With the rise of mobile internet, the mobile gaming industry has become a cornerstone of global digital entertainment. Mobile games are everywhere, fundamentally changing the way people play and engage with content.
Now, the industry stands at a pivotal moment — shifting from rapid expansion to refined, data-driven operations, where every strategic move can shape a game’s success or failure.
To help industry professionals stay ahead, SocialPeta has partnered with NewsBreak to release the report Insights into Global Mobile Game Marketing Trends for H1 2025. This comprehensive report highlights key trends and offers actionable insights for navigating the evolving mobile game landscape.
This white paper presents a deep dive into the latest global mobile game marketing trends, highlighting the following key insights:
- The advertising advantage is diminishing, giving rise to a closed-loop competitive model where content, monetization, and user acquisition are tightly interlinked. A game’s success now hinges on seamless collaboration between product and marketing teams, as well as their ability to execute rapid iterations and optimizations.
- Mid-core and hardcore game categories are entering a saturated market. Genres such as SLG and RPG are experiencing limited growth and are exploring hybrid gameplay models — such as tower defense + idle or RPG + simulation — to drive innovation and engagement.
- “Light traffic” acquisition strategies are becoming less effective, prompting marketers to shift budgets toward high-quality user segments. Compared with the broad acquisition tactics of 2022–2023, H1 2025 is characterized by more precise targeting, focusing on users with higher retention rates and stronger LTV, particularly on iOS.
- Creative fatigue is becoming increasingly challenging. The pace of creative iteration has accelerated from quarterly to monthly, and now even to weekly cycles. In mature markets, the average creative lifespan is often less than five days, demanding faster, smarter ad production strategies.
This report is designed to equip game publishers and marketers with actionable insights to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive and fast-evolving mobile gaming landscape.
The white paper offers an in-depth analysis across six major game genres — strategy, RPG, puzzle, casual, simulation, and casino — alongside detailed breakdowns of key global regions, including North America, Japan and Korea, Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and South America.
Nearly 7K new mobile game advertisers monthly; RPGs lead with 250+ creatives per game
In H1 2025, global mobile game advertising activity experienced robust growth. The average number of active advertisers per month surpassed 78K, up 17.2% year over year, and peaked at nearly 90K in June. On average, 6,900 new advertisers entered the market each month, with April alone exceeding 7,900. New advertisers accounted for 8.8% of the monthly total, highlighting both the growing vitality of the market and the rising intensity of competition.
Advertising trends in global mobile games in H1 2025
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Source: SocialPeta
New advertiser activity in H1 2025 showed strong momentum. On average, more than 81% of advertisers released new creatives each month — an 18.2% year-over-year increase. After March, this proportion consistently remained above 80%. The share of new creatives also experienced significant growth, peaking at over 60% in April and averaging 57% across the period, up 5.7% year over year. The continued rise in both new advertiser participation and creative output points to an accelerated pace of creative iteration across the industry.
Trends in new ad creatives for global mobile games in H1 2025
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Source: SocialPeta
According to H1 2025 data on top-performing mobile game genres, RPGs remained the most competitive, averaging 251 creatives per month — the highest among all categories — followed closely by strategy games with 216 creatives. Casino games stood out with impressive growth: their share of advertisers rose to second place at 20.6% (+9.9% year over year), while their share of creatives ranked third at 11.2% (+5.7% year over year). In contrast, casual games experienced a decline in both advertiser presence and creative output, signaling a shift in genre momentum.
Advertising analysis of global mobile games by genre in H1 2025
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Source: SocialPeta
Booming North American mobile game market in H1 2025
In H1 2025, the North American mobile game market saw significant expansion. The number of advertisers climbed to 80.3K, reflecting a 25.8% year-over-year increase, while total creative volume soared to 13.6 million, up 36.4% year over year. The influx of new titles featuring unique gameplay mechanics further heightened competition across genres.
Analysis of marketing in North America
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Source: SocialPeta
Local news platforms followed well-defined strategies for creative production. Native ad formats focused on providing a non-intrusive, seamless experience, featuring concise, soft-sell headlines and a natural visual style that blended effortlessly with editorial content. Landing pages leveraged educational material and user reviews to enhance credibility and drive conversions.
Senior-friendly ad designs specifically targeted older audiences by incorporating large fonts, simple and clear language, calming background music, and slow-paced explanations. Featuring real, trustworthy figures further enhanced credibility, making the ads easier to see, understand, and trust.
Effective creative formula for local news platforms I
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Source: NewsBreak
Other creative strategies included “thrill-spot focus” and “emotional resonance”
The thrill-spot focus approach highlighted key gameplay moments and core benefits within seconds, paired with strong calls to action, fitting background music, and live-action appearances to encourage immediate downloads.
Meanwhile, the emotional resonance approach relied on relatable storytelling, genuine user reviews, emotionally driven content, and clear instructions to spark user interest. Both strategies helped mobile games effectively connect with audiences via North American news platforms.
Effective creative formula for local news platforms II
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Source: NewsBreak
This white paper also provides an in-depth analysis of the full marketing cycles of four standout mobile games from H1 2025:
- Screwdom: A casual hit featuring nail-pulling mechanics
- Penguin GO!: A mini game representing successful global expansion
- Wuthering Waves: The fastest-growing anime-style mobile game
- Kingshot: A high-quality SLG title from a leading global developer
Packed with valuable insights, this report spans over 60 pages and offers the latest, most comprehensive data and forward-looking perspectives to empower your global expansion success.
Download your copy today and stay ahead in this fast-evolving market.
