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Can the Game of Thrones games survive without the hit TV show?

Game of Thrones' watch has ended, but how did the final season impact the performance of games based off the licence?

Can the Game of Thrones games survive without the hit TV show?

One of the world’s biggest TV shows, Game of Thrones, has come to an end.

Based on George R. R. Martin’s books A Song of Ice and Fire, the series first began back in April 2011 and has since gone on to become a cultural phenomenon.

The show became famous for its careful plotting and major story twists, as fans speculated for years who might ultimately take the Iron Throne.

Capitalising on the show's popularity, a few games based on the IP have been released, though much like its the world's famous characters, not all of them have made it to the end.

Disruptor Beam no longer updates its strategy title Game of Thrones Ascent, having last updated the game in February 2018 as it refocuses its attention on Star Trek Timelines and new projects.

Telltale’s Game of Thrones meanwhile, released in 2014, is no longer available for sale following the studio’s closure in 2018.

There are still other contenders for the ruler of Game of Thrones titles: Warner Bros’ 4X strategy title Game of Thrones Conquest, Nerial’s swipe ‘em up Reigns: Game of Thrones and Zynga’s soft-launched Game of Thrones Slots Casino.

Here we take a look at how each title has performed and exactly how the shows final season (season eight), which began on April 14th 2019, impacted their chart rankings.

Game of Thrones Conquest

Out of the three, the best performing game by far is Warner Bros’ Conquest. The title is a top 50 grosser in the UK and US, and following the start of Game of Thrones’ final season, it’s been in the top 30, peaking in the top 15.

The charts below show the game’s download and grossing rankings over the past 90 days, with the black line representing the start of season eight (April 14th). What’s likely no surprise is the positive effect the show has had on Conquest.

Game of Thrones Conquest Google Play games top downloads rankings for the past 90 days. Source: App Annie

Game of Thrones Conquest Google Play games top grossing rankings for the past 90 days. Source: App Annie

Whether or not Conquest can maintain this level of performance now that Game of Thrones has ended remains to be seen. It’s still a successful 4X strategy title, and further Game of Thrones TV spin-offs are said to be in the works. There’s also the small matter of the final two books still to be released.

Reigns: Game of Thrones

After the success of Reigns and Reigns: Her Majesty, Nerial bagged the Game of Thrones licence for another swipe 'em up.

Released in October 2018, it’s a premium game priced at £3.19, though is currently on discount on Google Play for £1.89. As such, it does not gross as highly as a top free-to-play game with significant user acquisition expenditure behind it.

But Nerial’s release was able to benefit from season eight, with downloads spiking significantly in the days leading up to the new series. Reigns: Game of Thrones peaked at third and fourth on the UK and US top grossing Google Play game download charts on April 17th, an impressive feat.

Reigns: Game of Thrones Google Play games top downloads rankings for the past 90 days. Source: App Annie

Despite this, the title struggled to achieve much over on the top grossing rankings. In the Google Play card games category, there was still a noticeable spike in the lead up to the new season, as per the rise in downloads, peaking on April 18th before tailing off again. Noticeably, it remains a better performer than it was before season eight began.

Reigns: Game of Thrones Google Play games top grossing rankings (card games) for the past 90 days. Source: App Annie

Reigns’ release performed better in terms of chart positioning on the App Store games rankings. On April 14th, the game peaked at 181st in the UK, its highest for the past 90 days. Its highest ranking in the US was on April 28th where it reached 642nd place.

Reigns: Game of Thrones App Store top grossing rankings (card games) for the past 90 days. Source: App Annie

Reigns: Game of Thrones App Store games top grossing rankings for the past 90 days. Source: App Annie

Game of Thrones Slots Casino

Last year Zynga announced that, among other licences, it had picked up the rights to make a Game of Thrones game. For this, on April 18th it soft-launched Game of Thrones Slots Casino, which is currently available in Australia, Canada, Mexico and Thailand.

The title peaked on the App Store games download rankings on April 19th in Canada at 97th and at 67th in Australia a day later on April 20th. Since then the title has fallen down the charts considerably.

Game of Thrones Slots Casino App Store game top downloads rankings since April 18th. Source: App Annie

When it comes to the top grossing games charts in the two countries on the App Store, in Australia the title peaked at 149th on May 3rd. While it has bounced around the top 400, it fell out of the top 500 on May 19th.

In Canada however, May 19th saw the game’s best-ever ranking at 158th.

Game of Thrones Slots Casino App Store game top grossing rankings since April 18th. Source: App Annie

It will be fascinating to see just how the TV show’s end will affect the performance of these titles, in particular Zynga’s outing, which is still awaiting a potential global launch.

We’ll check back in a few months to compare the grossing rankings, to see if Game of Thrones is an IP that can survive in mobile gaming - based on the titles mentioned here at least - without one of the world’s biggest TV shows still ongoing behind it.

Head of Content

Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.