Data from Sensor Tower's intelligence platform indicates that 35 Chinese companies were ranked among the top 100 global mobile game publishers by revenue in February, collectively generating $2.18 billion. This figure represents 41% of the total revenue earned by the top 100 publishers worldwide during the period. Leveraging significant growth from its major titles during the Spring Festival holiday, TENCENT (00700) successfully defended its position as the world's top-grossing mobile game publisher in February.
The launch of a combined "Valentine's Day + Year of the Horse Spring Festival" event on February 14 propelled "Honor of Kings," with its daily revenue rapidly climbing to its highest point in nearly a year and maintaining high levels. "Peacekeeper Elite" launched its Spring Festival version, "Silk Road Celebrates the New Year," in late January, introducing a new "Dunhuang Silk Road" themed map and fresh gameplay. As a major holiday update, its accompanying limited-time events and paid promotions drove a concentrated spending surge over weekends. The game's daily revenue surged 82% on February 7, and it held the top spot on the global mobile game revenue chart for two consecutive days, contributing to a 34% revenue increase for the period.
A special event for the premium "Lingxiao Guardian" skin in "Delta Action" during early to mid-February effectively boosted both active user numbers and monetization. The game jumped to second place globally on February 10, maintaining the position for two days, and set a new single-day revenue record on February 11, leading to a notable 36% monthly revenue increase.
DianDian Interactive maintained its position as the second-highest-grossing global mobile game publisher, demonstrating robust global operational strength and sustained growth momentum. Its flagship strategy title, "Whiteout Survival," performed steadily and continued to lead in global markets, with cumulative revenue approaching $4.3 billion. The new title "Kingshot" broke through strongly, winning the Sensor Tower APAC Awards 2025 for Best 4X Strategy Game, with its revenue poised to surpass the $1 billion milestone. The refined merge game "Tasty Travels: Merge Game" also showed impressive growth, with February revenue increasing 14% month-over-month to set a new record.
Benefiting from strong growth in core products like "Eggy Party" and "Identity V," NTES-S (09999) saw its global mobile game revenue increase 44% month-over-month in February, securing the third position on the publisher revenue chart. A collaboration with the classic animation IP "My Little Pony" in "Eggy Party" on February 17, featuring limited-edition character skins, accessories, and a dedicated event scene, combined with the Spring Festival update, drove daily revenue to a near two-year high, resulting in a massive 184% revenue increase for the period. Simultaneously, "Identity V" experienced a 95% revenue surge due to its Valentine's Day主题活动 and limited-time fashion items, revitalizing the long-standing title.
Driven by the outstanding performance of "Tapping Town" in global markets, Heartbeat Network saw its global revenue surge 105% in February after already doubling in January, setting a new historical record. This performance earned the company its first entry into the top 10 publishers by revenue, landing at ninth place. "Tapping Town" executed simultaneous limited-time collaborations with the classic IPs "My Little Pony" and "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf" across domestic and international markets in February, alongside the major "Moonlight Box: Hundred Flavors Secret" update. This multi-pronged content strategy propelled the game's February revenue up by 185%, with cumulative revenue nearing $100 million, showcasing powerful global growth potential.
Giant Network (002558.SZ) delivered impressive market results early in the year, fueled by the continued explosive growth of its flagship product, "Supernatural Action Team." Its global revenue surged 66% month-over-month in February, reaching a new record high and causing its rank to jump 10 places to 16th on the revenue chart. The game's one-year anniversary update in January, featuring visual upgrades, gameplay enhancements, and player rewards, drove a 43% monthly revenue increase. In February, the game capitalized on its core "loot and extract" gameplay with exclusive Spring Festival content and enhanced reward rates, fully igniting player engagement and leading to a further 80% month-over-month revenue increase for the period. By the end of February, the game's cumulative revenue had surpassed the $100 million mark, highlighting Giant Network's development and精细化 operation capabilities in its niche.
The mid-January overseas launch of "Dragon Traveler" (the international version of "Dragon Soul Traveler") led to a strong emergence for publisher GameTree Entertainment. Its global revenue skyrocketed 74-fold month-over-month in January and increased another 13% in February, resulting in a rapid climb up the rankings and a debut appearance at 30th place on the revenue chart.
Other Chinese mobile game publishers that entered the global top 100 by revenue included Joy Net, BeHeFun Games, Boke City, Y World, and U Cool盛世, bringing the total to 35 companies.
On the China App Store手游 revenue chart, TENCENT's "Honor of Kings," "Peacekeeper Elite," "Delta Action," "Jin Chan Chan之战," and "Valorant: Source Operation" occupied the top five spots. The February 5th launch of the "Valorant: Source Operation" Spring Festival version "Full Horsepower," which coincided with the start of Act IV and introduced the highly popular limited-time Spring Festival skin "Blade of Departing Fire," contributed to a 42% revenue increase for the period, setting a new record and earning the game its first entry into the China App Store top five.
In early February, "Reverse War: Future" generated significant buzz during the Spring Festival period with a major collaboration based on "Ghost Blows Out the Light." Its revenue surged 834% and 181% on February 4th and 5th respectively, reaching its highest point since its launch on January 13. On February 5th, the game claimed the number two spot on the Chinese iOS game grossing chart, second only to "Honor of Kings," and achieved a 55% revenue increase for the period, ranking 12th on the revenue chart.
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