Top Games for May – Monthly Roundup On Top Grossing Games and Industry Insights

Once a month (or perhaps more) we’re going to do a roundup of the top grossing and downloaded games for iOS and Android to analyze trends and see how the industry of mobile gaming is moving.

Let’s begin with the top free downloaded games on iOS and Android:

iOS

1. aquapark.io
2. Fun Race 3D
3. Rope ‘n’ Roll
4. Pottery
5. Color Hole 3D
6. Jetpack Jump
7. Rope Around
8. Traffic Run!
9. Magic Tiles 3
10. Talking Tom Hero Dash

Android

1. Bottle Flip 3D
2. Kick the Buddy
3. Rope Around!
4. Stack Ball
5. Traffic Run!
6. Run Race 3D
7. Tiles Hop: EDM Rush!
8. House Paint
9. Talking Tom Hero Dash
10. Roblox

A first look at the free games reveals some interesting things. There are no RPG’s on this list. There are no Gacha games. There are no geolocation games or AR-based games. And if we wordcloud the descriptions for these games in the above list, we’ll find “fast” and “run” and “dash” as the most common words. Up front, it seems the widest appeal right now in free downloads is quick games with addictive gameplay and short durations.

Let’s take a look at top paid games by downloads:

iOS

1. Minecraft
2. Plague Inc.
3. Heads Up!
4. Bloons TD 6
5. Geometry Dash
6. Papa’s Freezeria
7. True Skate
8. Evertale
9. NBA 2K19
10. Bloons TD 5

Android

1. Minecraft
2. Evertale
3. The Game of Life
4. Bloons TD 6
5. Geometry Dash
6. Stardew Valley
7. Five Nights at Freddy’s
8. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
9. Terraria
10. Cytus II

For paid games, we get more franchise names we recognize like Minecraft, Evertale, NBA 2K, Stardew Valley and Grand Theft Auto. We still end up with some party games like Heads Up (perfect substitute for Charades or Hangman) and some fast games like Geometry Dash. And we get a more Pokemon style game in Evertale, but still no classic RPG’s really. There isn’t a clear trend here other than games with strong mechanics and gameplay.

Finally, let’s take a look at top grossing:

iOS

1. Candy Crush Saga
2. Clash of Clans
3. Toon Blast
4. Pokemon Go
5. Roblox
6. Game of Thrones: Conquest
7. Fortnite
8. Homescapes
9. PUBG Mobile
10. Clash Royale

Android

1. Pokemon Go
2. Candy Crush Saga
3. PUBG Mobile
4. Coin Master
5. Slotomania Slots
6. Homescapes
7. Toon BLast
8. Township
9. Game of Thrones: Conquest
10. Dragon Ball Legends

What’s particularly interesting about all of these top-grossing games is all of them are free. All of them have in-app purchases, both cosmetic and progression based, and all have done over 2 Million in Revenue as of May 2019 worldwide. Another interesting trend is looking at total downloads versus total dollar amount earned. Pokemon go had 3 million downloads and 21 million in revenue for an average of $7 per person. Dragon Ball Legends had 400,000 downloads and 2 million in revenue for an average of $5 per person in revenue. Coin Master did 3 million downloads and 18 million in revenue for a $6 per person rate. It seems like most of the games are falling in that $5-$7 per person rate of revenue per download. Candy Crush Saga was an outlier at a lower $2.77 rate, but it had 9 million downloads. The spectrum of games on this list also includes more popular and recognizable genres. First person shooter in PubG Mobile. RTS in Game of Thrones. Fighting Game in DBZ. Augmented Reality and Geolocation in Pokemon Go. It’s a much wider array of recognizable genres.

Looking at stats like this can always be interesting. Stats in this article were pulled from Sensortower.com and we’ll keep taking a look at the mobile gaming space once a month to see how things trend over time as well. Keep checking back with us here at Gamepress for all the latest mobile news!