I keep a close watch on the top app lists, and when a newcomer shows up, I immediately try to figure out what's going on and also share it with you.
This one I'm about to share is... interesting!
There's a high-priced game that was the #2 most downloaded in the US across both apps and games for a few days. And what's even more interesting is that there's no big brand behind this one and it looks like a game for the PS1. Take a look at the screenshots.
American Farming is a farm simulator game full of tractors, farm animals, crops, and "realistic AI workers". It's also a paid game that costs $7.99 to download.
There are only two other apps more expensive ranking in the top 50!
According to our estimates, the game has earned $362K of net revenue, which is what SquadBuilt, its publisher, gets to keep, since its release roughly three weeks ago. That's more than 53K downloads!
The majority of the revenue, roughly 75%, came from the App Store and the remaining 25% from Google Play. The distribution is pretty normal but given that it's paid and that it's high I'd call this haul from Google Play impressive.
Is this category a sleeper? Is the use of the word "American" and the icon looking like an American flag to thank for this?
There's another paid farm simulator charging the same price ranking 49th in the same chart + most of the game's revenue is coming from the US, so it's a double maybe.
What's clear is that even a $7.99 game with antiquated graphics can make money in 2023.
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