The big IPs flooding mobile
- Established mobile franchises, console and PC licences, and other entertainment brands all have new mobile games in soft launch.
- While IPs don't always lead to success (Squad Busters, Crash Bandicoot: On The Run), major hits include Monopoly Go, Pokémon TCG Pocket, Dungeon & Fighter, and more.
- Chinese companies have classically leveraged Western IP but are finding success with some homegrown games too.
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When updating our list of mobile games in soft launch this week, it became apparent just how many big IPs are being leveraged for new titles. Whether that’s sequels and spinoffs of existing top mobile franchises, console and PC series’ making the jump to the platform, or other entertainment IP being adapted to the small screen.
Right now, IP games in soft launch include:
- The Sims Labs: Town Stories and The Sims Labs: Life Together
- Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble
- Minecraft Blast
- Hill Climb Racing 3
- Angry Birds Match World and Angry Birds Rush
- Monopoly Go Chat (Okay, it's an app for an already successful game)
- Temple Run 3
- Tom and Jerry Blast
- Coin Master - Board Adventure (Hole Stars also features the Coin Master pig in the app icon)
- Sonic Blitz
- Game of Thrones: Dragonfire
- Tetris Block Party
- Subway Surfers City
- Roomscapes
- CSR 3 - Street Car Racing
- Rainbow Six Mobile
IP has long been touted as a way to stand out from the crowd and ease marketing pressure, particularly post-ATT.
It doesn’t always work. Squad Busters, which leveraged Supercell’s most treasured IPs, became the studio’s first live game closure. King’s Crash Bandicoot: On The Run was also ultimately a failure, despite attracting more than 70 million downloads.
Infold Games’ Infinity Nikki is doing just fine, but it’s the new IP Love and Deepspace that’s really taken off, with $860m in revenue to date, according to AppMagic estimates.
New vs established
But it seems to be a big time for established franchises on mobile. Over the past few years there have been successful titles like Monopoly Go, Disney Solitaire, Dungeon & Fighter Mobile, Pokémon TCG Pocket, and Royal Kingdom, to name a few.
Last week I wrote about the rise of Chinese publishers dominating the global market. That’s been through a mix of new IP (Last War, Gossip Harbor, Whiteout Survival) and utilising licences built outside of China, such as Delta Force, PUBG Mobile, and Call of Duty: Mobile.
With other deals for games like Age of Empires Mobile, I’m curious how long Western IP will be licensed by Chinese publishers or if there will be a steady move to more homegrown franchises.
It’ll be fascinating to see how many of the soft launch games listed above actually make it to full release and, in a year’s time, what the balance of new versus old IP will be. The mobile market has changed considerably since games like CSR 2, Temple Run 2 and Hill Climb Racing 2 launched. Are they able to recapture the magic?
Learn more about how publishers are using IP on the IP Unlocked track at Pocket Gamer Connects London on January 19th and 20th.