The German mobile games company InnoGames' Forge of Empires has officially surpassed €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in lifetime revenue with more than 130 million players registered around the world.
A free-to-play strategy game, Forge of Empires has its largest markets in the USA, its home country Germany, and France.
The company itself surpassed $1 billion in lifetime revenue back in 2019, having grown from three men’s hobby to a major gaming business enterprise. After all, InnoGames’ humble beginnings were in 2003 (four years before officially founding) as an endeavour to create a browser-based strategy game.
Forge of Empires already deserved particular note in 2019, accounting for half of all revenue and having generated $552 million up to that point. It was also largely responsible for InnoGames’ move to mobile.
Moving into mobile
InnoGames has come a long way from its modest origins. Where the company started out as two brothers and their friend looking to make a game during university, it is now owned by Modern Times Group after multiple rises in stake.
InnoGames also saw success through its salary transparency scheme last winter, firming up 19 new roles within two months. A pioneer here as well as in the strategy genre, InnoGames was the first German games company to voluntarily release salary bands to applicants.
With an ever-evolving industry leading InnoGames to a mobile focus, live-ops, and content updates, revenue from the mobile side already accounted for half of the company’s revenue three years ago and has surely increased its share with Forge of Empires nearly doubling its total revenue since.
"Our recipe for success is giving loyal long-term players reasons to stick around while making the game fun and accessible for new players. The only way to achieve this balance is to listen very carefully to community feedback and keep delivering new content that players love," said InnoGames chief product officer Christian Reshöft.
"We are also fully committed to cross-platform play, which means that players can seamlessly switch between browser and iOS or Android at any time. This makes sure that Forge of Empires continues to fit into their ever-changing lives and gaming habits."
At the end of last year, Azur Games found the strategy genre to be among 2022's biggest risers in popularity.
