Glu soft-launches new IP, student Roblox dev finds big success, and Mobile Legends faces off with Arena of Valor
Everyone’s heard of Tencent’s monster success Arena of Valor (Honor of Kings), but have you heard of Mobile Legends?
Lesser-known than Tencent’s MOBA, Mobile Legends has still managed to quietly outgross it across a number of territories. While not on the revenue-generating level of Arena of Valor, its ability to compete in various territories caught our readers’ attention as the hottest story over the last week.
Second on our Hot Five was our interview with a student developer in Roblox, whose The Sims-like game within-a-game Welcome to Bloxburg has racked up more than 160 million play sessions.
Titan World, Lineage 2 and The Sims Mobile
Elsewhere, Glu Mobile has soft-launched a brand new strategy IP called Titan World, revealing the US publisher is testing out new genres with a title that’s vastly different to its hits like Design Home, Covet Fashion and its celebrity-led past.
Also on our Hot Five is the news that Lineage 2: Revolution generated $924 million in its first 11 months, and The Sims Mobile has quickly topped the download charts after finally breaking out of soft launch last week.
#5: The Sims Mobile tops the App Store download charts as it breaks out of soft launch
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The Sims Mobile tops the App Store download charts as it breaks out of soft launch »EA has finally released The Sims Mobile after an extended soft launch period.
It’s got off to a good start too. As well as critical praise the title quickly topped the US App Store download charts - though of course this will also be the result of a big marketing push by EA.
Still, it’s a bigger start than EA’s other non-sports mobile release Plants vs. Zombies Heroes back in 2016, which reached as high as third in the download rankings.
It all suggests there may well be a big market for a brand new free-to-play The Sims experience on mobile.
#4: Netmarble’s Lineage 2: Revolution generated $924 million in first 11 months
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Netmarble’s Lineage 2: Revolution generated $924 million in first 11 months »Netmarble had one of the biggest successes of 2017 with its MMORPG Lineage 2: Revolution.
In fact, the title made an astounding $924 million in its first 11 months of release.
To maintain the good times, Netmarble is now planning a big update for 2018 as it looks to build on the game’s momentum and push it globally.
The update is part of a busy slate for the publisher, which includes a number of titles including Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, a Magic: The Gathering title codenamed Project M in the works, and global real-time strategy title Firstborn: Kingdom Come, to name a few.
#3: Glu Mobile explores strategy genre with new soft-launched IP Titan World
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Glu Mobile explores strategy genre with new soft-launched IP Titan World »Glu Mobile appears to largely be leaving its celebrity-powered past behind as it focuses on new projects like Design Home, Covet Fashion and other titles.
One interesting new game in soft launch is the completely fresh IP Titan World, a turn-based strategy title that’s particularly interesting due to how much of a departure it is from the rest of Glu’s portfolio.
Titan World is a part of a new line-up of titles that Glu Mobile hopes will help guide the company to its first profitable quarter since 2015.
Other new games include the already soft-launched WWE Universe, a new Dash game called Dash Town that is set to release later this year, and a foray into the social casino market with as yet unannounced titles.
#2: How one student's The Sims-like Roblox game racked up 160 million play sessions
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How one student's The Sims-like Roblox game racked up 160 million play sessions »For a long time Roblox was perhaps the industry’s biggest silent hit. Racking up millions of players while flying under the radar.
It’s not so quiet anymore though, and the game continues to become even more popular thanks to its community of devoted developers creating user-generated content for other players.
We caught up with one student developer, who goes by the name of Coeptus, about Welcome to Bloxburg, a The Sims-like experience that has racked up 160 million play sessions to date.
He’s not the only developer to find success on the platform. Roblox said many of its top creators are now earning as much as $250,000 a month.
#1: Mobile Legends is quietly out-grossing Arena of Valor in many countries
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Mobile Legends is quietly out-grossing Arena of Valor in many countries »While Arena of Valor (Honor of Kings) has been taking the headlines for its blockbuster success and generating billions of dollars in its short life, it’s not the only MOBA in town.
One game actually beating Arena of Valor in a number of countries in the top grossing stakes is Moonton’s Mobile Legends.
It’s performing well in countries like Indonesia, where it was the highly ranked mobile game for both downloads and revenue in January 2018.
Most interestingly however is its performance in the US. While Arena of Valor is fresh out of the blocks in the country, Mobile Legends currently grosses higher in the US.