Mobile games last led in-app purchase (IAP) revenue in 2016, having since been outperformed by non-gaming platforms such as TikTok and AI chatbots.
That’s according to a new AppMagic report analysing data from the past decade to mark its 10th anniversary.
TiMi Studio Group’s Honor of Kings and Garena’s Free Fire led mobile gaming charts from 2016 to 2026.
However, ChatGPT was the most downloaded app globally in 2025, and TikTok has been the top-grossing app each year since 2020.
Honor of Kings has led IAP revenue since its 2017 debut, earning $830 million that year and surpassing $1.1 billion in 2026. The MOBA ranked first in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2026.
Free Fire dominated the downloads chart, debuting in 2019 with 272 million installs. It added 225 million downloads in 2021, 269 million in 2024, and 221 million in 2026.
AppMagic noted that Free Fire generated no revenue at launch but has since earned $3.3 billion.
The report also highlighted contrasts, such as Among Us achieving 930 million downloads but generating only $52 million, while Umamusume earned $1.6 billion from 19 million downloads.
There are only a handful of top-grossing games that continue to grow in revenue.
Micro Fun’s Gossip Harbor: Merge & Story saw revenue increase 95% year-on-year from January to October this year, alongside Century Games’ Kingshot (126%) and Honor of Kings (5%).
