Mobile Gaming Today: April’22 Week

Ciao Fam, Heading to HGC Berlin soon. Hit me up if around 🕺🏻 👌🏻 Top Gaming Content » Royal Kingdom’s Hollywood Power Play: Last Hurrah or Royal Rebirth? Launching a new Match-3 game in today’s mobile market is like trying to sell umbrellas in the Sahara. Saturation, soaring CPIs, and razor-thin differentiation margins make even the most technically sound games struggle to scale. When Dream Games soft-launched Royal Kingdom two years ago, they entered this same storm, which quickly showed itself. After years of pivots and a rocky soft launch, Royal Kingdom is back. This time with what may be mobile gaming’s priciest celebrity campaign, starring LeBron James, Jimmy Fallon & Shakira. Dream Games’ high-stakes play has reignited speculation: is this a desperate revival, or the launchpad for a broader Royal IP? Now, nearly a clone of Royal Match, Dream’s […]

Ömer Yakabagi April 22

Journal

10 funding options to bring your game to life.

In recent years, I've secured funding for 6 different projects. Here are 10 funding options to bring your game to life:---- 1. PUBLISHERS ----• Funding: $50k to several million• Terms: Revenue share, milestone payments, creative control clauses• PC/Console Publishers - https://lnkd.in/eXpN_nve• Mobile Publishers - https://lnkd.in/eFrqyyWh---- 2. VC INVESTORS ----• Funding: $300k to $10M+• Terms: Equity stake, convertible notes, valuation-based funding• List of VCs Investing in Games - https://lnkd.in/eExR25kB---- 3. ANGEL INVESTORS ----• Funding: $10k to $500k• Terms: Early equity, advisory roles• Top Angel Investors (Shizune) - https://lnkd.in/edy-UVy3• Playcap - https://www.playcap.gg/---- 4. ACCELERATORS ----• Funding: $20k to $150k+• Terms: Equity for funding, demo day presentations• Accelerators List - https://lnkd.in/eHY5acAg• Incubator List - https://lnkd.in/ehW4qwPu---- 5. CORPORATE GRANTS ----• Funding: $5k to $500k• Terms: Non-repayable funds, reporting requirements• Epic MegaGrants - https://lnkd.in/eq-FTZsQ• Indie Fund - https://indie-fund.com/• Games for Change Grant - https://lnkd.in/egUEbe8d---- 6. […]

Anton Slashcev April 22

Journal

The One Gameplay Sequence That Appears in Every Top Merge Mansion Ad

📢 The One Gameplay Sequence That Appears in Every Top #MergeMansion Ad You’ve probably seen whether the CG intro is dramatic, funny, mysterious, or romantic…Once we hit gameplay, it’s always the garden.This mid-section gameplay loop appears in at least 5 top-performing Merge Mansion (Metacore) creatives this month (via AppMagic).Let’s break down why this tiny moment is doing so much heavy lifting and what we can learn from it.1. The Promise Is Finally RealMerge Mansion built its brand on intrigue: 🧓 Grandma has secrets 🧩 There’s something hidden behind that door 🏚️ It’s not just another merge gameThis segment is the gameplay payoff. You merge → unlock a key → open a hidden door.It validates the storyline and sets Merge Mansion apart from all those fake meta-creatives.According to Mistplay's research on high-value casual players, seeing ad narrative reflected in actual gameplay […]

George Tsomaev April 22

Journal

Best Game Devs don’t work at Blizzard, Riot, King, Playrix, or Supercell.

Unpopular opinion: the best game developers don’t work at Blizzard, Riot, King, Playrix, or Supercell. Some of the best minds in game dev are building alone or in tiny teams. And they’re not just making noise.They’re topping the charts.Recent proof:• Lethal Company – Solo dev. Outsold AAA titles. Viral on Twitch and TikTok.• Balatro – Made by a small team. Hit $1M in sales in 1 day.• Palworld – Team of 40. Outsold Call of Duty and Pokémon.• Dave the Diver – Built like an indie. Game Awards nominee. Massive commercial success.These aren't lucky breaks. They're signals.At big studios:• You work on one piece of a massive machine• There’s process, politics, and polish• Creativity comes with constraintsIn small teams:• You move fast• You take risks• You make weird, unforgettable gamesThere’s no safety net. No backup plan. Just vision and execution.The […]

Anton Slashcev April 22

Journal

New Market Research Drop: Sports, Puzzle & Simulation Games

New Market Research Drop – Sports, Puzzle & Simulation Games In this latest part of my market research series, I dive into three of the most promising mobile game categories based on actual performance data:- Success rate of newly launched games- Top-1 and top-3 revenue concentration- Share of revenue coming from new titlesPuzzle games show massive scale but intense competition.Sports games offer longevity, but breaking in is tough.Simulation games are dominated by incumbents and hard to crack.The analysis is based entirely on AppMagic data and built for F2P game developers looking to validate their next move with data, not guesswork.

Jukka Hilvonen April 22

Journal

Live Activities Beyond Games: Real-World Example

👀 Exploring Live Activities Beyond Games: A Real-World Example Just took a ride with Gett and noticed this very slick use of Apple’s Live Activities on the lock screen. It tracks your ride progress in real time, lets you know when the driver is about to arrive, and even gives you the option to always allow Live Activity updates from the app.This kind of UX is so amazing.✅ Keeps the user informed ✅ Reduces app-switching ✅ Feels premium and personalWhile more and more apps are tapping into Live Activities for delivery, ride-hailing, and fitness… I’m still hoping to see more MOBILE GAMES do something cool here — especially for live-ops, streaks, or energy timers. The potential is there 👀

Michael Kopelovich April 22

Journal

Blend Textures and Icons with ChatGPT

🥚 Had a long Easter weekend off! So I had some time to play around with 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧 and ended up diving into its 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 functionality.You can blend Textures like Candy or Fabric and combine it with your existing 𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗜𝗰𝗼𝗻, to create visuals that feel hyper-realistic, tactile, and just way more scroll-stopping.The effects are subtle but powerful, it instantly makes your icon 𝗣𝗢𝗣!🧠 It tricks the brain into thinking the icon is more “real”. 👀 It grabs attention and make your icon stand out. 🎯 And it can lift your store performance without a full rebrand.Check out the slides for a few examples 👇

Richard Kos April 22

Journal

Mobile Games losing ground to Social Media? 🤔

Are mobile games losing ground to social media? 🤔 Industry believes YES. But what does data say?𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, see if you can guess which app corresponds with each engagement trendline below!I would have guessed this very, very wrong. 😅--SPOILERS BELOW--The takeaways:1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗲 is an absolute juggernaut. #1 in the dataset in 2021 and its lead has grown since (by 19%). 2. 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 playtime share has decreased, 𝗯𝘆 𝟴%. Nontrivial, but less than I expected. In aggregate hours, 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟱%.3. Another study put 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 at 𝟭𝟭% of usage in '24. With 8% decrease, that's 𝟭𝟮% -> 𝟭𝟭% over timeframe.3. 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 has lost big: 20% of its usage since 2021. 4. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 grew 20%, compensating 50% FB's losses.5. 𝗧𝗶𝗸𝘁𝗼𝗸'𝘀 share actually fell (16.1% -> 14.8%) 😮6. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘀/𝗧𝗩 smaller than expected; has lost 20% since 2021 (1.9% -> 1.5%)7. In […]

Matthew Emery April 21

Analysis

What’s Wrong with Gin Rummy Stars from BeachBum?

Want to know what’s wrong with Gin Rummy Stars from Beach Bum? I’ve been playing this game for a very long time, and I have two major things I don’t love about it. But first of all, I want to be clear — the game’s great. The LiveOps schedule is fully packed, all the features are in place, and the core mechanic is very engaging. But sometimes, it feels like they either don’t care, or just know nothing about me as a player. The game could definitely benefit from some personalized approach. So here are the two examples I want to discuss: 1. “No Ads” Purchase From the first session, they highlight everywhere that the first purchase will grant No Ads — so I won’t see those damn interstitials anymore. I love that. This is my top personal monetization driver in any […]

Michael Khripin April 21

Analysis

Royal Kingdom’s Hollywood Power Play: Last Hurrah or Royal Rebirth?

Launching a new Match-3 game in today’s mobile market is like trying to sell umbrellas in the Sahara as we discussed in a recent article. Saturation, soaring CPIs, and razor-thin differentiation margins make even the most technically sound games struggle to scale. When Dream Games soft launched Royal Kingdom two years ago, they entered this same storm, which quickly showed itself. The game was anything but static. It went through long stretches of silence (including a six-month update drought), only to emerge with radical changes, including a full hard reset over a year into its soft launch. But if the product evolution wasn’t enough of a rollercoaster, Dream just took things to a whole new altitude. In what may be the boldest marketing swing the mobile gaming industry has ever seen, Royal Kingdom has gone full celebrity mode. LeBron James, […]

Ahmetcan Demirel April 21

Journal

Casual Mobile Games 2025

The best casual mobile game lessons you'll learn today. 6+1 Insights from my custom dashboard: Watch the change in the top games,But define your own path...✦ Not every game needs to be on top,↳ They do need to be profitable though.✦ Market saturation is an excuse,↳ Your game needs to be better (sorry!)✦ Definition of genre definer has changed,↳ Level Design > Game Mechanics, deal with it.✦ Long-tail games need time to make,↳ IPs are not a must, but a good touch.✦ Consistent power user stickiness wins,↳ Reach out for longer retention, always.✦ There is no such thing as “old” game,↳ There is outdated gameplay.Bonus:✦ LiveOps teams matter a lot. (DUUH)↳ Take care of your team.I created many dashboards on AppMagicyou can do too, it really is so easy to start:Player stickiness re-defined. DM me if you want to discuss.

Gökhan Üzmez April 21

Journal

“Welcome Back” reward screen in Dice Dreams

Really liked this “Welcome Back” reward screen in Dice Dreams by SuperPlay. Instead of dropping all the rewards at once, they use a timed collection system — claim one, start the countdown for the next. It’s a smart way to increase session time for returning players, nudging them to hop back into the gameplay and hopefully enjoy it again.

Michael Kopelovich April 21

Journal

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