Manila, Philippines – Global mobile game installs rose 7.4% year-on-year to 38.9 billion between Q1 and Q3 2025, according to a report from Mobvista’s XMP. It noted that Android accounted for 80.8% of installs, while iOS represented 19.2%. Combined global gaming revenue from in-app advertising (IAA) and in-app purchases (IAP) increased 13.2% to US$82.5 billion.
Hyper-casual games remained the most downloaded genre, while Puzzle and Action titles also performed well across markets. For monetisation, Shooting and Puzzle games led ad-driven revenue. Video continued to dominate as the primary ad format, making up 81% of all creatives, though hybrid formats such as video-playable combinations grew rapidly. South America was identified as the most active advertising region, generating the highest volume of creatives, with video accounting for nearly 85% of ads.
The report also notes that Meta remained the top platform for global ad spend across casual and hardcore categories, followed by Google and TikTok. AI-generated videos and avatars were highlighted as an emerging force in creative production, helping improve engagement and conversions through personalization.
However, advertisers continued to face several challenges throughout 2025, including rising UA costs, data fragmentation across channels, and the need for more unified creative management and performance visibility. These issues have accelerated the industry’s movement toward automation and greater transparency.
To address these challenges, XMP outlined four capabilities increasingly central to modern campaign workflows: cross-channel campaign management, unified creative asset management, AI-powered optimization for bids and budgets, and full-funnel performance visibility through integrated analytics.
Zidan Tang, head of XMP by Mobvista, said: “As advertisers prepare for 2026, we’re seeing a clear shift toward more automated, cross-channel workflows that streamline planning, execution and measurement across major media networks. 2025 marked a turning point for mobile advertising as advertisers moved from volume-based campaigns to creative-led, performance-driven strategies powered by AI and cross-channel visibility, which shows that mobile gaming marketing has fully entered the intelligent era.”
He added, “Advertisers are moving toward efficiency and precision. Our data shows that hybrid ad strategies and AI-driven optimization are now the rule, not the exception. XMP helps brands unify fragmented ecosystems and achieve measurable growth.”
The report suggests that global mobile advertising is set to continue evolving in 2026, with AI adoption, interactivity and unified measurement expected to drive the next phase of growth.
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