Despite India ban, PUBG Mobile emerges as 2020's highest-earning mobile game

According to a recent report published by Sensor Tower, PUBG Mobile by Tencent is the highest-earning mobile game globally in 2020. Since its release in 2018, the game has been blowing up charts in download numbers, revenue, user base, and year-over-year growth.

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Five titles smash the billion-dollar mark, including PUBG Mobile

A record five mobile games have generated more than 1 billion USD in 2020 so far and have surpassed the number seen in previous years.

Adding another feather to its cap, PUBG Mobile has generated close to 2.6 billion USD since the start of the year, 64.3 percent more than the previous year.

Another Tencent title, Honor of Kings, mainly popular in China, has picked up close to 2.5 billion USD in player spending, up 42.8 percent from the year prior.

The top grossing mobile game of 2020 was @PUBGMOBILE from @TencentGlobal generating $2.6B to date. #HonorofKings, @PokemonGoApp #CoinMaster, and @Roblox also exceeded $1B on mobile this year: https://t.co/qhP4v95gyx #mobilegaming #pubgmobile pic.twitter.com/I9Fee86Gzw

— Sensor Tower (@SensorTower) December 15, 2020

Pokemon Go from Niantic also surpassed the billion-dollar mark. It has accumulated 1.2 billion USD to date, up 31.5 percent from 2019, making 2020 the game’s best year ever.

Coin Master from Moon Active and Roblox from Roblox Corporation have also surpassed the billion-dollar mark, generating 1.1 billion USD each. Roblox nearly doubled its 2019 revenue this year.

Coin Master saw more than two-times increase from last year. Since the beginning of 2019, the title had grown rapidly. Its best-ever month was November 2020, when it picked up close to 118 million USD, as per the Sensor Tower report.

With 15 days remaining in the year, another game that could join this year’s billion-dollar club is Monster Strike from Mixi, which has racked up 958 million USD so far, a 2.8 percent growth from 2019. The title has been a global top-five grossing game since at least 2014.

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Previous billion-dollar club members

Honor of Kings continues to be massive(Image via wadagame)

In 2019, three titles generated more than 1 billion USD, Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile, and Fate/Grand Order, from Sony’s Aniplex. 2018 also saw three billion-dollar titles, i.e., Honor of Kings, Monster Strike, and Fate/Grand Order.

During the preceding years going back to 2014, two titles hit the $1 billion milestone each year.