Mobile Game Taxonomy Report 2021 — Analyzing the Driving Forces Behind the Latest Mobile Game Genre Trends ©2021 Sensor Tower Inc

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Game Taxonomy Report: Table of Contents

The 2021 Mobile Game Taxonomy Report offers analysis on the latest gaming trends by genre:

3. Gaming Overview An overview of the game industry in 2020 along with top categories and top apps

17. Game Intelligence Intro to Sensor Tower Game Intelligence and gameplay types

27. Gameplay Trends Emerging gameplay trends and popular themes

Top Mobile Games Worldwide in 2020 by Top-Level Category Top mobile games globally by App Store and Google Play downloads

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

Coin Master Among Us Garena Free Fire 8 Ball Pool 1 Moon Active 1 InnerSloth 1 Garena Games Online 1 Miniclip Slots (Golden HoYeah) Subway Surfers PUBG Mobile Hill Climb Racing 2 International Games System 2 Sybo Games ApS 2 Tencent 2 Fingersof Luxy Poker Hunter Assassin Sniper 3D Trafic Rider 3 Gamesofa 3 Ruby Game Studio 3 Fun Games For Free 3 Soner Kara Lucky Toss 3D Gardenscapes Call of Duty: Mobile Pooking 4 Lucky Coins 4 Playrix 4 Activision Blizzard 4 Mountain Game Zynga Poker Brain Out Brawl Stars Street Racing 3D 5 Zynga 5 Focus apps 5 Supercell 5 Ivy Junglee Rummy Ludo King Mobile Legends Racing in Car 2 6 Junglee Games 6 Gametion 6 Moonton 6 Fast Free Games Teen Patti Gold Tiles Hop Real Commando Real Bike Racing 7 Moonfrog 7 Amanotes 7 GAMEXIS 7 Italic Games Teen Patti by Octro Homescapes Cover Strike Dream League 8 Octro 8 Playrix 8 Free Actions 8 First Touch Games Slotomania Roblox FPS Commando Mario Kart Tour 9 Playtika 9 Roblox 9 Hazel Mobile Games 9 Nintendo POP! Slots Candy Crush Saga Critical Action Asphalt 8 Racing 10 PlayStudios 10 King 10 Free Actions 10 Gamelof

Top U.S. Mobile Games in 2020 by Top-Level Category Top mobile games in the United States by App Store and Google Play downloads

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

Coin Master Among Us Call of Duty: Mobile 8 Ball Pool 1 Moon Active 1 InnerSloth 1 Activision Blizzard 1 Miniclip Blackout Bingo Roblox Sniper 3D Mario Kart Tour 2 Big Run Studios 2 Roblox 2 Fun Games For Free 2 Nintendo Lucky Pusher Subway Surfers Fortnite Madden NFL 21 3 Shape Keeper 3 Sybo Games ApS 3 Epic Games 3 Electronic Arts Dice Royale Brain Test PUBG Mobile Asphalt 9 4 E Technology Recruitment 4 Unico Studio 4 Tencent 4 Gamelof Lucky Day Magic Tile 3 State of Survival CSR Racing 2 5 Lucky Day App 5 Amanotes 5 FunPlus 5 Zynga Cash Frenzy Fishdom RAID Rebel Racing 6 SpinX Games 6 Playrix 6 Aristocrat Technology 6 Hutch Games Plinko Master Woodturning Evony NBA 2K 7 Shaper Keeper 7 voodoo 7 TOP GAMES 7 Take-Two Interactive Coin Dozer Tangle Master 3D Garena Free Fire Fishing Clash 8 Game Circus 8 Zynga 8 Garena Games Online 8 Ten Square Games World Series of Poker Gardenscapes Clash of Clans MLB Tap Sports 9 Playtika 9 Playrix 9 Supercell 9 Glu Games FOX Bet Super 6 Tiles Hop Clash Royale Need for Speed No Limits 10 Pokerstars 10 Amanotes 10 Supercell 10 Electronic Arts

Top European Mobile Games in 2020 by Top-Level Category Top mobile games in Europe by App Store and Google Play downloads

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

Coin Master Among Us Brawl Stars Head Ball 2 1 Moon Active 1 InnerSloth 1 Supercell 1 Miniclip Zynga Poker Gardenscapes PUBG Mobile 8 Ball Pool 2 Zynga 2 Playrix 2 Tencent 2 Miniclip Plinko Master Brain Test Sniper 3D Trafic Rider 3 Shape Keeper 3 Unico Studio 3 Fun Games For Free 3 Soner Kara Poker Games Subway Surfers Call of Duty Hill Climb Racing 4 CP Decision 4 Sybo Games ApS 4 Activision Blizzard 4 Fingersof Huuuge Casino Slots Roblox State of Survival Mario Kart Tour 5 Huuuge Games 5 Roblox 5 FunPlus 5 Nintendo

Cash Frenzy Brain Out Clash Royale Dream League Soccer 2021 6 SpinX Games 6 Focus apps 6 Supercell 6 First Touch Games Coin Dozer Woodturning Garena Free Fire Street Racing 3D 7 Game Circus 7 voodoo 7 Garena Games Online 7 Ivy Ra slots Tiles Hop Clash of Clans Fishing Clash 8 TINYSOFT 8 Amanotes 8 Supercell 8 Ten Square Games World Series of Poker Fishdom Mobile Legends Trafic Racer 9 Playtika 9 Playrix 9 Moonton 9 Soner Kara Slotomania Homescapes Mafia City Tennis Clash 10 Playtika 10 Playrix 10 Yotta Games 10 Fun Games For Free

Hypercasual Surpassed Arcade as the Top Growing Genre

Global downloads for the top 100 mobile games by genre for 2019 and 2020

2019 2020 7B Hypercasual games were the biggest beneficiaries amid the overall lift in mobile gaming adoption in 2020. Top Hypercasual 6B games accumulated 6.3 billion in downloads during 2020, observing a 123

5B percent surge year-over-year. Hypercasual surpassed Arcade as the No. 1 game genre by installs in 2020. 4B

6.3B 3B Simulation is another genre to keep an eye on, as its top 100 games saw 92 percent Y/Y growth in 2020, reaching 2.9 billion in 2B 4.0B 3.7B downloads. Simulation was the fourth most 3.0B 2.8B 2.9B downloaded genre in 2020. 2.6B 2.5B 1B 2.0B 1.7B 1.8B 1.5B 1.6B 1.4B 1.3B 1.3B 1.3B 1.0B 1.1B 1.2B 865M 875M 675M 385M 0 Hypercasual Arcade Puzzle Simulation Lifestyle Shooter Racing Sports Strategy Action RPG Casino

COVID-19 Accelerated Adoption for Hypercasual Games

Proportion of downloads by genre among the top 1,000 games for each year

Hypercasual Arcade Puzzle Simulation Shooter Racing Strategy Other The consistent growth of Hypercasual games over the past four years is hard to overlook as their market share skyrocketed. By 2020, 12% 19% 15% 10% 6% 7% 8% 23% 2017 Hypercasual accounted for 31 percent of downloads among the top 1,000 games.

20% 18% 14% 8% 9% 6% 5% 19% Though not as prominent as Hypercasual, 2018 Arcade and Puzzle games saw promising growth of 33 percent and 78 percent in 2020. Subway Surfers was the top game for Arcade and Among Us led the genre growth 27% 18% 13% 9% 8% 6% 4% 16% for Puzzle in 2020. 2019

31% 15% 13% 10% 8% 5% 3% 15% 2020

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Hypercasual and Arcade Topped Global Markets

Top game genres by country in 2020

Puzzle Arcade Hypercasual Other Hypercasual and Arcade appeared as the top game genres in 2020 across many of the Arcade 1.3B Hypercasual 781M largest markets. One of the emerging Hypercasual 1.1B Puzzle 508M India U.S. countries for gaming, India, saw highest Shooter 750M Arcade 318M adoption in Arcade and Hypercasual games, 0 500M 1.0B 1.5B 0 200M 400M 600M 800M accounting for 1.3 billion and 1.1 billion, Hypercasual 591M Hypercasual 358M respectively. Arcade 376M Arcade 231M

Brazil Simulation 325M Indonesia Lifestyle 209M

0 200M 400M 600M 0 100M 200M 300M 400M Brazil was one of the top countries where strong growth in Simulation game adoption Hypercasual 352M Hypercasual 293M was seen in 2020. Simulation games were Puzzle 217M Arcade 210M the third most downloaded game genre in Russia Arcade 204M Mexico Puzzle 183M Brazil, following Hypercasual and Arcade. 0 100M 200M 300M 400M 0 100M 200M 300M Among these, Sandbox Simulations were especially popular in the Brazilian market.

Hypercasual 198M Hypercasual 224M

RPG 137M Arcade 154M

China Puzzle 115M Turkey Puzzle 142M

0 100M 200M 0 100M 200M 300M

Top Grossing Mobile Games Worldwide by Top-Level Category Top mobile games by global consumer spending on the App Store and Google Play

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

Coin Master Pokémon Go PUBG Mobile Pro Spirits Baseball A 1 Moon Active 1 Niantic 1 Tencent 1 Konami Slotomania Roblox Honor of Kings eFootball 2 Playtika 2 Roblox 2 Tencent 2 Konami Bingo Blitz Candy Crush Saga Monster Strike Golf Clash 3 Playtika 3 King 3 mixi 3 Warner Bros Jackpot Party Gardenscapes Rise of Kingdoms QQ Speed 4 Scientific Games 4 Playrix 4 Lilith Games 4 Tencent DoubleDown™ Homescapes Fate/Grand Order Power Pros 5 DoubleUCasino 5 Playrix 5 Sony Corporation 5 Konami

Cashman Casino Dragon Quest Walk Three Kingdoms Strategic KartRider Rush+ 6 Aristocrat Technology 6 SQUARE ENIX 6 Alibaba 6 NEXON Company Cash Frenzy Toon Blast Lineage M 8 Ball Pool 7 SpinX Games 7 Zynga 7 NCSOFT 7 Miniclip Huuuge Casino Slots Fishdom AFK Arena Fishing Clash 8 Huuuge Games 8 Playrix 8 Lilith Games 8 Ten Square Games Lightning Link Candy Crush Soda Saga Garena Free Fire FIFA Soccer 9 Aristocrat Technology 9 King 9 Garena Games Online 9 Electronic Arts House of Fun Township Lineage2M Slam Dunk 10 Playtika 10 Playrix 10 NCSOFT 10 DeNA

Top Grossing U.S. Mobile Games by Top-Level Category Top mobile games by U.S. consumer spending on the App Store and Google Play

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

Coin Master Roblox Clash of Clans Golf Clash 1 Moon Active 1 Roblox 1 Supercell 1 Warner Bros Slotomania Candy Crush Saga PUBG Mobile CSR Racing 2 2 Playtika 2 King 2 Tencent 2 Zynga Bingo Blitz Pokémon Go Call of Duty MLB Tap Sports Baseball 3 Playtika 3 Niantic 3 Activision Blizzard 3 Glu Games Jackpot Party Gardenscapes Marvel Strike Force 8 Ball Pool 4 Scientific Games 4 Playrix 4 Scopely 4 Miniclip DoubleDown™ Homescapes Garena Free Fire Fishing Clash 5 DoubleUCasino 5 Playrix 5 Garena Games Online 5 Ten Square Games Cashman Casino Toon Blast Rise of Kingdoms Golf Rival 6 Aristocrat Technology 6 Zynga 6 Lilith Games 6 ORCA STUDIOS Cash Frenzy Candy Crush Soda Saga Marvel CoC Mario Kart Tour 7 SpinX Games 7 King 7 Netmarble Games Corp 7 Nintendo

8 House of Fun 8 Fishdom 8 DBZ DOKKAN BATTLE 8 Madden NFL 21 Playtika Playrix BANDAI NAMCO Electronic Arts 9 Heart of Vegas 9 Merge Dragons! 9 Fortnite 9 MLB 9 Innings 21 Aristocrat Technology Zynga Epic Games GAMEVIL 10 World Series of Poker 10 Township 10 Star Trek Fleet Command 10 FIFA Soccer Playtika Playrix Scopely Electronic Arts

Top Grossing European Mobile Games by Top-Level Category Top mobile games by European consumer spending on the App Store and Google Play

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

Coin Master Gardenscapes Brawl Stars Fishing Clash 1 Moon Active 1 Playrix 1 Supercell 1 Ten Square Games Slotomania Pokémon Go PUBG Mobile FIFA Soccer 2 Playtika 2 Niantic 2 Tencent 2 Electronic Arts Huuuge Casino Slots Roblox Clash of Clans 8 Ball Pool 3 Huuuge Games 3 Roblox 3 Supercell 3 Miniclip Zynga Poker Candy Crush Saga State of Survival Top Eleven 2021 4 Zynga 4 King 4 FunPlus 4 Nordeus Slotpark Homescapes Empires & Puzzles Golf Clash 5 Funstage 5 Playrix 5 Zynga 5 Warner Bros Bingo Blitz Fishdom Rise of Kingdoms CSR Racing 2 6 Playtika 6 Playrix 6 Lilith Games 6 Zynga Billionaire Casino Candy Crush Soda Saga King of Avalon Mario Kart Tour 7 Huuuge Games 7 King 7 FunPlus 7 Nintendo Poker Atrix Township Lords Mobile Tennis Clash 8 Outerdawn 8 Playrix 8 IGG 8 Fun Games For Free

9 Cash Frenzy 9 Klondike Adventures 9 Guns of Glory 9 Top Drives SpinX Games Vizor FunPlus Hutch Games 10 Governor of Poker 3 10 Toon Blast 10 Hero Wars 10 F1 Manager Youda Games Zynga NEXTERS Hutch Games

RPG and Strategy Remained the Top Earning Genres

Global spending in the top 100 games by genre for 2019 and 2020

2019 2020 $20B RPG saw the highest user spending in 2020, accumulating $18.7 billion for the top 100 such games. RPG has been the top grossing genre for multiple years, with the majority of its in-app revenue coming from East Asian $15B countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea. Also the top grossing genre in 2019, RPG still saw solid year-over-year growth in spending of 26 percent in 2020. $10B $18.7B

$14.8B 2020 was a major year for growth among $14.0B Simulation games. In addition to the

$10.8B adoption surge, Simulation also saw the $5B $8.3B highest spending growth in 2020, achieving $6.5B $6.9B $5.7B a 56 percent year-over-year increase. $4.7B $3.8B $3.8B $2.5B $2.8B $2.7B $2.0B $1.8B $2.0B $1.5B $1.2B $1.5B $0 RPG Strategy Puzzle Casino Shooter Simulation Sports Lifestyle Action Arcade

RPG Accounted for 29 Percent of Global Spending

Proportion of revenue by genre among the top 1,000 grossing games each year

RPG Strategy Puzzle Casino Shooter Simulation Other 2% RPG and Strategy remained the top grossing genres by spending share in 2020, accounting for 50 percent of spending 13% 39% 4% 23% 3% 17% 2017 among the top genres. Newer titles were major drivers for revenue growth. Genshin Impact, released in September 2020, ranked No. 8 by spending among RPG genre games

37% 19% 13% 8% 4% 4% 14% in 2020, earning $560 million in net revenue. 2018

Casino and Shooter games saw their share of spending grow, accounting for 10 percent 34% 21% 13% 9% 7% 4% 13% and 9 percent, respectively, in 2020. 2019 Revenue growth was driven by older titles such as Coin Master and PUBG Mobile. However, Call of Duty: Mobile has also been performing exceptionally well in the Shooter 29% 21% 13% 10% 9% 5% 12% 2020 genre after its launch in September 2019, surpassing $760 million in player spending since release. 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Casino Spending Spiked During Lockdowns

Spending growth of the top game genres in each country

80% Casino was the top earning genre in the U.S. U.S. Japan China South Korea Germany U.K. in 2020 and saw a spending spike in May (Casino) (RPG) (RPG) (RPG) (Strategy) (Puzzle) 2020; much of the growth was guided by the

60% top title, Coin Master, and slots games such as Cashman Casino. The spending surge

Japan (RPG) correlated with a download spike among 40% U.S. (Casino) casino games in April 2020 amid COVID-19 Germany (Strategy) lockdowns. The closure of physical casinos South Korea (RPG) drove consumers to mobile games as an U.K. 20% (Puzzle) alternative.

0% China (RPG) RPG has been thriving in East Asian markets, and saw a spending spike in Japan and South Korea near the end of 2020. The -20% new release Kingdom of the Winds, launched in July 2020, was among the top games that led RPG growth in South Korea. The game -40% generated $137 million in spending during the second half of 2020. Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20

Key Takeaways: Game Overview

1. Top hypercasual games surpassed 6 billion downloads in 2020, accounting for a 123 percent surge year-over-year. The overall lift seen by the genre was also reflected by an increase in market share, where 31 percent of game downloads were captured by Hypercasual games. 2. As an emerging genre, Simulation games are finding success in overseas markets such as Brazil where it was the third largest genre by downloads in 2020. Simulation’s popularity has been trending up worldwide and saw a 92 percent growth surge year-over-year in 2020. 3. The RPG genre continue to thrive in Asia in terms of user spending. Japan and South Korea saw major spikes in RPG spending near the end of 2020, signaling another strong year for the genre in 2021. Among the top games, many new releases such as Genshin Impact and Kingdom of the Winds gained major recognition globally.

Game Overview 16 Game Intelligence Art Style: 2D Cartoon Was the Most-Used Visual Treatment in 2020

Top art styles among top games by downloads

Art Style represents the artistic aspect of mobile games, specifically the types of visuals used to convey the player experience. The art styles used by the most popular games by downloads in 2020 were 2D Cartoon, Hypercasual, 3D Realistic, and 3D Cartoon. With the unbridled success of Hypercasual genre games last year, the Hypercasual art style, with its minimalistic and clean visuals, also saw wide adoption.

Among US Join Clash

1 2D Cartoon 2 Hypercasual

PUBG Mobile Subway Surfers

3 3D Realistic 4 3D Cartoon

Game Intelligence 18 The 3D Realistic Style Dominated Mid-Core

Top art style by share of downloads among top games in 2020, by genre

2D Cartoon 3D Cartoon 3D Realistic Hypercasual Low Poly Other 100% 3D Realistic was the most popular art style within mid-core genres such as Racing, RPG, and Shooter. 3D Realistic games 23% 25% accounted for 77 percent of the downloads 34% 37% 36% 35% 37% 40% 38% 43% 42% among top games in Shooter and 65 percent 75% 48% in Racing.

Casino, Lifestyle, and Puzzle saw large proportions of downloads coming from 50% 30% 34% 22% games that use a 2D Cartoon aesthetic, 38% where this art style accounted for 58 percent, 75% 77% 63 percent, and 64 percent of the downloads, 63% 64% 65% respectively. 58% 60% 25% 52%

35% 33% 32% 24%

0% Arcade Casino Geolocation Hyper- Lifestyle Puzzle Racing RPG Shooter Simulation Sports Strategy AR casual

Game Intelligence 19 Camera POV: Point-of-View Examples

Screenshot examples of different camera Points of View (POVs) as defined in Game Intelligence

Isometric Third-Person First-Person Top-Down Side Dynamic

Tiles Hop Temple Run 2 Sniper 3D Hunter Assassin My Talking Tom Fun Race 3D Genre: Hypercasual Genre: Arcade Genre: Shooter Genre: Arcade Genre: Lifestyle Genre: Hypercasual

Game Intelligence 20 Isometric POV Is Trending in Popularity

Proportion of downloads of top games by camera POV

2017 2018 2019 2020 Isometric POV accounted for 27 percent of downloads among top games in 2020, a significant lift compared to the 24 percent in Isometric 20% 20% 24% 27% 2019. Isometric POV was especially popular among new releases, with 69 of the top 100 games released in 2020 adopting Isometric presentation. Most of these games fall under the Hypercasual and Arcade genres. Side 31% 31% 29% 28%

Despite top games moving away from Side POV, it still accounted for 28 percent of the downloads among top games in 2020. Top- Top-down 18% 18% 17% 16% Down and Third-Person both held a decent share of downloads among top games. However, they’re most common among Arcade and Puzzle games.

Third Person 13% 15% 14% 13%

Game Intelligence 21 2D Cartoon + Side POV Was the Most Popular Format

Top combinations of art style and camera POV among top 1,000 games by downloads in 2020

Top Games by Game Style Side Isometric Third Person First Person Top-Down Games with the 2D Cartoon and side POV 2D Cartoon combination gameplay saw the most 5.4B #1 Brain Out Side downloads in 2020, surpassing 5.4 billion

Hypercasual installs which accounted for 17 percent of 3.3B #1 Join Clash 3D Isometric the downloads among top 1,000. Brain Out was the No. 1 game by downloads with this 3D Realistic 2.4B #1 Garena Free Fire Third Person particular Art Style and Camera POV.

3D Realistic #1 Sniper 3D First Person 1.8B As previously mentioned, isometric is 2D Cartoon #1 Among Us growing in popularity among new Top-down 1.7B Hypercasual games. Games with this specific 3D Cartoon presentation accumulated 3.3 billion 1.7B #1 Brawl Stars Isometric downloads in 2020, accounting for 11

Flat percent of the total share. 1.5B #1 Ludo King Top-down

2D Realistic 1.1B #1 8 Ball Pool Top-down

0 2B 4B 6B

Game Intelligence 22 Themes: Hypercasual Ranked First, While Crime Saw Major Growth in Popularity

Top themes by market share of downloads among the top 1,000 games for each year

20172017 20182018 20192019 20202020

1 Vehicles - Car 1 Tabletop +1 1 Hypercasual +5 1 Hypercasual -

2 Tabletop 2 Combat Arena +2 2 Tabletop -1 2 Tabletop -

3 Adventure 3 Vehicles - Car -2 3 Vehicle - Car - 3 Vehicle - Car -

4 Combat Arena 4 Abstract +6 4 Combat Arena -2 4 Combat Arena -

5 Animal - Cat/Dog 5 Adventure -2 5 Abstract -1 5 Adventure +1

6 Animal - Wild 6 Hypercasual NEW 6 Adventure -1 6 Crime +4

7 Music 7 Animal - Cat/Dog -2 7 Music +2 7 Abstract -2

8 Sports - Soccer 8 Cooking / Food NEW 8 Art NEW 8 Animal - Cat / Dog +1

9 Zombie 9 Music -2 9 Animal - Cat / Dog -2 9 Art -1

10 Abstract 10 Animal - Wild -4 10 Crime NEW 10 Cooking / Food +1

Game Intelligence 23 Hypercasual and Art Outperformed Other Themes

Downloads in the year of release among new games by theme

2019 Release 2020 Release Hypercasual was the top growing theme 856M Hypercasual among new releases in 2020, in line with the 1.6B success of the Hypercasual genre. The top 488M Tabletop 657M Hypercasual-themed game launched in 2020

321M accumulated 1.6 billion in downloads while Art 632M 2019 releases with this theme surpassed 800 230M million in 2019 . Join Clash 3D was a big hit Crime 453M among the new releases. 272M Vehicles - Car 418M

154M Cooking / Food 348M Art-themed games are also seeing signals

181M for higher growth in 2021. The 2020 releases Combat Arena 345M of Art games surpassed 632 million in

85M downloads, 97 percent higher than the Animal - Cat / Dog 266M similar games released in 2019. Fashion / Aesthetics 46M46M / Hair 259M

97M Adventure 239M

0 200M 400M 600M 800M 1.0B 1.2B 1.4B 1.6B 1.8B

Game Intelligence 24 Hypercasual Hit Peak Growth in Early Weeks of Launch

Weekly growth trajectory of new games released in Q1 2020 vs .Q2 2020

Released in 1Q20 Released in 2Q20 100% Hypercasual theme Other themes Hypercasual theme Other themes Hypercasual-themed games hit short-term peak growth around week 3-5 after launch, as theses games released in the first half of Prime time for 75% marketing promotions 2020 reached a 75 percent growth rate (over after the game launch the first week downloads) during the first five weeks. The outstanding growth of the

50% Hypercasual theme is undoubtedly associated with the hype of the Hypercasual genre in 2020 overall. 25%

Based on games launched in Q2 2020, the 0% prime time for marketing efforts and promotions fell within the first nine weeks for Hypercasual-themed games and the first -25% four weeks for other games, as the download growth remained positive after the initial launch. -50%

Week 1 Week 3 Week 5 Week 7 Week 9 Week 11 Week 13 Week 15 Week 17 Week 19 Week 21 Week 23

Key Takeaways: Game Intelligence

1. 2D Cartoon remained the most popular art style in mobile games, dominating genres such as Arcade, Casino, Lifestyle, and Puzzle. In addition, the Hypercasual art style also gained more traction in 2020, accounting for 71 percent of game downloads in 2020. 2. Isometric POV is trending up among new game releases, accounting for 27 percent of the downloads among top games in 2020. Side POV has been the top perspective in the past. Although it appears that new releases are moving away from this traditional POV type, it still accounted for 28 percent of the download share in 2020. 3. Hypercasual, Tabletop, and Vehicle - Car were the top themes by downloads for the second straight year. Unsurprisingly, Hypercasual remained a top theme among new games in 2020. New Art-themed games also saw success in 2020 while accumulating 632 million downloads in the year, showcasing further growth potential in 2021.

Game Intelligence 26 Gameplay Trends Mid-Core Themes Gaining Popularity Within Puzzle Genre

Worldwide downloads of puzzle games with popular mid-core game themes

2019 2020 Stickmen games among Puzzle surpassed 28 million downloads in 2020, after seeing Adventure 62.2M Adventure 68.7M 113 percent growth year-over-year. The new release Draw Puzzle, launched in April 2020 Dragon 22.1M Stickmen 28M amid the COVID-19 outbreak, was a major driver for the growth. The game has Zombie 13.9M Military 24.3M surpassed 9 million since launched.

Stickmen 13.2M Dragon 18.5M

Pirate 4.7M Space 16.7M Popular Mid-Core themes, such as Military, Combat Arena, Superhero, and Sports -

Space 3.7M Combat Arena 14.9M Fighting, gained more recognition in 2020 as cross-genre themes started to see

Post-Apocalypse 3.4M Superhero 8M Top 4 Mid-core Genres success with Puzzle. No One Escape from Other Genres Lion Studios was one of the first combat-

Military 3M Sports - Fighting 6.5M6.5M arena-themed games in Puzzle, surpassing 14 million downloads since its release. Superhero 2.8M Zombie 6M

0 10M 20M 30M 40M 50M 60M 70M 0 10M 20M 30M 40M 50M 60M 70M

Gameplay Trends 28 Puzzle Games Are Exploring New Themes

Popular emerging themes among new puzzle games

Stickmen Combat Arena Stickmen, Military, Space, Combat Arena, Superhero, and Sports - Fighting were among the top emerging themes in Puzzle. Although Hypercasual and Tabletop themed Puzzle games continued to see strong growth, Puzzle games are expanding out of traditional themes and are exploring Military Superhero untapped territory.

Sports - Fighting saw its first puzzle game launch in October 2020, when Mr Fight made its appearance on the app stores. Mr Fight has surpassed 6 million downloads within three months of release. Space Sports - Fighting

Gameplay Trends 29 Space Themed Puzzle Games Follow Among Us’ Footsteps

Emerging themes among new titles (released in 2019-2020) that have seen success

Top War surpassed 22 million downloads in

Top War 22M Military 2020. Big Bang Evolution is another pioneer for the Military theme in Puzzle, No One Escape 14.9M Combat Arena accumulating 2.3 million downloads just on App Store. Big Bang Evolution saw 10 percent Draw Puzzle 9M Stickmen growth year-over-year for its second year.

Words Episode 9M Superhero Other Space-themed Puzzle games followed

PJ Masks 7.4M Sports - Fighting the success of Among Us. Imposter Academy and Murder Us were released in October 2020 Mr Fight 6.5M Space and both surpassed 5 million downloads within three months of release. Impostor Academy 6M

Murder Us 5.1M

Quiz Planet 3.2M

Big Bang Evolution 2.3M

0 5M 10M 15M 20M 25M 30M

Gameplay Trends 30 The Ecosystem Around Among Us is Also Booming

Growth of Among Us vs. other Space-themed Puzzle games

Among Us Other Space Puzzles 7,000% After the game went viral, downloads of Among Us soared 6,000 percent in September 2020 over January numbers, 6,000% breaking downloads records for the Puzzle genre. Prior the surge, Among Us saw its 5,000% highest downloads in August 2019, surpassing 3 million downloads in a month 4,000% for the first time.

3,000% Space-themed Puzzle game downloads took Impostor Academy 2,000% and Murder Us were Other off after the launch of the Among-Us- launched Space- related games, Impostor Academy and themed Puzzle Murder Us, in October 2020. The two titles 1,000% Games accounted for 91 percent of the downloads of space puzzle games (excluding Among Us) in 0% the last three months of 2020.

-1,000%

Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20

Gameplay Trends 31 The Fashion Theme Surged in Popularity During 2020

Year-over-year download growth of top 100 games in 2020 by theme

Downloads of the top Fashion-themed

Fashion 109% games increased by 109 percent year-over- year in 2020, reaching 991 million. These Crime 69% games were more popular on Google Play, which took 84 percent of the installs versus Hypercasual 66% 16 percent from the App Store.

Animal - Wild 53%

Animal - Cat / Dog 51% Crime and Hypercasual themes ranked second and third by Y/Y growth, at 69 Tabletop 50% percent and 66 percent, respectively.

Cooking / Food 48%

Adventure 40%

Art 36%

Vehicles - Car 32%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

Gameplay Trends 32 Fashion-Themed Games Saw Success in Growing Markets

Top Fashion-themed games of 2020 by downloads

Super Stylist was the top Fashion-themed game in 2020, surpassing 46 million Most Popular Country Games/2020 Downloads Genre Art Style Camera POV (by Downloads) downloads with Brazil accounting for 13 percent of these. Top Fashion-themed games with Cartoon art styles found the most

Super Stylist 46.1M Lifestyle 3D Cartoon Dynamic success in markets such as Brazil and India. Hair Saloon, for instance, saw significant growth in India where downloads increased Acrylic Nails 38.2M Hypercasual 3D Cartoon Isometric by 314 percent year-over-year in 2020.

Chibi Doll 36.9M Lifestyle 2D Cartoon Side Hypercasual games saw an overall lift in the U.S., including the Fashion-themed games. Lip Art 3D 36.7M Hypercasual 3D Realistic First Person Acrylic Nails, published by Israel-based Crazy Labs, saw 20 percent of its downloads come from the U.S. app stores in 2020. Hair Saloon 35M Lifestyle 2D Cartoon Side

Super Salon 29.5M Hypercasual Hypercasual First Person

Gameplay Trends 33 New Titles Contributed to Fashion-Themed Game Growth

Global downloads of top 100 Fashion-themed games in 2020

Existing Games New Games Released That Year 300M Fashion-themed games are expected to have a great year in 2021, coming off a strong final quarter in 2020 with 280 million

250M downloads among the top games (30 percent 58M of this from games released that year). The 106M success of recently launched games suggests 55M 6M 200M 6M that this space still has room for development and will likely continue to provide growth opportunities for new titles. 150M Although new games added a major

9M 20M download boost, existing game installs also 1M 210M 100M 196M grew by 76 percent year-over-year in 2020. 0M 185M 174M 19M 10M 26M 0M 7M 111M 50M 7M 22M 100M 104M 20M 91M 62M 55M 62M 54M 48M 47M 41M 32M 0

Q1 2017 Q2 2017 Q3 2017 Q4 2017 Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2019 Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020

Gameplay Trends 34 New Fashion-Themed Games are Branching Out

Proportion of downloads in 2020 among top Fashion-themed games by art style and POV

Download growth signals that Fashion- 5% 3% 9% themed games are moving away from 2D 5% 3D Cartoon Cartoon and toward 3D Cartoon and 19% 2D Cartoon 38% Hypercasual art styles among newer titles. Hypercasual Art Style Released 18% Released in Games with a 3D Cartoon style accounted for before 2019 2D Realistic 2019-2020 Other 38 percent of downloads among Fashion- themed titles that launched in the past two 74% years, compared to the 19 percent among 30% older games.

2% 2% New Fashion-themed games with Isometric 12% 14% 6% and First Person Camera POVs found the Side most success, accounting for 17 percent and Isometric 14 percent of the downloads in 2020, Released 15% Dynamic Released in respectively. New Fashion-themed games before 2019 First Person Camera POV 2019-2020 Top-Down 49% moved away from Side POV, with the download share shrinking to 49 percent 17% (compared to 83 percent for older games). 83%

Key Takeaways: Gameplay Trends

1. Puzzle games are exploring new themes, with cross-genre themes such as Military and Combat Arena are finding success with new releases in the genre. One of the first combat-arena-themed puzzle game, No One Escape, accumulated 14 million downloads since its release in August 2020. 2. Fashion, aesthetic and hair games were one of the top growing themes in 2020, seeing a 109 percent lift year-over-year. Fashion games found the majority of their success in the U.S., India, and Brazil. 3. The fashion game landscape is still evolving with newer games leading the growth in 2020, creating more opportunities for creative developers. In terms of gameplay, newer fashion games are shifting away from 2D Cartoon, and moving toward 3D visuals.

Conclusion

● Hypercasual games enjoyed an overall download lift across global mobile game market in 2020, with installs rising 123 percent year-over-year. Simulation games also stood out as one of the genres that showed great potential for 2021, after seeing a 92 percent growth surge in 2020. The genre’s recent success in markets like India and Brazil set it on a similar path to that seen by Hypercasual in 2020.

● 2D Cartoon and the Side POV were the primary elements for top visuals in mobile games in 2020, but recent trends suggest that things are changing. Isometric POV nearly overtook Side POV with 27 percent of downloads in 2020, rising from 24 percent in 2019. It’s evident that mobile games are on the way to increasing gameplay variety, especially among newer titles.

● Popular Mid-Core themes are finding success with Puzzle games, such as Combat Arena, Superhero, and Military. As one of the pioneers for cross-genre Puzzle gene games, Top War gained 22 million downloads in its first year of release. It’s critical that cross-genre themes not be overlooked by developers as they may open doors for creativity and untapped markets.

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