FIFA Mobile, EA’s handheld release of their popular series of FIFA-branded football games, has passed $1bn in lifetime revenue.

The game recently became the latest mobile game to pass $1 billion in revenue worldwide, earning it a coveted spot in the so-called Unicorn Club. China proved to be the game’s largest market, generating 26.5% of its revenue, while South Korea came in second place at 15.1% and the USA came in third at 14.5%. The game’s success in South Korea is particularly notable, as the game’s launch in the country came over three years after the global release in 2016.

“We’re building the future of interactive entertainment on a foundation of legendary franchises and innovative new experiences, which represents massive opportunities for growth,” said CEO Andrew Wilson.

What’s this mean for EA?

Although FIFA was, and still is, one of the biggest franchises on console it’s worth noting that this $1bn threshold has been a long time coming. Which isn’t to downplay it as an achievement at all - all developers will wish their games could generate this amount - however, as we have seen in only the past year, games like Goddess of Victory: Nikke are almost halfway to $1bn after only a year of release.

Notably, although China - like with many major titles - is the dominant share of FIFA Mobile’s revenue it’s still only 26%, a far lower number than most. Nikke for comparison sees 60% of its revenue come from Japan, which although a smaller country does mean that it has an easily identifiable core market.

In this way, FIFA Mobile’s strength and weakness may come from its broad appeal. It’s certainly been a long-term moneyspinney for EA, but it still lags behind more niche genres that still manage to bring in the money on mobile.