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This month’s report explores performance benchmarks for hybrid-casual mobile games, Steam sales comparisons between Clair Obscur and Oblivion Remastered, and the latest trends in creative strategy and advertising. It also includes updated benchmarks for developer-publisher contracts, detailed breakdowns of user loyalty and monetization, major investment shifts in gaming AI and infrastructure, as well as cross-platform sales and MAU insights from sources like Newzoo, AppMagic, and Circana.
Key topics covered:
- Growth of hybrid-casual games and subgenres driving in-app revenue
- New benchmarks in payer conversion and ARPU for puzzle titles
- Shifting creative strategies across ad platforms and formats
- Breakout PC and console launches and their early sales performance
- Microsoft’s expanding impact on PlayStation’s bestsellers
- Continued rise of AI investment, with a shift toward content creation tools
Key Highlights from the Report
Platform and Player Insights
- PC and console users are spending less time in games: 40% of PC players and 36% of console players game under 5 hours per week.
- Microsoft-published titles made up 69% of PlayStation’s top 5 games by sales in April.
- Clair Obscur sold 3.3x more than Persona 5 Royal on Steam during its first week.
Creative Performance & UA Trends
- The top 2% of game creatives captured 53% of marketing spend in Q1 2025.
- Victory-ending videos increase IPM by 33%, but failure-ending ads perform 65% better on social platforms.
- Celebrity-focused creatives underperform across IPM and retention metrics.
Mobile Market Metrics
- Puzzle games achieved the highest Day 30 payer share — 7.06% on Android and 7.82% on iOS.
- Color Block Jam generated $25M in Q1 2025, up from just $175K the previous quarter.
- Gossip Harbor hit a new record with $39.9M in monthly revenue in April.
Investment and Business Trends
- $1.8B was invested in gaming AI tools from 2020 to 2024, with $1.2B going to content creation startups.
- AI now accounts for 65% of all infrastructure-related gaming tech investments.
- Publishing contracts in 2025 offer an average 58.2% revenue share to developers when advances are involved.
Why This Report Matters
This report offers a clear, data-backed view of where the global game market is heading. It covers shifting player behavior, monetization benchmarks, creative trends, AI investment, and platform performance, giving product, UA, and strategy teams the insights they need to make smarter decisions.
Get the latest GameDev Report
Stay tuned for more updates next month!
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