Cracking the Live Ops code: How mobile games can leverage Live Ops insights

With Sensor Tower’s recent acquisition of live ops intelligence company, Playliner, we combined live ops, mobile gaming, and digital advertising insights for our newest report, diving deep into how games are currently using live ops, what’s working, and what’s not.

First things first - just doing Live Ops is no guarantee of growth.

78% of the top 1000 live ops games by in-app purchase (IAP) revenue in 2024 declined in revenue in the first half of 2025 compared to the first half of 2024. Six games saw a decline over $100 million, while over half of this cohort lost between $1 and $10 million in revenue. Mobile gaming is clearly not an easy market, in 2025.

But the story isn’t all dark. Seven games grew their IAP revenue by over $100M in that time period. Out of those seven, three grew by over $200M.

Whiteout Survival, Last War: Survival, and Gossip Harbor all saw outsized growth in the first half of 2025, and in all three cases this growth started before 2024. These are some of the biggest games in the world: Last War: Survival and Whiteout Survival are #1 and #3 by worldwide in-app purchase revenue for 1H2025. Gossip Harbor is #16, and it’s easily the fastest growing casual puzzle game over this time period. What makes them different?

It’s irresponsible to try to boil down something as complex as a top mobile game to a single cause. Factors like user acquisition budget and access to global markets will always play a huge role. However, one thing we can say these games have in common is that they are getting live ops right.

But what does that mean exactly?

In our “Cracking mobile gaming live ops” report, we dive into the state of live ops in 2025. We answer what event mechanics are must haves and offer insight into what the fastest growing games in the world are doing. Want to get a leg up on your competitors? Download the report.

Read the Report