Monopoly Go, casual and IP drive Data.ai Q3 mobile games report

Data.ai’s latest report on the mobile games market in Q3 highlights the success of Monopoly Go and other IP-driven games. However, top titles still have a grip on the worldwide rankings.

Six of the top 10 most downloaded games made repeat appearances. However, there was significant movement for the hyper-casual Tic Tac Toe: 2 Player XO. The game climbed over 500 places to be the seventh most downloaded game last quarter.

The top titles by consumer spending also stayed relatively stable with seven of ten titles making repeat appearances. However, there was a major shakeup for the top spot. For the first time ever, Royal Match dethroned Honor of Kings as the top game by consumer spending.

Similarly, the top games by Monthly Active Users (MAUs) remained unchanged. While FIFA Soccer jumped two spots, all of the most active titles returned from the Q2 rankings.

Monopoly Go’s Moment

Monopoly Go launched at the beginning of Q2 2023 and has gained steam in the following quarter. In its first quarter, Scopely’s take on Hasbro’s classic board game was the 30th largest game by consumer spending. In Q3 2023, it climbed to fourth.

According to Data.ai, the title’s spending growth topped its breakout charts worldwide. In fact, Monopoly Go made the top ten in 15 of the 23 markets included in its report. This includes the top spot in Australia, Canada, Italy and the U.S..

Part of this consumer spending growth is driven by an increase in MAUs. Worldwide, Monopoly Go reached the 30th spot on Data.ai’s ranking of MAUs, up 19 places since last quarter.

Pokémon’s continued mobile success

Niantic’s Pokémon Go continues to be a force to be reckoned with on mobile. The title posted its best quarter by consumer spend in two years with nearly 70% quarter-over-quarter growth. This surge propelled the game up the ranks six spots into seventh place.

While Pokémon Go continues to be a success, it’s not the only mobile game featuring Pokémon IP that’s gaining popularity. At the beginning of Q3, the Pokémon Company launched Pokémon Sleep. The game tracks users sleep quality and rewards players with Pokémon based on their sleep quality.

Pokémon Sleep’s blend of popular IP with gamified health tracking has been a major success. The title hit 118th in Data.ai’s MAU rankings. While it’s early, the title managed to break into the top 100 games by MAUs in six markets, including the fourth spot in Japan.

IP Dominates Data.ai’s charts

Outside of Monopoly Go and Pokémon, IP is also playing a key role for other growing mobile games. In Data.ai’s breakout games by consumer spending list, IP-based games took six of the ten spots. In addition to Monopoly Go and Pokémon Go, these games included Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle, Lineage M, One Piece Bounty Rush and Fate/Grand Order.

Three of these IP-based games — Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle, One Piece Bounty Rush and Fate/Grand Order — are based on anime IP. Additionally, all of these anime-inspired titles released over five years ago showing the staying power of these franchises.

All of these franchises made major announcements in Q3. Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle announced it would be merging the Global and Japanese servers. One Piece’s increase might have been a result of Netflix’s highly rated live-action adaptation which debuted on August 31, 2023. Meanwhile, Fate/Grand Order celebrated its eighth anniversary with a major event and memorial movie.

While these titles can tap into global fanbases, they largely did not make the top 10 games by consumer spending outside of Japan. Only Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle managed hit the top 10 in Spain and France. In Japan, Fate/Grand Order ranked second, One Piece Bounty Rush hit eighth and Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle reached ninth.

Meanwhile, Lineage M is a mobile port of NCSoft’s MMORPG franchise. While the game managed to hit the top 10 list for consumer spending worldwide, the title has not managed to find an international audience. Lineage M did not make any market’s top 10 list outside of South Korea.

Data.ai’s full report on the top games and apps in Q3 2023 is available now.