Hyper-Casual Trend Digest #6

Cool movies, awesome ads, exciting news, and insights on ASO — check out our new Trend Digest 👇

HYPER NEWS 🗞

🔗 Why TikTok is being banned on government phones by everyone from the U.S. to the EU and Canada

US and other Western governments are banning TikTok on government-issued mobile phones due to national security concerns and espionage fears.

🔗 App Radar wants to use AI to make advertising easier

The goal of a startup is to simplify the analysis of reviews and also the comprehension of player sentiment with their AI tool.

🔗 Subway Surfers hits 4bn downloads

Sybo’s popular endless runner game achieves a new milestone and shows no signs of slowing down in the near future.

🔗 India sees significant growth in mobile gaming installs

AppsFlyer reports 32% growth of hypercasual installs on Android platforms in India in 2022, while iOS experiences a decline in almost every market. At the same time, Eric Kress predicts a 5 to 10% decrease in the mobile gaming market over the next two years.

🔗 Google Play Games for PC comes to Europe and Japan

Google is expanding its service, called Google Play Games for PC, which will allow mobile games to be played on computers. This move is expected to create significant opportunities for mobile game publishers in the near future.

🔗UK budget ups tax relief for British game companies

The new credit will offer a 34% rate relief, up from 25% in its previous incarnation. In 2022, UK attracts $545m in ad spend and role-playing games are at the top in terms of growth.

👀 And a little more about stats in mobile games:

• 32.1% of gamers in the UK prefer mobile gaming over other platforms
• 49% of China’s gamers play on their phones
• 74% of women in the UK and USA play mobile games daily, while 67% of them see mobile gaming as a vital source of ‘me time’

HYPER TRENDS📱

Time for movies and TV series

In March, many big movies came out in cinemas. Note the following projects:

Shazam! Fury of the Gods: this movie continues the story of teenage Billy Batson who, upon reciting the magic word “SHAZAM,” is transformed into his adult superhero alter ego, Shazam.

The long-awaited John Wick: Chapter 4 set a franchise record in its debut weekend, with a domestic opening of $73.5 million between Friday and Sunday, according to several reports, becoming the third movie released in March to smash a franchise record.

Also, we are excited about the premiere of Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves. This is the story of a band of thieves who decide to steal a relic thought to be lost.

On April 14, the film Renfield about Dracula and his henchman will premiere.

And have you seen Pedro Pascal in the mysterious new campaign for Merge Mansion? This is what it means to catch trends and do something super big.

New game-style TikTok effects

TikTok is periodically updated with game-style effects: users actively play and post videos, and their followers and regular users who see the videos in their FYP get involved in the comments and shoot their gameplays, too.

For example, in these effects, you have to blow as if you were blowing bubbles and actively jump on blocks.

Future Life | Parkour Game

And here, you can spin the elements to put together a complete picture of the task and guess a four-digit number.

Puzzle Emoji | Guess My Number

Challenges and popular videos on YouTube Shorts and TikTok

Videos from Shorts are getting more and more active — also, old trends from TikTok are being pulled up, but they look quite fresh and original in the new performances.

Rubber Band Challenge | Balloon Pop Roulette | Funny Cup Challenge

On TikTok, the format of mini-games in the form of challenges has been entrenched for quite some time. And it’s great to see new ideas popping up, from interactions with food and objects at home to large-scale races with obstacles.

This time, we were especially excited by the new challenges on TikTok:

Hangers Challenge | Party Blower Challenge | Clothespin Pull Challenge

But it’s also important to remember that CapCut filters are gaining popularity: they are as diverse as possible and start going viral very quickly.

Trend-based projects

Still a lot of shooters, especially with zombies. Also, even now, there are projects with a dog with a long nose. ASMR-mechanics are fading away from games.

Hot Chocolate DIY → Trend | Art restorer DIY → Trend | Softy Print → Trend

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 🤔

In today’s segment, we present a few thoughts about ASO from Daria Pisareva, the ASO Lead at FreePlay.

A/B testing of visual assets is crucial for improving your game’s conversion rate. As a mobile marketing enthusiast with over 5 years of experience, I’ve learned a lot about how to create effective strategies by trying things out and experimenting with different ideas. But where do you start when developing your eye for design? I have some tips for you:

1. Analyze your competitors’ graphic assets, but don’t focus only on visuals. While aesthetics are important, it’s also necessary to understand what makes certain designs successful in attracting new users.
2. Stay up-to-date on the latest trends and industry best practices. This means regularly researching top games, apps, and new HC projects to find commonalities and trends that can inspire your own creative output.
3. Educate yourself on design principles. While there may not be many resources on ASO marketing design specifically, by mastering the fundamental principles of design, you’ll be able to create more effective and visually appealing graphics.
4. Look for inspiration in unexpected places, such as popular TV shows, social media challenges, or TikTok trends. Broaden your horizons for fresh perspectives and originality.