AppsFlyer's 2026 Mobile Gaming Report: Key Insights for Marketers

The report is prepared in collaboration with Unity and Newzoo. The analysis covers 24.8 billion installs in 2025, 14.1 billion paid installs, and 9.6 thousand games with at least 10 thousand paid installs per quarter. Paid UA trends The share of paid installs increased by 10% YoY on both iOS and Android, alongside a 20% growth in ad impressions over the same period. Competition for user attention is intensifying, with AI cited as one of the key accelerators. On Android, paid installs account for 57% of total installs. On iOS, the figure is 44%. Hypercasual games remain the most dependent on paid traffic: 81% of traffic on Android and 67% on iOS is paid. For casual games, the share of paid traffic on Android is 54% (+18% YoY). For midcore games on iOS, paid traffic accounts for 22% (+32% YoY). Transform your online store into an LTV powerhouse with Xsolla’s LiveOps tools - run dynamic, segmented campaigns to drive an 80% repeat purchase rate, and boost player retention by 15%+ using in-game synchronized offers and loyalty shops. Time-limited promos, login bonuses, and referral programs can lift player engagement and help grow ARPPU by 20%+, all through an intuitive interface built for fast campaign launches, deep personalization, and maximum revenue impact. Earn more with Xsolla! Regional specifics add additional complexity. In the US, for example, the share of paid traffic in casual games increased by 18% in 2025. On iOS, paid traffic in midcore games grew by 25%, while in hypercasual games it increased by 10%. In the UK, the share of paid UA on iOS increased in casino games (+13% YoY), hypercasual games (+10%), and midcore games (+30%). In non-Western regions (like Vietnam or Turkey), organic traffic plays a much larger role. For example, in Japan, on Android in Q4’25, the share of paid traffic for midcore games was just 17%. By comparison, in the US during the same quarter, it was 48%. On iOS, however, the figures are much closer between the two countries. In 2025, game companies spent approximately $25 billion on UA (+3.8% YoY). iOS spending grew by 6%, while Android spending increased by 2%. In 2025, by absolute numbers, Android UA spend was 8% higher than iOS. Around 50% of the total UA spend came from the US. However, spending in the US still declined by 5% YoY due to high acquisition costs and intense competition. In contrast, spending grew by 29% in Turkey and by 19% in India. Casual games account for half of total UA spend across both platforms. At the same time, UA spend on Android declined by 7% YoY, while iOS saw a slight increase (+1% YoY). Spending on midcore games grew on iOS (+26% YoY), but remained flat on Android. In the US, iOS midcore budgets surged by 43%, while in the UK they grew by 28%. In contrast, budgets fell by 25% in Japan and by 14% in South Korea. Spend on hypercasual games diverged by platform. Android grew by 14% YoY, driven by India (+60%), Mexico (+36%), South Africa (+34%), and the US (+6%). iOS declined by 14%, with both the US and the UK down 16%. Notably, India entered the top-3 countries by UA spend for social casino games in 2025. This may be linked to the ban on RMG games and a resulting shift of audiences toward other genres. Chinese companies scaling UA Chinese developers are aggressively expanding into overseas markets. In 2025, their UA spend outside China increased by 22%, bringing their share of total UA spend to 35%. Chinese companies increased spending in the US (+17%), the UK (+26%), Germany (+31%), France (+34%), Japan (+25%), and South Korea (+37%). On Android, spend grew by 29%, while on iOS it increased by 10%. In absolute terms, Chinese developers spent twice as much on Android as on iOS in 2025. The strongest growth in Chinese UA spending was in hypercasual (+61% YoY) and casual (+28% YoY) games. Spending on midcore games also increased (+8% YoY). Chinese companies are actively investing in LATAM. Spending rose by 55% in Mexico and by 17% in Brazil. Growing markets by UA spend UA spend on midcore games increased in 2025 by 35% in Bangladesh and by 90% in Bulgaria. UA spend on casual games grew across Africa: +80% in Nigeria, +72% in Kenya, and +37% in South Africa. UA spend on hypercasual games increased by 20–30% YoY in Kenya and Bulgaria. UA spend on casino games is growing across Europe, including France, Romania, and Poland. Looking across all genres, iOS UA spend is growing strongly in Latin America, Mongolia (+22% YoY), and Kazakhstan (+14% YoY). On Android, there are fewer growing markets, with most of Latin America in decline except Venezuela, where spend increased by 32% YoY. Creative production trends The top UA spenders produced around 2.4–2.6 thousand creatives per quarter per app in 2025. This represents a 25–30% increase YoY, largely driven by AI. Smaller advertisers (spending under $500K per quarter) increased creative production by 20–40% YoY. Companies spending between $0.5M and $1M did not show growth in this metric. Companies spending $1–4M produced fewer creatives than in 2024, averaging around 1,000 creatives per quarter. ❗️My assumption is that this is either a sample issue, or these companies are stuck in an awkward position: their scale prevents fast and efficient iteration, while they lack the resources for large-scale creative production. Working with ad channels iOS advertisers use more channels per quarter than Android advertisers. The difference is especially visible among large companies, where iOS uses 15% more channels than Android. Casino advertisers traditionally have the widest media mix. The largest advertisers use 8 or more channels per quarter. Hypercasual-focused companies, by contrast, typically work with 4–5 channels. While the situation changes year to year, diversification on iOS remains a consistent long-term trend. IAP and IAA revenue in 2025 According to Newzoo, the global games market grew by 7.5% YoY in 2025, reaching $197 billion. Mobile revenue reached $108 billion (+7.7% YoY). 66% of iOS IAP revenue comes from Western countries, with the US alone accounting for 45%. By comparison, Western countries generate 55% of Android IAP revenue, with the US representing 32%. In midcore games, Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea together account for around 40% of IAP revenue among the top-15 countries. The market is far from stable. For example, IAP revenue in casual games fell by 37% in Brazil and by 35% in India, but grew by 31% in South Africa on iOS. In France on Android in 2025, IAP revenue grew across casino (+29%), casual (+11%), hypercasual (+39%), and midcore games (+12%). In Vietnam, hypercasual ad revenue declined by 23% on Android and by 37% on iOS. At the same time, casino ad revenue increased (+17% on Android and +9% on iOS). Overall, Western countries dominate ad revenue share: 81% of total ad revenue on iOS and 65% on Android. Ad revenue growth is primarily observed in developing markets. For example, Turkey’s IAA revenue grew by 25% YoY, while casino ad revenue in Turkey increased by 110% on iOS and by 33% on Android. ❗️These charts are not easy to read in this format, so I recommend viewing them directly on the report’s website. Transform your online store into an LTV powerhouse with Xsolla’s LiveOps tools - run dynamic, segmented campaigns to drive an 80% repeat purchase rate, and boost player retention by 15%+ using in-game synchronized offers and loyalty shops. Time-limited promos, login bonuses, and referral programs can lift player engagement and help grow ARPPU by 20%+, all through an intuitive interface built for fast campaign launches, deep personalization, and maximum revenue impact. Earn more with Xsolla! Modern monetization approaches Hybrid monetization (IAP + IAA) continues to gain popularity, but is currently present in less than 30% of games. Only 15% of midcore games and 20% of casino games use both monetization models. Casual games (33%) and hypercasual games (32%) adopt hybrid monetization more actively. Use of AppsFlyer AI Assistant 46% of all queries from developers and publishers across genres relate to reports and breakdowns. Midcore and casino developers more often turn to the assistant for help explaining anomalies and changes. Developers of high-LTV games use AI for deeper product insights.