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App Store developers earned $20 billion in 2016

Apple rounds up its 2016 with some big numbers

App Store developers earned $20 billion in 2016

Developers on the App Store earned $20 billion in 2016 and have made more than $60 billion since the marketplace launched.

Apple announced the figures as part of its 2016 round-up. It also revealed that January 1st 2017 was the busiest day on the App Store to-date, with $240 million worth of purchases made.

December alone accounted for almost $3 billion in purchases on the store. Developers also raised $17 million for charity thanks to Apple's Apps for Earth and Apps for (RED) campaigns.

Big names

The top four grossing games worldwide on the App Store were Monster Strike, Fantasy Westward Journey, Clash Royale, and Pokemon GO. The latter was also the most downloaded game of the year.

Super Mario Run had a strong start too, and was the most downloaded game on Christmas Day and New Year's Day globally. Apple broke out titles such as Reigns and Lumino City as strong performers on the App Store.

"2016 was a record-shattering year for the App Store, generating $20 billion for developers, and 2017 is off to a great start with January 1st as the single biggest day ever on the App Store," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

"We want to thank our entire developer community for the many innovative apps they have created - which together with our products - help to truly enrich people's lives."


Editor

Ric is the Editor of PocketGamer.biz, having started out as a Staff Writer on the site back in 2015. He received an honourable mention in both the MCV and Develop 30 Under 30 lists in 2016 and refuses to let anyone forget about it.