikes in the last 12 months show the importance of events and
limited-time items. (Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform)
AAA Midcore mobile games:
Massive content cadence
The popularity of in-game events and related features among
Midcore games (US, iOS)
Midcore gamers crave novelty, which is why making sure that there’s always something new for players to discover is one of the
best ways to retain players.
Especially limited-time in-game events provide a way to offer players new event modes,
characters, event areas, and quests to keep them super engaged.
80% of top Midcore games in the US combine events with their own special live event currency, which is an effective way to
increase sinks in the game’s economy temporarily. Live event currencies can be combined easily with limited-time shops, gachas,
and content to create a boost to your game’s economy. By rewarding players with some of this unique currency within the
promotional period for something such as daily logins, you can be sure that players will keep coming back for more.
Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform
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what
is happening on
the market but
why
and
how
it is happening
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