Mobile social gaming market guide

Profiles of the key mobile
social games platforms,
developers and publishers
Industry usage and
revenue statistics
Market trends and
analysis

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

 Find out more about mobile social games at
mobyaffiliates.com

Find out more about mobile social 2
games at mobyaffiliates.com

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Index
An introduction to the mobile social
1 gaming market

The Top Mobile Social Games
2 Companies

Mobile Social Games Revenues and
3 Statistics


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)


• 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


Business Models
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.


Mobile social gaming platforms
If there’s one word to sum up the buzz around
mobile social games in 2012 it’s “platform”.

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.


Distribution

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

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.


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.


Fragmentation

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.


Mobile social gaming trends

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.


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


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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


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)


Rage of Bahamut

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 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”.


Paradise Island

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


• 66 Piastres$9.99



• 100,000 Island Bucks$3.99

• 270,000 Island Bucks$9.99

• 600,000 Island Bucks$19.99



• Bonus Pack 4$9.99



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.


Modern War

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


• 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


• 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.

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.


Tiny Village

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


• 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


• 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.

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.


Tap Fish

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


• Bundle of 55 Fish Bucks $1.99





• Bundle of 500 Coins $0.99






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.

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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