Hot Five

Fastlane's rapid success, Facebook Instant Games adds in-app purchases and PUBG’s first week revenues

The weeks' hottest articles

Fastlane's rapid success, Facebook Instant Games adds in-app purchases and PUBG’s first week revenues

Space Ape Games new racer/ shooter title Fastlane certainly isn't waiting around judging by its numbers.  

Fastlane was developed in just six months and by eight people to boot. It has also grown from 170,000 to 700,000 DAU in four months and hit 16 million in downloads in that time.

In our most popular article of the week, Space Ape Games head of growth Nicolas Boulay went into detail to explain how holistic experimentations on ad monetisation amplified with smart UA helped rev up success.

PUBG revenue, Hill Climb Racing reaches one billion downloads and Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery

Second on our Hot Five was the news that in-app purchases are coming to Facebook Instant Games as the social media giant continues its push to make the platform all inclusive. 

Elsewhere, Tencent's PUBG Mobile's first week revenues on iOS were only a fifth of Fortnite's when only countries where both were released are considered.

Also on our Hot Five was the news that Fingersoft's Hill Climb Racing franchise rolled past one billion downloads, and our IAP Inspector looks at how Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery monetises.


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  • 5 How does Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery monetise?

    How does Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery monetise? logo

    With Jam City's Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery hitting the app stores last week following some time in soft launch it seemed an apt time to let our IAP Inspector loose on the game's monetisation model.

    Contributing Editor Jon Jordon notes that while you could spend hundreds of dollars in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery to charge through each mission, it’s not how the game was designed.

    Instead, this goal is for players to occasionally use their Gems total to speed through a particular mission they want to complete rather than a way to play every mission.

    Additionally, while the customisation options are nice, they currently aren’t extensive enough to generate a lot of revenue. Nor does the Harry Potter IP provide the opportunity for the dynamic retailing of real-world items that proved lucrative in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.

    Thereby, Jam City’s idea may be sensible in theory but in practise the challenge at foot will be keeping players for a long period of time.


  • 4 Fingersoft's Hill Climb Racing franchise rolls past one billion downloads

    Fingersoft's Hill Climb Racing franchise rolls past one billion downloads logo

    Finnish developer Fingersoft may not be quite as well-known as compatriots Supercell and Rovio, but it has entered a very exclusive club with its Hill Climb Racing series, which passed the one billion downloads milestone.

    The series includes titles such as Hill Climb Racing, Hill Climb Racing 2 and a version released especially for China.

    According to Fingersoft CEO Teemu Närhi there are a number of reasons for the success of Hill Climb Racing, which has fuelled the company's growth which include the ability to play it offline and a small download size. Seemingly, accessibility is key to success.

    On top of that, independence has also been kind to the studio. Without the need of help from an outside investor along with a batch of dedicated fans the studio seems to enjoy the ability of being at the centre of its own success.


  • 3 PUBG Mobile’s first week revenues on iOS only a fifth of Fortnite’s

    PUBG Mobile’s first week revenues on iOS only a fifth of Fortnite’s logo

    In the latest chapter of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds' and Fortnite’s unofficial rivalry, the latter made more than the former in its first week of monetisation

    Mobile intelligence firm Sensor Tower estimated that players outside China spent approximately $700,000 on the iOS version of PUBG Mobile during its first week with IAPs available.

    That figure was around than one-fifth of the estimated $3.7 million spent in Fortnite during its initial seven days on Apple’s platform.

    The figure does not include the money that PUBG Mobile made in China as Fortnite is yet to release there.

    “Fortnite is more popular on PC and console than PUBG at present and that, coupled with the fact that purchases made in the game on mobile carry over to other platforms’ versions, may be helping its iOS revenue,” said Sensor Tower head of mobile insights Randy Nelson.


  • 2 In-app purchases come to Facebook Instant Games

    In-app purchases come to Facebook Instant Games logo

    Facebook is gearing up to bring in-app purchases to Instant Games after originally announcing six months ago that it was testing IAPs in select games.

    In-app purchases will finally be enabled for developers from May 7th on Android and through the Facebook website itself.

    Revenue share for web versions of Instant Games through the Facebook website is set for the typical 70/30 split in favour of the developer. However, purchases made on Android devices will see Google Play take its 30 per cent split and then Facebook taking a 30 per cent split of what’s left.

    That translates to developers effectively getting a 49 per cent share of IAP revenue through Instant Games on Google Play but Facebook has noted it will “continue to evaluate” the revenue share model.


  • 1 Space Ape's Fastlane: A growth engine fuelled with ads

    Space Ape's Fastlane: A growth engine fuelled with ads logo

    Space Ape Games' Fastlane doesn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down any time soon.

    The race and gun game was developed in just six months, and by eight people, but more recently has grown from 170,000 to 700,000 DAU in four months and has snagged 16 million installs in the process.

    According to Space Ape Games head of growth Nicolas Boulay, holistic experimentations on ad monetisation amplified with smart UA helped rev up success, along with an eye for a gap in the market between hyper-casual and midcore titles.


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Staff Writer

Iain is a freelance writer based in Scotland with a penchant for indies and all things Nintendo. Alongside PocketGamer.Biz, he has also appeared in Kotaku, Rock Paper Shotgun, PCGamesN and VG24/7.