Southeast Asia remains a major growth region for mobile games, supported by a large player base and relatively efficient user acquisition. But H1 2026 data points to a changing market: downloads declined year over year across several countries, while revenue continued to grow in selected markets. As competition increases, publishers are shifting from pure scale toward stronger monetisation, localisation and market fit.
SocialPeta and Gamota have released the 2026 Southeast Asia Mobile Game Marketing Report, combining SocialPeta’s database of more than 1.7 billion ad creatives across 70+ countries and regions and 80+ advertising channels with Gamota’s 13 years of publishing experience in Vietnam. The report looks at Southeast Asia’s UA trends, Vietnam’s market dynamics, advertiser case studies, and creative strategies across RPG and strategy games.
The 44-page report covers four key areas:
- Download, revenue and advertising trends across Southeast Asia
- A closer look at Vietnam, including regulation, genres, leading titles and market-entry considerations
- Case studies covering MMOs, Chinese casual games and differentiated SLG advertisers
- Advertising and creative trends across RPG and strategy games
Southeast Asia: Scale And Monetisation Are Diverging
The report shows a clear split between scale-led and value-led markets. Indonesia leads the region in downloads but ranks lower in IAP revenue, while Thailand leads in IAP revenue. Malaysia and Singapore have smaller download bases but stronger payer engagement. The implication is that market selection should be driven by product-market fit: scale-focused games benefit from reach, while mid-core and hardcore titles may prioritise payer density. Cambodia also stood out in H1, with downloads up 11.8% YoY and IAP revenue up 28.5%.
SocialPeta data shows an average of 46,200 mobile game advertisers were active in Southeast Asia in 2026, up 19.7% YoY and 5.2% MoM. However, newly active advertisers represented only 14.3% per month on average. This suggests that growth is increasingly being driven by existing advertisers increasing spend, rather than a large influx of new entrants.
Creative activity tells a similar story. An average of 74.4% of advertisers launched new creatives each month, but new creatives accounted for just 40.3% of total output, down 2.87% YoY. Advertisers are therefore continuing to extend and iterate on proven concepts rather than replacing them at a high rate.
Video remains the dominant UA format, accounting for 73.7% of creatives. More than 76% of video ads run for 16–60 seconds, a format that balances storytelling with loading constraints in markets such as Indonesia and the Philippines. <a href="https://myappsplus.com/how-to-build-an-android-app-using-openai-codex-beginners-guide/” title=”How to Build an Android App Using OpenAI Codex: Beginner’s Guide”>Android accounts for 83.3% of advertisers, while iOS creative investment is notably heavier for mid-core and hardcore titles, reflecting stronger competition for high-value users.
Vietnam accounts for 18.3% of selected Southeast Asian mobile game downloads, placing it among the region’s largest markets by scale. Its share of IAP revenue is lower at 10.6%, pointing to room for further monetisation growth. Gamota’s market view suggests Vietnam combines proven acquisition scale with meaningful revenue upside.
In H1 2026, Vietnam recorded 76.5 million mobile game downloads, down 9.7% YoY. The market showed signs of recovery in May and June, with June reaching 14.0 million downloads, the highest monthly level in the period. Revenue reached $177 million, up 7.5% YoY, while monthly revenue remained relatively stable at $28.7–30.6 million.
Growth is concentrated in a small number of genres. Sports simulation downloads rose 242.2% YoY, shooters increased 181.0%, and idle RPGs grew 21.4% — the only three growing subgenres in the Top 10. On the revenue side, shooters increased 579.4% YoY and idle RPGs grew 40.2%. Free Fire MAX ranked first for both downloads and revenue, generating 8.08 million downloads and $16.7 million.
Regulation is also becoming more important for market entry. Resolution No. 80 recognised gaming as a cultural industry, while Decrees No. 147/2024 and No. 174/2026 introduced tighter requirements around licensing, player identity verification, protection of minors and data governance. Compliance is therefore an increasingly important part of operating in Vietnam.
The report highlights two different routes to growth in Vietnam:
- Value-led — Crossfire: Legends: The title generated 2.39 million downloads and $3.58 million in revenue during its first two months. Despite a smaller user base than some competing tactical shooters, it delivered stronger early revenue, supported by familiar gameplay and monetisable skin value.
- Scale-led — Play Together VNG: Nearly four years after launch, the game still ranks No. 5 in downloads and No. 2 in revenue. Its long-term performance is supported by repeatable social systems built around collection, progression, party-based gameplay and UGC.
Across both cases, the common factors are local familiarity, repeatable engagement, tangible value and sustained live operations.
Three Advertiser Strategies Shaping Southeast Asia
The report also examines three products that illustrate different approaches to growth in the region:
- Chinese casual expansion — Thế Giới Hoa Viên Của Tôi: The game has been advertised for more than 180 days and has launched over 15,000 creatives. Top-performing ads often use chat-style openings, combine Chinese ink-painting visuals with realistic flower imagery, and focus on relaxation and emotional appeal. One creative generated an estimated 390,000 impressions over 51 days.
- Legacy IP MMO — Ragnarok: The New World: The 20-year-old IP has accumulated 51,000 creatives. In Indonesia, its ads combine real-life streamers, emotional hooks and Indonesian-language commentary with gameplay demonstrations. One creative generated an estimated 760,000 impressions in two days.
- Differentiated SLG — Lands of Jail: After more than 600 days of advertising and 236,000 creatives, the title differentiates itself through a prison-building theme and bright visual style. One creative generated an estimated 1.59 million impressions over 38 days, with a heat score of 864.
RPG And Strategy Creatives Are Becoming More Localised And More Accessible
RPG advertising follows two distinct patterns. Ragnarok: The New World leads RPG rankings in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, with 5,900–8,400 creative sets per market and 26%–40% of its global advertising output concentrated in each. Vietnam, by contrast, is more heavily led by local publishers such as VPLAY and VNG, whose MMO titles focus on wuxia, xianxia and Three Kingdoms themes. Around 82%–95% of their creatives are targeted only at Vietnam, underlining the market’s strong localisation requirements.
Strategy advertising is dominated by survival SLGs. Dark War Survival produced 57,000 creatives over the past 90 days and ranked No. 1 in the strategy category in both Indonesia and the Philippines. Kingshot has also expanded across Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.
At the same time, strategy creatives are becoming more casual in their presentation. Tower-defence elements and side-game mechanics are increasingly used as the first hook, making complex SLG gameplay easier for a broader audience to understand.
Meta platforms account for approximately 93% of top-performing RPG creatives and 95% of top-performing strategy creatives. Video represents more than 80% of creatives in both genres, with average durations of 39–43 seconds, while English remains the most common copy language.
Vietnam again stands out on creative localisation. The report’s six-market hit rate is only 31% for RPG and 34% for strategy in Vietnam, suggesting that creatives that work across several Southeast Asian markets are less likely to transfer directly into Vietnam without adaptation.
The H1 2026 data suggests that Southeast Asia’s mobile game market is moving beyond a simple scale-first UA model. The gap between downloads and revenue, heavier investment from established advertisers, and Vietnam’s localisation and compliance requirements are pushing publishers to think more carefully about whether each title is optimised for reach, payer value or both.
Download the full 2026 Southeast Asia Mobile Game Marketing Report for more data on the markets, genres and advertising strategies shaping mobile game growth in the region.
