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MZ’s Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire rakes in $380m in one year

US players alone bring in $138 million

MZ’s Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire rakes in $380m in one year

In just one year since its release MZ's licensed 4X strategy mobile game Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire has raked in more than $380 million.

According to estimates from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, the title has been downloaded more than 45 million times across the App Store and Google Play.

Around 32 per cent of those downloads are thought to hail from the US. Players from the country are also said to have made up 41 per cent of the game’s revenue to date, spending $138 million.

While Japanese players only account for five per cent of total installs, users in the country are thought to have spent $116 million in the game.

Sensor Tower puts the average revenue per install in the US at around $10 and at nearly $60 for Japan.

A new focus

MZ, infamous for its controversial monetisation practices and large user acquisition campaigns, has focused much of its marketing efforts almost entirely on A New Empire since its release.

Billion dollar titles such as Game of War and Mobile Strike fell off the US top download charts and their grossing positions have sunk ever since. Just a couple of years ago, these were global top 10 grossing titles.

The company is going under what appears to be a major restructuring at present after CEO and founder Gabe Leydon left the developer.

He’s been replaced with new CEO Kristen Dumont, who has served as the firm’s COO since 2015. MZ CTO of Games Vincenzo Alagna meanwhile has been appointed as president of games.

A month after the executive shakeup, it was reported that MZ has shut down its ad tech branch Cognant, costing 125 staff their jobs.


Head of Content

Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.