A new report from analytics firm Liftoff has revealed that midcore titles accounted for 35% of revenue on iOS in the United States. The report focused on various aspects of midcore gaming in the current mobile market and found that 70% of the top-grossing midcore games belonged to the strategy genre. One of the factors contributing to the popularity of strategy games in this segment is the lower cost per install (CPI) compared to shooters and RPGs.

The report also highlighted that shooters and strategy games were nearly tied in terms of Day seven return-on-ad-spend (D7 ROAS), with shooters at 6% and strategy at 5.4%. However, it was noted that midcore games struggle to achieve the same ROAS rates as casual gaming genres.

Joel Julkunen, Head of Analytics at GameRefinery (a Liftoff company), emphasized the allure of midcore games for developers, as their depth allows them to build a dedicated fanbase and generate reliable revenue. To succeed in the midcore market, developers need to maintain a steady stream of LiveOps content to keep players engaged and employ effective monetization strategies like in-app purchases (IAP) bundles and gachas.

The report highlights that midcore games continue to perform well overall, despite the challenges posed by hypercasual and hybridcasual games. In the top 200 grossing mobile games worldwide, midcore titles significantly outweigh casual games. The report also points out the growing trend of developers using external web stores to effectively monetize their games, as seen with major developers like Supercell.

Two case studies, Marvel Snap and Honkai: Star Rail, were singled out as examples of successful midcore games. The report echoes the consensus that the main advantage of midcore games lies in their ability to capture an audience effectively due to the depth they offer, despite having a higher barrier of entry compared to more casual titles.

With the hypercasual genre becoming oversaturated after a major boom in recent years, this report suggests that midcore games could be the next genre to experience a boost in popularity.

Source: Iwan Morris, Staff Writer at PocketGamer