Mobile apps made $3.8 billion more than games in 2025

New data from analyst firm Sensor Tower indicates that consumers are spending more on non-gaming mobile apps than they are on mobile game in-app purchases.

Mobile apps made $3.8 billion more than games in 2025
Comment IconFacebook IconX IconReddit Icon
Senior Gaming Editor
Published
2-minute read time
TL;DR: In 2025, non-gaming mobile apps like ChatGPT and CapCut surpassed mobile games in revenue, reaching $85.6 billion versus $81.8 billion, driven by a 21% growth. Tencent led microtransaction earnings, while Nintendo's mobile titles exceeded $3 billion, highlighting a major industry shift toward diverse app spending.

Apps made billions more than mobile games in 2025 as consumers shift to non-gaming services like ChatGPT, new data from Sensor Tower indicates.

Mobile apps made $3.8 billion more than games in 2025 2
3

Consumers are making a shift in how they spend on mobile apps on Google Play and the App Store, culminating in a so-called "year of divergence" for the multi-billion dollar segment. Analyst firm Sensor Tower estimates that mobile owners spent $85.6 billion in non-gaming apps, a significant +21% year-over-year jump, but $81.8 billion on mobile games.

Mobile apps like CapCut, Tencent's streaming service WeTV, and AI chatbot ChatGPT are at the top of the earnings list. 18 apps total made over $1 billion revenue throughout 2025 and the list was "evenly split between games and non-games," the firm says.

The report also divulges key data points for publishers and games.

Chinese juggernaut Tencent is believed to have the top spot in microtransaction earnings, with an estimated ~$8 billion spent throughout 2025. Scopely, the Saudi-owned company behind mega-hits like Monopoly Go, was in second place. It's also estimated that Monopoly Go broke the $6 billion revenue threshold faster than any other mobile game in history.

Last War: Survival and Whiteout Survival--both from Chinese firms--earned the most money out of any of the other mobile games on the market, Sensor Tower says.

Mobile remains a kind of mythical white whale for gaming's traditional players: Sony, in particular, is doubling down on mobile game releases, and has seen success with Fate?Grand Order, but ultimately the mobile output is weak on the PlayStation side.

Microsoft, for their part, have multiple mobile games through Activision--Call of Duty Mobile and Diablo Immortal--however these games are co-developed by Chinese firms, and Microsoft doesn't see all of those earnings.

Microsoft is also making major headway with introducing a fully-fledged console, PC, and mobile games storefront on mobile via the Xbox app.

Mobile apps made $3.8 billion more than games in 2025 333
3

Nintendo, on the other hand, has made a major splash into mobile, adapting its core franchises across multiple games. Its most successful title, Fire Emblem Heroes, has made over $1 billion in revenue. As of August 2024, we had calculated that Nintendo's mobile games had earned more than $3 billion.

Other Nintendo mobile data points include:

  • Super Mario Run - 100 million+ downloads
  • Mario Kart Tour - 100 million+ downloads
  • Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp - 10 million+ downloads
  • Fire Emblem Heroes - 5 million+ downloads
  • Pikmin Bloom- 1 million+ downloads