This week I also crunched the numbers and ranked the most downloaded games (and apps, in just a bit) for the month.
We have to talk about Subway Surfers...
Like every other month this year (except for March and June), Subway Surfers was, again, the most downloaded game in the world in November. According to our estimates, the popular casual title made its way into 22M iOS and Android devices in November. Nice!
But, like previous months, it looks like the momentum is declining. This was Subway Surfer's lowest month of downloads this year and the trend is pretty consistent and in the wrong direction.
FIFA Mobile was the second most downloaded game in the world in November, making its way into 15M devices, according to our estimates. The World Cup has a clear impact on downloads and revenue for both apps and games.
We've seen it before, but this time the impact is much more significant.
Together, the top 10 most downloaded games added 135M new users from the App Store and Google Play worldwide. Like revenue, this is a bit lower than October. Roughly 12% lower!
This could be the result of ATT, but... Downloads were down across both stores in November + there are some hyper-casual titles in this list, leading me to believe advertisers are saving their money for the holiday season.
December saw a curious split: downloads dropped 2% while revenue sat at $1.3B. ChatGPT and TikTok dominated both charts as the mobile industry enters a new maturity phase.
Wall Street bet $2 billion on Polymarket, and downloads surged 1,172% in December. The prediction market banned in 2022 is now where Wall Street looks for signals.