The world of mobile game development is always abuzz with exciting news and trends! In March 2021, one particular title stole the spotlight as the top-grossing mobile game worldwide. Honor of Kings from Tencent took the crown with a whopping $257.5 million in player spending, representing an impressive 63 percent growth from March 2020. This staggering figure is a testament to the game's massive appeal, particularly in China, where a significant 96.3 percent of revenue came from.
But that's not all - Honor of Kings' success was largely driven by its popularity in Asia, with Thailand and Taiwan also contributing notable shares. The full ranking of the top-grossing mobile games for March 2021 can be found above. All figures are based on Sensor Tower's Store Intelligence platform, providing accurate estimates of game revenue.
In second place was PUBG Mobile from Tencent, raking in $240.5 million in gross revenue. China and its localized version, Game for Peace, accounted for a substantial 59.7 percent of the title's earnings, followed by 9.8 percent from the United States. This impressive performance is a testament to the game's enduring popularity.
Another notable entry on this list was Genshin Impact from miHoYo, followed closely by Uma Musume Pretty Derby from Cygames and Coin Master from Moon Active. The latter has seen incredible success since its launch in Japan at the end of February 2021, generating an astonishing $136.6 million in March alone.
Uma Musume Pretty Derby's impressive showing is a clear indicator of the massive potential of Japan's mobile market. In just one month, it has generated close to the lifetime revenue of another Cygames title, Dragalia Lost, developed in partnership with Nintendo, which accumulated $154.8 million in player spending as of March 31, 2021.
Rounding out the top five was Lords Mobile from IGG, generating over $59 million in March, a remarkable increase of approximately 250 percent year-over-year. This surge is largely attributed to the integration of its new battle pass system called "Kingdom Labors". Players can purchase a monthly Gold Pass or use the default Silver Pass and earn rewards by completing weekly tasks.
Want to see how this ranking compares to the previous month? Check out our article on the Top Grossing Mobile Games Worldwide for February 2021 here. Store Intelligence users can access app revenue and download estimates for the above apps, as well as historical performance metrics on the Sensor Tower platform.
Our revenue estimates are based on gross user spending from the App Store and Google Play worldwide between March 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, representing a comprehensive snapshot of the mobile game development landscape. Note that these rankings do not include app revenue from third-party Android stores.