Global gaming UA spend reaches $25B in 2025, AppsFlyer report shows

Mobile gaming user acquisition (UA) spend reached $25 billion in 2025, with paid installs and ad impressions rising year over year, according to AppsFlyer’s State of Gaming for Marketers – 2026 report. The analysis is based on aggregated global install, advertising, and monetization data across Android and iOS.

The report shows that the share of paid installs increased by roughly 10% compared with 2024, while overall ad impressions grew by around 20%. This reflects intensifying competition across the mobile games market, as studios scale acquisition efforts amid a growing volume of new titles and increased use of AI-assisted development tools.

Paid install growth and platform split

Total gaming UA spend increased 3.8% year over year in 2025. The U.S. remained the largest single market for acquisition budgets, accounting for close to half of global spend, although investment in the market declined by approximately 5% due to rising costs and saturation in key genres. In contrast, emerging markets recorded stronger growth, with UA spend in Turkey and India rising by 29% and 19%, respectively.

Platform dynamics continued to diverge. Android accounted for 57% of paid installs globally, driven largely by scale and cost efficiencies in non-Western markets. On iOS, paid installs represented 44% of total installs, reflecting higher acquisition costs and a comparatively stronger share of organic discovery.

Genre and regional dynamics

Paid acquisition patterns varied significantly by genre. Hypercasual games remained heavily reliant on paid traffic, with paid installs accounting for 81% of Android installs and 67% on iOS. Casual games saw an 18% increase in paid install share on Android, while Midcore titles recorded more than 30% year-over-year growth on iOS.

Western markets showed increased paid acquisition intensity across several high-value genres, including Casino and Midcore on iOS. Meanwhile, markets such as Brazil and Mexico posted rapid growth in paid install share, supported primarily by Android scale and hybrid monetization strategies that combine in-app advertising with in-app purchases.

Publisher mix and competitive shifts

Publishers based in China increased their share of global gaming UA spend by 22% in 2025, representing around 35% of total investment. Spend by Chinese studios grew 29% year over year on Android, compared with 10% growth on iOS, highlighting a continued push into international markets using platform-agnostic acquisition strategies.

Monetization concentration

In-app purchase revenue remained heavily concentrated in Western markets. These regions accounted for 55% of Android IAP revenue and 66% on iOS, with the U.S. alone generating roughly 45% of iOS IAP revenue. Emerging markets, by contrast, showed stronger reliance on ad-driven and hybrid monetization models.

Creative scale and market pressure

AppsFlyer’s data also points to a sharp increase in creative output. Leading advertisers produced between 2,400 and 2,600 creative variations per quarter in 2025, representing a 25–30% increase year over year. Smaller studios also expanded creative testing to compete for user attention in increasingly crowded ad environments.

Overall, the report indicates that while mobile gaming marketing spend continues to grow, acquisition strategies are becoming more complex. Rising competition, regional divergence, and platform-specific economics are reshaping how developers allocate budgets and scale user growth going into 2026.