Data digest: CookieRun, NYT and Valorant milestones, more Skillz-Papaya drama plus China, Japan and D2C stats

Every Wednesday, we break down the latest data, research and financial results into digestible chunks. Read on for the numbers you need to know about without the fluff.

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CookieRun: Crumble has brought in more than 2.5m players and over $14m (KRW 20bn) in revenue since its global launch four weeks ago, says developer Devsisters. 40% of that revenue has come from outside Korea, said the firm; the US is the top grossing market outside its home territory.

Skillz won a major US legal battle against Israeli developer Papaya Gaming earlier this year after a jury awarded $420m for false advertising.

In July, a judge replaced that with a larger $719m disgorgement order (plus roughly $10m in fees), bringing the total Skillz is now pursuing from Papaya to around $730m.

Papaya responded by opening a separate Israeli insolvency proceeding and proposed repaying creditors solely out of future profits, but a court in Tel Aviv has now declined to put that plan to a creditor vote. The court said the company must bring in other funding instead. Papaya says it intends to appeal the July US judgment.

NYT Games: Wordle & Crossword earned an estimated $7m in August – its best month ever, according to AppMagic. Lifetime earnings stand at just over $190m, with 85% of that coming from the US.

China’s video game market generated $51.8bn in 2025, surpassing $50bn for the first time and forecast to reach $59.8bn by 2030, according to Niko Partners. Mini games now account for 20% of mobile spending and 80% of players have tried one, while short video apps remain the top discovery channel for new games at 41%.

Niko forecasts another 4% of growth in 2026, taking the market to $53.9bn. Annual ARPU passed $70 for the first time in 2025 and is projected to reach $77.68 by 2030, with the player base expected to hit 769m over the same period.

Esports engagement also climbed to 51.3% of players in 2026, up from 46.5% the year before, according to Niko’s accompanying player survey.

The China-exclusive version of Valorant Mobile is just a year old, but it has already earned close to $300m, according to AppMagic estimates. The numbers suggest it has clocked up over 25m downloads to date, and the game generated over $37m in August alone.

eFootball led Japan’s mobile revenue chart from January to July, according to a new Sensor Tower report. It hit an all-time monthly high in July off the back of World Cup-related activity. Monster Strike, LastWar, Whiteout Survival and Umamusume: Pretty Derby were also in the top five earners for the first half of 2026.

Japan generated more than $10bn (¥1.56 trillion) in mobile game IAP revenue over the past 12 months overall. That puts Japan second in Asia behind China, at roughly twice South Korea’s total revenue, despite a 5.1% year-over-year dip. Downloads fell 5.4% to 585m over the same period.

Jurassic World: The Game’s direct-to-consumer channel accounted for 26% of its iOS earnings within weeks of its launch, says Ludia.

According to a case study published by Appcharge, Ludia’s checkout conversion rates have doubled within a month, and 57% of D2C buyers have made more than one purchase. 11% of D2C users are making purchases ten or more times, the report says.

According to another report by Niko Partners, Genshin Impact topped China’s livestreaming charts in July 2026 with a Niko Index of 67.8m (up 55% month-on-month).

It’s part of a strong month for RPGs overall, as miHoYo’s three tracked titles took three of the top five spots, with Honkai: Star Rail following at 47.9m and Zenless Zone Zero at 44.2m.

Genshin Impact’s spike was driven by its Version 7.0 preview special, which pushed Bilibili viewership to 25.6m on July 31 alone. Honkai: Star Rail’s growth followed the July 15 launch of its Version 4.4 update and the second phase of its Fate/Stay Night crossover, while Zenless Zone Zero’s rise came amid its second-anniversary celebrations and a KFC tie-in around its Version 3.1 update, which launched July 29.