- EverMerge’s<\/a> latest update added a new monetization mechanic to the Mystic Isle, the Premium Portal<\/a>, which functions similar to a subscription.\u00a0
- Premium Portals are purchasable buildings from which the player can claim a specific creature every day for 12 days. There are several types of Portals available, and they rotate along with the refreshing shop. The purchase can be made with premium currency gems in the shop<\/a> or real money when limited-time offers appear<\/a>. This feature was introduced by gifting each player with a random free portal.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/evermerge-premium-portal.png\")
EverMerge added a new monetization mechanic to the game. Premium Portal can be bought with premium currency gems from the shop or real money when a limited-time offer appears.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - While the spectator mode feature certainly isn’t as popular in the US as it is in China, there is a handful of top-grossing 100 games in the US that feature it (according to GameRefinery service, 58% of the top-grossing 100 games in China have the feature, while in the US and Japan, only around 15% of top-100 games have it<\/em>). Now Dragon Ball Legends<\/a> is one of those games, as the latest update lets players watch top-ranking player match replays<\/a> through the GodTube mode. Players can save their favorite replays for later viewing. However, old replays are deleted after 14 days have passed.<\/li>
- The Ants<\/a>, a 4X title with an interesting theme – ants, introduced a new PvP mode: Duel of Special Ants.\u00a0
- The player forms three teams, each having up to three different Special Ants and an Insect leading it. The three teams will fight against the opponent’s three teams<\/a> in an asynchronous auto-battle setting. The player can enter the battle up to five times a day. The mode has its own seasonal ranking system<\/a> and currency Red Crystal Core<\/a>, and the currency can be earned every day according to the player’s ranking. The player can also get additional rewards the higher they place during the event.<\/li>
- Players can use the Red Crystal Cores in the Special Ant Duel Store<\/a> to purchase, for example, upgrading items for the troop mutation Fungus.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/the-ants-pvp-mode.png\")
A 4X strategy game, The Ants, introduced a new PvP mode, where a player’s three teams fight against an opponent’s three teams in an asynchronous auto-battle setting.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - Age of Origins’<\/a> recent update brought an entirely new decoration island system<\/a>, which also works as a boost to player’s stats (e.g., increases the bonus capacity limit of wounded by +300). The island is all about decorative buildings<\/a> and some are upgradeable. Almost all of the buildings give bonuses, bringing a solid boost to the core gameplay.
- The island system was added to the game with an introductive event<\/a>, where players complete quests<\/a> to earn rewards. Using event items<\/a> also earned event points and rewards, including exchange tickets that could be used in the exchange store to get isle decoratives. The player’s cumulated event points were also tracked, and they were rewarded based on their ranking after the event was over.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Age](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/age-of-origins-island-system.png\")
Age of Origins’ new decoration island system also works as a boost to a player’s stats, bringing a solid uplift to the core gameplay.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n Events<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
- March was a time for PUBG Mobile’<\/a>s fourth anniversary celebrations! <\/strong>The Vibrant Anniversary<\/a> event featured upgraded maps in the main gameplay mode and themed gachas.
- At the start of the matches, players could land on the aerial Vibrant Nimbus Island to play a minigame, where they collected tokens<\/a> of the same color as the player’s suit. The tokens could be used in the Portable Shop. What made this match especially fun was that shooting the enemies made their heads grow until they were so big that they floated away. Floating teammates could be healed and rescued by shooting them. After five minutes, players were teleported to the battlefield. On the battlefield, players could look for randomly spawning Anniversary Crates<\/a> that could contain Cycle Memory Items<\/a>. After collecting all the Cycle Memory items, the player received a Commemorative Title<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"PUBG](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/pubg-mobile-4th-anniversary-minigame.jpeg\")
PUBG Mobile’s 4th-anniversary featured an aerial platform minigame at the beginning of the classic mode.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - Another round of Tempest Clash<\/a> PvP event began in Rise of Kingdoms<\/a>. This event type, which features one-lane MOBA gameplay, first appeared in the game in January<\/a> this year. The goal of the match was to destroy the opposing team’s base by controlling the warship on the map, giving orders, and sending signals to the team. Players needed to be careful not to lose ally ships. Players were rewarded with various goods for the core 4X game mode for playing the event.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/rise-of-kingdoms-moba-styled-pvp-event.png\")
The goal of the Rise of Kingdoms’ PvP event matches was to destroy the opposing team’s base by controlling the warship on the map, giving orders, and sending signals to the team, similar to one-lane MOBA gameplay.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - Project Makeover<\/a> introduced a new separate time-limited event type, Timed Makeover Challenges<\/a>.
- Players play their main progression levels to earn event tokens, which are then used to progress in the event makeover. The event makeover also has its own storyline. Rewards<\/a> are quite simple, meaning that when a player reaches specific points in the makeover, they get either booster items or unlimited boosters for a limited time (for example, unlimited bombs at a start of a level for 15 mins).<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Project](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/project-makeover-new-event-type.png\")
Project Makeover introduced a new separate time-limited event type, Timed Makeover Challenges. Players play their main progression levels to earn event tokens, which are then used to progress in the event makeover to get rewards.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - Garena Free Fire<\/a> hosted The Creed of Fire event, a huge Assassin’s Creed collaboration<\/a> event consisting of many smaller events<\/a>, tasks, gachas, and offers.
- For example, Target List special interface event<\/a> had the player assassinating targets by collecting Assassin Coins around the game and using them to perform strikes to take out the target with varying success. Each successful kill granted rewards such as exclusive Assassin’s Creed-themed cosmetics. In the Academy event<\/a>, players “learned” assassin skills by completing tasks related to each skill, which unlocked progress to the skill’s progressive reward bar, granting rewards like an exclusive Assassin’s Creed-themed board.<\/li>
- The game also featured a new limited-time mode, Lone Wolf Strike Out<\/a>, which had similar mechanics to the Gulag of CoD: Warzone, with multiple players having 1v1 matches<\/a> against each other in the same arena. Each player had three lives, and a life was lost when a 1v1 match was lost. Running out of lives led to elimination, with the last player standing winning the whole match. Other players in the match currently not in a 1v1 could spectate the battling players in the Gulag fashion<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/garena-free-fire-x-assassin-greed.jpeg\")
In the Garena Free Fire x Assassin’s Greed’s Target List event, players could use either the Hidden Blade or the Sword as their weapon to kill the target. The Sword cost more Assassin Coins, but it increased the player’s chances of assassinating the target.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - Garena Free Fire<\/a> also featured another collaboration event during March, this time with BTS, the massively popular K-pop boy band.
- The collaboration included a BTS Special Interface event<\/a>, where players collected Neon Sticks<\/a> currency through event missions to spin a Color Cheer gacha that granted different Cheer Cards. These Cheer Cards were used to fill collections of the BTS band’s members, which then granted progression to a reward bar, the main reward being a BTS Crystal<\/a>. The BTS Crystal was then used to spin another gacha, BTS Outfits, which gifted exclusive BTS-themed outfits<\/a> for the player’s character.<\/li>
- In addition, the collaboration included a BTS Boyband Top-up progressive IAP reward event<\/a>, which required the player to purchase a certain amount of premium currency with real money to gain BTS-themed rewards, as well as a BTS themed photo booth<\/a> in the hangout lobby of the game.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
\n![\"With](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/garena-free-fire-x-bts.jpeg\")
With the Garena Free Fire x BTS collaboration, players could get exclusive BTS-themed outfits for their character.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - In March, Roblox<\/a> hosted a 24kGoldn El Dorado Concert Experience<\/a> event, which was a virtual concert experience featuring the American rapper and singer 24KGoldn, promoting the album El Dorado and the new single In My Head. The event included an \u200bEl Dorado-themed social hangout area hub<\/a> with a scavenger hunt<\/a> inside the hub, a merch shop, and an El Dorado challenge<\/a>, in which players collected badges from tasks inside different popular Roblox games<\/a> to get exclusive avatar accessories. In true Roblox fashion, the event also included a live concert by 24kGoldn<\/a>, featuring songs from the El Dorado album.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/roblox-x-el-dorado-concert-experience.png\")
In a 24kGoldn El Dorado Concert Experience event’s El Dorado challenge, players collected badges from doing tasks inside different Roblox games, like collecting all golden microphones or playing a rhythm-based minigame.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s<\/a> recent collaboration with Sanrio Characters (Hello Kitty)<\/a> featured a limited-time special gacha rewarding super exclusive and detailed collaboration hero skins<\/a>, making the game’s revenue skyrocket once again in the usual collaboration event fashion of the game.
- Players needed to use either premium currency or gacha tickets to pull the gacha, and the tickets could be gained from a Bonus Tokens event<\/a>. Drawing the gacha also lit up Bingo pieces on a Bingo Board<\/a>. Lighting up three pieces in a row, column or diagonal, granted bonus rewards that prioritized the MLBB x Sanrio Characters skins. Similar to preveious collaboration skins, the Sanrio skins had their own special collectibles album<\/a> and collecting all of them granted bonus rewards.<\/li>
- In addition to the collaboration gacha, the event included various other events and tasks such as Cinnamon’s Birthday Party event<\/a>, which had players decorating a cake using Pastry Bags gained from completing event tasks, which then granted Sanrio Characters themed event rewards.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mlbb-x-sanrio-characters-collab-revenue.png\")
In the past, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s collaboration gachas have boosted the game’s revenues considerably. The same thing happened again with the MBBB x Sanrio Characters (Hello Kitty) collaboration’s limited-time special gacha.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n \n![\"Mobile](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mlbb-x-sanrio-characters-collab-gacha.png\")
Mobile Legend: Bang Bang’s Vending Machine collaboration event gacha, which pool’s main rewards were super detailed and exclusive Sanrio Characters-themed hero skins.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - Another notable Mobile Legends: Bang Bang<\/a> update from March was Boommander limited-time PvP mode<\/a>‘s comeback, making players play with their little commanders.
- The mode resembled a mix of Bomberman and Brawl Stars<\/a>, with players fighting against each other in fast-paced matches in small arena maps and trying to kill each other with bomb mechanics. It came with two different modes, 2v2<\/a> and Battle Royale<\/a>, and players utilized their collected Little Commanders<\/a> to play the mode.<\/li>
- MLBB also introduced a new feature to the game in March, cosmetic hero skin paints<\/a>. They are equipable paints to decorate the heroes and their skins to make them look even more unique.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
\n![\"Mobile](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/mlbb-boommander.jpeg\")
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s Boommander limited-time PvP mode resembled a mix of Bomberman and Brawl Stars, with players fighting against each other in fast-paced matches in small arena maps and trying to kill each other with bomb mechanics.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - Lately, loss aversion mechanics have been a trending feature\/monetization tactic, especially in Match3 games, and now Cooking Diary<\/a> is the newest to add it to the game. The game introduced a \u200bcompletely new recurring event type called Circus Star<\/a>. It’s a loss aversion event where the player has to complete five special event levels without losing to win the event’s reward (boosters, materials, and premium currency). If the player loses a level, their progress is reset to the first level unless they purchase a continuation<\/a>. The event also has its own energy mechanic, life points, as a session length restriction, further incentivizing the player to avoid losing.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Cooking](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/cooking-diary-circus-star-event.png\")
Cooking Diary’s new recurring event type, Circus Star.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - In March, Epic Seven<\/a> hosted a collaboration event with Guilty Gear Strive<\/a> (Guilty Gear is a series of fighting games by Arc System Works). During the event, players could claim daily check-ins and participate in event battles to obtain ‘Jack-O’s Lollipops<\/a>‘ that could be traded in the exchange shop. Players also got a free hero, ‘Pirate Captain Flan<\/a>,’ if they logged in during the collaboration event. The event also included a limited-time gacha<\/a> that players could pull to try to obtain a ‘Baiken’ hero character, plus they could also purchase two Guilty Gear Strive special packs<\/a> with real money.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to seasonal events, the US mobile game market delivered a variety of St. Patrick’s Day-themed events in March. For example, Lily’s Garden<\/a> celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a themed progressive limited time IAP-offer, which rewarded the player with Paddy the Dog cosmetic pet to their garden once all the offers had been claimed\/purchased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New top 200 grossing entrants on the market<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
- A rhythm game Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage!<\/a> made its first appearance in the US top-grossing 200 list. It is the same game that is among the top 20 games in Japan.<\/li>
- Turn-based RPG Idle Huntress: Adventure<\/a>, at its highest in top-grossing 171th position.<\/li>
- A 4X strategy game Last Fortress<\/a>, at its highest in top-grossing 166th position.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
China Market Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
- Plants vs. Zombies 2 (\u690d\u7269\u5927\u6218\u50f5\u5c382)<\/a> introduced a \u6f58\u59ae\u8bfe\u5802 (PanNiKeTang) \u200bquiz mode with rewards and a related shop where players could use the special currency gained from the quiz.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Plants](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/plants-vs-zombies-2-quiz-mode.jpeg\")
Plants vs. Zombies 2 (\u690d\u7269\u5927\u6218\u50f5\u5c382) introduced a \u6f58\u59ae\u8bfe\u5802 (PanNiKeTang) \u200bquiz mode in its recent update<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - Action RPG Tower of Fantasy’s (\u5e7b\u5854)<\/a> “Artificial Island” (\u4eba\u5de5\u5c9b) area opened a crafting mode. There are six buildings, all of which granted certain types of materials. Buildings can also be upgraded to produce more materials. When upgraded, there will be a possibility to get Super Super Rare (SSR) equipment items for the weapons.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Chinese](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/tower-of-fantasy-crafting-mode.jpeg\")
Chinese action RPG Tower of Fantasy’s (\u5e7b\u5854) “Artificial Island” (\u4eba\u5de5\u5c9b) area added a crafting mode to the game.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - There truly isn’t a genre that a Battle Pass system won\u2019t fit. The Chinese mahjong game, QQ Mahjong( \u817e\u8baf\u6b22\u4e50\u9ebb\u5c06\u5168\u96c6)<\/a>, recently added a Battle Pass system to the game.<\/li>
- Final Tank<\/a> replaced \u200bits original main game mode<\/a> featuring puzzle influences with a new one, which is similar to classic shoot-em-ups. The player advances in levels made up of several rooms with different enemies inside. In-between rooms, players can find points where they can get a randomized “Archero style” buff for the duration of the level, or a shop where they can purchase other power-ups with a special currency collected from defeated enemies within the level.<\/li>
- Another interesting highlight from the Chinese market is that Genshin Impact’s Cloud version has made its permanent place among the top-grossing 50 games (while the regular <\/em>Genshin Impact<\/em><\/a> currently sits in the top 2 position<\/em>), indicating that the Cloud version has found its audience. It will be interesting to see if we will see more of these cloud versions of mobile games in the future.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Events<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
- Popkart Mobile (\u8dd1\u8dd1\u5361\u4e01\u8f66)<\/a> held a collaboration event with Ali the Fox<\/a>, a popular Chinese cartoon character with plenty of content.<\/li>
- Players collected a special event currency by logging in daily<\/a> to get several prizes, such as the Ali the Fox character and a special avatar frame. Completing tasks earned the players hearts and a limited-time gacha currency for the gacha that opened doors<\/a>, which opened different prizes.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
\n![\"Popkart](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/popkart-mobile-x-ali-the-fox-collaboration.jpeg\")
Popkart Mobile (\u8dd1\u8dd1\u5361\u4e01\u8f66)x Ali the Fox cartoon character collaboration event also featured a limited-time sugoroku gacha for the event character and more prizes. Read more about different gacha implementations in our <\/em>complete guide to mobile game gachas in 2022<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - Match3 game with construction meta and narrative elements, Jellipop Match (\u5bbe\u679c\u6d88\u6d88\u6d88\u00ae)<\/a>, held a tree-planting charity event. Players could get “water drops” by playing regular levels that could be used to “water trees.” The more drops they collected, the better the rewards. There were also leaderboards with rewards \u2013 top event players even got to plant a real tree themselves into a real-life orchard<\/a> (with which the game’s dev has been cooperating for years). If you’re interested to read more about how mobile games have done charity work in the past, take a look at this blog post<\/a> that one of our game analysts has written.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Jellipop](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/jellipop-match-charity-event-768x1024.jpeg\")
Jellipop Match (\u5bbe\u679c\u6d88\u6d88\u6d88\u00ae) held a tree-planting charity event, where the event’s top players even got to plant a real tree themselves into a real-life orchard.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n Did you know that while in Japan, Spring Blossom time celebrates cherry blossoms, in China, Spring Blossom time often celebrates peach blossoms? This time Spring Blossom events were held in Chinese games such as Sky: Children of the Light (\u5149\u00b7\u9047)<\/a>, League of Legends: Wild Rift (\u82f1\u96c4\u8054\u76df\u624b\u6e38)<\/a>, Rise of Kingdoms (\u4e07\u56fd\u89c9\u9192 – RoK)<\/a>, Jiang-nan Bai-jing-tu (\u6c5f\u5357\u767e\u666f\u56fe)<\/a>, and Naruto Online Mobile (\u706b\u5f71\u5fcd\u8005\uff1a\u5fcd\u8005\u65b0\u4e16\u4ee3)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
New top 200 grossing entrants on the market<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
- Chong-fan Di-guo (\u91cd\u8fd4\u5e1d\u56fd)<\/a> is a new top-10 grossing 4X strategy game in the Chinese mobile gaming market.<\/li>
- MMO Qing Yu Nian (\u5e86\u4f59\u5e74)<\/a> also made its debut to the CN top-grossing 20.<\/li>
- Lastly, Gardenscapes launched with its own ID (\u68a6\u5e7b\u82b1\u56ed – Gardenscapes<\/a>) and under Dreamsky to the Chinese market in March. The game is currently in the top-grossing 140.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Japan Market Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
- Umamusume Pretty Derby (\u30a6\u30de\u5a18 \u30d7\u30ea\u30c6\u30a3\u30fc\u30c0\u30fc\u30d3\u30fc)<\/a> introduced a new type of event, Toppu Umadoru Project<\/a>, starring the character Smart Falcon. For the event, players needed to gather as many fans for their Umamusume as possible through training to celebrate Smart Falcon’s upcoming birthday. Rewards were given out based on individual fan numbers and overall fan numbers of all players during the event, so any participation was well rewarded. Rewards also included event-exclusive support cards.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"For](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/umamusume-toppu-umadoru-project-event.png\")
For the Toppu Umadoru Project event, Umamusume Pretty Derby’s (\u30a6\u30de\u5a18 \u30d7\u30ea\u30c6\u30a3\u30fc\u30c0\u30fc\u30d3\u30fc) players needed to gather as many fans for their Umamusume as possible through training to celebrate Smart Falcon’s upcoming birthday.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - Project Sekai Colorful Stage feat. Hatsune Miku (\u30d7\u30ed\u30b8\u30a7\u30af\u30c8\u30bb\u30ab\u30a4 \u30ab\u30e9\u30d5\u30eb\u30b9\u30c6\u30fc\u30b8\uff01 FEAT. \u521d\u97f3\u30df\u30af)<\/a> held a Cheerful Live team PvP-event for White Day. Players picked their team based on their chocolate preference<\/a>, dark or milk chocolate. Teams battled it out during the event period in Cheerful Live shows and gathered points for their team. Rewards<\/a> were given out based on the winning team and rankings, but players could visit an exchange shop for more. Team members also got a team t-shirt<\/a> for their virtual live avatar and access to the team hangout space. The event story<\/a> could be unlocked by gathering points.\u00a0
- Another notable event from late February to early March has been the first-ever Project Sekai Championships. Preliminaries for the championship were held in the game in two parts, and the Championships will culminate in a real-life competition with cash prizes at the end of April.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Project](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/project-sekai-white-day-event.jpeg\")
Project Sekai Colorful Stage feat. Hatsune Miku held a Cheerful Live team PvP-event for White Day. Players picked their team based on their chocolate preference, dark or milk chocolate, and battled it out during the event period in Cheerful Live shows and gathered points for their team.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - A business-themed idler game Onegai Shachou (\u304a\u306d\u304c\u3044\u793e\u9577)<\/a> held a world cultures-themed Shoujo no Tabi event. Players could acquire the newest assistant, Tsubomi<\/a>, from the event gacha. In addition, the event featured login rewards, rewards for pack purchases and use of diamonds<\/a>, a lot of IAP bundles<\/a>, and a fireworks high score event<\/a>. For the fireworks event, players got one firework for every 20 yen used in the game and could then compete to see who gathered and shot the most fireworks.<\/li>
- Identity V<\/a> featured a visual novel-type event, The “Phantom” of the Crystal Palace, where the player read a story and collected clues<\/a> to solve the mystery of the phantom of the Crystal Palace.
- Clues could be collected by investigating the encountered characters and surroundings or asking the characters for more information. The event story was very straightforward and didn’t really require a lot of deduction skills to pass. There were several parts to the story, and they unlocked one after another. When the player finished the whole story, they got the “Duke Raven” skin<\/a> for the character Novelist.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Identity](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/identity-v-story-event.png\")
Identity V’s recent update introduced a visual novel-type event, The “Phantom” of the Crystal Palace, where players read a story and collected clues to solve the mystery of the phantom of the Crystal Palace.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n Also, the Cherry blossom season was celebrated everywhere in the Japanese mobile game market during March. Examples include games such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- State of Survival (\u30b9\u30c6\u30fc\u30c8\u30fb\u30aa\u30d6\u30fb\u30b5\u30d0\u30a4\u30d0\u30eb)<\/a> and its hanami-themed event set (the same event was featured in the global version as well). For example, the event’s daily tasks were rewarded with Cherry Blossoms that could be exchanged for various rewards, such as the event exclusive Nanami statue<\/a> (granted permanent buffs for the player when unlocked. The statue could also be upgraded)\u200b.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"State](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/state-of-survival-cherry-blossom-event-2022.jpeg\")
State of Survival and its hanami-themed event featured a Shunen no Seki-Battle Pass: collect Sakura Sake from various gameplay tasks and fill the sake bottle up to advance in the pass.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n - The auto-battle RPG game Hinakoi, starring the Japanese all-female pop idol group Hinatazaka 46 Hinakoi (\u3072\u306a\u3053\u3044)<\/a>, had its third boyfriend event which featured a cherry blossom theme. The Boyfriend events have been very successful before, and this time is no exception, giving the game a nice boost to around the top-grossing 20.
- For the event, players selected a girl to focus their attention on<\/a>. To appeal to the girl, players needed first to gather appeal tickets from Tansaku-missions. The tickets could then be used to appeal to the selected girlfriend-candidate<\/a> in a boss battle-like setting. The player could select a suitable difficulty and challenge harder appeal levels as many times as needed. Successful appealing cumulated event points for the player and also unlocked the rankings and ranking rewards. Rewards for participating were once again very exclusive and enticing: ranking in the top 100 was rewarded with a real-life boyfriend certificate and a holder for it, as well as an exclusive real-life selfie<\/a> of the girl.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/hinako-cherry-blossom-event.jpeg\")
An auto-battle RPG game Hinakoi (\u3072\u306a\u3053\u3044), starring the Japanese all-female pop idol group Hinatazaka 46, celebrated cherry blossom time by theming its popular boyfriend event concept around cherry blossoms.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n Collaborations and anniversaries<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
- Puzzle & Dragons (\u30d1\u30ba\u30eb\uff06\u30c9\u30e9\u30b4\u30f3\u30ba)<\/a> collaborated with the hit anime series HUNTERxHUNTER in March. The event included two different gachas<\/a> that featured several characters from the anime, several event dungeons<\/a> featuring and dropping characters from the series, and a Twitter campaign<\/a> where players could get free gacha pulls if the P&D\u2019s official account\u2019s post reached a certain amount of likes on Twitter.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"HUNTERxHUNTER](\"https:\/\/www.gamerefinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/puzzle-and-dragons-x-hunterxhunter-collab.jpeg\")
HUNTERxHUNTER characters were also available for trade in the Monster Trade shop during the Puzzle & Dragons x HUNTERxHUNTER collaboration event.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
- Puzzle & Dragons (\u30d1\u30ba\u30eb\uff06\u30c9\u30e9\u30b4\u30f3\u30ba)<\/a> collaborated with the hit anime series HUNTERxHUNTER in March. The event included two different gachas<\/a> that featured several characters from the anime, several event dungeons<\/a> featuring and dropping characters from the series, and a Twitter campaign<\/a> where players could get free gacha pulls if the P&D\u2019s official account\u2019s post reached a certain amount of likes on Twitter.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- For the event, players selected a girl to focus their attention on<\/a>. To appeal to the girl, players needed first to gather appeal tickets from Tansaku-missions. The tickets could then be used to appeal to the selected girlfriend-candidate<\/a> in a boss battle-like setting. The player could select a suitable difficulty and challenge harder appeal levels as many times as needed. Successful appealing cumulated event points for the player and also unlocked the rankings and ranking rewards. Rewards for participating were once again very exclusive and enticing: ranking in the top 100 was rewarded with a real-life boyfriend certificate and a holder for it, as well as an exclusive real-life selfie<\/a> of the girl.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- The auto-battle RPG game Hinakoi, starring the Japanese all-female pop idol group Hinatazaka 46 Hinakoi (\u3072\u306a\u3053\u3044)<\/a>, had its third boyfriend event which featured a cherry blossom theme. The Boyfriend events have been very successful before, and this time is no exception, giving the game a nice boost to around the top-grossing 20.
- State of Survival (\u30b9\u30c6\u30fc\u30c8\u30fb\u30aa\u30d6\u30fb\u30b5\u30d0\u30a4\u30d0\u30eb)<\/a> and its hanami-themed event set (the same event was featured in the global version as well). For example, the event’s daily tasks were rewarded with Cherry Blossoms that could be exchanged for various rewards, such as the event exclusive Nanami statue<\/a> (granted permanent buffs for the player when unlocked. The statue could also be upgraded)\u200b.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- Identity V<\/a> featured a visual novel-type event, The “Phantom” of the Crystal Palace, where the player read a story and collected clues<\/a> to solve the mystery of the phantom of the Crystal Palace.
- A business-themed idler game Onegai Shachou (\u304a\u306d\u304c\u3044\u793e\u9577)<\/a> held a world cultures-themed Shoujo no Tabi event. Players could acquire the newest assistant, Tsubomi<\/a>, from the event gacha. In addition, the event featured login rewards, rewards for pack purchases and use of diamonds<\/a>, a lot of IAP bundles<\/a>, and a fireworks high score event<\/a>. For the fireworks event, players got one firework for every 20 yen used in the game and could then compete to see who gathered and shot the most fireworks.<\/li>
- Another notable event from late February to early March has been the first-ever Project Sekai Championships. Preliminaries for the championship were held in the game in two parts, and the Championships will culminate in a real-life competition with cash prizes at the end of April.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- Project Sekai Colorful Stage feat. Hatsune Miku (\u30d7\u30ed\u30b8\u30a7\u30af\u30c8\u30bb\u30ab\u30a4 \u30ab\u30e9\u30d5\u30eb\u30b9\u30c6\u30fc\u30b8\uff01 FEAT. \u521d\u97f3\u30df\u30af)<\/a> held a Cheerful Live team PvP-event for White Day. Players picked their team based on their chocolate preference<\/a>, dark or milk chocolate. Teams battled it out during the event period in Cheerful Live shows and gathered points for their team. Rewards<\/a> were given out based on the winning team and rankings, but players could visit an exchange shop for more. Team members also got a team t-shirt<\/a> for their virtual live avatar and access to the team hangout space. The event story<\/a> could be unlocked by gathering points.\u00a0
- MMO Qing Yu Nian (\u5e86\u4f59\u5e74)<\/a> also made its debut to the CN top-grossing 20.<\/li>
- Chong-fan Di-guo (\u91cd\u8fd4\u5e1d\u56fd)<\/a> is a new top-10 grossing 4X strategy game in the Chinese mobile gaming market.<\/li>
- Players collected a special event currency by logging in daily<\/a> to get several prizes, such as the Ali the Fox character and a special avatar frame. Completing tasks earned the players hearts and a limited-time gacha currency for the gacha that opened doors<\/a>, which opened different prizes.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- Final Tank<\/a> replaced \u200bits original main game mode<\/a> featuring puzzle influences with a new one, which is similar to classic shoot-em-ups. The player advances in levels made up of several rooms with different enemies inside. In-between rooms, players can find points where they can get a randomized “Archero style” buff for the duration of the level, or a shop where they can purchase other power-ups with a special currency collected from defeated enemies within the level.<\/li>
- There truly isn’t a genre that a Battle Pass system won\u2019t fit. The Chinese mahjong game, QQ Mahjong( \u817e\u8baf\u6b22\u4e50\u9ebb\u5c06\u5168\u96c6)<\/a>, recently added a Battle Pass system to the game.<\/li>
- Action RPG Tower of Fantasy’s (\u5e7b\u5854)<\/a> “Artificial Island” (\u4eba\u5de5\u5c9b) area opened a crafting mode. There are six buildings, all of which granted certain types of materials. Buildings can also be upgraded to produce more materials. When upgraded, there will be a possibility to get Super Super Rare (SSR) equipment items for the weapons.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- Turn-based RPG Idle Huntress: Adventure<\/a>, at its highest in top-grossing 171th position.<\/li>
- A rhythm game Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage!<\/a> made its first appearance in the US top-grossing 200 list. It is the same game that is among the top 20 games in Japan.<\/li>
- In March, Epic Seven<\/a> hosted a collaboration event with Guilty Gear Strive<\/a> (Guilty Gear is a series of fighting games by Arc System Works). During the event, players could claim daily check-ins and participate in event battles to obtain ‘Jack-O’s Lollipops<\/a>‘ that could be traded in the exchange shop. Players also got a free hero, ‘Pirate Captain Flan<\/a>,’ if they logged in during the collaboration event. The event also included a limited-time gacha<\/a> that players could pull to try to obtain a ‘Baiken’ hero character, plus they could also purchase two Guilty Gear Strive special packs<\/a> with real money.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- MLBB also introduced a new feature to the game in March, cosmetic hero skin paints<\/a>. They are equipable paints to decorate the heroes and their skins to make them look even more unique.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- The mode resembled a mix of Bomberman and Brawl Stars<\/a>, with players fighting against each other in fast-paced matches in small arena maps and trying to kill each other with bomb mechanics. It came with two different modes, 2v2<\/a> and Battle Royale<\/a>, and players utilized their collected Little Commanders<\/a> to play the mode.<\/li>
- In addition to the collaboration gacha, the event included various other events and tasks such as Cinnamon’s Birthday Party event<\/a>, which had players decorating a cake using Pastry Bags gained from completing event tasks, which then granted Sanrio Characters themed event rewards.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- Players needed to use either premium currency or gacha tickets to pull the gacha, and the tickets could be gained from a Bonus Tokens event<\/a>. Drawing the gacha also lit up Bingo pieces on a Bingo Board<\/a>. Lighting up three pieces in a row, column or diagonal, granted bonus rewards that prioritized the MLBB x Sanrio Characters skins. Similar to preveious collaboration skins, the Sanrio skins had their own special collectibles album<\/a> and collecting all of them granted bonus rewards.<\/li>
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s<\/a> recent collaboration with Sanrio Characters (Hello Kitty)<\/a> featured a limited-time special gacha rewarding super exclusive and detailed collaboration hero skins<\/a>, making the game’s revenue skyrocket once again in the usual collaboration event fashion of the game.
- In addition, the collaboration included a BTS Boyband Top-up progressive IAP reward event<\/a>, which required the player to purchase a certain amount of premium currency with real money to gain BTS-themed rewards, as well as a BTS themed photo booth<\/a> in the hangout lobby of the game.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- The collaboration included a BTS Special Interface event<\/a>, where players collected Neon Sticks<\/a> currency through event missions to spin a Color Cheer gacha that granted different Cheer Cards. These Cheer Cards were used to fill collections of the BTS band’s members, which then granted progression to a reward bar, the main reward being a BTS Crystal<\/a>. The BTS Crystal was then used to spin another gacha, BTS Outfits, which gifted exclusive BTS-themed outfits<\/a> for the player’s character.<\/li>
- The game also featured a new limited-time mode, Lone Wolf Strike Out<\/a>, which had similar mechanics to the Gulag of CoD: Warzone, with multiple players having 1v1 matches<\/a> against each other in the same arena. Each player had three lives, and a life was lost when a 1v1 match was lost. Running out of lives led to elimination, with the last player standing winning the whole match. Other players in the match currently not in a 1v1 could spectate the battling players in the Gulag fashion<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- For example, Target List special interface event<\/a> had the player assassinating targets by collecting Assassin Coins around the game and using them to perform strikes to take out the target with varying success. Each successful kill granted rewards such as exclusive Assassin’s Creed-themed cosmetics. In the Academy event<\/a>, players “learned” assassin skills by completing tasks related to each skill, which unlocked progress to the skill’s progressive reward bar, granting rewards like an exclusive Assassin’s Creed-themed board.<\/li>
- Garena Free Fire<\/a> hosted The Creed of Fire event, a huge Assassin’s Creed collaboration<\/a> event consisting of many smaller events<\/a>, tasks, gachas, and offers.
- Players play their main progression levels to earn event tokens, which are then used to progress in the event makeover. The event makeover also has its own storyline. Rewards<\/a> are quite simple, meaning that when a player reaches specific points in the makeover, they get either booster items or unlimited boosters for a limited time (for example, unlimited bombs at a start of a level for 15 mins).<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- Project Makeover<\/a> introduced a new separate time-limited event type, Timed Makeover Challenges<\/a>.
- Another round of Tempest Clash<\/a> PvP event began in Rise of Kingdoms<\/a>. This event type, which features one-lane MOBA gameplay, first appeared in the game in January<\/a> this year. The goal of the match was to destroy the opposing team’s base by controlling the warship on the map, giving orders, and sending signals to the team. Players needed to be careful not to lose ally ships. Players were rewarded with various goods for the core 4X game mode for playing the event.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- At the start of the matches, players could land on the aerial Vibrant Nimbus Island to play a minigame, where they collected tokens<\/a> of the same color as the player’s suit. The tokens could be used in the Portable Shop. What made this match especially fun was that shooting the enemies made their heads grow until they were so big that they floated away. Floating teammates could be healed and rescued by shooting them. After five minutes, players were teleported to the battlefield. On the battlefield, players could look for randomly spawning Anniversary Crates<\/a> that could contain Cycle Memory Items<\/a>. After collecting all the Cycle Memory items, the player received a Commemorative Title<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- March was a time for PUBG Mobile’<\/a>s fourth anniversary celebrations! <\/strong>The Vibrant Anniversary<\/a> event featured upgraded maps in the main gameplay mode and themed gachas.
- The island system was added to the game with an introductive event<\/a>, where players complete quests<\/a> to earn rewards. Using event items<\/a> also earned event points and rewards, including exchange tickets that could be used in the exchange store to get isle decoratives. The player’s cumulated event points were also tracked, and they were rewarded based on their ranking after the event was over.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- Players can use the Red Crystal Cores in the Special Ant Duel Store<\/a> to purchase, for example, upgrading items for the troop mutation Fungus.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
- The Ants<\/a>, a 4X title with an interesting theme – ants, introduced a new PvP mode: Duel of Special Ants.\u00a0
- While the spectator mode feature certainly isn’t as popular in the US as it is in China, there is a handful of top-grossing 100 games in the US that feature it (according to GameRefinery service, 58% of the top-grossing 100 games in China have the feature, while in the US and Japan, only around 15% of top-100 games have it<\/em>). Now Dragon Ball Legends<\/a> is one of those games, as the latest update lets players watch top-ranking player match replays<\/a> through the GodTube mode. Players can save their favorite replays for later viewing. However, old replays are deleted after 14 days have passed.<\/li>
- Premium Portals are purchasable buildings from which the player can claim a specific creature every day for 12 days. There are several types of Portals available, and they rotate along with the refreshing shop. The purchase can be made with premium currency gems in the shop<\/a> or real money when limited-time offers appear<\/a>. This feature was introduced by gifting each player with a random free portal.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n