GameRefinery has released a report on casual mobile games as of March 2022. The study analyzes key trends for this category in the US market, including meta and competitive elements.
Key takeaways from the report
- Meta gameplay is featured in 70 out of the top 100 grossing iOS games in the US, with these elements becoming an essential part of casual titles’ success.
- Construction and renovation are one of the most popular meta elements in mobile casual gaming.
- All games in the top 10 grossing iOS titles in the US from the last two years contain renovation elements.
- Construction is featured in 49% of the US top 100 grossing match-3 games on iOS, which is a significant increase compared to only 7% six years ago.
Top iOS games and their current market share within the Casual genre in the US
- Best performing match-3 games like Candy Crush Saga have started to add more competitive elements. It results in higher appeal to competitive players, which is a completely different approach from most match-3 titles in the market.
Casual player motivations (Candy Crush Saga vs. an average match-3 game)
The full report can be downloaded here.