Gaming Growth Unlocked: Lessons from Distribution, Payments, and Regulations in Asia
Game Monetization in Asia, What’s Next? A white paper from Niko Partners x Coda
Mobile gaming is shifting toward live-service models, and out-of-app platforms are unlocking new revenue streams. Since we co-published our first white paper with Coda in December 2023, this segment has grown rapidly, reshaping how publishers reach players and scale.
In addition, recent regulatory shifts like South Korea’s “Anti-Google Law” and Japan’s Fair-Trade rulings are opening up the ‘walled gardens’, encouraging publishers to adopt alternative platforms and payment methods. These shifts, along with new tax frameworks in markets like Vietnam and Indonesia are driving out-of-app monetization as game publishers navigate fragmented markets and complexity.
We’re back with Coda to demystify the diverse regulatory trends and payments landscape across Asia – so you can implement the best monetization strategy to scale your mobile games in the region and beyond.
Some highlights from the white paper:
Out-of-app platforms such as direct-to-consumer web stores now account for 26% of mobile gaming revenue in East Asia and Southeast Asia combined, reshaping distribution and monetization strategies.
By 2028, out-of-app monetization revenue may make up a third of the mobile gaming ecosystem in Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea.
In Southeast Asia alone, out-of-app monetization accounted for 38% of mobile gaming revenue in 2024, up from 21% in just two years.