2015 H1 China Mobile Game Industry Report —— TalkingData

2011-2015 © TalkingData.com
2015 H1 China Mobile Game Industry Report
TalkingData Data Centre, July 2015

CONTENTS
Analysis of mobile game user behavior
Overview of the development of mobile game industry
Interpreting the mobile game sub-industries
Insights on the trends in mobile game industry

Overview of the development
of mobile game industry

 The demographic dividend in the mobile game industry is diminishing. By the end of
June this year, the total number of devices that have accessed to mobile games stood at
1.28 billion, of which 910 million devices are active in mobile games.
Data from: TalkingData Data Centre
Note: The total number of devices refer to the total number of devices that have installed mobile games, while
active devices refer to those have installed mobile games and are currently active

 The mobile game industry is witnessing a stable growth in revenue, which
exceeded 23 billion RMB in the first two quarters of 2015.
Data Source: TalkingData Data Centre
3.8
5.3
6.9
8.9
10.7
12.6
44.0% 39.9%
31.4% 28.0%
20.5% 17.1%
2014Q1 2014Q2 2014Q3 2014Q4 2015Q1 2015Q2
2014Q1-2015Q3 Mobile Game Industry Revenue & Growth Rate
Industry Revenue （Billion RMB） Revenue Growth Rate（%）

 By the end of June, 2015, there are 27,700 content providers in the mobile game
industry, indicating a slowdown in growth.
1.30 1.58 1.83 2.13 2.44 2.77
24.7%
21.2%
15.9% 16.4% 14.2% 13.7%
2014Q1 2014Q2 2014Q3 2014Q4 2015Q1 2015Q2
Number of content providers & its growth rate between
2014Q1-2015Q2
Total CPs Amount（10k） Growth Rate（%）

G
R 221.5% 119.9% 135.8% 272.3% 88.8% 87.0% 104.9% 169.7%
 Card Combat games, casual games and role play games are the most common
types of games on mobile devices, while action game is the one with the most
rapid growth in numbers.
1020
236
794
292
582
123 224
1252
3279
519
1872
1087 1099
230
459
3377
Casual Puzzle RPG Action Strategy Sim Board&Card Card Combat
Jun. 2014 – Jun. 2015 Number of various game genre and growth rate
June 2014 June 2015

G
R 95.9% 152.9% 436.3% 236.2% 9.0% 97.0% 47.9% 233.5%
 Casual games still have the largest monthly number of active users, but the
number of active player in heavy games, like role play games, action games and
card combat games, are on the rise.
Casual Puzzle RPG Action Strategy Sim Board&Card Card Combat
Jun. 2014 – Jun. 2015 Active users’ growth rate of various Game genre
June 2014 June 2015

 A large part of the top 20 most popular mobile games are casual ones, among
which 9 are Tencent products. Happy Elements takes the first place by attracting
the most players.
Data from: TalkingData Data Centre, Android platform data
Tencent Games Non-Tencent Games
14.1%
12.8%
10.4%
8.7%
3.9%
3.3% 3.2% 3.0% 2.8% 2.6% 2.2% 2.1% 2.1% 2.1% 2.0% 1.9% 1.8% 1.7% 1.7% 1.6%
HappyElements
PopStar!
FighttheLandlord
ParkourEveryday
Craz3Match
MineCraft
SubwaySurfers
TempleRun2
RhythmMaster
PopStarClassic
FruitNinja
ThunderRaid
WeFire
WeChatSpeed
HappyMahjong
TalkingTom2
JJFighttheLandlord
PlantvsZombies(HD)
Defendtheradish2
ThunderFighter
Top 20 Mobile Games with most players in June, 2015

 Role play games have started to become the main battlefield of mobile games, as
its high interactivity, operationality and varied playing methods concerning the
growth of characters have attracted more mobile game players.
Data from: TalkingData Data Centre, collected from revealed information
New role play mobile games in H1, 2015
Fantasy Westward
Journey
The Journey of
Flower
Bad Man
Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils
3D
Tiantian Legend Xifei Zhuan
Stone Age 2 World II Tulong Jue
(These are only examples that does not include all the new role play
games and are listed in no particular order)
RPG
33%
Strategy
20%
Card
Combat
18%
Casual
16%
Action
8%
Board&Card
3%
Sim
1%
Others
1%
Proportion of new mobile game types
in H1, 2015

 With large fan base and easy promotion, comic and animation themed games have
attracted attentions from game developers, publishers and agents. Meanwhile, there
is a growing sense of intellectual property in the domestic mobile game industry.
New mobile games in H1, 2015
(These are only examples that does not include all the new role play
games and are listed in no particular order)
One Piece White Cat Project Naruto
Tom and Jerry Age of Magic Pleasant Goat and Big
Big Wolf Rush
Angry Birds Carnival Gintama Attack on Titan OL
Animation
29%
Magic
19%
Samguk
12%
Mythical
8%
Journey to
the west 7%
Martial-Arts
6%
Warfare
5%
History 3%
Sport 1%
Others
10%
Analysis on the subjects of new mobile
games in h1, 2015

 Along with the industry trend,2D games are still the mainstream of the market,
only 30% of newly launched Game use 3D effects.
2D
71%
3D
29%
Analysis on the image of new mobile
games in h1, 2015
The mainstream mobile game development tool
Support
2D
Support
2D/3D
(These are only examples that does not include all the development
tools and are listed in no particular order)

 The sex structure in mobile game players is getting balanced, with the proportion
of female players rising to 35.5 percent from 28.7 percent in the same period last
year.
28.7%71.3%
35.5%64.5%
2014Q2
2015Q2

Analysis of mobile game user
behavior

17.5 17.2 18.1
15.8 15.0
19.4 18.8
24.1
21.3 22.5
Jun. 2014 Sep. 2014 Dec. 2014 Mar. 2015 Jun. 2015
Jun. 2014 – Jun. 2015 Average play times per month per capita
Android iOS
 Players with iOS devices play an average of 22.5 times of games a month, higher
than the 15 times of players with Android devices, and the gap in play times is
getting bigger.

3.6 3.3 3.5 3.3
2.8
6.2 6.1
7.8
7.1 7.5
Jun. 2014 Sep. 2014 Dec. 2014 Mar. 2015 Jun. 2015
Jun. 2014 – Jun. 2015 Average game time per month per capita
Android（Hours） iOS（Hours）
 Players with iOS devices spent 1.7 more times of time than those with Android
devices, a significant gap in the time spent on playing.

12.0%
10.9%
11.2%
12.1%
14.4%
20.3%
19.2%
12.8% 13.0% 12.7% 13.1%
13.9%
18.4%
16.2%
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Jun. 2015 Installation volume distribution of the Week
Android（%） iOS(%）
 Mobile game users tend to download and install games on weekends, and this
trend is more obvious with Android users, as the weekly installation peak often
appear on Saturday.

1:00 3:00 5:00 7:00 9:00 11:0013:0015:0017:0019:0021:0023:00
Jun. 2015 Android installation volume
distribution of the Day
Weekday Weekend
1:00 3:00 5:00 7:00 9:00 11:0013:0015:0017:0019:0021:0023:00
Jun. 2015 iOS installation volume
distribution of the Day
Weekday Weekend
 On weekdays, users tend to install mobile games at noon or in the evening, while
iOS users prefer to do it in the evening.

Interpreting the mobile game
sub-industries

 The quality of Android mobile games is improving to higher levels, and the discrepancies
in pay rate between different types of games are diminishing; meanwhile, under delicacy
management, the conversion rate has stabilized with no drastic fluctuation in pay rate.
1.50%
2.00%
2.50%
3.00%
3.50%
4.00%
4.50%
5.00%
2014.07 2014.08 2014.09 2014.10 2014.11 2014.12 2015.01 2015.02 2015.03 2015.04 2015.05 2015.06
Jul. 2014 – Jun. 2015 Android game users pay rate
RPG
Board&Card
Card Combat
Action
Strategy
Casual

 Players with iOS devices are showing a strong growth in spending power, with pay
rate in all game types on rise, which is especially outstanding with role play
games, strategy games and action games.
1.50%
2.00%
2.50%
3.00%
3.50%
4.00%
4.50%
5.00%
2004.07 2014.08 2014.09 2014.10 2014.11 2014.12 2015.01 2015.02 2015.03 2015.04 2015.05 2015.06
Jul. 2014 – Jun. 2015 iOS game users pay rate
RPG
Board&Card
Action
Card Combat
Casual
Strategy

 Android players are getting more active in strategy games, card combat games
and role play games, and the trend is especially strong around the Spring Festival.
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
14.00%
2014.07 2014.08 2014.09 2014.10 2014.11 2014.12 2015.01 2015.02 2015.03 2015.04 2015.05 2015.06
Jul. 2014 – Jun. 2015 Android game weekly active rate
Board&Card
Action
Strategy
Casual
RPG
Card Combat

 Players of casual games, card combat games and action games on iOS devices are
particularly active around February, while strategy game players are getting more
active since the end of last year at a steady pace.
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
14.00%
2014.07 2014.08 2014.09 2014.10 2014.11 2014.12 2015.01 2015.02 2015.03 2015.04 2015.05 2015.06
Jul. 2014 – Jun. 2015 iOS game weekly active rate
Action
Casual
Strategy
Board&Card
Card Combat
RPG

 The gaps between retention rates of different types of Android mobile games are
widening, and there are still challenges in terms of improving user experiences.
Competition among role play games and card combat games is growing fierce.
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
14.00%
16.00%
2014.07 2014.08 2014.09 2014.10 2014.11 2014.12 2015.01 2015.02 2015.03 2015.04 2015.05 2015.06
Jul. 2014 – Jun. 2015 Android game 7-day retention rate
Board&Card
Card Combat
RPG
Strategy
Casual
Action

 The 7-day retention rate in iOS chess and card combat games is declining,
narrowing its gap with the retention rate of other types of games; meanwhile, the
7-day retention rate of role play games is going up.
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
14.00%
16.00%
18.00%
2014.07 2014.08 2014.09 2014.10 2014.11 2014.12 2015.01 2015.02 2015.03 2015.04 2015.05 2015.06
Jul. 2014 – Jun. 2015 iOS game 7-day retention rate
RPG
Casual
Board&Card
Card Combat
Action
Strategy

2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
4.50
5.00
5.50
6.00
2014.07 2014.08 2014.09 2014.10 2014.11 2014.12 2015.01 2015.02 2015.03 2015.04 2015.05 2015.06
Jul. 2014 – Jun. 2015 Android game daily played times
RPG Board&Card Card Combat Action Strategy Casual
 The average number of times that strategy games are played on Android devices
on a daily basis is showing an upward trend, while that with card combat games
and role play games is declining.

 The average number of times that all iOS games are played on a daily basis is
witnessing a slight increase, among them, that with role play games is increasing
significantly.
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
2014.07 2014.08 2014.09 2014.10 2014.11 2014.12 2015.01 2015.02 2015.03 2015.04 2015.05 2015.06
Jul. 2014 – Jun. 2015 iOS game daily played times
RPG Board&Card Card Combat Action Strategy Casual

 In June, 2015, the average time spent on Android role play games has increased
compared with that in July 2014, while the average time spent on other types of
games are declining at different rates.
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
2014.07 2014.08 2014.09 2014.10 2014.11 2014.12 2015.01 2015.02 2015.03 2015.04 2015.05 2015.06
Jul. 2014 – Jun. 2015 Daily average game time (second) on Android devices
Board&Card
RPG
Strategy
Carad Combat
Actiion
Casual

 The average time spent on iOS card combat games, strategy games and casual
games is witnessing a significant growth.
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
2014.07 2014.08 2014.09 2014.10 2014.11 2014.12 2015.01 2015.02 2015.03 2015.04 2015.05 2015.06
Jul. 2014 – Jun. 2015 Daily average game time (Second) on iOS devices
Board&Card
RPG
Strategy
Card Combat
Actioin
Casual

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
• In the top 10 most popular
casual games, four of them
are from Tencent, with
Happy Elements taking the
first place by attracting 14.1
percent of the players.
 Top 10 casual games in player coverage
Data from: TalkingData Data Centre, Android app ranking in June, 2015
2.15%
2.63%
2.84%
3.04%
3.16%
3.94%
8.65%
10.39%
12.79%
14.10%
Fruit Ninja
PopStar Classic!
Rhythm Master
Temple Run 2
Subway Surfers
Craz3 Match
Parkour Everyday
Fight thee Landlord
Popstar!
Happy Elements
Top 10 casual games in player coverage in Jun. 2015

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
• Parkour Everyday takes the
first place by attracting 8.65
percent of the players, while
Subway Surfer World Tour:
New Orleans ranks the second
with 3.16 percent. In the third
place is Temple Run 2,
winning 3.04 percent of
players. Other parkour games
including Despicable Me：
Minion Rush, Where Are We
Going, Dad(Season2) and
Running Man, which are
based on entertainment TV
shows or movies, have also
gained much popularity.
 Top 10 parkour games in player coverage
0.38%
0.40%
0.40%
0.42%
0.48%
0.93%
1.46%
3.04%
3.16%
8.65%
Temple Run
Running Man
Give it up!
Where Are We Going, Dad
Run Pleasant Goat
Despicable Me
Snow Board Adventures
Temple Run 2
Subway Surfer
Parkour Everyday
Top 10 parkour games in player coverage in June, 2015

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
• In the 10 most popular
fighting and shooting
action games, National
Warplanes takes the first
place by attracting 2.1
percent of players,
followed by We Fire with
2.09 percent. Thunder
Fighter secures the third
place by winning 1.63
percent of players.
 Top 10 action games (STG&FTG) in player coverage
0.22%
0.32%
0.44%
0.57%
0.59%
0.82%
1.38%
1.63%
2.09%
2.10%
Fighters' 97
Shadow Fight 2
Shadow Realm
3 Fruity Kingdom
Guns Girl 2
We Fight
National Battle
Thunder Fighter
We Fire
National Warplanes
Top 10 action games in player coverage in June,2015

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
• The 10 most popular role
play games are mostly
ARPGs, with Fantasy
Westward Journey, Space
Hunter and Scuffle
Journey taking the lead in
the market.
 Top 10 role play games in player coverage
0.13%
0.15%
0.21%
0.22%
0.23%
0.27%
0.57%
0.77%
0.85%
0.97%
Stone Age 2
The journey of Flower
Demi-Gods 3D
Taichi Panda
MU Miracle
Undead Killer
3 Fruity Kingdom
Scuffle Journey
Space Hunter
Fantasy Westward Journey
Top 10 RPG in player coverage in June 2015

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
• The 10 most popular
strategy games are
mostly tower defense
games, with Plant VS
Zombies and Carrot
Fantasy series still
attracting most players.
Besides, Clash of Clans
and Boom Beach are also
quite popular among
players.
 Top 10 strategy games in player coverage
0.23%
0.24%
0.24%
0.39%
0.47%
0.64%
1.10%
1.27%
1.68%
1.72%
Burning Vegetables 3
Plant VS Zombies
Survivalcraft
Plant VS Zombies 2
Fight for Freedom
Carrot Fantansy
Boom Beach
Clash of Clans
Carrot Fantansy 2
Plant VS Zombies 2 (HD)
Top 10 Strategy games in player coverage in June 2015

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
• In the 10 most popular
chess and card games, 7
of them are of the Fight
the Landlord series.
Among them, Fight the
Landlord from Tencent
has won 10.39 percent
of the players, while
another Tencent product
Mahjong takes the
second place with 1.95
percent.
 Top 10 board and card games in player coverage
0.73%
0.77%
0.96%
1.09%
1.20%
1.45%
1.62%
1.82%
1.95%
10.39%
Fight the Landloard(Wawa Game)
Fight the Landloard(Ourgame)
Fight the Landlord(June Game)
Happy Bull
Boya Fight the Landlord
Chinese Chess
Fight the Landlord(Tuyou)
JJ Fight the Landlord
Happy Mahjong
Fight the Landlord
Top 10 Board and card games in player coverage in June 2015

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
• The classic Dota Legend
is still on the top of the
chart, while other new
games like One Hundred
Thousand Bad Jokes,
Warship Girls and
Chaobao Sanguo have
also gained popularity
among players.
 Top 10 card combat games in player coverage
0.13%
0.18%
0.20%
0.22%
0.26%
0.33%
0.37%
0.51%
0.53%
0.64%
Killers of Samguk lite
Chaobao Sanguo
Warship Girls
100k Bad Jokes
Junior Samguk
I am MT2
Go Picacho
Hero Killing
Killers of Samguk
Dota Legend
Top 10 card combat games in player coverage in June 2015

14.9%
85.1%
Proportion of HTML5 game devices by Q2, 2015
H5 Game Devices Non-H5 Game Devices
1.01 1.10 1.21 1.35
2014Q3 2014Q4 2015Q1 2015Q2
Number of H5 Game Devices and its
growth between 2014/Q3-2015/Q2
8.9%
10.0%
11.7%
 Growth in the number of players on HTML5 games has accelerated. By the end of
June, 2015, the total number of HTML5 game devices reached 135 million units,
accounting for 14.9 percent of the total mobile game devices.
Unit：100m

0.20 0.25
0.31
0.44
2014Q3 2014Q4 2015Q1 2015Q2
Number of HTML5 developers and its growth rate between
2014Q3-2015Q2
Unit：10k
25.8%
21.7%
42.9%
 The number of HTML5 game developers has seen a surge in growth, increasing to
more than 4,400. More and more participants are flooding into the HTML5 game
market.

538 732
1091
1687
1256
1603
2246
3279
2014Q3 2014Q4 2015Q1 2015Q2
Number of HTML5 games and its growth rate between
2014Q3-2015Q2
H5 Games Non-H5 Games
36.1%
49.0%
27.6%
40.1%
54.6%
46.0%
 The launch of new HTML5 games has also been accelerated. By the end of June,
2015, the total number of HTML5 games has reached 1,687.

 Most of the HTML5 games are light ones, however, there is a certain number of
heavy games like role play games and action games.
2015 Q2 HTML5 game genre distribution
56.1%
13.2% 9.7% 9.9%
4.8% 2.9% 3.4%
CasualAction Puzzle RPGCard OthersSim

 Compared to non-H5 games, the pay rate of HTML5 games is relatively low, and
their profitability is still weak.
4.3%
3.5% 3.3% 3.1% 2.9% 2.7%
1.9% 1.6% 1.4%
RPG Board&Card Card
Combat
Action Strategy Casual Puzzle Sim HTML5
Jun. 2015 mobile game pay rate comparison

 The overall time spent on HTML5 games is a bit longer than Non-H5 casual and
intellectual games, but is still shorter than most other native games.
664 592 555 552 543
465
318 317 309
Board&Card RPG Strategy Sim Card
Combat
Action HTML5 Puzzle Casual
Jun. 2015 mobile game average game time (second)

Insights on the trends in
mobile game industry

Proprietors
Players
Developer tool
Data statistic & analysis
Developers Publishers
Media
App Store
Operator
AD platform
Payment
The industrial chain of mobile games
Mobile DMP
 The industrial chain of mobile games is growing mature, and many links in the industry,
like information providing, downloading and payment, are witnessing improvements.
Therefore, a complete eco-system of mobile games has been established.
(These are only examples that does not include all the companies
and are listed in no particular order)

CP
75%
Industry
137% Gamer
44%2015 Q2
Year-on-year
growth rate
 The growth in the number of mobile game players has come to a slowdown, and the growth in
revenue is stabilizing. Against the backdrop of diminishing demographic dividend, high quality
games would be a main trend, and mobile game companies will focus on how to improve game
qualities, attract and keep high-quality players, and encourage players to pay.

 The mid/heavy games, which have a longer life cycle and whose players are more willing
to pay, are likely to boom in future. Meanwhile, light games will tend to focus on vertical
markets with particular groups of users, and the value of core users is emerging.
RPG
Card Combat
Strategy
Casual
Actioin
Board&Card
Sim
Android Mobile Game Pay Rate & Game Genre diagram
Pay Rate（Jun. 2015）
Genre Distribution of New game
Pay Rate Trend
Game Genre Distribution Trend

 Role play games, card combat games and strategy games are outstanding in user
stickiness, as players of those games tend to open games more often and stay relatively
longer in the games, and those games are likely to attract more high-quality players.
664
552 555 543
592
317 309
465
Board&Card Sim Strategy Card Combat RPG Puzzle Casual Action
Daily Game TimeDaily Played Times

 The distribution methods of mobile games are diversifying, as more users are
participating from online video media, mobile games vertical media and social
network services.
App
Store
Social
Network
Video
Media
Vertical
Media
(These are only examples that does not include all the companies
and are listed in no particular order)

Pre-download…
Log in through Android
Platform Like 360, Tencent,
Baidu
6/9 6/10 6/11 6/12 6/13 6/14 6/15 6/16 6/17 6/18 6/19 6/20 6/21 6/22 6/23 6/24 6/25 6/26 6/27 6/28 6/29 6/30
Installation volume of the Journey of Flower on Android devices on June 9-30, 2015
Test Stage
（limited access）
 Animation, film and TV program IP games are gaining strong momentum. Popular adapted
IP games no longer involve only developers, but also proprietors and media, who are
actively taking part in the releasing of the games, so as to maximize the value of popular IPs.
航
海
王
花千骨
十
万
个
冷
笑
话
屌丝男士
盗
墓
笔
记
仙剑
火
影
武
媚
娘传奇
喜羊羊
爸
去
哪
儿爸
弟
奔跑
兄
少年
栈
花
忍
者
客
Entertainment
IP
TVSeries
IP
WebShow
IP
Animation
IP
TV Premiere
iOS version
launched
……
The distribution matrix of
the Journey of Flower
Popular IPs adapted from animation, films and TV programs (examples)

 With continued developments in development tools, browsers and service platforms, the
industrial chain of HTML5 games will keep extending, and its cross-platform and cross-screen
technology will bring developers more opportunities to turn visitor volume into revenue.
Entry
Browser
Service Platform
Mobile Apps
Development Tools
Others
Volume
Core
User
FAN
OS
E
Transfor-
mation
Free
Cooper-
ation
Self-
supporting
┅
Small Games
Ranking Charts/Rewards
Interaction
Social Media click/share
Networking
PECT
S
R

TalkingData is China’s largest 3rd party data service provider. It will be your
best partner to gain in-depth understanding of China’s Mobile Internet market.

2015 H1 China Mobile Game Industry Report —— TalkingData

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