It’s been a very long time coming, however Dream Video games’ Royal Kingdom lastly made its long-awaited debut in November after a big tender launch interval. Given the immense recognition of the title’s predecessor, Royal Match, many are questioning how the title may disrupt the norm. It has not fairly smashed its approach to the highest of the grossing charts, however early outcomes recommend it’s slowly however certainly climbing up the ranks.
Royal Kingdom wasn’t the one long-awaited arrival in November both, as we additionally noticed the debut of the second season of Arcane (based mostly on League of Legends) on Netflix. League of Legends developer Riot sought to capitalize on the animated collection’ immense recognition with a breadth of latest content material in Wild Rift—together with a brand new battle move, a themed PvP occasion, an assortment of latest beauty choices, and extra. It paid off too, with the sport seeing a notable spike in downloads.
In the meantime, Diablo: Immortal launched a crossover with one other famend Blizzard franchise, World of Warcraft, which simply celebrated its twentieth anniversary. It was a notable month for Genshin Influence too, which expanded its widespread card-battling minigame Genius Invokation to include auto-chess. Whereas an progressive addition, it’s unlikely to knock Pokémon TCG Pocket off its pedestal, which continues to dominate the rankings, significantly in Japan.
Beneath, you’ll discover extra on these video games and updates, in addition to the most recent occasions and traits from each the informal and midcore markets.
November’s informal sport updates
Who says much less can’t be extra? Match3 is often the style that involves thoughts when discussing puzzle video games dominating the cellular charts, however final month, two notable titles switched their consideration to merge2 as an alternative.
Main the cost was Piggy Kingdom’s Merge Wonders occasion, which mixed each match3 and merge2 parts. First issues first, gamers needed to beat Piggy Kingdom’s common match3 ranges to earn particular packing containers. Every field contained random gadgets that gamers might mix to finish varied duties, which in flip would award them factors.
These factors might be spent to open up area on the sport’s merge2 board, which was virtually fully locked down at first of the occasion. Gamers would obtain occasion gadgets as they unlocked areas, however the important thing rewards—equivalent to in-game boosters and in-game foreign money—have been particularly tied to unlocking chest tiles on the grid.
Lily’s Backyard additionally applied a merge2 minigame final month, Lily’s Merge, which had some similarities with the merge occasions that Playrixes ‘scapes video games used to run. The primary distinction in Lily’s Backyard’s strategy was its monetization, incorporating a mini-battle move with a free and paid premium observe. The sport additionally launched an occasion titled Lily´s Duties with easy every day process completion mechanics, that are a rarity in match3 video games.
Total, it was a big month for Lily’s Backyard stay occasions cadence, with 4 interconnecting main occasions within the sport operating concurrently throughout November: the Seasonal Collectibles Album, Makeover Time, Lily’s Duties, and Lily’s Merge.
In the meantime, Coin Grasp launched a brand new minigame that diversifies gameplay and enhances participant engagement. In Wildland Journey, gamers are offered with an unique multi-level journey map, the place they use potions to work together with obstacles and unlock rewards. The occasion additionally options distinctive mechanics for producing and managing occasion power within the type of the upgradeable Tree of Life, which generates potions over time.
The sport additionally launched a brand new guild-based PvP competitors mode, Crew Battle, the place gamers compete to destroy an enemy base by amassing and utilizing barrels to wreck enemy buildings. The primary staff to destroy all of the enemy gadgets or accumulate essentially the most barrel factors was awarded a grand prize—a bundle of occasion foreign money and pet meals, plus a chest.
Lastly, Sweet Crush Saga launched presumably the sweetest IP collaboration occasion we’ve seen but, with a model new season impressed by Nestle’s KitKat. The brand new season launched alternating assortment and event occasions, the place gamers needed to get hold of as many crimson KitKat candies as doable to hit sure assortment milestones or win the competitors (each of which might award in-game boosters).
Further informal gaming highlights and different information
After spending greater than a 12 months in its tender launch interval, Dream Video games’ Royal Kingdom, the successor to Royal Match, formally launched onto the cellular market on 21 November. The ultimate product has modified considerably because it first turned playable in April 2023, going by means of a number of iterations. For instance, it initially featured a number of PvP parts that ran concurrently, a function that has since been scrapped.
The primary distinction between Royal Kingdom and its predecessor, Royal Match, lies within the introduction of Kingdom ranges—PvE boss battles that happen each 5 ranges. These take numerous inspiration from the puzzle RPG Empires & Puzzles, with gamers challenged to ‘defeat’ enemies and full aims by making matches that set off ‘assaults.’ Past that, the 2 are largely comparable, and it stays to be seen whether or not this single differentiator will enable it to co-exist with Royal Match.
Taking a look at its success up to now, Royal Kingdom didn’t shoot straight to the highest of the charts, however it has seen a gentle enchancment in its income efficiency day by day since its launch, whereas downloads have slowly fallen. Day by day income has elevated by over 500% in simply three weeks, whereas downloads have decreased by over 75%. Provided that Royal Kingdom is an informal sport, this sample isn’t surprising, as most titles on this class give attention to bringing in new customers at first. Monetization solely turns into vital when gamers have progressed onto tougher content material additional into the sport.
The capybara craze continued in November with the worldwide launch of HABBY’s Capybara GO!, which has stayed inside the US top-grossing 100 and prime 50 downloads since its launch on 20 November. Within the October Analyst Bulletin, we wrote a lot about how the title follows the tried and examined HABBY “recipe” of blending roguelike parts with informal gameplay. Test it out to study extra in regards to the sport’s mechanics and strong LiveOps framework.
November’s midcore sport updates
Genshin Influence is the most recent cellular title to be impressed by the oldest board sport on the planet: chess. Heated Battle Mode: Computerized Artistry is an uncommon amalgamation of auto-chess gameplay and Genshin Influence’s current trading-card sport, Genius Invokation.
Within the mode, gamers assemble a deck of character playing cards after which battle to see who has one of the best staff. At the beginning of every sport, which consists of a number of rounds, gamers select two characters from a random record who they’ll use for the entire match. From there, gamers select one Weapon (offensive skills) and one Artifact (defensive skills) to equip onto their chosen characters at the beginning of every spherical.
Because the mode is auto-chess, the precise battles happen routinely. Going from left to proper, all of the characters in a match take turns to turn out to be ‘energetic,’ throughout which they’ll assault the opposing staff. After all of the characters have attacked, the left-most character turns into energetic once more—this continues till one of many gamers loses by having all their characters defeated. Whoever wins is awarded Fortunate Cash, that are used within the TCG in-game store to buy new playing cards.
When it first appeared in 2021, the primary season of Netflix’s Arcane animated collection based mostly on League of Legends was seen over 34 million instances in simply six days. Final month, the second season was lastly launched, and its recognition has seemingly solely elevated with time, with it hitting the highest spot in over 61 nations worldwide. Riot Video games, the developer behind the League of Legends franchise, noticed a possibility to capitalize on the launch of the brand new season throughout its portfolio.
Provided that they share the identical universe, it must be no shock that League of Legends: Wild Rift (and League of Legends itself) had essentially the most substantial providing, though there was additionally content material in Teamfight Ways and Valorant. Wild Rift launched a choice of celebratory occasions underneath the Cheers to Arcane banner, which have been tied collectively by way of season-exclusive “Keys of Inequity” occasion tokens that might be exchanged for distinctive rewards in an occasion store.
The occasions included the Arcane Go, which rewarded gamers with unique skins, a brand new occasion for the character Ambessa, and Battle of Twin Cities—a singular staff vs. staff occasion the place gamers select to struggle for both Piltover or Zaun, the places on the heart of the Arcane collection. On the finish of November, a choice of themed skins was additionally launched, together with particular person pores and skin bundles, a mega bundle together with all of the featured IAP affords, and a themed restricted Poro Chest gacha.
The crossover and hype surrounding the Arcane collection had a notable affect on Wild Rift’s efficiency. Within the US iOS market, every day downloads round 23 November—coinciding with the discharge of Arcane Season 2: Half 3 on Netflix—have been almost thrice greater than October’s common.
Blizzard mixed its two greatest RPG franchises with a crossover between Diablo Immortal and World of Warcraft (WoW). In Everlasting Warfare, gamers headed to the Fallen Citadel to struggle the Lich King, a widely known enemy from the WoW universe, or battled in Cutthroat Basin, an 8v8 PvP mode set in WoW’s basic Arathi Basin battleground location. The replace additionally added flashy WoW-themed beauty rewards, just like the Betrayer’s Bond Beauty Set. A few of these have been attained by merely taking part within the occasion, whereas others have been monetized.
Further midcore gaming highlights and different information
Card battlers have historically catered to the midcore market, however Pokémon TCG Pocket has achieved exceptional success by casualizing the style—shifting the emphasis from aggressive battles to the simple enjoyment of amassing your favourite playing cards from booster packs.
That have resonated with audiences so properly that the sport has loved unprecedented dominance excessive spot in each the obtain and grossing ranks in Japan since its launch—a degree of efficiency that surpasses even the likes of Pokémon GO! and Umamusume Fairly Derby. The sport has additionally remained within the top-grossing 10 within the US since launch and inside the prime three for downloads.
Taking a look at TCG Pocket’s place among the many current library of Pokémon titles, it’s vital to notice that the majority give attention to certainly one of two themes based mostly on the franchise’s most iconic catchphrases: ‘I wanna be the easiest’ and ‘Gotta catch ’em all.’
Pokémon TCG Pocket, Pokémon Go, and Pokémon Sleep are examples of titles that concentrate on the latter, and all three have managed to keep up their stellar efficiency lengthy after launch. In the meantime, extra battle-focused titles like Pokémon Unite and Pokémon Masters EX, whereas nonetheless reasonably profitable, are likely to occupy the decrease finish of the ranks.
Darkish Warfare Survival, a brand new 4X title launched in September, has steadily gained traction. This hybrid 4X sport incorporates RPG parts, together with an auto-battle mode, a hero assortment meta-layer, and a survivor administration system. It simplifies sure core mechanics whereas that includes cartoony visuals which will enchantment to informal audiences. Notably, the sport introduces distinctive monetization options, equivalent to a number of battle passes with distinct development techniques.
One other sport that has additionally been rising in recognition is High Woman: Produce 101, which launched in November and has rested round 130 within the US grossing ranks. In addition to being a 4X technique title, the sport options parts from the idol, idle, and sovereign genres. It additionally closely makes use of generative AI.