AI art generators like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion are more useful for quickly iterating through concepts than creating final products. Even so, AI art is already being used to speed up development, reduce costs, and open up new possibilities for user customization.

Over the past year, external payment systems have become significantly more common. Thanks to ongoing regulatory changes and waning opposition from Google, it’s become easier for developers to implement these systems. As a result, major developers like Scopely and Supercell have launched a large number of new web stores, expanded existing stores, and developed new strategies for driving traffic to them. 

Clash Royale’s Pass Royale 2.0 battle pass update and accompanying An Update For Losers expansion led to a massive revenue increase of 41% MoM. However, this revenue dropped off quickly compared to previous updates, and the app's active users decreased to its lowest point since September 2021. This decrease in active users is likely due in part to negative player reactions to the update, which made the premium pass less valuable to players while increasing its price.

Honkai: Star Rail, the latest release in miHoYo's Honkai series, became the top-grossing RPG app within a mere three weeks of its launch. In this installment, players navigate a vast world map using an interstellar train, explore diverse planets, visit train compartments, and interact with passengers. The app offers rapid turn-based combat, excellent anime-inspired visuals, and an engaging storyline with full voice acting.

Pokerist’s weekly Leagues competition takes the innovative step of allowing players to instantly advance to higher leagues by reaching currency milestones. Players can also advance to higher leagues by ranking at the top of their leagues’ leaderboards at the end of the week.

This page provides teardowns of innovative event, feature, and app releases from our May 2023 Casino Coverage.

This month's notable releases include a trio of wild bonuses: one from Cash Frenzy and two from Scatter Slots.

Headline Release: Slotomania’s Family Feud machine uses real questions and answers from the Family Feud TV show to recreate the experience of watching the show. Even though players don’t select answers to the questions themselves, waiting to see what answers land and how many points they award creates a satisfying cycle of anticipation and payoff without disrupting the flow of slots play.

Candy Crush Saga’s All Stars Tournament offers the most valuable prizes ever for a competition in a casual app, including a pool of $250,000, a weeklong trip to London, and diamond rings worth a total of $75,000. The event also involves a number of high-profile partnerships, including a prize reveal video with hip-hop artist Saweetie, sponsored videos from influencers, and championship rings made by celebrity jewelers Icebox. This combination of real-life prizes and celebrity partnerships has led to viral tweets, trending articles, and videos with over 22M views on YouTube alone.

Candy Crush Saga’s All Stars Tournament offers the most valuable prizes ever seen in a casual app, including a pool of $250,000, a weeklong trip to London, and diamond rings worth a total of $75,000. The event also involves a number of high-profile partnerships, including a prize reveal video with hip-hop artist Saweetie, sponsored videos from influencers, and championship rings made by celebrity jewelers Icebox. This combination of real-life prizes and celebrity partnerships has led to viral tweets, trending articles, and videos with over 22M collective views on YouTube alone.

PUBG Mobile’s World of Wonder continues the major trend of battle royale apps offering robust map editors, such as Fortnite's Creative and Garena Free Fire's Craftland. The feature's in-app editor allows players to design custom maps and game modes, then publish their designs for the community. Player-created maps have long been a staple of PC and console gaming that simultaneously generates new content and builds strong player communities.

PUBG Mobile's World of Wonder continues the major trend of battle royale apps offering robust map editors, such as Fortnite's Creative and Garena Free Fire's Craftland. The feature's in-app editor allows players to design custom maps and game modes, then publish their designs for the community. Player-created maps have long been a PC and console gaming staple that simultaneously generates new content and builds strong player communities.