Temporary Hero Abilities Drive Huge Revenue
Brawl Stars hit record-high weekly revenue twice this year by releasing expansions that include powerful temporary abilities and new game modes. The first, Godzilla Event, awards temporary abilities through loot box drops and ties abilities to specific heroes. The second, Angels vs. Demons, uses a deterministic progression to unlock abilities that any hero can use, which makes abilities more accessible.
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Progressions for Skin Collection Create Expensive Goals
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang introduced a permanent progression for skin collection with 36 ranks and a leaderboard. This progression creates additional incentives for players to buy skins—especially rare ones, which grant more progress than normal skins. The feature also lets players publicly showcase their progress and skins, making skin collection feel more meaningful.
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Social Building Features Promote UGC
In PUBG Mobile’s Home, players build and decorate a virtual home to increase their home’s level, which unlocks more building space, items, and features for their home. Players can also build with friends, visit other players’ homes, and unlock multiplayer mini-games. Since this feature uses a simplified version of PUBG Mobile’s custom map editor, it familiarizes players with map creation and helps the app expand its UGC content.
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Last War: Survival Dominates as 2024’s Breakout Core App
Last War: Survival experienced a breakout 2024, leading all strategy apps in revenue, downloads, and revenue growth percentage. Notably, it ranked as the highest-grossing strategy app 80% of the time for six months. The app distinguishes itself by combining 4X gameplay with a scrolling shooter mini-game—a mechanic advertised by many strategy apps but rarely included as a playable feature.
