The Mobile Ad Monetization Newsletter #18
Ad Monetization Trends Q1 2025
The first quarter of 2025 has already delivered some breakout hits in the underappreciated ad-driven mobile space. From quick-hit ultracasual puzzles to scaled-up Steam ports, some studios have racked up millions of daily active users and generated tens or hundreds of thousands in daily ad revenue. In this newsletter issue, I’m showcasing six standout games that are absolutely crushing it on the IAA side, along with key takeaways on what’s driving their success.
Cookingdom by ABI games
Launched March 2025
DAU: 830k
Largest Geos: USA, Brazil, Indonesia
Estimated Ad Revenue: $43k- 55k/day
ABI Games has developed another level-based ultracasual game based on cooking. The gameplay is similar to Satisdom. Users have 4 minutes to complete short puzzle-like levels that are completely unrelated to one another. The game is timer-based, and it monetizes with interstitial ads between levels. Rewarded ads are used for hints to make puzzles easier. Banner ads are shown constantly, and MRECs are shown during game pauses and between levels on the win screen. The game is still scaling…
Takeaway: Ultracasual puzzle formats with rapid levels and heavy interstitial usage still pull strong DAUs. Simplicity + aggressive monetization + low CPIs = fast scaling, even if short-lived, is profitable.
Mergesticker by Lion Studios
Launched March 2025
DAU: 204k
Largest Geos: USA, UK, Russia
Estimated Ad Revenue: $18k/day
IAP Revenue: $6k/day
Take the gameplay from Fruit Merge and Color Book and mash in a little of Triple Match 3D, and you get Mergesticker. As the player, you must match items 3 times to clear them from the board and generate stickers for photo albums. Mergesticker is sparse about how it shows ads, and it’s a bit too soon to tell if the aim is for the game to be mainly ad monetized or IAP driven. Time will tell…
Takeaway: Hybrid casual continues to evolve. Mergesticker hints at a trend of softer ad placements and deeper IAP ambitions—possibly signaling a shift in monetization strategy among match-3 hybrids.
Hamster Escape by Sunday
Launched March 2025
DAU: 257k
Largest Geos: India, Turkey, Mexico
Estimated Ad Revenue: $9-15k/day
Hamster Escape is a level puzzle game in which you play the hero hamster and need to escape. As the name suggests, the gameplay is exactly what you’d expect. The game reminds me of a simplified and more cute version of Robbery Bob. Hamster Escape is only live on Android, but it’s scaled to 200k DAU in seven days. The game monetizes aggressively with interstitial ads between levels, which are only about 20-30 seconds long, and banner ads.
Takeaway: Cute puzzle games can still go viral with the right creative and monetization mix.
R.E.P.O Mobile by Sandswept Studios
Launched March 2025
DAU: 546k
Largest Geos: Russia, Mexico, Colombia
Estimated Ad Revenue: $23-30k/day
The trend of porting Steam games to mobile is still very much in fashion. R.E.P.O mobile is an online horror game coop with up to 6 players. You must complete tasks together like locating and handling physics-based objects and get scared by loud popup monsters. I have not seen anything like this before, but R.E.P.O monetizes with interstitial and rewarded ads pretty heavily, meaning it generates $23-30k/day mainly from organics (nice profit).
Takeaway: The Steam-to-mobile pipeline is strong. Even copying niche genres like co-op horror can generate significant organic downloads, resulting in a profitable short-lived game.
Dreamy Room by ABI Games
Launched February 2025
DAU: 1.1 million
Largest Geos: USA, Russia, Indonesia
Estimated Ad Revenue: $72k/day
IAP Revenue: $6k/day
ABI games make the list twice this month - and for good reason. Dreamy Room has been downloaded 9.5 million times in the last 30 days and is an absolute ad monetization beast! Dreamy Room jumps on the decorating trend, where players must decorate rooms by placing items correctly against a timer. It's a classic ABI Games style whose core is super simple but is getting increasingly complex. The game economy is based around coins and boosters, and naturally, the main monetization mechanisms are interstitial, rewarded, and banner ads. Compared to Cookingdom, this game targets more premium users, and the 10% IAP revenue is a testament to that.
Takeaway: Decorating and urgency are a winning combination. ABI proves again that intuitive core loops and layered monetization (including IAPs) can drive massive scale, especially with global appeal.
Word Search Explorer by Playsimple Games (MTG)
Launched April 2024
DAU: 2.7 million
Largest Geos: USA, Mexico, Turkey
Estimated Ad Revenue: $160k/day
IAP Revenue: $6k/day
This game was launched over a year ago, but in the last month, it’s been downloaded 8 million times and added nearly an extra 1 million in DAU. It’s the same core gameplay as Wordscapes that generates $260k/day in revenue ($145k IAA revenue), but it’s been updated for solving crossword puzzles. Word Search Eplorer, by my estimates, is generating anywhere between $120-160/day in ad revenue. This means that WSE is on track to eclipsing Wordscapes in about a month if it stays on the same growth trajectory.
Takeaway: Evergreen word games are having a moment. WSE’s rise proves there's still room to innovate within mature genres—especially when paired with smart UA and monetization refinement.
💰Great Content 💰
Vertex Games’ "Matching Story" has scaled to nearly $270k per day in IAPs. This innovative title cleverly blends merge and match-3 mechanics, generating almost $100 million in revenue from 7 million downloads. The game's design leverages the merge element for deeper monetization through strategic bubble offers and boasts a greater spend depth than typical puzzle games. Noteworthy design choices include a balanced difficulty curve around level 60 and the visual satisfaction provided by the merge progression. Their user acquisition strategy is also flawless, demonstrating agility in adopting successful creative themes like "freezing families." This Chinese success story underscores how UA must be done in the modern age. Check out our episode for all the details.
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