20 individuals, valued at over $1 billion, are being snapped up by major companies one after another.
The casual gaming track remains hot in 2026.
Just as people returned to work after the Spring Festival atmosphere, the market received two significant pieces of news. First, Scopely, a mobile game publisher under Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF, announced the acquisition of a 20 - person Turkish company, Loom Games, with a valuation of over $1 billion.
They launched the casual puzzle mobile game "Pixel Flow" in August last year, and within just three months, it became the only casual game to rank among the top 20 in the monthly revenue list in the United States for the whole year - with revenues exceeding 100 million.
According to media estimates, the downloads of "Pixel Flow" showed an explosive monthly growth from October to December last year, reaching 1.035 million, 3.56 million, and 5 million respectively, with a total of 11.73 million downloads.
On the other hand, Bloomberg reported that Tencent is in talks with the casual game developer Hungry Studio to purchase shares, and the two parties have had several rounds of negotiations. This is a casual game company established in 2021, and their game "Block Blast!" has had a good influence and achieved remarkable results overseas. It is reported that by the end of 2025, the game had reached 70 million daily active users and over 300 million monthly active users.
At this time, the acquisition news from the two companies clearly indicates that the casual gaming track remains extremely popular, and game companies are willing to continue to invest in this area. So, can we see any new gameplay in the casual gaming track this year from the popularity of these two games?
01
Innovation in Gameplay + Hybrid Casual Games Are the Answers
To put it simply, "Block Blast!" is more of the old - style model among the two products. It was launched in 2021, and it has been almost five years now. It still follows the path of pure casual gaming + advertising monetization (IAA).
Its gameplay is relatively simple, which is a modification of "Tetris". In an 8x8 grid, players will receive blocks of different shapes provided by the game. Once a row/column is filled, that row/column will be eliminated together, and points will be added. Once players can no longer place a block, the game ends.
What's special is that the game removes the mechanism of continuously falling blocks, and players cannot rotate or adjust the blocks. This change liberates the game from the tense and exciting instant - reaction gameplay and turns it into a puzzle - solving form that combines thinking and a sense of pleasure (you can imagine the small robot repair game in the Endlands). In addition, to provide different feedback and challenges, the game also has a classic leaderboard and modes such as endless and level - clearing.
This set of gameplay is both different from and familiar compared to the common match - 3, screw - turning, and tape - peeling games in the market, but it is indeed effective. Overall, it has attracted a large number of casual players globally and has a certain user base and stable monetization ability.
Although it has been on the market for some time, "Block Blast!" still remains vibrant. Recently, the official announced that it won the Best Puzzle Game Award in the Asia - Pacific region from Sensor Tower.
For "Pixel Flow", its solution is more novel. Friends who don't pay much attention to the casual gaming track may not be very familiar with "hybrid casual games". Simply put, this is a type of game that has found success by going against the trend after hyper - casual games dominated the market.
By adding long - term growth systems, level progress, social interaction, or strategic elements to light - weight games, these games not only have the characteristics of being easy to pick up but also have content for long - term cultivation and player accumulation. At the same time, most hybrid casual games use both advertising and in - app purchases (IAP) for dual - track monetization.
"Pixel Flow" is such a hybrid casual game. It has made interesting innovations in gameplay. In each level, players will face a beautiful pixel painting similar to pixel beads. Players need to place a piggy cannon with a fixed number of bullets on a conveyor belt, and the pig will shoot at the corresponding colored blocks to eliminate them.
During the shooting process, the pig will rotate with the conveyor belt around the painting. If its bullets are not used up before a full rotation, it will enter the seats below and take up a position. If the seats are full, the game ends.
In short, "Pixel Flow" has created a game mode that combines puzzle - solving and stress - relief through micro - innovation (this type of gameplay has also appeared in the mini - game track before, but they added the conveyor belt design). This has brought considerable profits to Loom Games and made it attractive to Scopely.
02
The Casual Gaming Track in Recent Years
Actually, "hybrid casual games" is not a new term. It was widely discussed in 2024, but the popularity of "Pixel Flow" has brought it back to our attention.
Looking back at the past casual gaming market, this track experienced an explosion in 2018. Hyper - casual games quickly swept the global market with their extremely low costs, rapid trial - and - error, and user acquisition through advertising. Their success has always relied on the core of being easy to pick up and playable by everyone, as well as a mature profit - making model based on advertising.
However, with the subsequent increase in user acquisition costs and severe homogenization, the pure hyper - casual game track has become more and more competitive. Therefore, the current casual gaming track values stable user retention and continuous revenue more - correspondingly, the hybrid casual game model has many advantages.
The founders of the Loom Games studio that developed "Pixel Flow" are two veterans with a keen eye in the casual gaming track. According to official information, the two founders, Kübra Gündoğan and Emre Çelik, established a company called Crescive Games in 2019. Many people may have seen their well - known work, "Twisted Tangle".
From an industry and investment perspective, Scopely already has blockbuster games such as "Monopoly GO!", "Scrabble GO!", and "Stumble Guys" under its belt. Acquiring Loom Games may indicate its intention to complement its innovation and creativity capabilities through the new hybrid - casual hit "Pixel Flow", and it also shows that it values the growth potential of the two founders' two consecutive hit games.
For Tencent, although it has mainly focused on developing its long - standing games in recent years, it can further expand its advantageous territory through investment. With the large user base and stable cash flow brought by "Block Blast!", Tencent can make a more stable overseas layout.
Its purpose is the same as when it took a stake in the French Voodoo, known as the "king of mini - games" in 2020. However, receiving investment from Tencent obviously means that the company can continue game development with more confidence. This move seems to be beneficial for both parties' futures.
03
The Future Remains Hot
Actually, talking about these two investments together at this moment has a special meaning. They may represent two future directions for the casual gaming track.
The first is products like "Block Blast!" that are stable and have high user retention. It has always been at the top of the download lists, which continuously attracts users and maintains high growth - after being on the list for so long, users will surely want to download it and have a try.
This type of product has already formed a stable user - acquisition channel. As long as the game quality is not too bad, the revenue will not be too low. According to the data released by DateEye, "Block Blast!" also ranks high in user - acquisition investments, and it may have entered a healthy positive cycle driven by user - acquisition.
The second is the innovative dark - horse represented by "Pixel Flow". The fact that it can stand out in the Turkish market, which is mainly dominated by hybrid casual games, already represents its strength. With dual - track monetization and newly discovered growing users, the company can quickly form a stable business model and innovation drive, which will keep the track vibrant and innovative.
Overall, the global casual gaming market has gradually moved towards a long - term operation model. Among domestic game companies, Lemon Microfun and XD Inc. have occupied a considerable market share with products such as "Gossip Harbor" and "Winter Survival". Both of them rank high in the revenue list of Chinese overseas mobile games.
The former relies on a story - driven + operated Merge2 (2 - in - 1) game. Compared with match - 3 games, Merge2 naturally has a longer upgrade chain, which is convenient for long - term operation and user retention. It has brought nearly 5 billion yuan to Lemon Microfun in a year. The latter is a combination of a light - weight shell and SLG. In 2025, XD Inc., as the growth core of Century Huatong, accounted for about two - thirds of the total profit - and Century Huatong reported a cumulative revenue of 27.223 billion yuan in the first three quarters in its financial report.
It can be said that the casual gaming track in 2026 will still be an important area that cannot be ignored in the mobile market.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Coreesports" (ID: Coreesports), author: Tang Chenyao. Republished by 36Kr with permission.