Space Ape Games’ wide-ranging family of titles gained a new addition this summer with the release of car customisation game Chrome Valley Customs. Less than two months later, the mobile hit has made history by becoming the biggest launch in the mobile developer’s 11 years of output.
Unorthodox promotion pays off
Already racing by the $10 million lifetime revenue milestone, Chrome Valley Customs has made quite the name for itself since its unorthodox announcement this June. In a clever cross-promotional marketing move, Space Ape Games revealed its vintage car title within its rhythm game Beatstar, which has accrued 50 million downloads in under two years.
And that wasn’t all. A unique song became unlockable in Beatstar by pre-registering for Chrome Valley Customs: an extra incentive for players to get stuck into the world of car repairs and mechanical mastery.
Beatstar currently represents the London-based developer’s biggest commercial success, grossing $100 million at more than triple the speed of its second-biggest game Transformers Earth Wars. Yet, Chrome Valley Customs is even outpacing Beatstar in its initial revenue boom, representing an exciting time for Space Ape and demonstrating its secured footing within the industry, especially after the studio’s 2018 "identity crisis".
Commenting on Chrome Valley Customs’ success, Space Ape Games co-founder and CEO Simon Hade posted on LinkedIn: "Super proud of two big milestones this week for Chrome Valley Customs: 1) raced past $10m lifetime revenue 2) top grossing car game globally... Less than two months in and CVC is officially our biggest launch in 11 years!!"
The gameplay loop is proving a hit with fans involves joining a garage crew in restoring, customising and trading vintage vehicles, renovating junkyard scraps and completing match3 puzzles. While being free-to-play, the game features in-app purchases and a Chrome Pass for unlocking bonus rewards.
After a successful soft launch the game was already pushing towards the top 100 grossing games in the US back in July.
We listed Space Ape as one of the top 50 mobile game makers of 2023.
