5 highest grossing mobile games of all time

Mobile games accounted for 50% of the total gaming industry revenue in 2022—the highest-grossing genre being RPG, followed by Strategy and Puzzle. Subway Surfers topped the chart of most downloaded games, pushing Garena Free Fire to the second position. Earlier, mobile games were only a means to pass the time, but now, highly sophisticated titles populate the app stores.

While some games are free-to-play with in-app purchases, others require app store purchases. They generate revenue from microtransactions, in-game ads, and game purchases. With that being said, here are the five highest-grossing mobile titles of all time.

Disclaimer: All data taken from Sensor Tower as of May 19, 2023.

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Highest-grossing mobile games of all time: Honor of Kings, Monster Strike, and three more

1) Honor of Kings

Honor of Kings is the highest-grossing mobile game, with over $16 billion in lifetime revenue. In 2022, this MOBA juggernaut accumulated over $2 billion in revenue and 25.15 million global downloads. Additionally, it was the highest-grossing mobile game for the same year, surpassing PUBG Mobile.

Developed by TiMi Studio Group, Honor of Kings has an average of 100 million daily active users as of November 2020.

Honor of Kings is a MOBA game featuring over 60 unique heroes with specific skills and attributes. The heroes belong to one of these five classes: Tank, Warrior, Mage, Marksman, or Support. It is a 5v5 game where players battle enemies, creating a squad with their friends—the team advances through the three lanes to destroy nine enemy towers and one crystal to emerge victorious. In summation, Honor of Kings is the most-played MOBA game of all time.

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2) Monster Strike

One of the highest-grossing mobile games ever, Monster Strike has generated lifetime revenue of over 10 billion USD. Developed by Mixi, this mobile JRPG title was initially released in Japan in 2013. It's active in Japan and Taiwan after being shut down in North America in 2017 and South Korea in 2016.

It obtains 99 percent of the total revenue and 80 percent of the total downloads from Japan. With over 50 million domestic users, it is one of Japan's most popular titles. The game accumulated over $500 million in revenue in 2022.

Monster Strike is an RPG physics game where players pull characters to attack enemies. It features over 1000 unique monsters, each with special abilities. One can simultaneously enjoy co-op mode with up to four players to defeat the bosses. The monsters are obtainable from the game's gacha. Players can evolve, merge, and grow them in this strategy game.

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3) PUBG Mobile

PUBG Mobile is a famous battle royale game with over $9 billion in lifetime revenue. This online mobile giant has garnered over 500 million downloads from the Play Store with a rating of 4.3.

PUBG Mobile is the highest-earning battle royale game, with over $1.5 billion in revenue in 2022. Additionally, this online multiplayer game was globally the most downloaded in 2019.

PUBG Mobile is the mobile adaptation of PUBG: Battlegrounds developed by PUBG Studios. The title features various maps, weapons, and regular events. Each match features up to 100 players and lasts for ten minutes. Despite being banned in several countries, it's the third highest-grossing mobile game of all time.

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4) Puzzle & Dragons

Another Japanese game to earn massive lifetime revenue is Puzzle & Dragons, developed by GungHo Online Entertainment. This puzzle game has made over $8.5 billion since its release in 2012. It is the first mobile title to generate more than one billion USD in sales. The game has over five million downloads from the Play Store with a rating of 4.0.

Puzzle & Dragons is a monster-collecting RPG featuring over 9000 different monsters to fight in various dungeons. It is a match-3 puzzle where players match three orbs representing different monsters' attributes. After the match, the monster with the matched orb attribute performs the attack on enemies. The free-to-play mobile game features multiplayer mode allowing players to enjoy with friends.

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5) Clash of Clans

Clash of Clans is a strategy game developed by Supercell that has earned over $8.4 billion in its lifetime revenue. With over 500 million downloads from the Play Store, it accumulated over $400 million in revenue in 2022.

It was the seventh highest-grossing game for the same year in the United States. Since its initial release in 2012, the title has been widely popular with millions of active users worldwide.

In this mobile strategy game, players build villages and raise a clan to fight in clan wars. They can attack other villages and earn resources to build their own. Players can use three primary resources, Gold, Elixir, and Dark Elixir, to upgrade their villages and troops. This online title features single-player and multiplayer modes with numerous heroes such as Barbarian King, Archer Queen, Royal Champion, and more.