There’s a deluge of new data and research to wade through in the mobile games business. Our regular data digest column breaks it all down into digestible chunks.
Read on for the numbers you need to know about minus the fluff.
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Brawl Stars earns $2.8m in 24 hours – its biggest day ever
Supercell’s Brawl Stars comeback just keeps on going, according to Appmagic figures.
Earlier this month, Appmagic estimates suggest that the game earned a best-ever $2.8m in IAP revenue on April 6. The day before, April 5, it had earned $2.77m, and on April 7 it posted $2.5m in 24 hours.
All three days comfortably beat the game’s previous daily earnings record of $2.3m, a figure reached in the post-launch buzz of January 2019. Remember, Appmagic revenue estimates do not take into account Apple and Google’s 30% and other local taxes, so total consumer spend will be higher.
As we reported previously, Supercell retooled the game at the end of 2023, and it has been on the comeback trail ever since.
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile hits $4.6m in debut month
Activision’s big name shooter has perhaps not quite taken off in the way it would have wanted in its first month of global launch.
As we reported before, Warzone’s launch did not compare well to Call of Duty: Mobile’s mammoth 2019 launch, based on two and a half weeks of data.
It’s the same story over the game’s first month. A look at Warzone Mobile’s first 30 days in Appmagic suggests Activision earned $4.6m from IAPs, with 24.5m installs in that time.
As a quick comparison, Call of Duty: Mobile’s first 30 days saw the game earn $29.7m from 85m downloads worldwide, though of course circumstances were different back then.
Embracer is splitting into three companies
Troubled games firm Embracer Group is planning to split into three different companies. These are going to be the tabletop-focused Asmodee, indie and mid-tier label Coffee Stain & Friends and triple-A brand Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends.
Mobile will be part of Coffee Stain & Friends; the division boasted SEK 10.9bn ($1bn) in net sales for the 12 months ending December 2023, with adjusted EBIT of SEK 2.8bn ($257m).
As part of Embracer’s split into three separate companies, the company has secured €900m ($960m) in funding from JP Morgan, BNP Paribas, SEB, Societe Generale and Swedbank. This arrangement puts tabletop specialist Asmodee on the hook for repayment and is secured with that company’s assets; there is “no recourse” to Embracer, the documents say.
Stillfront financials plateau for 2023
Swedish games firm Stillfront has reported flat financials for 2023. Revenue dipped by 1% to SEK6.9bn ($636.8m); the vast majority of that figure came from bookings of SEK 6bn ($553.8m), while the remaining SEK 911m ($84m) was generated by advertising.
As with last year, the United States was the biggest market for Stillfront’s revenue in 2023 with Germany coming in second place, albeit with a much smaller gap than in 2022.
Meanwhile, Stillfront’s adjusted EBITDA dipped 3% to SEK 2.5bn ($230.7m).
The company also says that 40% of its portfolio is casual and mash-up games, 35% is strategy and the remaining 25% is simulation, action and RPG titles.
Mag Interactive net sales dip 25% for Q2
Publisher Mag Interactive’s Q2 net sales dropped by 25% year-on-year, according to the company’s report for the first half of its financial year. The firm brought in SEK 71.88m ($6.6m) between December 2023 and February 2024 while its adjusted EBITDA clocked in at SEK 19.7m ($1.8m), a 133.4% increase.
Mag Interactive’s ARPDAU dipped 15% from ¢7.8 to ¢6.6. Meanwhile, the company’s DAU dipped 11% to 1.2m and its MAU came to 3.1m, a 17% decline.
During the quarter, Mag Interactive soft-launched puzzle game Crozzle in the US, and said that its metrics are “looking promising”.
Autogun Heroes helps Nitro Games revenue rise 22%
Finnish firm Nitro Games brought in €8.8m ($9.42m) in revenue for the 2023 financial year. According to the company’s report for the period, that’s a 22% increase on 2022’s €7.2m ($7.7m), while operating loss narrowed 16% to €3m ($3.21m).
Nitro’s EBITDA saw a 38.7% improvement year-on-year, but it is very much still in the red at -19.4%.
The company’s CEO, Jussi Tähtinen, called out Autogun Heroes for helping to drive its revenue for the second half of the year.
Devolver revenue slumped 31% for 2023
Indie publisher Devolver Digital has published its financial report for 2023, in which it announced it had generated revenue of $92.4m. That’s a 31% decline year-on-year due to a quieter first half of the year, though the company says this dip is in line with its expectations. 10% of Devolver’s revenue for the year came from mobile.
Gross profit was up 8%, hitting $24.5m, while Devolver’s operating loss narrowed substantially from $99.1m to $13m.
Back catalog games made up 83% of the company’s revenue for 2023, almost double the 45% slice this made up the previous year.
The German market grew 6% in 2023
The German video games market’s spending rose by 6% in 2023. According to the country’s industry trade body, Game, the sector generated €9.97bn ($10.7bn) for the year. This includes spending on games, hardware, and online services, though the report does not specify how much of this was on mobile titles.
Spending on in-app and in-game purchases also rose by 6% to hit €4.7bn ($5bn) in 2023, far outshining the €1.1bn ($1.18bn) spent purely on games.
