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App Store in 2012: Supercell and Backflip make $100 million from freemium faves

DragonVale and Clash of Clans top billing

App Store in 2012: Supercell and Backflip make $100 million from freemium faves
2012 was the year when freemium games became the driving force behind the App Store, with combined revenues from Supercell's Clash of Clans and Backflip's DragonVale topping $100 million.

That's according to new stats released by Apple summarising the past year on its marketplace, with nearly 20 billion apps having been downloaded across the course of 2012.

Millions and billions

Such a number pushes the App Store's lifetime app download total to over 40 billion, with 500 million active accounts downloading 1.67 billion apps every months – equal to just over 3 apps each.


Clash of Clans

That active userbase is downloading those apps from a library of 775,000 titles available across the iOS ecosystem, with Apple having paid out more than $7 billion to developers since the App Store's inception.

That means each app on the store has generated a total of little over $9,000 each since the marketplace's launch, though this doesn't take into accounts apps since removed from the Store, nor the fact that – as on every platform – the wealth isn't spread evenly.

"It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community," said Apple's senior VP of internet software and services Eddy Cue.

"Developers have made over seven billion dollars on the App Store, and we continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world."

Developer hub

In the face of mounting competition, Apple's line is that the App Store remains the most profitable home for the development community – even if Android now has a far larger userbase.

The company has taken time out to highlight the lines of Imangi Studios (making note of the studio's "husband and wife team"), revealing that Temple Run hit 75 million downloads in 2012.


Temple Run

"The success of our game Temple Run in 2012 was nothing short of astonishing," added Imangi co-founder Keith Shepherd.

"We were simply looking to create a game that was fun and easy to play, but once it hit the App Store, the game took off. This past year, we saw more than 75 million downloads of Temple Run on iOS."

[source: Apple]

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.