Among Us Sparks 26-Fold Growth of U.S. Player Spending in Imposter Theme Games for H1 2021

Player spending in mobile games with an Imposter theme saw a 26 times increase year-over-year in the United States during H1 2021, Sensor Tower Store Intelligence estimates show, making it the fastest growing game theme by revenue, largely driven by Among Us from InnerSloth.

This analysis is powered by Sensor Tower’s Game Intelligence features, which can delve into titles by setting, art style, camera POV, and theme. These tools provide publishers with another powerful data set to utilize in their analyses that enable a deeper look into the market and their competitors. They work in tandem with Sensor Tower’s Game Taxonomy, which segments games into relevant genres and subgenres to support publishers in efficiently identifying key trends.

Game Theme Growth

The Imposter theme saw the fastest growth of all themes, with player spending seeing an approximately 26 times increase Y/Y in the U.S. during 1H21 to $8.4 million. Revenue for the theme was largely led by Among Us, which accounted for 94.3 percent of player spending, followed by Suspects: Mystery Mansion from Wildlife Studios. The second fastest growing theme by revenue during this period was Fashion / Aesthetics / Hair, which saw player spending rise by about 441 percent Y/Y to $169.5 million. Ranking No. 3 was Animal - Insect, which saw revenue increase by approximately 439 percent Y/Y to $5.8 million.

The No. 1 theme by player spending during 1H21 was Money / Treasure, which includes titles such as Coin Master from Moon Active and Bingo Blitz from Playtika. It was followed by Empire Building at No. 2 and Tabletop at No. 3.

Setting Surge

Sci-Fi was the fastest-growing game setting in 1H21, with revenue increasing by 35.5 percent year-over-year to $1.2 billion, led by titles such as State of Survival from FunPlus and Star Trek Fleet Command from Scopely. The No. 2 setting for revenue growth was Historical, which saw player spending increase by 29.4 percent Y/Y to $651.7 million, while High Fantasy ranked No. 3 with revenue up by 25.6 percent Y/Y to $2.8 billion.

The No. 1 setting by player spending was Modern, which includes titles such as Garena Free Fire from Garena and Homescapes from Playrix. High Fantasy, meanwhile, ranked No. 2 for revenue, while Cartoon Fantasy ranked No. 3.

Art Style Ascension

Neon, which includes titles such as Tiles Hop: EDM Rush from Amanotes and Bricks Breaker Quest from Mobirix, saw the fastest growth in player spending for art style, rising by approximately 109 percent Y/Y to $7.3 million. It was followed by 3D Anime at No. 2, which saw revenue increase by 92.4 percent Y/Y to $434.6 million, and Hypercasual at No. 3, which saw player spending rise by 49.2 percent Y/Y to $20.5 million.

The top grossing art style in 1H21 was 2D Cartoon, which includes titles such as Candy Crush Saga from King and Coin Master, generating $6 billion in total. It was followed by 2D Realistic at No. 2 and 3D Realistic at No. 3.

Camera POV Popularity

Third Person, which includes titles such as Garena Free Fire and Genshin Impact from miHoYo ranked as the No. 1 fastest rising camera POV by player spending in 1H21, with revenue increasing by 27.5 percent Y/Y to $1 billion. Dynamic was the second fastest growing camera POV, with revenue rising by 22.4 percent Y/Y to $1.2 billion, while Isometric rose by approximately 22 percent to $4.5 billion.

Isometric, which includes titles such as Coin Master and Lords Mobile from IGG, also ranked No. 1 for revenue, followed by Side at No. 2 and Top Down at No. 3.

Intelligent Insights

Previously, we provided insights into the broader market genre and sub-genre trends in the U.S. during the first half of the year. By utilizing Game Intelligence, we can delve even deeper into the key themes, settings, art styles, and camera POVs that are experiencing particularly significant growth and driving the most player spending. While Imposter was the fastest growing game theme in 1H21, the No. 2 revenue generator, Fashion / Aesthetics / Hair, is more reflective of a wider industry trend. Such insights enable publishers to understand how the market is evolving and where they may have the greatest opportunity for success.