The Southeast Asian mobile game market has rapidly emerged as a key growth driver in the global gaming industry, fueled by its youthful population and widespread smartphone use. In this competitive landscape, accurate market insights and effective strategies are essential for success. To support this need, SocialPeta has released the Insights into Marketing Trends in Southeast Asian Mobile Games in 2024 report, providing an in-depth analysis of market trends, popular creatives, and leading advertising strategies to help companies seize global opportunities and achieve success.

Top-performing overseas mobile game icons in the Southeast Asian market

Source: SocialPeta

The average number of monthly advertisers exceeded 21,000, with new creatives accounting for nearly 70% in July and August.

In 2024, the Southeast Asian mobile game market experienced steady growth, with over 21,000 active advertisers per month on average—a 9.5% year-on-year increase—despite a brief decline in June and July. Overall, market performance remains strong.

New advertisers performed well in 2024, maintaining an average of 3.7% throughout the year and peaking at 8.5% in June, indicating a significant influx of new games. Despite lower numbers during the Lunar New Year period, the growth trajectory of the Southeast Asian mobile game market remains positive.

Marketing trends in Southeast Asia

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Source: SocialPeta

In 2024, new creative placements in the Southeast Asian mobile game market showed notable shifts. In July and August, 63.8% of advertisers launched new creatives, reaching the highest levels of the year despite a slight 0.8% year-on-year decrease. On average, 39.6% of creatives were new, with a peak of 49.1% in June. These figures emphasize advertisers’ focus on updating creatives, especially mid-year, to boost ad appeal and engagement.

New ad creatives

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Source: SocialPeta

Advertisers in Indonesia and the Philippines surpassed Japan and South Korea, with RPGs leading as the most competitive genre in marketing.

The Asia-Pacific mobile game advertising landscape reveals significant regional differences. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia and the Philippines have surpassed Japan and South Korea in the number of advertisers, averaging 12.3K and 9.8K per month, respectively, with Vietnam close behind at 9.2K. Thailand stands out for maintaining over 100 new creatives monthly, averaging 103, with Singapore and Malaysia following at 94.

Overall, Southeast Asia averages 20.1K advertisers and 110 new creatives per month. However, most Southeast Asian countries, aside from Thailand, have fewer than 100 new creatives monthly. By contrast, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan perform significantly better, averaging 10.2K advertisers and 127 new creatives per month, surpassing other regions.

Advertising by country/region

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Source: SocialPeta

RPGs (role-playing games) are the most competitive advertising category in Southeast Asia, averaging 231 creatives per month—16% of the total and 3.8 percentage points above the global average. This volume far exceeds other categories, surpassing strategy games by 50 creatives.

Casual games lead in advertiser share, comprising 28.4% of the market, which is 1.4 percentage points higher than the global average. However, their share of creatives is 29.6%, 1.9 percentage points below the global average. Casino and puzzle games follow closely, accounting for 13.9% and 11.3% of advertisers, respectively.

Mobile games by genre

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Source: SocialPeta

Strategy games lead in video creatives, while mini-games capture attention with IP-based elements.

In Southeast Asia, mobile game advertising prioritizes video creatives, which make up 65.8% of all ads—above the global average of 54.8%, though down from 71.3% last year. Notably, nearly 70% of these videos are longer than 30 seconds, suggesting that longer ads are more effective in the region.

Strategy games top the list, with 76.5% of their ads in video format, while casino games rely more heavily on image creatives, which account for 44.3%. Most video ads fall between 30 and 60 seconds, representing 59.1% of the total. For image ads, 67% are in landscape format, while portrait and square images make up 13.5% and 7.1%, respectively. This data highlights the variety of creative types and advertising strategies used across different game genres in Southeast Asia.

Mobile game creatives by type

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Source: SocialPeta

Southeast Asia has emerged as a key battleground for the overseas expansion of mini-games, following regions like Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Numerous classic domestic marketing strategies have been successfully adapted to this region, showcasing a diverse range of creative formats.

Popular creatives

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Source: SocialPeta

  • Leveraging IP for growth: Advertisers use popular IP characters to capture players’ attention, boosting exposure and conversion rates for their creatives.
  • AI filters: AI filter technology transforms real people into anime characters, enhancing visual appeal, interactivity, and personalization in game promotions.
  • Side gameplay + voice-over: Highlighting side gameplay features with voice-overs makes ad content more engaging and immersive, increasing player participation.
  • KOL commentary + gameplay footage: Collaborating with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to provide commentary alongside gameplay footage adds dynamism to ads, leveraging the KOL’s influence to attract their fanbase’s interest in the game.

These creative formats have effectively helped mini-games establish a strong presence in the Southeast Asian market, using diverse marketing strategies to capture the attention of local players.

The report also provides an in-depth analysis of three recently trending mobile game products in the Southeast Asian market: Ghost Story: Love Destiny (the overseas version of 倩女幽魂), the popular mini-game Legend of Mushroom: Rush – SEA, and the hit cartoon pet-themed MMO Draconia Saga. The marketing strategies employed by these games in Southeast Asia offer valuable insights for industry professionals.

Ghost Story: Love Destiny

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Source: SocialPeta

The 24-page report includes data up to August 2024. Through an in-depth analysis of Southeast Asian mobile game marketing data, alongside comparisons with past international marketing trends, SocialPeta has compiled this report to support your journey into global markets and aid in your expansion efforts.

Download the full report to stay ahead in the ever-evolving mobile gaming landscape.