The Candy Crush franchise has surpassed 2.73 billion downloads since the first game in the series launched on mobile exactly five years ago.

The figure comes as part of King's celebration of Candy Crush Saga's fifth anniversary on mobile. It has been calculated that over 1.1 trillion rounds of Candy Crush Saga have been played globally, which roughly equates to every person in America playing two rounds a day for the last five years.

350 trillion candies have been swiped in-game, and King revealed that Thursday is the most popular day for people to play the game. Candy Crush Saga has also remained in the top ten grossing ranks fairly consistently for the last five years.

There will be an in-game celebration which gifts players two uses of a new Party Booster, complete with new graphics and animations.

Very special milestone

"We’re excited to be sharing this very special milestone with our players across the globe. The past five years have been incredible and we’re fortunate to have so many loyal fans," said Sebastian Knutsson, Chief Creative Officer at King.

"The King team work hard to constantly innovate and create original gameplay to attract a wide audience and keep the game interesting. From seasoned Candy Crush fans to those new to the game, players will find fresh and new challenges whatever the level. We hope fans old and new enjoy the Party Booster and we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays to come."

Candy Crush Saga celebrated its official fifth birthday in April 2017, five years after launching on Facebook. It continues to enjoy wild success, and had its strongest quarter yet in Q3 FY17.