As 2024 unfolds, the mobile gaming landscape is witnessing a significant shift with newer titles overtaking long-standing industry giants. This trend is highlighted in Sensor Tower and data.ai's Q1 2024 Mobile Market Overview, revealing the evolving market dynamics, rising genres, and the latest high-earning games.

In a surprising turn of events, Honkai: Star Rail has outperformed Genshin Impact in revenue, while Royal Match has surpassed the beloved Candy Crush. These developments indicate a year of change, with fresh faces challenging established leaders in the mobile gaming space.

The first quarter of 2024 saw Monopoly GO! emerge as the highest-earning mobile game in key markets such as the US, UK, France, Canada, and Singapore, as well as globally. The game's impressive financial performance has notably boosted the entire casino genre's revenue by 34%.

Scopely’s blockbuster game has generated $2 billion in its first 10 months, securing its place at the top of Sensor Tower’s revenue charts. Despite its massive earnings, Monopoly GO! did not make it to the global top 10 downloads chart, possibly due to its costly user acquisition strategy.

Tencent’s Honor of Kings ranked second in revenue, despite being restricted to China. The game’s impending global launch is likely to amplify its earnings further. Notably, Monopoly GO! set a new quarterly revenue record with over $770 million, surpassing the previous record of $765 million set by Honor of Kings in Q2 2021.

Royal Match joined the exclusive club of games earning over $500 million in a single quarter, ranking as the third-highest earner in Q1. This achievement allowed Royal Match to dethrone the long-standing match-3 leader, Candy Crush.

Continuing the trend of new games outpacing older ones, Honkai: Star Rail generated more revenue than Genshin Impact, securing the ninth spot, with Genshin Impact trailing at tenth. This is a remarkable feat for Star Rail, considering it was initially slower to reach $1 billion in revenue compared to its predecessor.

In another sign of shifting fortunes, Pokémon Go did not make it to the top 10 revenue generators of Q1 2024, although it remained popular in Australia, the UK, and the US.

Across all genres, RPGs maintained their position as the most lucrative genre worldwide, highlighting the continued appeal of role-playing games in the mobile market.

As 2024 progresses, these emerging trends and the rise of new champions in mobile gaming underscore the dynamic nature of the industry, where innovation and fresh content continue to drive success.

Source: adapted from an article by Aaron Astle, News Editor for PocketGamer.biz.