Start your week right with our quick take on the stories that are impacting the mobile industry right now.
To help get you primed and ready for another week in mobile gaming, we’ve curated the biggest stories you need to know from the last seven days.
GDC has wrapped up for another year with plenty of announcements during the week, including Epic’s plan to bring its Epic Games Store to Android and iOS in 2024. Epic also showed off tech demos for Skydance Media’s 1943: Rise of Hydra, Funcom’s Dune: Awakening and Zynga's Star Wars: Hunters.
The event saw plenty of AI sessions too, of course, from Roblox, King, Unity, Tencent and more.
2) Call of Duty Warzone: Mobile generates $1.4m in first four days
Activision's Call of Duty Warzone: Mobile has made a strong start since its global launch, having generated $1.4 million in its first four days according to AppMagic data estimates. Including player spending during soft launch, and in its early release in some territories, the game has actually accumulated $2.2 million so far.
The US accounts for 47% of spending and is followed by Chile’s 9%. Australia and Germany tie for third place at 8% of total revenue each.
3) King’s Candy Crush All Stars tournament is back and bigger than ever with a $1 million prize pot
King’s Candy Crush All Stars tournament is back for its fourth year with the bigger prize pot yet: with $1 million up for grabs. This also makes it the biggest casual mobile games tournament to date.
"We’re working with sporting legend turned actor John Cena to create great content that elevates the drama of Candy Crush All Stars," noted King VP of marketing for Candy Crush Saga Luken Aragon. "We’ve also developed a custom AR-branded effect that will enable TikTokers to create their own ‘Candified’ video content."
4) Tencent "focusing on fewer bigger budget games" as it shifts away from IP strategy
Publishing powerhouse Tencent has reportedly moved hundreds from its Assassin's Creed Jade team to the in-house party game DreamStar as part of new focus on internal products and fewer big franchise bets.
The move is likely to delay Assassin’s Creed Jade into 2025, as making DreamStar a successful competitor to NetEase’s Eggy Party is clearly Tencent’s higher priority. Of course, if DreamStar becomes a similar hit, Tencent will get to keep all the profits - unlike its shared venture with Ubisoft.
5) How SuperPlay grew Dice Dreams into a $300m+ sleeper hit
SuperPlay’s Dice Dreams has generated over $300 million in player spending according to AppMagic data, plus further revenue from in-game ads. This feat has been achieved in just over four years since the game’s launch, and comes partly from SuperPlay’s player retention plan.
"It’s crucial to spread out your content and features to keep players engaged. It’s hard to ‘hold back’ with features you worked hard on," said SuperPlay CPO and Co-Founder Elad Drory. "The instinct is to want to put it in players’ hands early, but if you grit your teeth and only unlock big features in days 14, 30, or even later, it can be such a big moment for players that ultimately makes the game much more engaging."
