China's Dominance is On Display - The Highest Earning Games in August
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I crunched the numbers and ranked the highest-earning mobile games in August, and just like apps, I expanded the ranking to be worldwide.
Games are where you really see China's raw power!
Monopoly Go was the highest-earning mobile game in the world in August. Our estimates show it earned $115M of net revenue from the App Store and Google Play.
The game has seen revenue soar very quickly over the last few months as it rose to the top charts in record time, leading to a 37% increase in revenue month over month.
Right below it is a new entrant - King of Glory, a China-only title, has made its way up that chart into second place with $112M in net revenue. This is why expanding the ranking to all countries was necessary.
Demand for apps and games in China is so strong it's now rivaling demand from the US and other countries. Combined!
Royal Match dropped a spot and also saw a slight revenue drop in August. I wouldn't be surprised if that's a result of Monopoly Go's success.
And right below, in 4th spot, is another China-only title. Peace Elite earned $72M, according to our estimates, and that's after Apple's fee.
Note: Google Play is not available in China so all estimates for China-only titles are only from the App Store.
Candy Crush didn't have a great summer. Revenue dropped in August and so did its rank in our chart. The difference isn't massive, but a drop is a drop.
More than 42K new games entered the App Store and Google Play between June and August. As of right now, there are 722K games across both stores. That's a lot of options.
Those are the top 5 highest earners in August, but China isn't done with our list just yet.
Justice Online made its way into the 8th spot on this list with $55M of net revenue in August, according to our estimates. Net means it's what the publisher gets to keep after Apple takes its fee.
As China locks down its stores to prevent competition, I expect to see more China-only titles taking over these rankings.
Together, the top 10 highest-earning games in the world earned a whopping $716M in August. That's a massive increase from July and a good indicator that the success of some games, like Monopoly Go, isn't necessarily redistributing gamers' spend but rather creating new spend.
That's good if you're a game developer or publisher!
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All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.
