Hypercasual Game Report: hypercasual mobile games now the most downloaded genre in the post-IDFA era

Pangle, the ad network of TikTok For Business and games industry research experts, Newzoo, have released a new report looking into the latest facts and figures showing the continuing success of the hypercasual mobile games genre. The report - Pangle & Newzoo: Mobile Game Genre Report, Comparing & Contrasting the Hypercasual Genre in Eastern and Western Markets - found hypercasual games continue to lead the most-downloaded charts in several key global markets even after Apple’s changes to mobile ad targeting, which was expected to disproportionately affect hypercasual games.

The report found publishers focusing on ways to improve retention and find new revenue opportunities. Publishers are combining meta gameplay elements from other popular genres like Puzzle and Simulation to add depth and replay value, as well as creating additional monetization opportunities. Adding specific localization around in-game events, ad creatives, and UI has also helped hypercasual games to appeal to gamers in Eastern markets. Meanwhile, casual and mid-core publishers have been quick to capitalize on the large hypercasual user base in order to cross-promote their own titles through in-app ads.

Download the report to find out:

Hypercasual was the most downloaded genre of mobile games in 2021 in the US, UK, Japan and South Korea despite IDFA regulations. The number of hypercasual games in the top 100 download charts in those countries grew year on year from 14% in 2018 to 36% in 2021. It seems that in the post IDFA era, the hypercasual genre is faced with less UA challenge compared to other casual and midcore games due to its broad targeting strategy.
Despite large download numbers, hypercasual games struggle with player retention. The average Day-7 retention for mobile games is around 20%; however, the rate often falls below 10% for hypercasual games.
Hypercasual game design is shifting towards “hybrid-casual” as developers deepen the game loop in a bid to improve player retention. For example, Supersonics’ Join Clash has added RPG mechanics to its gameplay loop, and Rollics’ Tangle Master 3D has added a pet-based metagame.