iWorld
MX Player records 4.35 billion minutes of gaming in 2021
Mumbai: Users spent a total of 4.35 billion minutes gaming on MX Player in 2021, the media company reported, with an average watch time of 56 minutes per day.
The online gaming industry has seen an upward trend since 2020 on the back of a mobile first phenomenon driven by the lockdown. MX Player launched games on its platform in February 2020 and hosts over 100 hyper casual games that can be played for free.
MX Player shared that 3.7 billion gameplays were recorded on its platform in the year 2021 with the highest being 16.1 million in a single day. There are more than 8000 game sessions that are completed on the platform every minute.
Genres
Casual, Arcade, Survival, Strategy and Action constituted nearly 71 per cent of the total gameplays on the platform. Among these, “Bubble Blast” was India’s most favourite game with over 336 million gameplays. In “MX City Cricket Battle,” more than 80,000 sixes were hit every hour out of the total number of runs scored by the users. Similarly, more than 57,000 missiles were launched every hour during “Boom Knight” game.
Cities
As per the report, Bihar topped the list in terms of gameplays and engagement and non-metro user engagement was 20 per cent higher than the metro user’s engagement. Patna, Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, and Mumbai were among the top 10 cities that contributed to 66 per cent of the gameplays on the platform.
Audience
Nearly 96 per cent playing users were below the age of 35, with 74.3 per cent of them being millennials. And 94 per cent gameplays were from users below the age of 35, with 69.4 per cent of them being millennials. The male to female ratio was 80:20.
iWorld
Spotify Q1 revenue hits €4.5bn as users cross 760 million globally
Subscriber growth and margins rise as platform bets big on AI and discovery
LONDON: Spotify has kicked off 2026 on a strong note, reporting first-quarter revenue of €4.5 billion, up 14 per cent year-on-year in constant currency, as its global user base swelled past 760 million.
The streaming giant said monthly active users rose 12 per cent year-on-year to 761 million, while premium subscribers climbed 9 per cent to 293 million. The steady rise in both free and paid users signals continued demand for its expanding mix of music, podcasts and audiobooks.
Profitability also struck a chord. Gross margin improved by around 140 basis points to 33 per cent, marking one of the company’s strongest first-quarter performances to date. Operating income reached €715 million, comfortably ahead of expectations.
Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström said, “We surpassed 760 million MAU, delivered on the subscriber growth we aimed to achieve, and saw healthy engagement from existing users, reactivations and new users alike.” He added that increased listening and viewing activity in key markets such as the United States reflects confidence in sustained growth and low churn.
The company’s other co-CEO, Gustav Söderström, pointed to long-term ambition, saying the platform’s scale, creator ecosystem and investments in personalisation are opening up “new growth vectors” across formats and user engagement.
Revenue growth was largely driven by the premium segment, which rose 10 per cent to €4.1 billion, supported by price increases and stable average revenue per user of €4.76. However, the ad-supported business saw a 5 per cent dip to €385 million, though it still posted a modest 3 per cent increase in constant currency terms.
Cash generation remained robust, with free cash flow at €824 million for the quarter and €3.2 billion over the past 12 months. The company also benefited from lower-than-expected operating expenses, including €49 million in reduced social charges linked to share-based compensation.
Beyond the numbers, Spotify is leaning into product innovation. New AI-driven features such as “Taste Profile” and “Prompted Playlist” aim to give users more control over recommendations, while tools like “SongDNA” and “About the Song” deepen music discovery. The platform is also expanding audiobook charts in the United States and United Kingdom to boost engagement in newer formats.
Looking ahead, Spotify expects momentum to continue into the second quarter, forecasting 778 million monthly active users, 299 million subscribers, revenue of €4.8 billion and operating income of €630 million.
With €8.8 billion in cash and 7,258 employees, the company appears well-positioned to keep its growth story in rhythm as competition in digital entertainment intensifies.
