C.A.T.S. scores 8 million downloads, Dragon Ball Z tops grossing charts, and 7 reasons why you love Clash Royale
Do you still play Clash Royale? Have you ever stopped to think about the reason for that and why you've yet to stop? Because Michail Katkoff has.
His article on the seven reasons why you can't quit the game was by far and away our most read article of last week, so clearly a lot of our fine readers have also been wondering why they love Clash Royale so much too.
Second on our Hot Five list is a look at Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle's sudden and impressive performance spike following an in-game event, which ended up generating an ARPU of almost $18.
Cats, recovery, and money-makers
Third up is the news that ZeptoLab's latest game C.A.T.S.: Crash Arena Turbo Stars has garnered eight million downloads in its first weekend, an impressive feat by anyone's measures.
And finally, Jon Jordan asks if Gameloft is finally on the road to recovery after he labelled it "over-staffed" and "under-skilled", and Sensor Tower and Sega team up on a mobile gaming report for 2016.
Click the link below to find out more about the stories that caught our readers' attention over the last week.
#5: 2016's top five grossing mobile games in the US made up 28% of all revenues
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2016's top five grossing mobile games in the US made up 28% of all revenues »The top five grossing mobile games of 2016 generated 28% of the US mobile market's revenues in 2016.
That's according to a new joint report from Sega Networks and Sensor Tower, who collaborated on a US Mobile Market Report for 2016. It analysed 362 games that generated at least $250,000 in combined revenues on iOS and Android for one month in 2016.
While the top five companies generated a significant proportion of the mobile market's revenue, this is actually down from 40% in 2015.
Annual overall revenues from mobile companies increased 7% to $6.15 billion in 2016.
Clash Royale topped the grossing charts for games released in 2016 in the US, generating $277.1 million. Pokemon GO was close behind with $270.2 million.
Revenues dropped sharply from there – the third top grossing game was Lords Mobile, which generated $18.1 million.
#4: Is Gameloft on the road to recovery?
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Is Gameloft on the road to recovery? »It's entirely fair to say that we have said some "interesting" things about Gameloft in the past - Jon Jordan once called it an "over-staffed, under-skilled company", for example.
But now that Vivendi is in charge, Jon has returned to take a closer look at Gameloft's performance, and poses the question, is the developer on the road to recovery?
A quick glance at its financials suggests a firm "yes" - revenues have been steadily growing since the takeover, which is usually considered a good sign.
Not everything is positive however. One of its most recent games, Gangstar New Orleans, hasn't performed particularly well in the grossing charts as of yet, and its upcoming games all feel eerily similar to a lot of other titles already on the market.
#3: ZeptoLab's latest game C.A.T.S. hits eight million downloads in first weekend
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ZeptoLab's latest game C.A.T.S. hits eight million downloads in first weekend »ZeptoLab could probably just fall back on endless re-releases of Cut the Rope if it really wanted to, but instead it has diversified and come up with C.A.T.S.: Crash Arena Turbo Stars.
The game has paid off too - it scored eight million downloads in its first weekend alone, not a figure to be sniffed at for an original IP.
"We want to thank players and journalists for such a warm welcome of the game. Eight million downloads on the first weekend is an extraordinary result for the original IP," said Zeptolab CEO Misha Lyalin.
"To our knowledge, no other non-franchise game has ever done this well."
#2: In-game events and $18 ARPU: How Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle conquered the US top grossing charts
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In-game events and $18 ARPU: How Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle conquered the US top grossing charts »Dokkan Battle may be a big thing in Japan, but it never quite made it in the US - until recently, that is.
Following a wildly successful event, the game topped the iOS grossing charts in the country for two days, a feat worthy of Goku himself.
So what happened? Well, the 77-hour event tied in with the current series of Dragon Ball Z, and had received plenty of promotion in the preceding months to get the players hyped.
And hyped they got - estimates for the revenue generated during the event come in at around $26 million, working out at an ARPU of almost $18.
#1: 7 reasons why you can't stop playing Supercell's Clash Royale
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7 reasons why you can't stop playing Supercell's Clash Royale »People around the world are still playing Clash Royale - of course they are, otherwise it wouldn't still be generating millions of dollars in revenue every month.
But why exactly are players so invested in the game and why can't they drop it for something else? Michail Katkoff thinks he has the answers.
His reasons touch on the game's update schedule, the treasure chests mechanic that rewards players for playing the game, the session lengths and more.
"Whether I'm waiting for my wife at yet another clothing store, sitting in an Uber or just taking a little break, I'm instinctively tempted to start a match," he writes.
"After all, that's the best time to make that three to five minutes disappear."