Most Popular Mobile Games (2023)

Mobile games make up the majority of video games released each year, with thousands of new additions to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store every year.

By the mid-2010s, mobile games had surpassed console and PC in volume and revenues, and that gap has continued to widen into the 2020s, with mobile games accounting for over 50 percent of game revenues.

In terms of popularity, hundreds of mobile games have surpassed 500 million cumulative downloads, with over a dozen even breaching the one billion mark. Candy Crush Saga, Garena Free Fire, PUBG Mobile, and Subway Surfers are just a few of the games to break the billion mark.

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As mobile games have matured, the amount of game genres has expanded to include everything from shooters to adventure to racing. Mobile has also opened the door to new sub-genres of games, such as merge, match-3, idle simulators, and hypercasual.

Unlike console and PC, the vast majority of games launched on mobile are free to play. For a lot of games, revenue comes in the form of micro-transactions for cosmetics and other improvements, alongside ads.

While this may have created a substandard experience for competitive gameplay, it has also enabled millions of people in lower income countries to enjoy the experience of playing shooters and RPGs, which were previously mostly played in Western countries.

Developers of popular PC and console games now look at mobile as a bridge to a new market, with Activision, EA Games, Riot Games, and Ubisoft all launching titles specifically for mobile which mimic their console releases, but with lower computational requirements.

We have collected data and statistics on the most popular games. Read on below to find out more.

Most Popular Games Key Statistics

• Subway Surfers was the most popular mobile game in 2022 with 304 million downloads
• It was the most popular game on both iOS and Google Play
• Stumble Guys saw the most growth, with 200 million more downloads in 2022 than 2021

Most Popular Games by Country

China, India, the United States, and Japan are the three largest countries for mobile game downloads.

Most Popular Games 2022

Subway Surfers was the most popular game for the second year in a row. Stumble Guys saw the most growth in 2022, reaching second place with over 250 million downloads.

Sources: Apptopia

Most Popular Games in United States 2022

Subway Surfers was the most popular game in the United States as well, with 51 million downloads in 2022. Roblox edged out Stumble Guys for second place.

Source: AppMagic

Most Popular Games in United Kingdom 2022

A clone of the New York Times popular word game, Wordle, was the most popular game in the United Kingdom, reaching 5.1 million downloads.

Source: AppMagic

Most Popular Games in India 2022

Ludo King was the most popular game in India with over 100 million downloads in 2022. Free Fire MAX, a new version of Garena Free Fire, came second with 82 million downloads.

Source: AppMagic

Most Popular Games by Platform

Google Play is responsible for more downloads than the Apple App Store, however, Apple generates more consumer spending.

Most Popular Games on Apple App Store 2022

Subway Surfers and Stumble Guys were the most popular apps on the Apple App Store, with Roblox dropping to third.

Sources: Apptopia, AppMagic

Most Popular Games on Google Play Store 2022

Subway Surfers was the most popular app on the Google Play Store in 2022, followed by Stumble Guys and Ludo King.

Sources: Apptopia, AppMagic

Most Popular Games by Category

There are many categories of games, with some blending into two or three.

Most Popular Arcade Games 2022

The two most popular games of 2022 were in the arcade category. Hyper-casual games Bridge Race and Going Balls both reached over 100 million downloads.

Sources: Apptopia, AppMagic

Most Popular Puzzle Games 2022

Candy Crush Saga was the most popular puzzle game in 2022. Fishdom and Bubble Shooter are off-shoots of Candy Crush, with similar gameplay.

Sources: Apptopia, AppMagic

Most Popular RPG Games 2022

Mobile Legends, developed by a subsidiary of ByteDance, was the most downloaded role-playing game in 2022.

Sources: Apptopia, AppMagic

Most Popular Simulation Games 2022

The ‘My Talking’ series dominated the simulation genre in 2022, with five of top ten apps from the studio.

Sources: Apptopia, AppMagic

Most Popular Adventure Games 2022

Craft games were the most popular sub-genre of adventure in 2022, with five of the top 10 most downloaded having craft in their name.

Sources: Apptopia, AppMagic

Most Popular Shooter Games 2022

The most popular shooters were from Garena, the publisher behind Free Fire and Free Fire MAX. The majority of downloads came from India.

Sources: Apptopia, AppMagic

Most Popular Strategy Games 2022

Merge Master: Dinosaur Monster was the most popular strategy game in 2022, with over 100 million downloads.

Sources: Apptopia, AppMagic

Most Popular Games Publishers

AZUR Games, which have developed a lot of hyper-casual titles like Stack Ball, Worms Zone.io and Tank Stars, were the top publisher by annual downloads. It has released over 600 titles.

Source: AppMagic