Dual platform data decline, App Store proportion continues to grow

According to DianDian data statistics, the total download volume and total revenue of mobile games in Southeast Asia in the first quarter of 2026 decreased by 0.81% and 0.77% respectively compared to the previous quarter. The top regions with an absolute advantage in the contribution of download data, especially the leading Indonesian market, have seen a decline in data, which has become the main reason for the quarterly total data decline. In contrast, the tail regions such as Brunei and Myanmar have maintained a continuous upward trend. The reasons for the decline in income data are similar, but it is worth noting that the income data in the lower regions of Singapore and Vietnam have increased significantly.

The download revenue for the first quarter of 2026 increased by over 8.6% and 0.9% year-on-year, respectively. From the overall trend of quarterly data, the dual end data in Southeast Asia has shown a slow recovery trend in the past year, reversing the previous decline as a whole.

In terms of platform composition, Google Play accounts for a significant proportion of game application download revenue on both ends, with download data accounting for over 80%, indicating that Android devices still hold an absolute market share locally. However, it is worth noting that the proportion of data on the App Store platform has been increasing on both ends, especially on the download end, which has continued to grow. Despite the overall trend of data growth, its proportion has increased from 14.18% in the first quarter of last year to 16.35% currently, and is still expanding.

In terms of category composition, the top three categories of download data are leisure, simulation, and action; The revenue side includes strategy, role-playing, and action, with the leisure and adventure game category experiencing rapid growth. In March, the revenue of leisure games surpassed that of action games for the first time in nearly six months.

IP linkage takes over the popularity of the competition, and ''Mobile Legends' returns to first place on the double list

During the statistical period, Mu Tong's classic MOBA mobile game "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang" (Winning the Peak) topped the list of mobile game downloads and revenue in Southeast Asia in the first quarter with over 14.48 million downloads and an estimated revenue of over 27.91 million US dollars. This is why the product has returned to the top of the quarterly revenue chart for mobile games in the region after a two-year hiatus since the first quarter of 2024, and has been able to maintain a high income level. The periodic display of data peak explosive power is the reason why it has been able to maintain its top three rankings in both ends for many years.

In early January, the M7 World Championship was held as scheduled in Jakarta, Indonesia. Thanks to the well-established esports ecosystem and user base built by telecom operators in Southeast Asia as a "base" for overseas expansion over the years, this event attracted over 5.68 million viewers worldwide and formed a synergistic effect with various events such as the Festival StarLight launched at the same time, successfully pushing the product into its annual data peak period. The "GOLDEN MONTH" event, which was launched in late February, deeply integrated into the local Ramadan culture, reflecting the team's profound insight into regional culture and effectively carrying on the previous popularity, allowing the high-income performance to continue.

In addition, the linkage activities with various anime and game IPs are also important operational means for maintaining stable data performance and achieving periodic outbreaks. As a world-class anime IP, there is no need to elaborate on the global audience of "Naruto". Another popular FPS product, "Free Fire," which was also born in this region, has achieved significant data growth in many parts of the world through its linkage with this IP. The series of character skins and limited time events such as "Ninja Road" launched by "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang" at the end of March also helped reverse its declining data trend at the end of this quarter, and once again verified the influence of this IP in the region.

Creative leisure products are frequently popular, and "lightweight" has become a new trend

During the statistical period, the casual mobile game "Block Blast!" featuring Tetris alien gameplay was officially released and launched by Valar Technology Corp in the Vietnamese market. In the first quarter, it became the fastest-growing mobile game product in Southeast Asia with over 9.35 million downloads. Its previous Southeast Asian server product of the same name also maintained stable data performance in the first quarter, with download volume second only to Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and its ranking on the download chart in the region has not fallen out of the top three in the past year.

On the download side, new products based on classic leisure gameplay innovation or integration have become popular frequently. For example, "Clear Blast" based on the classic Bubble Dragon gameplay, "Puzzle Farm" with three elimination and management simulation, and "Đạ i chi ế n c â u c á" (Fishing Mega Battle) with fishing simulation. In addition, by extracting a certain gameplay from classic products separately, the resulting single product also has a good market in the local area. The most typical ones are Block World 3D and Craft Explore, which are based on the Minecraft building gameplay.

The outstanding performance of Heartopia in both download and revenue streams in this region also reflects a shift in market preference towards "lightweight" products, as well as acceptance and recognition of the fragmented entertainment style advocated by the T1 market. At the same time, the composition of the sources of products on the rising income list demonstrates the influence of the East Asian market, represented by China, Japan, and South Korea, on the region. Against the backdrop of Southeast Asia remaining the primary target for going global, the new market preference trend may bring about a new round of competitive landscape.

Download data continues to maintain a stable upward trend

Unlike the mobile gaming market, the total download volume of mobile applications in Southeast Asia increased by 1.1% month on month in the first quarter, while the total revenue data showed a slight decrease of 0.03% month on month. On the download side, except for the decline in the Indonesian market data at the top, other regions have seen varying degrees of increase, with Myanmar, Laos and other places at the bottom showing outstanding growth. On the income side, the situation is the opposite. Market data in most regions have declined month on month, with only Singapore and Cambodia showing an upward trend against the trend. Singapore's data growth is particularly significant, with a month on month increase of over 11.7%.

In terms of platform composition, the download side Google Play platform contributed a significant proportion of data, but from the quarterly trend of platform proportion changes, against the backdrop of fluctuating and rising total download data, the proportion of App Store platform data has always maintained a continuous expansion trend. The overall revenue side is dominated by the App Store platform, with relatively small changes in overall data and proportion.

In terms of category composition, the top three categories for download data are tools, entertainment, and social communication; The income side includes entertainment, photography and video, and social communication. The data growth of entertainment applications on both sides of download revenue is significant.

NetShort leads the short drama market to a full explosion

In the first quarter, short drama applications showed a comprehensive outbreak in Southeast Asia. As a representative, NetShort ranked as the fastest-growing non gaming application in the region with a month on month download and revenue growth of over 271.4% and 48.2%, respectively. It is worth noting that almost all of the top ten apps, especially those that make it to the download list, are occupied by short drama apps. According to the "2026 China Short Drama Overseas Market Research Report" by DianDian Data, Southeast Asia has become one of the regions with the largest download volume and fastest user growth rate of short dramas in the world.

The core strategy for short drama applications in Southeast Asia mentioned in the report is "free traffic diversion+advertising monetization+precise payment". This is also a classic model for domestic applications such as NetShort and DramaReels to achieve data growth in the region. With the continuous development of AI technology, short drama works are being promoted to achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement in the entire production process, including production, translation, and distribution. These applications, which have occupied the main market share of short dramas in the region with their first mover advantage, are now facing growth opportunities. The large-scale and low-cost AI anime and translated dramas have become a powerful tool for most platforms to achieve rapid data growth.

At the same time, entertainment and social giants are actively entering the industry during the window of explosive growth. PineDrama, a short drama application launched by ByteDance at the beginning of the year, relies on the huge traffic pool of the short video social platform TikTok to achieve precise breakthroughs in a "no ads, completely free" model. In the first quarter, it achieved over 4.39 million downloads in the local area. In addition, the short drama platforms "HotMiniDrama" and "Lucky Dramas" from Egypt and Japan also showed significant growth in data for the first quarter.

The download volume of "Instant Dream AI" has increased by 21 times, and social soil has become an AI growth engine

During the statistical period, ByteDance's AI creative tool application "Dreamina AI" (overseas version of "Dreamina AI") saw a month on month increase of over 2133.6% in download volume in Southeast Asia in the first quarter, and ranked third on the regional non gaming application rising list. In terms of the composition of data sources, Vietnam and Indonesia have the highest proportion of data contribution, and in the global download contribution of the application in the first quarter, both regions have a market share of over 30%.

The reason for the data growth of Dreamina AI in the first quarter is partly due to the improvement of AI technology strength. Its Seedance 1.5 Pro model, which was launched at the end of last year and supports joint generation of audio and video, received considerable downloads on the TikTok platform at the beginning of the year. The Seedance 2.0 model, which was launched in February, has attracted widespread attention worldwide, thereby further increasing the download volume of the application.

On the other hand, backed by ByteDance's platform traffic and resource support, the deep linkage with TikTok is also an accelerator for its growth. In addition to achieving sustained exposure on social media through viral content ideas such as "taking photos with celebrities", the official also launched large-scale advertising campaigns on TikTok at the beginning of the year targeting markets across Southeast Asia, quickly capturing users' minds through "saturated marketing".

It is worth noting that the example of "Dreamina AI" reflects that the traffic advantage of social platforms is becoming a new data growth engine for AI applications in Southeast Asia. Another example that can serve as evidence is "Grok IA", which achieved nearly 150% data growth on both ends in the region in the first quarter. With the help of the user base of the X platform, it has also gained a natural diversion capability that other AI applications cannot match.