Game of War Tops US Mobile Revenue Charts

December 16, 2015 Erhan Altay Comments

New revenue numbers gathered by SuperData reveal the continued growth in mobile gaming. The combined revenues of the top 15 mobile games totaled $3.75 billion USD in the 12 month period between November 28, 2014 and November 27, 2015. That's a 5.5% growth in revenues compared to the same period last year. SuperData reports these numbers with Black Friday of each year as the cutoff date. It should also be noted that these numbers are for the USA and specifically for the iOS (iPhone/iPad) platform only.

After analyzing the chart we can draw several insights from these numbers. The first of which is the meteoric rise of Game of War. The fantasy themed mobile strategy game by Machine Zone amassed $916 million in revenue this year, or about 25% of total mobile gaming revenues! This result represents a stark reversal in fortunes between Game of War's primary rival: Clash of Clans. Supercell's strategy game saw its revenue decline from $869 million in 2014 to $583 million this year. Even with that massive decline, Clash of Clans was still comfortably in the number 2 position.

And that leads us to our final conclusion -- the stickiness of the Top 15 list. 9 games on the list were 2014 incumbents with only 6 managing to fight their way up. Those newcomers were: MARVEL Contest of Champions, Summoners War, Episode -- Choose Your Story, Brave Frontier, GSN Casino, and Mobile Strike. All 6 of the newcomers were concentrated on the bottom half of the list.

A rare newcomer to the Top 15 mobile list

This chart may prove to be a wake up call for studios chasing the mobile gaming market with starry eyed dreams of instant wealth. With so many older games maintaining their top positions and with 40% of revenues going to the top 2 games alone, the mobile market may not be as lucrative or easy to crack for new entrants as previously imaged.

Looking forward, the game to watch this year is Mobile Strike, also by Machine Zone. Mobile Strike is a strategy game but with a modern rather than fantasy setting. The studio has had great success with its marketing campaigns featuring Kate Upton and Mariah Carey. For Mobile Strike, the studio has enlisted action star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Despite launching only last month (November 11, 2015), Mobile Strike managed to crack the Top 15 list. At this rate, Mobile Strike may very well dethrone Game of War in 2016. I'm sure Machine Zone which develops both titles won't mind.