Puzzles & Survival is about to hit $600m in lifetime revenue – and is close to catching Clash of Clans’ monthly income.
According to figures sourced by Naavik Pro from data.ai, 37 Games’ puzzle-strategy hybrid has generated $595m in revenue from over 32.7m downloads worldwide. And like Clash of Clans, it makes around $30m per month.
Puzzle & Survival’s monthly worldwide revenue outstripped Clash Royale in April 2022 as Supercell’s action-strategy game declines. Puzzle & Survival has even been close to beating Clash of Clans’ monthly revenue in recent months, with September’s totals putting Clash of Clans on $30.9m and Puzzle & Survival not far behind on $29.9m.
The zombie-themed puzzle-strategy title’s revenue per download is $18.18, and the leading market is the US, with $252m (44%) of total lifetime revenue. The next biggest markets are Japan ($164m), South Korea ($33.5m), Germany ($24.9m) and Taiwan ($24.1m).
On downloads, the US is top with 8.39m, followed by Japan (4m), Vietnam (1.63m), South Korea (1.61m) and Russia (1.36m).
In his deep dive deconstruction on 37 Games’ hit, Naavik Pro‘s Harshal Karvande depicts a hybrid puzzle-4X game that has defied IDFA headwinds. Its blend of casual and hardcore genres means it benefits from a bigger initial player funnel who are then transitioned over to deeper late-game systems that appeal to high-spending players.
“Players are smoothly transitioned from the PvE, single player features of the puzzle match-3 battles to the PvP, multiplayer features of the 4X march-battles, naturally encountering other players on the map and nudged into joining alliances for survival,” the report reads.
“This helps less hardcore strategy players get enough experience in the game before transitioning to the more hardcore strategic 4X war elements.”
Later, Naavik Pro’s report explores the effectiveness of its UA ads, which blend well with the real gameplay and subject matter, and more creative flourishes in its content roadmap including brand collabs with GI Joe, Godzilla and The Walking Dead. There are even World Cup-themed events running in the game right now, involving a bespoke runner mini-game and football stadium skins for your base.
“With a full production schedule of more than 50 upcoming games in the pipeline, 37Games is aiming to be a top-tier company in mobile F2P in the near future,” Naavik Pro concludes.
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