Last War Closes Gap on Honor of Kings as Chinese Studios Command Eight Top-20 Slots in 2025 Mobile Revenue Rankings
The mobile gaming revenue hierarchy experienced its tightest competition in years during 2025, with Tencent's Honor of Kings securing first place at US$1.68 billion while FunFly's Last War reached US$1.57 billion—a gap of just US$110 million compared to the historical multi-billion-dollar leads. The shift reflects maturing monetization strategies in Western markets and aggressive pre-China launches by emerging Chinese publishers, according to AppMagic data compiled by Mobilegamer.biz (figures exclude third-party Android channels, web stores, and advertising revenue, with platform commissions deducted).
Eight Chinese-developed titles now occupy the top 20 revenue positions, collectively representing an estimated 40% share when including Tencent's three entries, miHoYo's Honkai: Star Rail, Paper Games' Love and Deepspace, and Point Point Interactive's dual entries. This marks a structural consolidation compared to 2024's more fragmented landscape, where Western casual and legacy franchises maintained stronger positioning.
Last War's Pre-China Revenue Trajectory Challenges Established MOBAs
Last War generated US$1.57 billion in 2025 without accessing mainland China—its largest untapped market—representing 43% growth from US$1.1 billion in 2024. The strategy survival title's performance contrasts sharply with Honor of Kings' 3.4% revenue decline to US$1.68 billion from US$1.74 billion, despite the latter's near-total dependence on Chinese players (the U.S. contributed only US$8.5 million). FunFly's decision to delay China entry while optimizing Western monetization models demonstrates a reversal of traditional market sequencing, where domestic performance historically preceded international expansion.
The competitive pressure extends beyond revenue figures. Honor of Kings maintained its lead through entrenched network effects within China's social gaming ecosystem, while Last War's growth relies on performance marketing in fragmented Western markets where user acquisition costs continue escalating. Roblox's climb to US$1.49 billion (from US$1.1 billion in 2024) further intensifies competition for the same English-speaking audiences, with the U.S. alone delivering US$723 million to Roblox compared to Last War's undisclosed but likely comparable American revenue base.
Point Point Interactive's Dual-Title Performance Outpaces miHoYo's Portfolio Decline
Century Huatong's subsidiary Point Point Interactive achieved combined revenue exceeding US$1.8 billion through Whiteout Survival (US$1.4 billion) and the nine-month-old Frozen City (US$449 million), positioning the studio ahead of miHoYo's total output. Honkai: Star Rail declined 25% to US$423 million from US$562 million, while Genshin Impact fell to US$335 million from US$465 million—neither title securing top-20 placement for the latter. The contraction exposes refresh cycle vulnerabilities inherent to live-service RPGs, where content cadence directly governs retention and spending patterns.
Whiteout Survival's geographic diversification proved critical, with China (US$377 million) and the U.S. (US$325 million) contributing nearly equally, supplemented by Japan (US$201 million) and South Korea (US$156 million). This multi-region balance contrasts with miHoYo's historical reliance on Chinese and Japanese players, suggesting Point Point's strategy survival mechanics translate more effectively across cultural boundaries than anime-styled action RPGs. The studio's ability to launch Frozen City mid-year and immediately capture US$449 million indicates repeatable production frameworks—a capability miHoYo has yet to demonstrate outside its established franchises.
Supercell's Revenue Erosion Accelerates Across Three Core Titles
Brawl Stars collapsed 57% to US$271 million from US$626 million in 2024, while Clash of Clans declined 21% to US$254 million from US$323 million, with the latter falling to 33rd place. Only Clash Royale showed resilience, though its US$453 million still represents stagnation rather than growth. The Finnish studio's struggles reflect saturated Western markets where its cartoon aesthetic and mid-core mechanics face intensifying competition from both Chinese strategy titles and Western casual games deploying celebrity licensing (Royal Match's US$1.37 billion benefited from Dream Games' cross-promotion with Royal Kingdom despite the latter's US$246 million suggesting cannibalization risks).
The revenue concentration among top performers has intensified: six titles now exceed US$1 billion annually compared to three in 2023, yet the gap between 10th place (US$650 million for Coin Master) and 11th (US$550 million for Gossip Harbor) widens significantly. Lemon Jam Studio's Gossip Harbor surged 44 positions year-over-year, demonstrating that narrative-driven casual games can still capture mid-tier revenue slots through localized storytelling frameworks—a design approach Supercell's multiplayer-focused portfolio cannot easily replicate without fundamental product repositioning.
Western Market Dependency Concentrates Platform Risk for Top Earners
Monopoly Go derived US$1.1 billion of its US$1.36 billion total from the U.S. alone, while Candy Crush Saga pulled US$576 million from American players—both titles exhibiting over 80% Anglophone market concentration across their top-five countries. This geographic clustering creates disproportionate exposure to App Store policy changes, particularly Apple's 30% commission structure and potential regulatory interventions in digital goods taxation. Chinese titles demonstrate more balanced revenue distribution: Whiteout Survival's 27% U.S. share and Honor of Kings' 99.5% China concentration represent opposite extremes, with most successful Chinese games operating between these poles.
The data methodology itself—excluding third-party Android stores where Chinese publishers often generate 30-50% of domestic revenue—understates actual performance gaps. Honor of Kings likely exceeded US$2.5 billion in total bookings when including Huawei, Xiaomi, and Oppo app stores, while Last War's true figures remain closer to reported numbers given its iOS-primary Western audience. This measurement asymmetry obscures the actual competitive distance between Chinese domestic hits and global cross-platform performers, complicating strategic assessments for publishers evaluating market entry priorities.
By ChinaBiz Insider Analysis Desk