Lion Studios

A leading hyper-casual and casual mobile game publisher backed by AppLovin's ad tech infrastructure

Lion Studios is a mobile game publishing operation that was originally launched in 2018 as the publishing arm of AppLovin Corporation. Under AppLovin, Lion Studios provided independent mobile game developers with funding, marketing expertise, user acquisition capabilities, and monetization support — acting as a full-service publisher for the hyper-casual and casual mobile gaming space. The studio became known for publishing viral hits and rapidly scaling games to millions of downloads by leveraging AppLovin's advertising and analytics infrastructure. Lion Studios operated as a partner-first publisher, offering developers a revenue share model rather than acquiring full ownership of their intellectual property. This approach attracted a large number of indie developers looking to benefit from AppLovin's massive ad network and data-driven user acquisition capabilities without giving up creative control. The studio published hundreds of games across genres including puzzle, simulation, arcade, and idle games, accumulating billions of downloads globally. In May 2025, AppLovin announced the sale of its entire mobile gaming portfolio — including Lion Studios and nine other studios — to Tripledot Studios for approximately $800M (comprising $400M cash and equity representing ~20% of Tripledot). The transaction closed on June 30, 2025. Following the acquisition, Lion Studios operates under Tripledot Studios, which now runs 12 studios globally with over 2,500 employees and approximately $2 billion in annual gross revenue. The deal reflected AppLovin's strategic pivot to focus exclusively on its advertising technology business.