App Annie has posted its October 2015 mobile sales report, indicating the top money-making games for the month, and publisher Machine Zone continues to dominate with its hit strategy game Game of War: Fire Age.
The report indicates that the game has reached number one for the first time in worldwide iOS revenue for the month of October, seeing success across the U.S., United Kingdom and Japan markets. Japan in particular is a huge feat, according to App Annie, since “it is rare to see non-Japanese game publishers rank so highly.”
Game of War‘s success shouldn’t be too big a surprise, as the game has seen an illustrious advertising campaign first featuring the likes of Kate Upton, then switching over to singer Mariah Carey midway through the year.
The full list of worldwide top ten iOS games are as follows:
- Game of War: Fire Age
- Monster Strike
- Clash of Clans
- Fantasy Westward Journey
- Puzzle & Dragons
- Candy Crush Saga
- The White Cat Project
- Westward Journey Online
- The Legend of Mir 2
- Clash of Kings
Considering that a majority of these games are free-to-play, revenue comes from players continually buying in-game goods to enhance their experience.
Game of War‘s success in particular is quite noteworthy, as the game has maintained one of the top two spots in grossing ranks for the entire month of October, never dropping down to third, according to App Annie.
As for overall company success with key IP’s, Electronic Arts managed to rise three spots to take the top spot for October, due to the success to two new free-to-play games: Minions Paradise and Need For Speed: No Limits. Doodle Mobile, King, Gameloft and Outfit7 rounded out the rest of the top five.
Minions Paradise became the second most popular app for the month, with combined Google Play and iOS downloads. Considering the billion-dollar success of the recent film, they continue to remain quite relevant with audiences. The game also managed to reach the number one daily download rank for games in over 60 countries for both markets, and remained in the top download spot for well over a week past its debut.
Meanwhile, Need For Speed performed well in its own right, reaching number four in October’s overall rankings for both Google Play and iOS, and hitting the number one rank in overall downloads. This is just the latest success for the series on the mobile front, following the release of the well-received Most Wanted back in 2012.
The fact that EA has managed to give this one a fair share of marketing, alongside its new console release of Need For Speed earlier this month, is good news for mobile fans.
As far as the top games with monthly active users (on the iPhone front), Clash of Clans from Supercell continued to be a top draw, but all eyes are on Remco Kortenoever’s Smashy Road: Wanted, which found a surprise spot in the number two position. The high-speed action and well-organized user-centric ad monetization system made the game an instant hit. It also fared rather well on the Android front, sitting in a seventh place position. Other games on the iPhone top five list included Candy Crush Saga, Words With Friends and Trivia Crack.
As for top companies overall, Electronic Arts may have nudged into a first place position with its new properties, but rounding out the top five are Gameloft, King, Doodle Mobile and Miniclip, continuing to be quite popular in the mobile circles. In fact, the list is unchanged from the previous month’s top five, although Outfit7 is slowly moving up in the ranks, shifting from number 13 to 6 over a month’s time. It could very well make its way into the top five for November, if its momentum keeps going.
