Global Mobile Games in February 2023: Dumb Ways to Die Surpasses 100M Downloads

With the help of SocialPeta's App Intelligence and other modules, SocialPeta reviewed the top 20 global mobile games by advertising, revenue, and downloads in February 2023. The rankings provide a snapshot of the changes taking place across the global mobile game market at the time.

Several developments stood out across the February rankings:

• Modo Global released the fantasy RPG Rage Mage, which also incorporated parkour-style mini-games.
• Competition among female-targeted mobile games remained intense, while dress-up title Magic Princess still generated more than 4 million downloads.
• The Dragon Ball mobile game recorded a 106% month-over-month revenue increase during its eighth-anniversary period, demonstrating the enduring influence of the Japanese IP.
• Century Games' apocalyptic simulation title Frozen City posted growth in both downloads and revenue.
• The long-running casual game Dumb Ways to Die returned to widespread attention through TikTok and surpassed 100 million lifetime downloads.

The February advertising chart included both established titles and newly launched games. Two cases highlighted in the original report were the newly launched Street Fighter mobile game and Modo Global's Rage Mage.

The Street Fighter mobile game published by A PLUS JAPAN launched on February 28. The wider Street Fighter franchise dates back to 1987 and was created by Japanese game company Capcom. The mobile title drew on the franchise's established fighting style, familiar characters, recognizable stages, and combat mechanics.

According to SocialPeta's Advertiser Analysis data cited in the original article, the game recorded approximately 3,400 deduplicated creatives during February.

• Puzzle, reading, and action media categories were among its three leading advertising-platform categories.
• The United States, Canada, and Australia were among its main advertising markets.
• Video represented 72.35% of its creatives during the previous 30 days.

The campaign clearly focused on existing Street Fighter fans and players interested in fighting games. The original article grouped recent creatives into three recurring approaches:

1. Live-action advertising: creatives used the idea that people who grew up playing Street Fighter in arcades could now play the franchise on mobile.
2. Character artwork and signature moves: popular characters such as Chun-Li, Ryu, and Ken appeared frequently.
3. Gameplay: creatives highlighted combat scenes and ultimate skills used by both sides.

A PLUS JAPAN was established in 2019, with businesses including game-IP licensing and international publishing. The original SocialPeta article noted that this gave the company an advantage in publishing mobile games adapted from Japanese anime and game IP. It also reported that A PLUS JAPAN completed a new financing round in September 2022 that included investment from SIG and Sony.

Modo Global's fantasy RPG Rage Mage also invested heavily in advertising. The game generated nearly 5,000 deduplicated creatives during February and entered the Top 20 advertising rankings on both operating systems.

SocialPeta's Android advertising observations highlighted the following characteristics:

• Board, simulation, and strategy media categories were among its three most prominent advertising-platform categories.
• A large share of creatives ran on Meta properties, particularly Facebook News Feed.
• Video and image were the dominant creative formats, with video accounting for more than 83.6%.
• Creative copy frequently emphasized gacha mechanics, abundant rewards, English voice acting, offline play, and other product features.

App Store Revenue Highlights

• ドラゴンボールZ ドッカンバトル, the mobile game based on the Dragon Ball franchise and released by Bandai Namco Entertainment, celebrated its eighth anniversary in February. The article reported a 106% month-over-month increase in revenue.
• Square Enix launched トワツガイ on February 14. The title generated approximately $2.10 million in revenue during the month.
• 卡利兹傅說, a Japanese-style MMO developed by Zlongame and published by Game Beans, gained traction in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. The original report estimated February revenue at approximately $14.10 million.

Google Play Revenue Highlights

• Family Island, the farm simulation game released by Melsoft, launched its Valentine's Day-themed Love Island event and continued to release updates. The article reported approximately $11.60 million in February revenue.
• Century Games' Frozen City is a simulation game set in an ice-and-snow apocalypse. Supported by recurring weekly events, the game recorded a 37.5% month-over-month increase in revenue during February.
• Eversoul, a newly released character-collection RPG published by South Korean company Kakao Games on January 3, generated more than $5 million in February according to the original report.

App Store Download Highlights

• Dumb Ways to Die, the long-running casual game first published in 2013, became popular again through TikTok hashtags. It generated more than 3 million downloads during February and passed 100 million lifetime downloads.
• Chess also experienced renewed attention. The original SocialPeta article attributed its momentum to YouTube live streaming, active online communities, and interest around major chess competitions. It recorded approximately 3 million downloads in February and remained on the US iOS top-free-games chart for several days.
• Parking Jam 3D, the parking puzzle game published by Popcore GmbH, also performed strongly. The article reported that 62% of its downloads came from users in the United States.

Google Play Download Highlights

• Vietnamese publisher ABI specialized in makeup and ASMR simulation games. After Makeover & Makeup ASMR entered January's top download rankings, its newer title Makeover salon entered the February chart with nearly 9 million downloads.
• Puzzle title Thief Puzzle attracted players with its distinctive puzzle mechanics and humorous, dramatic stories. It recorded approximately 7.5 million downloads in February.
• Magic Princess, a princess dress-up game released by YoYo Dress Up Games, generated more than 4 million downloads and became one of the month's most-downloaded female-targeted dress-up games.

February's rankings demonstrate how established IP, live operations, aggressive creative testing, and unexpected social-media momentum could all affect mobile game performance in different ways. Street Fighter and Rage Mage competed through paid creative volume, Dragon Ball benefited from anniversary-driven monetization, while Dumb Ways to Die showed how an older title could return to the charts through organic cultural momentum.