Mobile Games Keep Raking in Billions, and You're Probably Helping

Are you curious why mobile gaming ads are always filled with dramatic, frustrating scenes, or claiming “the ultimate challenge”? Because these games are veritable money printing machines.

According to a report by Sensor Tower, four more mobile games joined the club with "revenue of over $1 billion" last year. These new giants are Tencent's Brawl Stars and Dungeons and Warriors, as well as the strong advertising campaigns of Last War: Survival Game and Whiteout Survival. Meanwhile, veteran games such as Candy Crush Legend (now Microsoft's money tree), Roblox and Royal Match are still on the list, bringing the total number of games with revenue of more than $1 billion in 2024 to 11.

Why are mobile games full of money?

Mobile games are much cheaper to make than big games like Grand Theft Auto 6, but they make huge profits through microtransactions and advertising. Think about the extra life or shining virtual currencies you buy, and the ads played in these games. It's a perfect combination of easy-to-make games and a steady stream of revenue.

But this is not just ordinary in-app purchase consumption. Many games are also powerful engines of advertising, using their huge player base to sell high-quality advertising spaces. But the problem is? Some of these advertising and profit strategies...how to say, they are not open and honest enough.

The dark side of mobile game advertising

Mobile games have mastered the art of making infuriating ads. Some ads show frustrating "fake game" scenes to trick you into downloading, while others use pop-ups or "dark modes" that are difficult to turn off. All of this is to manipulate players to spend money or try the game "the right way".

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun to focus on these issues and combat suspicious behavior. For example, they reached a settlement with Tapjoy, a mobile advertising company accused of misleading users about in-game rewards. But in the statement, FTC commissioners believed that app store giants Apple and Google were the real culprits:

“Apple and Google dominate the app store ecosystem, imposing high taxes and setting strict regulations. Under their 'tax', developers are forced to rely on improper profitable profit strategies such as manipulation and monitoring to maintain profitability.”

Billions of dollars worth of "frustration machine"

This ad-driven, microtransaction-driven model has created a multi-billion-dollar mobile gaming industry. As long as we continue to download these games—whether out of curiosity, boredom or pure anger—the industry will only continue to grow.

So, next time you click in anger over a badly designed ad, remember: someone is getting really, really rich because of it.

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