Global Mobile Games in August: Temple Run and Subway Surfers Stay Popular After 10 Years

With the aid of its App Intelligence and other modules, SocialPeta analyzed the top 20 global mobile games by revenue, downloads, and advertising in August 2022. The goal was to help mobile game developers, publishers, and marketers understand changes in the global mobile market.

The August rankings highlighted several notable shifts:

• Fate/Grand Order recorded a major revenue surge. Its seventh-anniversary celebration helped drive a 150% month-over-month increase in App Store revenue.
• Uma Musume Pretty Derby faced weaker revenue performance. Revenue declined in Japan, while its recently released South Korean version faced significant criticism and a sharp rating decline.
• Long-running parkour games returned to the download rankings. Subway Surfers, Temple Run, and Talking Tom Gold Run demonstrated renewed momentum years after their original releases.
• Advertising rankings shifted toward midcore and hardcore games. A large number of new advertisers entered the charts while some previously prominent puzzle titles reduced their creative volume.

The ranking charts use App Store and Google Play data and exclude third-party Android distribution channels.

Several global mobile games reported strong revenue growth in August as major events, anniversary campaigns, collaborations, and new content updates encouraged player spending.

Fate/Grand Order Surges During Its Seventh Anniversary

Although Fate/Grand Order had already been on the market for seven years, it continued to generate substantial revenue. During August, the Japanese version ran its seventh-anniversary celebration alongside several high-profile updates, including the return of popular character Ryōgi Shiki, a collaboration with Tsukihime, and new summer-themed content.

Supported by frequent and highly anticipated character-pool updates, the game generated nearly $70 million from the App Store and Google Play combined. App Store revenue rose 150% month over month, while Google Play revenue increased 63.4%. SocialPeta noted that this represented the game's highest revenue level of the year at that point.

The Japanese version was also reported to have generated more than 10 billion yen during the month.

Uma Musume Pretty Derby Revenue Declines

In contrast, Uma Musume Pretty Derby experienced weaker performance. Revenue from the Japanese version declined across both major stores, falling 25% month over month on the App Store and 13.4% on Google Play.

The South Korean version, which had launched in June 2022, also faced a serious reputation problem amid criticism of its local operation. Its Google Play rating fell to 1.4, while Google Play revenue declined 33.2% month over month in August.

Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG Mobile Benefit from Major Collaborations

Tencent's shooter games also continued to attract spending. In August, Call of Duty: Mobile released the new New Vision City version, introducing content based on Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045.

The title generated nearly $15 million from the App Store during August, representing a 38.3% month-over-month increase.

PUBG Mobile also launched a collaboration with BLACKPINK. The campaign included an in-game virtual concert as well as BLACKPINK-related voice content. With the collaboration attracting attention from both players and fans, PUBG Mobile generated more than $40 million from the App Store and Google Play combined during August.

August's download rankings showed renewed momentum for long-running games, with social platforms such as TikTok helping bring older titles back into mainstream attention. New casual games featuring dog-themed imagery also appeared on both the App Store and Google Play charts.

Subway Surfers Remains a Global Download Leader

Subway Surfers received about 19 million Google Play downloads in August, an increase of 2.7% month over month.

India contributed the largest share of downloads at 24.3%, followed by Brazil and Pakistan. SocialPeta attributed part of the title's renewed visibility in Brazil to racing-related content spreading through TikTok, including content associated with creator lexakt_.

The increased attention was also reflected in the game's global racing rankings, where a large number of Brazilian players appeared.

Temple Run and Talking Tom Gold Run Return to the Charts

Another veteran parkour title, Temple Run, gained renewed social-media attention through live-action parkour videos. The game recorded more than 10.3 million Google Play downloads in August, up 30.4% month over month.

At the time of publication, reports also suggested Warner Bros. was considering a film adaptation based on the Temple Run franchise.

Talking Tom Gold Run, another long-running runner title, also entered the rankings with about 2 million App Store downloads in August, up 26.7% month over month.

Antistress and Save the Doge Gain Momentum

Antistress, a casual mobile game released by JindoBlu in November 2016, also found a new audience. Its simple interactions and variety of playable objects attracted renewed attention through TikTok, helping the title reach 8.4 million Google Play downloads in August.

Save the Doge, published by Wonder Game, was new to both the App Store and Google Play rankings. Its dog-themed visuals, large-scale advertising activity, and line-drawing gameplay helped the title gain visibility quickly.

By the time covered by the article, Save the Doge had accumulated 12.5 million downloads.

The advertising rankings changed considerably in August. SocialPeta counted 27 newly ranked advertisers as a large number of mobile games increased creative output during the month.

Dog-Themed Games Become a Visible Advertising Trend

Dog-themed icons and characters became particularly noticeable. Three newly ranked mobile games featuring dog-related icons appeared in the top 20 advertising chart:

• 英雄戰紀, published by Bingchuan Network, released about 4,400 creatives across the App Store and Google Play combined, focusing mainly on Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.
• X-HERO, also from Bingchuan Network, released about 1,300 iOS creatives, primarily targeting Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Epic Heroes, published by Dinosaur Games, recorded the largest creative volume among the three at approximately 6,600 Android creatives, mainly targeting Brazil, Indonesia, and the United States.

MMO Games Scale Advertising in Asian Markets

SpringGame's MMO title 엑자일: 어벤징 파이어 began advertising on August 9 and had released more than 3,400 creatives across the App Store and Google Play combined.

Eskyfun's metaverse MMO 時之約 began advertising on July 27 and accumulated more than 6,000 creatives across the two stores. Its major target markets included Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Puzzle Games Reduce Creative Volume

Puzzle and casual games had less representation in the August advertising ranking. Compared with July, Word Trip and Daily Themed Crossword dropped out of the chart.

Coloring Book! released about 2,900 creatives across the App Store and Google Play, a 55.4% month-over-month decline. The advertiser fell 17 positions in the ranking.

1. Major live events and anniversary updates could still create substantial monetization spikes. Fate/Grand Order's seventh anniversary was the clearest example, with App Store revenue rising 150% month over month.
2. Older mobile games could regain meaningful acquisition momentum through social media. Subway Surfers, Temple Run, Talking Tom Gold Run, and Antistress all demonstrated renewed download activity years after launch.
3. Visual trends could spread quickly across both product positioning and advertising. Dog-themed games appeared in download and advertising rankings at the same time, with Save the Doge becoming one of the most visible examples.
4. The advertising mix was shifting. Midcore, hardcore, and MMO advertisers became more prominent, while several established puzzle games reduced their creative volume.