Market trends and analysis

Profiles of the key mobile social games platforms, developers and publishers

Industry usage and revenue statistics

Mobile Social Gaming Market

Guide

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About this guide The mobile social gaming market is one of the

most rapidly growing industries of the decade so

far

For mobile ad networks, service providers,

mobile social games companies or investors,

understanding this sector is a must

This guide provides all the details about the

mobile social gaming market, revenues, trends

and the most successful publishers and platforms

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Index

1

2

3

An introduction to the mobile social gaming market

The Top Mobile Social Games

Companies

Mobile Social Games Revenues and Statistics

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Mobile Social Games Market Statistics and Trends

The last year has seen a number of big deals and impressive stats

emerge from the mobile social gaming space. Big established games

publishers are looking to shift away from desktop online games into

the faster growing mobile games market. Huge new social platforms

for playing mobile games have also emerged, with Japanese

companies such as Gree and DeNA, expanding out of their enormous

and highly developed domestic markets. Barely a month goes buy

without a plucky young mobile social game developer raising a huge

new funding round or cashing out with a 9 figure acquisition. With

freemium business models that combine huge mass market usage

with multi-million dollar revenue streams from virtual goods and ‘in-

app purchases’ this is a huge new market developing. In this article

we’ll take a closer look at mobile social gaming drilling down into the

statistics, key trends and the major players in what is shaping up to be

the boom market of the next decade.

Mobile social gaming, key statistics

When you look at the numbers it’s clear that the mobile social games

market is kicking off:

• 38% of US population currently plays some type of freemium

game (NPD)

• 40% of those who have played a freemium game have made an

in-game purchase (IYOGI)

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• Freemium accounts for 55% of all mobile game revenues –

compared to 6% of ad revenue (SuperData)

• 65% of all revenue from the top 100 iOS games comes from

freemium transactions (Flurry)

• Consumers spend an average of $14 per transaction in freemium

games (Flurry)

• 51% of revenue from freemium mobile games come from

transaction over $20 (Flurry)

• The Gree mobile social gaming platform has 230 million users

and the company saw a 186% increase in net income year-on-

year to $167 million in Q3 2012

• Funzio earned over $5 million a month in Q3 sales from its games

Crime City, Modern War and Kingdom Age

• EA bought out social game developer PlayFish in a deal worth up

to $400 million

• Draw Something’s active users dropped from 15 million to 10

million between April 2012 and May 2012, weeks after Zynga

acquired the company for $210 million

• DeNA and Gree shares dropped more than 20% following the

banning of controversial Kompu Gacha game mechanic

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There’s now no doubt about it, the ‘freemium’ business revenue

model can work, especially when it come to social mobile games.

• Forty per cent of freemium players pay for virtual goods, according

to NPD and 38% of the US population play some type of

Freemium game.

• The average transaction value for iOS or Android in-app

purchases is $14, with over 50 per cent of revenue from freemium

purchases deriving from transactions over $20.

• Fifty five percent of all mobile game revenues comes from

freemium according to SuperData Research.

Zynga has built a $650 million a year empire out of this model and

according to some in the industry and we can expect some pretty

impressive figures for freemium games over the next few years – some

of the numbers that are coming out of these mobile games businesses

are jaw-dropping. At GDC 2012 Benchmark’s Capital’s Mitch Lasky

called freemium “the most important disruption” in the video game

market, across mobile, casual and core markets.

However, that doesn’t mean freemium is a guaranteed successful route

to monetisation or a magic bullet for developers. For a freemium game to

work developers have to approach game design with a different mindset,

splitting design intelligence with business intelligence and intertwining

gameplay with marketing (Tag Games’ Paul Farley says that data

analysts are going to be more important than game designers in the

future). This a huge pivot in game design and its taken place over a

relatively short period of time. So as freemium matures, and developers

get better at designing game mechanics that encourage users to depart

with their cash, the revenue model should grow more robust.

The freemium model doesn’t have to be exclusive either. There’s already

very successful games, such Infinity Blade, that use a hybrid model,

combining premium (i.e. paying upfront for the game) with virtual

currency and in-game purchases.

Business Models

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The big Japanese players such as Gree, DeNA, as well as western

publishers such as EA and Zynga are all looking to establish

themselves as the dominant consumer-facing mobile social gaming

platform across mobile. This has sparked something of a gold rush of

platform and developer acquisitions, as companies aim to build game

libraries and userbases as quickly as possible. The mobile social

gaming space is therefore looking extremely different to how social

platforms developed on traditional games consoles.

Unlike on console platforms, gamers are not forced onto the

manufacturer’s pre-installed system. Therefore a number of third party

social gaming networks have emerged to carry out the features that

users have come to expect from closed platforms such as Xbox Live

and PSN – such as maintaining friend lists, inviting friends into games,

score boards and sharing recommendations. Where mobile social

gaming platforms differ the most from home consoles platforms, is in

the areas of monetisation and distribution. Mobile platforms provide a

vital role in taking the freemium revenue model and expanding it to

encompass multiple games – allowing players to spend virtual currency

across different titles.

If there’s one word to sum up the buzz around

mobile social games in 2012 it’s “platform”.

Mobile social gaming platforms

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As we’ve discussed in the past

on mobyaffiliates, app

discoverability is facing

something of a crisis with

developers struggling to get

noticed amid the thousands of

apps rolling out every day.

Mobile social games face

exactly the same problem when

it comes to distribution. Check

When it comes to social games specifically, developers have a few

unique tools that they can leverage. One of the biggest is the social

nature of the games themselves, allowing players to invite their friends

over other social platforms, like Facebook, or via email. These

invitations can then be incentivised by rewarding players with virtual

currency or in-game items.

App promotion networks such as ChartBoost and TapJoy, allow

developers to cross-promote games between each other. Others

networks like Applifier focus entirely on social mobile games, allowing

devs to trade users (if the ad on your app generates an install for

another dev, they’ll send a user over to your app, for no cost). Although

incentivised downloads are now banned from the App Store, they are

still permitted on Google Play and some app promotion networks work

with this model, offering in-game items or virtual currency, to help

incentivise installs. Again, check our list of app promotion companies for

more detailed look at these networks.

out our Guide to Mobile App Promotion for a detailed review of this.

Distribution

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Social games face a particular problem when it comes to

discoverability as the freemium revenue model relies on a small

number of high value users- 1% of Zynga players are believed to

account for between 25% and 50% of revenues. This is one of the

reasons why incentivised downloads are said to be ultimately

inefficient – disinterested users simply download the promoted app to

get the incentive and don’t become valuable. Many networks say they

can overcome this by better targeting (i.e. promoting your game to

users who are playing a similar title). Either way, more downloads –

regardless of how they’re acquired – will always help with visibility in

app store charts (which will result in better value users).

The final key element to the distribution of mobile social games is the

social platforms themselves. These platforms will typically offer

developers an API suite with built in social tools, sharing features and

leader-boards, allowing developers to easily bolt social elements onto

their games that will help with distribution. Platforms such as Gree and

Mobage can also offer an app store-style UX that have their own

charts, ad networks and promotional displays.

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As any app developer knows, the problem of fragmentation in the

mobile market is getting worse and this issue is particularly pertinent

for social gaming, as it potentially prohibits Android users to play with

their iPhone-carrying friends. Third party platforms can offer a solution

to the issue of fragmentation in the mobile market. For instance, Gree’s

platform allows gamers to play with each other across different

operating systems and Papaya features a cross-platform web-based

app approach.

However, the problem of fragmentation goes beyond the barriers

between operating systems and now expands to different versions of

the same operating system and the hardware capabilities of various

devices. This will probably be more of a problem for Android due to the

more fluid nature of its OS updates, the plethora of different Android

handsets released each year and the large number of OEMs

manufacturing them. In fact, if you take your Android phone onto the

Gree platform today (it’s in beta), you’ll already find numerous games

that run on Android Gingerbread, but not Android 4.0.

Games are more greatly affected by fragmentation because of their

tendency to be more demanding on hardware capabilities, and social

games are particularly impacted as handset incompatibilities dampen

the inherent benefit of organic social discovery between friends. The

proliferation of third party platforms may simply shift the fragmentation

problem into a new space, creating a situation where gamers are

forced to maintain multiple accounts across different platforms – on the

same OS – in order to play the latest games.

Fragmentation

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Japanese expansion

One of the most important trends impacting the mobile social gaming

market is the expansion of Japanese platforms into US and European

markets. Mobile social gaming is more mature in Japan than in

Europe or America, but it’s also reaching saturation, which is why the

two biggest players, Gree and DeNA, are opening-up their war chests

and acquiring and forming publishing deals with western developers.

This influx of Japanese capital has therefore seen the value of

fledgling social mobile game devs increase dramatically, with Zynga

notably spending over $200 million on OMGPOP and EA shelling out

$400 million on Playfish.

Gree’s new social platform went live just last month, but DeNA’s

Mobage platform has been operational for slightly longer. In Japan

Mobage has managed to create average revenues of $12 per user

and boasts over 30 million users, with 10 to 15% monetising

(compared to 1-2% common to most western devs). However, there

are questions over Gree’s and DeNA’s ability to replicate its Japanese

success in the western market. Both companies’ shares plummeted

last month after the Japanese government outlawed the ‘Kompu

Gacha’ game mechanic (a ‘mystery box’ style lottery gambling

feature). ‘Kompu Gacha’, which encouraged users to buy virtual

goods, was a key profit generator for Gree, as well as other Japanese

social platforms, and it’s ban could result in a 20 to 30 per cent

decrease in sales according to some analysts. There’s also some

debate over whether or western gamers are culturally inclined to

spend as much money on virtual goods as Japanese gamers.

Mobile social gaming trends

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Western games companies shifting from desktop to mobile

We’ve already seen major publishers EA and Crowdstar reducing

activity on Google+ and Facebook (along with Wooga) and Zynga's

Facebook users decline in step with shares. The focus for the

expansion of western social game publishers is now mobile and this

trend will probably continue. Wooga has released one iOS game this

year and is planning to release two more. EA and Zynga have both

been active in buying up mobile game companies (Zynga got through

more than 10 acquisitions in the last year, including Area/Code, Tokyo-

based Unoh Games, Conduit Labs and Frankfurt-based Dextrose AG).

Western platforms will have to catch-up with the Japanese platforms

in this respect, as Gree and DeNA have been mobile-focused for the

last three years.

Freemium refined

Asa mentioned above, the freemium model has been performing well

for developers and platforms and is likely to continue to grow. But it will

also have to change and mature in order to keep players interested.

The ‘Farmville’-style social freemium games that dominated 2011 will

probably start to look crude over the next few years, as developers

move onto more sophisticated freemium variants, where the gameplay

and revenue model is integrated in a much more cohesive, fun and,

ultimately, profitable way.

Flurry chart

showing the shift

from mobile

advertising

revenue to

virtual goods

between 2009

and 2010

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Will distribution get better?

Integrating your game into a social platform can obviously aid

distribution, user engagement and promotion. However, down the road

there’s nothing to stop such platforms facing the same distribution

problems as app stores. The increasing number of social platforms

may also end-up confusing users, who will have to maintain multiple

accounts. This winner takes all approach won’t benefit developers tied

to an ailing platform. The other problem is that most platforms are

owned by publishers that make first party games, which raises

questions over how 3rd party titles will be treated when it comes to

promotion.

HTML5

HTML5 lurks in the background with its promises of cross-platform

applications and a universal app store. Many developers view it as the

holy grail and there’s already a few HTML5 social platforms out there

such as Mocospace and Papaya. Issues such as not having access to

native APIs and to what extent Apple would tolerate forgoing its 30%

cut of app sales, means there’s still questions over the role mobile

HTML5 apps will play in social gaming, but we could still see it gain

traction over the next year. For more coverage check out our Guide

to Mobile HTML5 Companies and Tools.

So-mobile gaming remains an incredibly dynamic market even at the

enormous scale it has already reached. There’s also a lot of questions

to be asked amid the flurry of acquisitions and growth projections.

How will the freemium model evolve in order to accommodate different

game genres and avoid a backlash from more traditional gamers? Will

Apple really tolerate multiple social gaming platforms along with its

own? How will the traditional big gaming platforms from Nintendo,

Sony and Microsoft fit into this mix? Whatever the answers, there’s

obviously is plenty more to come in this story and it will be fascinating

to what new businesses emerge around this new industry.

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The Top Mobile Social Games Companies

Zynga

Social game publisher that established itself on the Facebook platform

with games such as Farmville and Mafia Wars, and then went on to

dominate the Facebook platform with 250 million users as of May

2012. Zynga has since made a concerted effort to increase its mobile

presence with a number of high-profile acquisitions of mobile social

game specialist studios. Following the acquisition of OMGPOP

Zynga’s active mobile users rose to 21 million. The

company’s revenues rose to $321 million in Q1 2012, largely on the

back of its expansions into mobile.

OMGPOP

Developer of the hugely successful social mobile

game Draw Something. Also operates its own desktop

social games platform. Was bought out by Zynga

earlier in the year.

Buzz Monkey

Game developer that began developing titles on

consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PS3, before

moving onto smartphone games. Buzz Monkey was

bought out last month by Zynga and has now been

rebranded as Zynga Eugene.

Wild Needle

Mobile game developer that was set-up to focus on

games targeted at females. Wild Needle was bought

out by Zynga in May in a talent acquisition deal.

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Astro Ape

Mobile social gaming developer based in New Jersey

and founded in 2010. Astro Ape developed popular

social games such as Office Heroes before it was

acquired by Zynga in 2011.

Area/Code

Developer of popular Facebook and mobile games.

Best known for Ubisoft’s CSI Facebook game.

Area/Code was bought out by Zynga at the beginning

of last year.

GameDoctors

German based mobile game developer that created

the popular Zombie Smash game. GameDoctors was

bought out by Zynga in January 2012.

Page 44 Studios

Game developer that began developing titles on the

original PlayStation. Most famous in the smartphone

space for bringing World of Goo to iOS. Bought out

by Zynga at the end of 2011.

Asian market. Zynga acquired XPD in 2010.

Dextrose AG

German studio that developed the Aves HTML5

gaming engine, designed for high-end graphics on

HTML5 games. Zynga bought the company in 2010.

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Gree

Japanese mobile game developer, publisher and social mobile game

platform. Gree is one of the largest and most profitable mobile social

game companies in the world, recording profits of $168.6m in Q3 and

net sales of $529m. The company is currently making a big push into

western markets, following a number of acquisitions including Funzio

and OpenFeint. Gree launched its new global mobile social

platform in May 2012, which will be integrating the OpenFeint platform

by the autumn. Gree aims to feature 60 new titles by the end of the

year and amass a userbase of 1 billion.

OpenFeint

Mobile social gaming platform that lets players

share scores, friends and recommendations. The

OpenFeint platform was one of the first social

game platforms to achieve success in the mobile

space. It is now owned by Gree, which has plans

to integrate it into its own eponymous platform.

Paprika

South Korean social mobile game developer,

acquired by Gree earlier this year.

IUGO

San Francisco-based mobile developer that has

developed social mobile games for a number of

major publishers including Capcom. Recently

received an investment from Japanese publisher

Gree to bring games to Gree’s platform.

Funzio

One of the biggest and most profitable

developers in the mobile social space. Developed

the successful Crime City IP. Now owned by

Gree following a $220m acquisition.

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DeNA

Japanese mobile game developer and publisher. DeNA is Gree’s biggest

rival in Japan, with revenues of £1.8bn in fiscal year ending March 2012.

DeNA owns the Mobage mobile social game platform, which it developed

with its biggest western acquisition to date – San-Francisco developer

Ngcomo. The publisher is now busy expanding the Mobage platform and

continuing to look westward, with content partnership deals with a variety

of big name publishers such as Disney. The company is also integrating

Ngcomo’s Plus+ platform into Mobage. DeNA owns some of the most

popular mobile social IPs on the market, including Rage of Bahamut, which

rocketed to the top of the iOS app charts on its release last month.

Ngcomo

San-Francisco based developer of the some of the most

popular mobile social games, including WeRule and the Plus+

social platform. Ngcomo was bought out by Japanese

publisher DeNA in 2010.

Gameview

California-based social mobile game developer that

developed Tap Fish and Tap Mall. GameView was acquired by

Japanese publisher DeNA in 2010.

Grasshopper

Japanese mobile game developer that created the popular

Frog Minutes mobile game. Recently announced a

partnership with DeNA to bring Frog Minutes to the Mobage

platform.

Mobage

Mobage is currently one of the biggest social game platforms

on iOS and Android devices. It’s owned by Japanese

publisher DeNA and incorporates DeNA subsidiary ngcomo’s

Plus+ platform.

Plus+

iOS social mobile game platform owned by DeNA subsidary

ngcomo. Plus+ has been integrated into DeNA’s Mobage

platform, although some games still carry the Plus+ branding.

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Independent mobile social game publishers,

developers and platforms (Part 1)

Natural Motion

British Publisher with a heritage in console games

engines, that recently raised $8m US to expand – has

published a range of mobile social games including

Jenga, Icebreaker Hockey and My Horse

Papaya

Beijing-based social mobile game platform and

publisher that operates across iOS and Android

devices. Papaya claims over 25 million users on

Android and has partnered with numerous developers,

including Kiloo and Bulkpix.

EA

EA is one of the biggest videogame publishers in the

world and has made a concerted effort to break into the

mobile social games market with its Sims franchise,

Origin platform and purchases of mobile social game

companies such as PlayFish and Chillango.

Origin

EA’s social gaming platform that encompasses mobile

and desktop games. Origin supports in-game

achievements and leaderboards across a number of EA

mobile games, such as Scrabble and Deadspace.

PlayPhone

Mobile content publisher that runs the PlayPhone

Social mobile gaming platform. PlayPhone claims 3

million users on its platform, which runs across iOS,

Android and Windows Phone. PlayPhone features its

own virtual currency and allows cross operating system

multiplayer.

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Independent mobile social game publishers,

developers and platforms (Part 2)

Scoreloop

Mobile social gaming platform that offers similar

leaderboard, friend-tracking and achievements features

to other platforms such as OpenFeint. Scoreloop

operates across Android, iOS and BlackBerry and was

acquired last year by RIM.

Skillpod

South African social and casual games publisher and

platform. Recently began developing a new mobile

social game platform that will allow multiplayer gaming

between desktop Facebook users and mobile gamers,

which is expected to roll out this summer.

Game Center

Apple’s proprietary social games platform that’s pre-

installed on iOS devices. Lets gamers add friends, track

high scores and earn achievement points. Claims 65

million sign-ups.

entag!

Recently launched (January 2012) Japanese mobile

social game platform. Owned by MTI. Unlike Gree and

DeNA, entag! appears to be focusing on the Japanese

domestic market rather than expanding westward.

Kabam Inc

Publisher and developer of massively multiplayer social

games on desktop platforms. Recently moved into the

mobile space with the successful Kingdoms of Camelot

iOS game.

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Independent mobile social game publishers,

developers and platforms (Part 3)

SGN

Social game developer and publisher with over 150

million users across mobile and desktop platforms.

Formally known as Mindjolt and led by former MySpace

founders.

Gameloft

One of the oldest videogame publishers that focuses

exclusively on mobile games. Headquartered in France,

Gameloft claims 45 million monthly active users across

its titles.

Gameloft Live

The recently launched mobile social games platform

owned by French publisher Gameloft. Currently only

available on Android, Gameloft Live lets users create

avatars and keep up-to-date with Gameloft games.

Gamevil

One of South Korea’s biggest mobile game developers

and publishers. Gamevil recently announced that over

90% of its revenue now comes from in-app purchases.

CrowdStar

Social game developer and publisher that made a name

for itself on Facebook’s platform, but is now scaling

back its desktop activities and moving strongly into the

mobile space. Recently announced partnerships to

expand into the Chinese and South Korean markets.

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Independent mobile social game publishers,

developers and platforms (Part 4)

CyberAgent

Japanese developer and publisher that creates social

games for mobile and Facebook, as well as the

FreeAppKing game promotion network run by its US

arm.

Hangame

South Korean mobile game platform and publisher that

specialises in casual games and massively multiplayer

titles. Hangame operates in China as ‘Ourgame’ and in

the US as ‘Ijji’.

The9

Chinese developer of mobile and PC massively

multiplayer games. Used to own the World of Warcraft

license in China. Now making a big push into the

mobile space with its Game Zone platform.

Game Zone

Mobile social gaming platform owned by Chinese

publisher The9. Powered by the OpenFeint platform

and boasts over 600 titles from 500 developers.

Renren

Chinese social gaming platform. Recently announced a

partnership with DeNA to bring a number of titles from

the Mobage platform to RenRen’s new mobile platform.

GameInsight

Russian social and mobile game developer that has

over 14 studios. Developer of Android title Paradise

Island and iOS game My Country.

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Independent mobile social game publishers,

developers and platforms (Part 5)

Wooga

German developer that made a name for itself with a

number of popular social Facebook games. Recently

began porting its games to mobile.

Storm8

One of the most popular independent social gaming

publishers. Creators of iMobsters and owner of

subsidiary Team Lava. Storm8 recently announced it

had surpassed 300m downloads.

Team Lava

Claims to be the leading mobile social game developer

on iOS. Created popular ‘Story’ franchise, including

Bakery Story, Restaurant Story and City Story. Owned

by Storm8.

TinyCo

One of the most popular social mobile game

developers. Responsible for TinyZoo, TinyPets and

TinyVillage mobile games. Based in San Francisco.

Launched a $5m fund to help mobile developers.

Glu

Mobile games developer based in San Francisco and

founded in 2001. Glu operates successful social game

Bugs Village and recently announced a deal with

Blammo to expand its social game portfolio.

Glu Network

Glu Network is the social platform run by Glu. The

platform lets gamers earn achievement points on Glu

games, interact with the community and earn rewards.

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Independent mobile social game publishers,

developers and platforms (Part 6)

iWin

Multiplatform casual game developer and publisher with

an established presence in the desktop space through

its own casual game portal. Recently signed

partnership deal with Gree to bring mobile game’s to

Gree’s platform.

Ubisoft

Established console game developer that also has a

strong presence in the mobile space. Signed a

partnership with Gree to bring integrate its mobile

games into Gree’s social platform.

Haypi

Chinese developer that focuses on massively

multiplayer mobile games. Haypi recently entered into a

content partnership with the Gree platform. Responsible

for the popular Haypi Kingdom iOS game.

Wizcorp

Mobile game developer based in Japan that specialises

in HTML5 games. Gree invested in Wizcorp in April this

year just before it launched its new social platform.

2K Games

Publisher of a number of leading videogame franchises

on console platforms. Recently announced a

partnership to bring its Pirates and Civilization

franchises to Gree’s social platform

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25

Following on from our previous post explaining the mobile social

games industry, and our round-up of mobile social games companies,

we thought it would be interesting to delve a bit deeper into the games

that are behind all of these multi-million dollar acquisitions and

massive user bases. In this post you’ll find five of the top grossing

mobile social games across Android and iOS, with all the key revenue

stats we could find, as well as an explanation on how the revenue

models and gameplay work.

As you can see, there are some really big numbers flying around, but

also a distinct lack of innovation when it comes to applying the

freemium revenue model to power different gameplay genres. In the

long term as gamers eventually tire of the same virtual-currency-

funded experiences with different graphical overlays more innovation

is going to become essential. But in the short term there’s evidently

still a lot of money to be made. With the major social games players

being acquired for $100s of millions there is every incentive to develop

new monetization and distribution strategies and techniques.

Mobile social gaming, key statistics

When you look at the numbers it’s clear that the mobile social games

market is kicking off:

• 38% of US population currently plays some type of freemium

game (NPD)

• 40% of those who have played a freemium game have made an

in-game purchase (IYOGI)

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Key stats

• No official revenue figures, but Nikkei reports RoB generated $1.3 million in monthly sales in April on Android alone

• Amassed more than 1 million installs since March 201

• Sees average revenue per daily active user of $0.60 to $1.25

in western markets

• DeNA claims iOS and Android revenue are almost equal on RoB

• Top grossing Android app – June 2012

• Top grossing iOS app – June 2012

Top in-app purchases (iOS)

• Satchel of RageMedals$2.99

• Sack of RageMedals$19.99

• Pouch of RageMedals$0.99

• Bag of RageMedals$9.99

• Case of RageMedals$49.99

• Chest of RageMedals$99.99

Rage of Bahamut

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Rage of Bahamut is a trading role-playing card game developed by

Japanese gaming company Cygames and published on the Mobage

social platform, which is run by DeNA. It’s been hugely successful in its

native Japan and was recently brought over to European and US app

stores by DeNA’s San-Francisco-based subsidiary Ngcomo, where it’s

become one of the top grossing Android and iOS apps.

Gameplay and Revenue model

RoB is a card game, with role-playing elements. Players battle

different monsters by fielding different types of cards that deal

damage, or heal the player. When players defeat enemies, they win

more cards – adding a strong ‘collection-focused’ gameplay element.

Within the Mobage platform players can invite friends to join them in

multiplayer battles, join guilds (collections of players) and win more

cards and special items that make the game easier.

RoB is free to download. Actions within the game require you to spend

stamina points and once these stamina points are depleted you have

to wait a certain period of time before they recharge.

Players can pay for Rage Medals, which can buy you extra stamina

points, which in turn allow you to play the game for longer periods.

You can also spend Rage Medals on gaining extra attack and defense

points, which will make battles easier, and spend them on buying

better cards for your deck. A pouch of Rage Medals – the smallest unit

– costs $0.99 and prices go all the way up to $99.99 for a “Chest of

Rage Medals”.

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Key stats

• Generated more than 5 million installs on Android store since May

2011

• Broke 1 million installs in its first three weeks

• Generated $640k in revenue during its first month (Google Play)

• Generated $1 million in revenue during its second month (Google

Play)

• According to Game Insight, Paradise Island achieved above

revenue through pure organic growth (no promotions/offer walls/or

ads)

• Game Insight says it aims to make $150m in revenue from its

games in 2012

Top in-app purchases (iOS)

• 66 Piastres$9.99

• 24 Piastres$3.99

• 144 Piastres$19.99

• 100,000 Island Bucks$3.99

• 270,000 Island Bucks$9.99

• 600,000 Island Bucks$19.99

Paradise Island

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• 390 Piastres$49.99

• Bonus Pack 4$9.99

• Bonus Pack 2$4.99

• Bonus Pack 1$0.99

Paradise Island is developed by Russian publisher and developer

Game Insight, which was set-up in 2011 and has since gone to release

a number of top grossing social mobile games such as Airport City, Big

Business and Crime Story. Paradise Island initially released on

Android, just after in-app billing was enabled on Google Play, and

quickly amassed a loyal following. The game has been ported to iOS

and the Mac app store.

Game play and Revenue model

Paradise Island is a city-building, resource management, game that

tasks players with building an island community, with different

buildings, ornaments and facilities. It’s very similar to other sim-style

games such as Bug Village and Smurfs Village. The player must

complete various quests and build different types of buildings to earn

more currency, which in-turn allows them to expand their city further,

increase their level and earn more currency.

The game is free to download and offers its own ‘Piastes’ virtually

currency. Like with other games in the city building genre, each

building takes time to generate money (ranging from 15 minutes to 24

hours) and it takes a certain amount of time for different buildings to

finish construction. Paradise Island therefore makes it money by

allowing gamers to speed up the process by buying virtual currency,

thus eliminating the need to wait around. Virtual currency can also be

spent on special edition buildings that cannot be bought with money

earned in-game.

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Key stats

• Ranked second in top grossing iOS charts in Dec 2011

• 6.82 million downloads as of March 2012

• Saw 50 years of gameplay clocked within first fives days of

release

• Modern War, along with Crime City and Kingdom Age earned

Funzio $5 million in April 2012

• Funzio earned $12 million in sales from its three games during Jan-

March 2012

Top in-app purchases (iOS)

• Bag of Gold$4.99

• Stash of Gold$9.99

• Stockpile of Gold$19.99

• Bag of Cash$4.99

• Stash of Cash$9.99

• Vault of Gold$99.99

• Bank Truck of Gold$49.99

• Bag of Gold$3.99

Modern War

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• Stash of Gold$7.99

• Stockpile of Gold$15.99

Modern War is developed by Funzio, which also released the hit social

game Crime City. Funzio made headlines earlier in the year when it

was bought out by Japanese social mobile game publisher Gree, for

$210 million. Funzio is now focused on spearheading Gree’s

expansion into western markets and bolstering its catalogue of titles on

Gree’s social mobile platform.

Game play and Revenue model

Modern War plays very similar to Funzio’s other hit ‘Crime City’, as well

as Zynga’s ‘Mafia Wars’ and ‘Vampire Wars’ titles – although Modern

War has been recognised a particular good example of this genre.

Players have to build an army base that generates cash, which in turn

can be spent on building stronger troops and better defenses. Players

then carry out a missions such as repelling enemy attacks and

attacking enemy bases (though these are simply, one click affairs). The

social elements allow players to team up into armies and then attack

opposing armies, stealing their money and equipment.

The game makes money by implementing a stamina system. Building

your base, or attacking, requires stamina points. Once these deplete

you have to wait for them to replenish. Or you can buy extra points to

continue gaming. Modern War also allows players to spend money on

better items to make their army more powerful and on other aspects to

make the game easier, such as speeding up the erection of buildings.

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Key stats

• Inside Apps estimates Tiny Village monthly revenue to be around

$5 million

• TinyCo says it’s seen strong results on Amazon’s Kindle Fire and

makes 80% more revenue on Amazon’s store than on Google

Play or the App Store (April 2012)

• Makes 43% more revenue on Kindle Fires than iPads

• Average revenue per user (ARPU) on Android is 65% of iOS ARPU

• Average revenue per paying users is equal between Android and

iOS

• ARPU on Kindle Fire is double that of iOS

Top in-app purchases (iOS)

• Stack of Crystals$0.99

• Stack of Coins$0.99

• Pile of Coins$19.99

• Bunch of Crystals$4.99

• Bunch of Coins$4.99

• Dino Progress Pack$4.99

Tiny Village

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• Basket of Crystals$9.99

• Pile of Crystals$19.99

• Basket of Coins$9.99

• Basket of Crystals$5.99

Tiny Village is developed by San-Francisco based mobile social

gaming company TinyCo, which is also responsible for the Tiny

franchise, including Tiny Zoo, Tiny Monsters, Tiny Pets and Tiny Chef.

The company says it generated more than 10 million installs of its

games in less than 9 months and is turning a profit. Following the

buyout of other mobile social game studios such as Funzio and

OMGPOP, TinyCo has been pegged as a possible acquisition target for

bigger publishers.

Game play and Revenue model

Tiny Village takes its cue from other city building games like Capcom’s

Smurf’s Village and Glu’s Bug Village. Players must create a thriving

prehistoric community with shops, houses and other buildings and

attractions. You do this by collecting resources and ‘crafting’ items in

shops, which are then combined to create different buildings.

The revenue model solely revolves round lessening the ‘grind’ of the

gameplay and speeding up progression. Nearly everything you build in

Tiny Village takes time to complete, and spending virtual currency can

speed this up. There’s two different types of currency – Crystals and

‘Coins’. ‘Crystals’ can be bought with real money and enable the most

progress, allowing you speed up building times and purchase premium

buildings that generate more resources.

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Key stats

• Over 10 million downloads as of Feb 2012

• Ranked no 1 grossing iOS and Android app on numerous

occasions since release

• Earns $1 million in sales per day (September 2011)

• Revenues slightly more on Android, with some days seeing 30%

more sales on Android than iOS

Top in-app purchases (iOS)

• Bundle of 55 Fish Bucks $1.99

• Bundle of 150 Fish Bucks $4.99

• Bundle of 325 Fish Bucks $9.99

• Bundle of 25 Fish Bucks $0.99

• Bundle of 650 Fish Bucks $19.99

• Bundle of 500 Coins $0.99

• Bundle of 325 Fish Bucks $7.99

• Bundle of 150 Fish Bucks $3.99

Tap Fish

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• Bundle of 4000 Coins $4.99

• Bundle of 1100 Coins $1.99

Released in 2010, Tap Fish was an early success in freemium social

games developed for iOS and was one of the first social games to take

advantage of in-app purchases on the iTunes store. The game is

developed by Gameview, which was acquired by Japanese mobile

game giant DeNA shortly after Tap Fish’s release. Gameview has since

gone on to create a number of similar titles such as Tap Mall, Tap

Jurassic, Tap Bistro and Tap Town.

Game play and Revenue model

Tap Fish gives players an aquarium, where they can buy fish and

ornaments, as well as breed fish and sell fish. The game requires you

to complete various objectives, such as feeding your fish to keep them

happy, and cleaning your fish tank. Completing these objectives, and

selling the fish that you breed, earns you experience points and

money. The money can then be spent on buying new fish, extra fish

tanks and different decorations. As you level up, more fish and

decorations are unlocked. Users can also spend money on a roulette

style gambling machine that lets you win ornaments. Despite its

different UI, the gameplay and revenue mechanics of Tap Fish are very

similar to city-building sim games such as Paradise Island and Bug

Village.

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mobyaffiliates.com

• We've created a directory of mobile marketing

services as well as useful guides to:

App Promotion

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• We always like to hear from you so get in touch

any time!

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