King has soft launched Candy Crush 3D, which appears to be its spin on the growing ‘match 3D’ genre.
Like Boombox’s Triple Match 3D, Zynga’s Match Factory and Spyke Games’ Tile Busters, it gives players a pile of objects to tap and match on a busy puzzle grid. It also features King’s familiar Candy Crush items, boosters and aesthetic.
According to Appmagic, it is currently available in Malaysia only, and through Google Play only.
Currently the store description reads: “From the makers of Candy Crush Saga comes a brand new game: Candy Crush 3D, the ultimate match 3D challenge game! Play tasty challenging levels and train your brain while solving exciting puzzles.”
“Sort delicious candies and find hidden and special tasty treats,” it continues. “Discover a whole new way to enjoy Candy Crush! This game introduces an enticing adventure that will satisfy your sweet tooth while giving your brain a workout!”
There’s also mention of familiar Candy power-ups like the Colour Bomb, a ‘streak’ system and offline play.
It’s not the only new Candy Crush game currently in soft launch. Candy Crush Solitaire is also in beta on the Google Play store in Canada and Philippines only, again according to Appmagic.
It soft launched in July 2023, and according to its product page it “combines the best features of Tripeaks solitaire games with the playful yet challenging puzzle gameplay of Candy Crush Saga.”
Alongside the familiar tripeaks solitaire core gameplay, there’s a globetrotting meta that asks players to “decorate beautiful postcards from Hawaii, Paris, Japan, and more while progressing through the game”.
King’s other soft launch title is kart racer Rebel Riders, which doesn’t appear to be live in any territories currently. The game’s last beta was in June, and since then, King hasn’t posted anything on the game’s Twitter/X feed or Discord server.
We asked boss Tjodolf Sommestad about the game back in September. He said of the game and its future: “We’re testing games with players in different ways and Rebel Riders is a game we’ve tested more actively with a community. But we’re still in testing now and we’re considering what to do with that game going forward.”
Candy Crush 3D soft launches at a fascinating time for King, which is now under the ownership of Microsoft. The new owner of Activision-Blizzard-King has said several times that it wants to launch its own app store to compete with Apple and Google’s duopoly.
On top of that, if recent Appmagic data is accurate, King’s flagship game Candy Crush Saga is going through a rocky patch. As we reported yesterday, downloads for November were around 8.8m, the lowest total since Appmagic started tracking data in 2015, and last month’s IAP revenue of $66m was its lowest monthly total since March 2021. That’s just a third of the revenue it earned in March this year, when it pulled in nearly $92m.
We have contacted King for comment on Candy Crush 3D and the other titles mentioned in this story and will update this report if they respond.
UPDATE: King has provided us with the below statement:
“We take a test and iterate approach to crafting new games. Extensively testing our new titles under development is how we ensure we invest only in games our players and the industry will love. Some of these ideas will grow and go on to further development, and others, we’ll take the learnings to create the best experiences for our players elsewhere. We continue to take this approach with any of our new games and we look forward to sharing more information with you in the near future.”
