Data from two platforms has declined, with Google Play contributing an absolute proportion

According to DianDian data statistics, the total download volume and total revenue of mobile games in Latin America in the first quarter of 2026 decreased by 0.29% and 1.42% respectively compared to the previous quarter. The main reason for the decline in total data was the dual end data led by top markets such as Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, while the data growth in the lower regions such as Uruguay, El Salvador, and Guatemala was the highest. The regional dual end data showed significant growth compared to the first quarter of last year, especially the download end, which increased by over 12.6% year-on-year. The overall monthly data in the past year has shown an upward trend.

In terms of platform composition, Google Play accounts for a large proportion of game application download revenue on both ends, with a share of over 70%, indicating a significant data gap between platforms. The device ecology determined by the regional economic level has resulted in a long-term stable Android market share of over 80% -85%, which is the main reason for the significant disparity in proportion. However, it is worth noting that the month on month changes in download revenue for the App Store platform in the first quarter were approximately -3.25% and 2.57%, respectively, indicating that the consumption potential of iOS users still deserves attention.

In terms of category composition, the top three categories of download data are leisure, simulation, and action; The income side includes role-playing, strategy, and leisure. The dual end data growth of puzzle game categories is significant.

Playing cards and mahjong have become popular, and the fusion of innovative gameplay proves the magic again

During the statistical period, the casual game "Solitaire Associations Journey" was launched in September last year, based on the classic "Solitaire" card game and incorporating creative gameplay of word meaning association classification. It quickly entered the top ten mobile game downloads in the first quarter of Latin America and topped the list with over 5.02 million downloads. At the same time, Vita Mahjong, a casual product based on the classic elimination gameplay of "Lianliankan" and incorporating mahjong tile pairing rules, also saw significant data growth in the local area in the first quarter. Its popularity surpassed Tile Explorer, which uses classic fruit patterns as pairing materials, and climbed to fifth place on the mobile game download chart in the first quarter. Similar products, such as Mahjong Blast, also saw significant data growth.

The popularity of such products once again proves the magic of the "classic leisure gameplay fusion+micro innovation" model. The widespread popularity of classic gameplay worldwide greatly reduces players' cognitive and learning barriers, while minimally invasive games such as Solitaire Associations Journey introduce a "mother child card" differentiation mechanism, bringing a brand new strategy experience and becoming a deadly attraction that attracts players to stay engaged. And how to balance the strength of "micro innovation", that is, to balance the difficulty of the game after the integration of mechanisms, so that players can not only enjoy the satisfaction of novel experiences, but also not be frustrated by the depth of the new mechanism strategy, may be the key to determining whether the product can achieve explosive success.

Localization is also key to data growth, and the data explosion of Solitaire Associations Journey in Latin America in the first quarter was due to the support for Portuguese after the update at the beginning of the year. According to the trend of regional sources of application downloads based on point data statistics, it can also be intuitively observed that there has been a significant increase in product downloads in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and other places after version updates.

In addition, playing cards and mahjong, as two products that can represent the cultural characteristics of the East and the West, the popularity of their related products in Latin America once again reflects the high tolerance and acceptance of the regional market. Under the huge user base and growth potential, Latin America remains a fertile ground for innovation and growth in leisure products and even the entire mobile gaming industry.

Heartbeat Town leads the domestic mobile game revenue end with outstanding performance

During the statistical period, Heartopia, a life simulation mobile game released by Heartbeat Network at the end of last year, topped the first quarter revenue growth chart in Latin America, with a revenue of over 1.1 million US dollars in the first quarter. It is worth noting that the top five products on the list are all domestically produced and exported products, with different types and styles. At the same time, the phenomenon of top tier solidification in regional mobile game revenue remains significant, with three products, "Free Fire", "Roblox", and "Coin Master", having a stable leading advantage and relatively small changes in data for top tier products.

Except for language and text, the Latin American version of Heartopia is basically aligned with the North American version in terms of game content and activities, without any other obvious localization arrangements. But the relaxed and friendly tone of the game itself is also in line with the preference of regional players for casual and simulation games. The excellent quality of the product itself, which has been verified by the domestic market, is also sufficient to support its retention. The final product achieved impressive revenue data with 3 million downloads in the first quarter of this region. At the same time, the revenue growth of Tasty Travels, a subsidiary of DianDian Interactive, was also prominent in the local area in the first quarter. The related theme activities of food and adventure themes combined with the vivid visual experience of the product itself also conform to the preference profile of local players.

In addition, judging from the performance of several domestic products at the top of the revenue growth chart in the region on different platforms, the growth rate of the Google Play platform in the first quarter was significantly higher than that of the App Store platform, indicating that domestic manufacturers may be actively tilting their resources towards the Android end. Behind this trend, on the one hand, it is related to the higher market share and lower customer acquisition costs of Android devices in the local market; On the other hand, the reduction of in app purchase (IAP) service fees by Google Play Store in the first quarter may have played a guiding role in overall resource allocation. The significant growth of data on the Google Play platform is the core driving force behind the rapid increase in revenue of these products in the first quarter.

Download data continues to maintain a stable upward trend

Unlike the mobile gaming market, the total download volume of mobile applications in Latin America increased by 2.06% month on month in the first quarter, while the total revenue data decreased by 0.33% month on month. In the context of declining data in the two main regions of Brazil and Mexico, the overall data growth is driven by the increase in data growth in other regions, especially Jamaica, Uruguay, Panama and other central regions; On the income side, driven by the top regions, the overall data slightly declined month on month, with Uruguay ranking high in regional income data growth. From the trend of monthly data changes in the past year, both ends of the data show an upward trend.

In terms of platform composition, the Google Play platform still accounts for a large proportion of both downloads and revenue. But the data gap between the two platforms is not as significant as that of mobile games, and the average revenue contribution ratio of App Store platform users is still larger.

In terms of category composition, the top three categories of download data are tools, entertainment, and efficiency; The income side includes entertainment, efficiency, and social communication. The application of tools has shown a significant increase in data on both sides of download revenue.

Dola's data growth is rapid, and AI applications are blooming everywhere

In the statistical cycle, Dola, the overseas version of Doubao, the AI intelligent chat assistant of ByteDance, rose to the top three of the regional and download lists with a download growth of more than 10.12 million and a total download volume of 28.7 million in the first quarter, and the data growth was amazing.

In the first quarter of last year, the monthly download data of "Dola" in Latin America was still hovering in the range of 100000 to 200000, and a year later it had become an absolute leader with monthly downloads exceeding 10 million. Its data leap is due to the track selection that avoids fiercely competitive "red ocean" markets such as North America, and the platform traffic dividends from TikTok and CapCut run through its entire growth cycle. In addition, its localized adaptation improvements, such as targeted enhancement of understanding of local slang and cultural references in Spanish and Portuguese, and the launch of practical functions such as product comparison and logistics inquiry to meet the daily needs of local users, have laid a solid foundation for its growth.

But what really drives the rapid growth of AI application data, including Dola, is still the "timing", that is, the current dividend period market in which the acceptance of AI technology is rapidly increasing. In addition to the former, there are also four AI applications on the rising list in the first quarter, namely "Grok IA", "Learna AI", and "IA Chatbot". At present, while AI applications in the United States are generally exploring payment models, it is the window period for other AI applications, especially Dola, which vigorously strengthens the "free to use" label, to overtake and achieve rapid data growth.

AI Revolution Helps NetShort Q1 Download Growth by 239%

During the statistical period, the download volume of the short drama application "NetShort" in Latin America increased by over 239.1% month on month in the first quarter, with a quarterly download volume exceeding 14.66 million and a growth of over 10.34 million. Against the backdrop of a majority of declining data from top tier applications on the track, the explosion of short drama applications represented by "NetShort" has once again continued the industry's popularity.

The global short drama market is currently in a period of explosive growth. According to the latest data released by DianDian Data in the "2026 China Short Drama Overseas Market Research Report", the download volume of overseas short drama applications reached 2.148 billion times in 2025, and the internal purchase revenue exceeded 2.058 billion US dollars. The dual dividends brought by favorable policies and technological innovation have become the core driving force for the rapid growth of the overseas short drama market. The significant growth of NetShort's data in the first quarter is due to the era dividend brought by the development of AI technology.

On the one hand, "NetShort" applies AI to the entire production process of short drama production, translation and distribution to achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement. The global AI anime craze, which it pioneered and led, is a testament to its popularity. In the March overseas anime top 100 list, the top 3 were all works invested by it. The AI anime series "Tame Devils/Die: Villaines' Rev" released at the end of March (what about the promised love story in Yiyou?)? Why have all the staff members gone black! ）It has also gained great popularity in Latin America. On the other hand, AI driven precise and efficient customer acquisition strategies have also become an important factor in the growth of its download data.

It is worth noting that in addition to short drama applications represented by "NetShort" seizing the first mover advantage by embracing AI, the mobile cleaning track under the tool category has also achieved synchronous growth of dual end data under AI empowerment. Cleanup and Cleaner Flow have shown particularly outstanding performance in this period's non gaming app revenue growth chart, with the former's dual end ranking confirming its absolute dominance in the Latin American market dominated by Android devices, which is experiencing strong demand and considerable growth potential.