Mobile games are thought to generate more revenue than all other apps combined, and mobile devices are expected to be the top platform choice of gamers within the next few years. Service providers have seen network traffic spike when a new game hits an app store. A recent report from App Annie on mobile game revenue and downloads shows clearly that one release can truly be a game changer in the market.
Finland’s Supercell, now owned by Softbank, was the top earner in the iOS app store in December. Supercell has just three games on iTunes, and of course one of them was its wildly popular Clash of Clans title. In the Google Play store, Supercell ranked 5th in terms of overall revenue, with just two titles available for download.
King, publisher of Candy Crush Saga, held second place for game revenue earned in both the iTunes store and the Google Play store. Its revenue was generated by just seven iOS games and six Android games. Electronic Arts, the biggest mobile game publisher in the United States, had 821 title in iTunes, but earned less revenue in December than Supercell, King and Japan’s GungHo Online. In the Google Play store, Electronic Arts was in 7th place, behind GungHo Online, King, CJ Group, LINE, Supercell, and COLOPL.
In-app purchases are the biggest revenue generators for mobile game developers. Some publishers who initially charged for their games are converting to “freemium” models to increase downloads and create more potential customers for in-app purchases. These purchases are usually game-related offers that give the user more chances to play or win.
Downloads and revenue do not always track one another. In December, the most downloaded iOS games were Angry Birds Go!, Candy Crush Saga, Clumsy Ninja, My Talking Tom and Angry Birds Star Wars II, meaning that King was the only company to with a top five game to also rank as a top five revenue earner. In the Google Play store the story was similar. The top five mobile game downloads were Candy Crush Saga, Subway Surfers, Pou, My Talking Tom, and Traffic Racer. Again King was the only company with a top five game to also rank as a top five revenue earner.
These numbers suggest high levels of in-app spending for players of the games created by Supercell and GungHo Online. Their games were not among the top downloads, but they out-earned games that were much more popular with users.
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