Data digest: Pixel Flow hits $100m, May’s top games, Neverness to Everness, Pokémon Go, more

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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Pixel Flow has topped $100m in IAP revenue since its release in August 2025, according to Appmagic data analysed by game developer Kavindu Priyanath.

Loom Games’ title has become just the third hybridcasual puzzle to surpass the milestone, according to the Appmagic data. With $105m in IAP revenue to date, the relatively recently launched Pixel Flow is hot on the heels of Screwdom ($120m) and Color Block Jam ($148m).

Hybridcasual puzzle games are performing strongly so far this year. Collectively, the top 10 games generated over $270m in the first five months of 2026, compared to around $340m racked up by the top 10 during the whole of 2025.

Worldwide consumer spending on mobile games hit $6.6bn in May, according to Sensor Tower estimates.

Global spending on games across the App Store and Google Play was up 2% MoM, with the US accounting for 29.6% of total revenue, ahead of China (iOS only) at 16.8% and Japan at 12%.

Boosted by strong live-ops momentum in China, Tencent’s Honor of Kings took the top spot on the revenue chart for the second month running in May.

Dream’s Royal Match jumped two spots to number two by worldwide revenue, while Century’s Whiteout Survival was a non-mover in third place. Wuthering Waves was the title showing the biggest MoM revenue rise for May.

Global mobile game downloads increased 5% MoM to hit 3.77bn in May. India accounted for 703m downloads (18.7%), ahead of the US (7.4%) and Brazil (6.3%).

Lessmore’s Arrows Puzzle Escape moved up two places from April to become the most downloaded mobile game globally in May, overtaking Hungry’s Block Blast, which dropped to number two.

Roblox moved up one place to number three, while Garena’s Free Fire and Oakever’s Arrows Go! rounded off the top five.

Officially released worldwide on April 29, Appmagic data suggests ‘anime GTA’ game Neverness to Everness has 9.3m downloads to date, and has earned publisher Perfect World just over $28m in IAP revenue.

The biggest spending markets are Japan and China, with 43% and 28% of the respective IAP spend to date. South Korea and the US are the next biggest markets with 11% and 10% of the spend respectively. By downloads, China leads with 28% of the total, followed by the US (12%), Japan (10%) and Indonesia (4%).

Last weekend’s Pokémon Go fest in Copenhagen became the first such event to sell out in Europe, with fans snapping up the 60,000 available tickets, according to Scopely.

The publisher also recorded 613,956 unique active Pokémon Go players across the Danish capital from June 12-14, during which 78.64m Pokémon were caught.

European mobile app studio Luni has secured $14m in UA financing from PvX Partners, which will primarily be used to help scale its micro-drama platform Shorts.

While it has created game-related apps like Clash Mini Walkthrough Tricks, the Bordeaux-based company is better known for the likes of Fitness Coach, Scanner and Photo Editor.

Singapore-based PvX, which recently surpassed $750m in committed UA financing, has worked with companies including Top App Games, Mysterytag, Playsome, Fumb Games, Smash Games, and most recently Two Desperados.

A recent survey commissioned by ZBD and conducted by Atomik Research found that 90% of respondents have considered implementing in-game loyalty and rewards systems to boost retention and engagement.

Having quizzed 195 senior mobile game developers in the US and UK, the companies said 31% of participants were actively testing such systems as a solution and 38% were currently planning to implement them into their game.

43% of survey respondents said they expected in-game reward/loyalty systems to drive the biggest improvements in player retention and engagement over the next 12-24 months.

45% of respondents cited stronger player personalisation (AI-driven targeting or segmentation tools) as the player engagement and retention solution with the most promise over the same timeframe, while 37% opted for better collaboration across monetisation and marketing teams.

Over half (51%) of those surveyed identified balancing monetisation friction with a fun player experience as the biggest pain point when it comes to player retention.

50% also said their studio had increased their retention and reengagement budget over the past year, while 42% had kept it the same.