AppMagic has recently revealed that the global casual games market generated $12 billion in net in-app purchase (IAP) revenue in H1 2025, growing 0.8% year-over-year despite tougher user acquisition and monetization conditions.

The majority of this revenue is concentrated in just three genres, Puzzle, Casino, and Simulation, with Puzzle alone consistently setting industry benchmarks.

Market Overview: Three Genres Rule

• Puzzle + Casino = 72% of all revenue
• Adding Simulation raises the total to 80%

• Out of the Top 100 Grossing Casual games in H1 2025:
  • 41 Casino titles
  • 32 Puzzle titles
• Nearly half of the top games launched between 2015 and 2020, proving the resilience of veteran titles.

Puzzle: Still the King of Casual

Puzzle games earned $4.6B in H1 2025 (+13% YoY), led by three major subgenres:

• Match-3: $2.7B (+7% YoY) Royal Match and Candy Crush Saga dominate, accounting for over 50% of revenue.

• Merge-2 with Complex Meta: $850M (+94% YoY) Rich LiveOps and deep meta systems drive growth, but the genre is tough for newcomers to crack.

• Match-3D: $193M (-12% YoY) After peaking in 2024, the genre has slowed significantly.

Rising Trend: Hybridcasual Puzzle formats, Block, Screw, and Sort, are showing explosive growth (Block Puzzle x12 YoY) by blending addictive Hypercasual cores with deeper Casual monetization.

Casino: From Monopoly GO! Boom to New Normal

Casino remains the second largest Casual genre, with $4B revenue in H1 2025 (-15% YoY):

• Slots: $1.6B (-7% YoY)
• Casual Casino: $1.2B (-33% YoY) after Monopoly GO!’s 2024 peak
• Casino Card Games: $455M (+6% YoY)

While overall growth slowed, Casino mechanics (like Plinko and dice rolls) are now common in other genres’ LiveOps. Plinko alone saw 36× YoY growth in 2025, hinting at emerging subgenre potential.

Simulation: Farming Keeps Growing

Simulation games earned $1.1B (+5% YoY), with Farming titles contributing $560M (+3% YoY).

• Township leads with $237M in H1 2025, hitting record monthly revenues 6 years post-launch.
• Success is driven by dense LiveOps calendars and cross-genre events (like Match-3 mini-games inside Farming titles).

Key Takeaways for Developers

1. Concentration is high — 80% of revenue comes from just three genres.
2. LiveOps is essential — Regular, event-driven content keeps old titles competitive.
3. Hybridcasual is the future — Games blending simple cores with deeper monetization are breaking revenue records.
4. Genre veterans are resilient — Top games from 5–10 years ago still dominate revenue charts.
5. Innovation often spreads cross-genre — Casino mechanics are influencing Puzzle and Simulation LiveOps.

2025 Rising Stars to Watch

• Royal Kingdom – Dream Games’ follow-up to Royal Match, already nearing $100M revenue.
• Gossip Harbor – Merge-2 leader with adaptive LiveOps.
• Cube Busters – Block Puzzle hit from Spyke Games.
• Wool Craze – Screw Puzzle title riding the “wool” trend.
• Coin Car Games: Simulator – Blends Casual Casino with car restoration meta.
• Goodville: Farm Game Adventure – A fresh Farming title growing steadily.

H1 2025 shows that while the Casual Games market is more concentrated than ever, innovation is thriving within subgenres and hybrid formats. Developers aiming for long-term success need to combine proven retention strategies with fresh monetization models—and keep a close eye on the rise of Hybridcasual Puzzles.

To learn more about the full details, check out their official report here.