There’s a deluge of new data and research to wade through every week.
So every Wednesday we’re here to break it all down into digestible chunks: data drop has just the numbers you need to know about, minus the fluff.
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83% of games die in three years, 43% are killed in development
SuperScale and Atomik Research put out some numbers this week on the subject of legacy game management, based on feedback from over 500 game developers in the US and UK.
Among the most striking stats were that 83% of mobile games die in three years – so just 17% survive long-term. And 43% of games are killed before they launch (which feels a little low?).
Later, the report says 47% of games die within a year, and 17% are cancelled six months after launch. Of the 500 studios surveyed, 32% said they’d made layoffs in the last year, 24% almost shut down and 29% cut their UA budgets.
China games market to bounce back
Niko Partners predicts that the Chinese games market will be worth $47.7bn in 2023, a year-on-year rise of 5.2%. That follows a 2.5% year-on-year decline from 2021-2022, leading Niko Partners to describe 2023 as a “year of recovery”.
Some other estimates from the report:
- That $47.7bn 2023 market value is to be generated by 710.3m gamers in China (up 1.6% YoY)
- Niko believes China’s games market will be worth over $56.7bn in 2027
- There will be 734.6m gamers in China by 2027
- China’s NPPA, which approves games for release in the country, has greenlit 844 titles for release up to October 30 2023, already higher than the totals in 2022 and 2021 (512 and 755 respectively).
The game formerly known as FIFA passes 500m lifetime downloads
EA Sports FC Mobile just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? The game formerly known as FIFA Mobile has passed 500m lifetime downloads in the last month, according to Appmagic.
Released in September 2016, it’s a game that sees big install spikes around World Cups and other major tournaments, and rarely dipped below 5m monthly downloads from its launch until September 2019.
From then, average monthly downloads bounced between 2-4m until a big uptick in December 2021. It got its biggest ever spike in December 2022 around the Qatar World Cup with a record 22.8m monthly installs. And it has kept up some of that momentum, even after that big name change in September, posting between 8-9m monthly downloads ever since.
Asian female players face toxic attitudes
Some more data nuggets from Niko Partners here: 95% of female gamers in Asia play on mobile, with puzzle games, MOBAs and battle royales the top three genres.
Some bleak stats in this Next World piece on the same subject, though: “In China, 21.2% of female gamers faced harassment during their gameplay, while a slightly higher 22.7% encountered sexist or misogynistic attitudes.”
“The SEA-6 survey in 2023 revealed even more alarming stats: 22.5% of female gamers faced harassment, 21.9% encountered misogynistic attitudes, and 30.7% dealt with negative attitudes specifically aimed at female gamers.”
Royal Match hits 200m lifetime downloads
Appmagic data says Dream Games’ Candy Crush contender Royal Match is just about to pass 200m downloads since it soft launched in July 2020.
Revenue paid out to developer Dream Games to date is roughly a spectacular $1.3bn, says Appmagic, a figure that does not include Apple/Google’s cut or local taxes, so the gross figure will be higher.
Dream Games has raked in over $80m for the last four months running, though monthly downloads are declining from a peak of nearly 17m in August to October’s total of 11.8m.
SplitMetrics acquires App Radar in “seven-figure deal”
GamesBeat got the scoop on the acquisition of App Radar by SplitMetrics in a “seven-figure deal”. The two companies will now form one larger UA, ASO and analytics company. And it’ll all be AI-powered, of course.
June’s Journey hits $1bn (14 months after making $500m…?)
Here’s a fun one: Playtika said last week that Wooga’s hidden object game June’s Journey had just passed $1bn in lifetime revenue.
But just over a year ago, this press release claimed it had just passed $500m. So had the hidden object game really earned around $500m in the last 14 months?
No: a friendly PR rep told us that the 2022 figure was net revenue, and the 2023 number is gross. So that’s that cleared up.
Playtika and Wooga also claimed in last week’s release that June’s Journey is the top grossing game in the hidden object genre worldwide, and the fastest German-made mobile game to hit $1bn.
Ten Square Games’ turnaround continues…or does it?
The Polish maker of Fishing Clash said in its Q3 2023 results that business was improving after it laid off 120 staff and cancelled two games earlier this year.
It posted an adjusted EBITDA of PLN 33.7m (around $8.4m) for Q3 2023, and bookings for the quarter were PLN 110.4m (around $27.5m).
The firm claimed that the adjusted EBITDA is a record high, but if you look at Q3 2022’s numbers it is down year-on-year, and so were bookings, so it’s all a little puzzling.
Still, Ten Square also said Fishing Clash’s monthly users now total 2.7m, and Hunting Clash has broken 2m users.
