Sensor Tower: Tencent's "Honor of Kings" returned to the top of the global mobile game revenue chart in April

According to data from the Sensor Tower application intelligence platform, Tencent's "Honor of Kings" has strongly topped the global mobile game revenue rankings in April 2025, rising four places month-on-month and returning to the number one spot on the global revenue list. "Last War: Survival" follows closely behind, jumping to second place. "Whiteout Survival," "MONOPOLY GO!," and "Royal Match" rank third to fifth in global revenue.

The return of "Honor of Kings" to the championship position highlights its continuous content innovation and efficient IP collaboration strategy. This revenue rebound is mainly attributed to the "Five-Five Friends Festival" event, which partnered with Sanrio to launch new gameplay modes and a highly popular Arthur skin, fully reflecting Tencent's ongoing investment in quality content and user experience.

Game operation activities (Live Ops) centered around holiday themes are key factors in enhancing player engagement and monetization performance. "Last War: Survival" rose to second place largely benefiting from seasonal gameplay such as Easter events, introducing new castle skins and limited-time item rewards, effectively stimulating seasonal user interest. Despite slight fluctuations in ranking, "Whiteout Survival" maintained a stable Top 3 revenue performance through continuous operational activities, including an Easter special version and the major update "Snowbusters," consistently providing players with fresh and attractive gaming experiences.

"MONOPOLY GO!" remains firmly in fourth place, maintaining its popularity through rich social gameplay and periodic events. The "City Racers" and "Adventure Club Vikings!" events launched again in April further enhanced player stickiness. Although "Royal Match" saw a slight drop in ranking, it still remains in the top five in revenue, demonstrating its long-term revenue-generating ability through puzzle gameplay and frequent content updates.

In April 2025, global mobile game players spent approximately $6.48 billion on the App Store and Google Play, a month-on-month decrease of 4.5%. The United States continues to be the largest mobile game market globally, with revenues of about $2 billion, accounting for 31.5%, while China (iOS) ranks second with 18.8%, and Japan ranks third with 13.2%.

In terms of revenue growth performance, "Honkai: Star Rail" surged 24 places, becoming the fastest-rising game in the Top rankings for April. This growth is mainly attributed to the launch of new characters "Xia Die" and "Na Ke Xia," as well as popular events like "Let's Run Star Rail WORLD!," significantly driving consumption In addition, the newly launched "SD Gundam G Generation ETERNAL" in April, leveraging the advantages of classic mecha anime IP, performed impressively upon its debut, successfully entering the top ranks of revenue charts, particularly excelling in the Japanese market. This trend reflects the significant role of high-quality IP value, continuous content updates, and online activities in driving revenue growth for mobile games.

Top 10 Global Mobile Game Downloads in April 2025

"Block Blast!" retained its position as the champion of global mobile game downloads in April, with "ROBLOX" rising to second place, followed closely by "Free Fire," "Subway Surfers," and "Ludo King," collectively forming the top five in the download chart.

"Block Blast!" once again topped the global download chart thanks to its easy-to-learn puzzle gameplay and efficient user growth strategy. It performed strongly in core markets such as the United States, India, and Indonesia, maintaining the second-highest advertising exposure share in the Indonesian market in April, just behind March's first place.

"ROBLOX," with its rich UGC content and social experience, attracted a large number of new users. The brand collaborations launched in April, such as NFL Universe Football and Cinnamoroll Cloud Land, continuously injected heat into the platform, fully demonstrating the strong support of IP collaboration in attracting new users.

"Free Fire" firmly held third place, maintaining its lead in markets like India, Brazil, and Indonesia through regular updates and classic battle royale gameplay. The special event "Midnight Ace," which launched new characters and treasure gameplay at the end of April, further boosted user downloads.

"Subway Surfers" continued to occupy the fourth spot on the chart, attracting global user attention with its simple and fast-paced parkour gameplay. "Ludo King" also maintained a stable ranking, with the enduring appeal of classic board games still securing a solid user base in the Indian and Indonesian markets.

In April 2025, global mobile game downloads reached 3.93 billion, a month-on-month decrease of 8.4%. Among them, India accounted for 739 million downloads, representing 18.8%, ranking first globally, followed by the United States and Indonesia, which accounted for 7.5% each.

"Delta Force" performed particularly well in April, ranking first in global download growth and sixth overall. Thanks to outstanding performances in the United States and Brazil, combined with a global pre-registration and simultaneous launch strategy, as well as innovative FPS/TPS hybrid gameplay and the nostalgic effect of the NovaLogic classic PC shooting game IP, it attracted a large number of new users The new simulation management game "Cookingdom" also performed well, ranking second in download growth and jumping to eighth in total downloads. With its exquisite graphics and satisfying management gameplay, it has achieved a good start, especially in the markets of the United States, Brazil, and Indonesia.

NetEase's brand new survival mobile game "Once Human," adapted from last year's PC hit, has quickly gained popularity since its launch in April, ranking fifth in download growth. It has performed strongly in China, the United States, Japan, Mexico, and Brazil, successfully attracting core players with its 3D sci-fi theme and mid-to-heavy gameplay, showcasing the potential for cross-platform IP expansion.

The strong performance of new titles like Delta Force, Cookingdom, and Once Human once again confirms the important value of mature gameplay, cross-platform adaptation, and global pre-registration + social media marketing in enhancing game download volumes