2026 APAC Mobile Game Trends: What Data Reveals About the Future of Mobile Gaming in Asia Pacific
In 2025, The global mobile gaming market is experiencing contrasting trends: declining downloads and rising revenue. Global downloads decreased from approximately 51.3 billion in 2021 to an estimated 48.4 billion in 2025.
Conversely, revenue during the same period grew from approximately USD $82.0 billion to USD $85.3 billion. This signals a market shift from quantitative to qualitative growth, where fewer users are consuming games more deeply and for longer durations.
However, a closer examination of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) market reveals a different narrative. While some nations are experiencing sharp increases in downloads, creating new opportunities, others have entered a stable, revenue-focused growth phase. This indicates that growth patterns across APAC markets are diversifying significantly.
This analysis provides a comprehensive review of download and revenue data from the past five years across 25 APAC countries—including South Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, and India—to outline how market dynamics differ across regions. We offer insights to help you understand the dynamic changes in the APAC mobile game market and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
*This content was developed by Airflux based on data from Sensor Tower, a leading mobile and digital economy intelligence platform.
APAC Mobile Game Download and Revenue Trends
Amidst Global Declines, South Asian Emerging Markets Lead APAC Download Growth
Over the past five years, the global mobile game market has entered a gradual adjustment phase following its rapid pandemic-era expansion. What is notable, however, is that APAC's share of total downloads has shown a slight increase despite the overall global downturn.
As of September 2025, global mobile game downloads totaled approximately 35.3 billion, with APAC accounting for 15.3 billion—43% of the total. Furthermore, mobile game downloads in the APAC region are projected to exceed 20 billion by the end of this year, further solidifying its global presence. While global downloads have been declining post-pandemic, APAC's market share began to rise slightly in 2023, reaching a record high in 2025.
Notably, India and Indonesia have maintained their positions as the #1 and #2 download markets within APAC for five consecutive years, demonstrating stable market leadership. Pakistan has shown a rapid increase in downloads, entering the APAC top 5 for downloads and ranking in the top 3 for the first time in 2025.
The APAC market is acting as a stabilizing force for global growth, maintaining robust demand even as worldwide downloads decrease. The rapid growth in emerging South Asian markets, particularly Pakistan, is a key trend to watch in 2026.
APAC Revenue Stabilizes, with South Korea Leading a Rebound
After its post-pandemic adjustment period, revenue in the APAC mobile game market has now entered a phase of stabilization.
As of September 2025, global mobile game revenue reached approximately USD $61.0 billion, with the APAC market contributing USD $27.5 billion (45%). Although APAC's revenue share has seen a moderate decline from 51% in 2021 to 45% in 2025, the region has shown signs of recovery since 2023. With 2025 revenue expected to return to pre-pandemic levels, the market has clearly entered a stabilization phase post-adjustment.
An analysis of country-specific revenue shows that China (iOS), Japan, and South Korea remain the core drivers in the APAC market, with Korea showing particularly strong growth compared to other markets.
In Q3 2025, South Korea's mobile game revenue was approximately $1.4 billion, —14.7% of APAC’s total—marking its highest level in five years. This is the combined result of successful new IP-based titles such as Seven Knights Re:BIRTH and Mabinogi Mobile, as well as event-driven revenue spikes from top-ranking games like Whiteout Survival and Last War: Survival.
The APAC market is maintaining a stable revenue structure despite mild stagnation in high-expenditure countries. South Korea and Japan remain premium, content-driven markets with high purchasing power, serving as a critical high-profit base for global publishers.
In contrast, emerging South Asian countries such as India and Pakistan show lower revenue share but rapidly rising download volumes. This highlights a growing polarization within APAC between high-expenditure markets and high-acquisition (user inflow) markets.
To align with this trend, Publishers must adopt differentiated strategies:
• In high-spending markets, strengthen IP expansion and premium IAP models.
• In emerging markets, adopt lighter monetization models such as ad-based or reward-based play.
Mobile Game Genre Trends
Downloads: Simulation, Puzzle, and Arcade Dominate, While Shooting Games Rise Again
In the 2025 APAC mobile game market, the Simulation, Puzzle, and Arcade genres are leading downloads, each maintaining a double-digit share. Within the Puzzle genre, Block Blast recorded its highest-ever monthly downloads in 2025, driving overall genre's growth. In the Arcade category, Hole.io, originally released in 2018, has regained momentum by showing renewed growth this year.
Meanwhile, the Action genre, which held the #5 rank for three consecutive years (2022-2024), was overtaken by the Shooting genre in 2025. The sustained popularity of Garena Free Fire, and the rapid rise of new releases last year like FPS Strike Ops and Delta Force have expanded the genre’s influence and strengthened its position.
Revenue: RPG Declines, While Strategy and Shooting Emerge as New Growth Engines
In 2025, RPG and strategy remain the two dominant revenue drivers in the APAC mobile gaming market. However, the RPG share has gradually declined from 41% in 2021 to 29% in 2025. Meanwhile, the Strategy genre reached a five-year high of 28% and surpassed RPG revenue during three different months.
While several RPG titles are performing consistently, the genre's overall revenue growth has slowed. Conversely, the Strategy genre is experiencing clear revenue momentum, with Honor of Kings and Whiteout Survival setting new personal monthly revenue records in January and August, respectively.
Furthermore, the Shooting genre (8%) is expanding its influence in revenue as well as downloads. Game for Peace (和平精英) maintains steady revenue, while Delta Force has shown remarkable growth, infusing new vitality into the shooting market.
APAC Mobile Game Rankings
Top 10 Mobile Games by Download
In South Korea, Japan, and China, domestically developed IP-based games continue to show strength, with representative local titles populating the top download ranks. These markets, supported by robust, independent game development ecosystems, exhibit a download structure distinct from the broader APAC trend.
However, Block Blast has achieved widespread popularity across APAC (excluding China and India), securing a top-ranking position. It hit a local milestone in Indonesia in May 2025 with over 7 million downloads. Since June, Vietnam has consistently been the #1 country for its downloads in APAC, indicating the growing appeal of puzzle content across Southeast Asia.
In India, traditional board games and accessible mobile games that perform well on low-spec devices remain popular. Thanks to this characteristic, Ludo King secured the #3 download spot in APAC, supported by an overwhelming user base in India. Similar titles like Zupee Ludo also rank highly, enjoying sustained popularity.
Top 10 Mobile Games by Revenue
Honor of Kings and Game for Peace (和平精英) maintain a solid revenue performance in China, ranking #1 and #3 in APAC revenue. Meanwhile, Whiteout Survival achieved record-high monthly revenue in China, Korea, and Japan, solidifying its role as a leading example of strategy genre growth.
Last War: Survival also maintained a steady revenue momentum in Korea and Japan, ranking #4 in APAC. The multi-region success of these titles demonstrates that the Strategy genre has overcome regional concentration and proven its potential for global revenue expansion.
In the South Korean market, new RPG titles such as Seven Knights Re:BIRTH, Mabinogi Mobile, RF Online Next, and Vampir contributed to market vitality with stable performance. Pokémon TCG Pocket, launched in Japan in late 2024, has sustained its popularity throughout this year, ranking #1 in Japan and #6 in APAC. Dungeon & Fighter Mobile ranked #5 in China and #9 in APAC. Both titles successfully drove revenue growth through a combination of strong IP recognition and region-specific localized content.
In India, Garena Free Fire and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) led revenue, positioning shooting games as the country’s core monetization category. eFootball also performed strongly across Japan, India, and Southeast Asia—the only sports title to enter APAC’s overall top 10.
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