Publishers are increasingly using the brand awareness and popularity of major intellectual properties (IPs) to make their games stand out. By tying their games to popular movies, TV shows or comics, they are hoping to drive user installs and, ultimately, revenues. At the same time, IP owners see games as a way to gain additional consumer revenues. Games based on IP have a history of failure and success, making it crucial to understand what makes an IP game great, and who plays and spends in these games.
Newzoo’s latest service: IP Gaming Report & Data examines 21 of the best performing IP games in depth, providing insights into the most popular titles and the 88 million US gamers, or 27 percent of the total US population in 2015, who are playing them.
In the US, IP Games Perform Better on iPhone than iPad
In July, about 1 in 6 games of the US Top 40 iPhone games were IP franchises, generating more than $11 million in gross revenues that month, or 16 percent of the Top 40’s revenues. MARVEL Contest of Champions performed best, followed by Jurassic World: The Game and the much talked about Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. Interestingly, IP titles do not perform as well on iPad, with only 3 entries in the top 40 in July.
Peter Warman, CEO at Newzoo: “The convergence of games and video content is accelerating and cross-screen engagement is now part of every publisher’s strategy. Not surprisingly, game companies are giving more attention to original and new IP that originates from outside the games space. An IP can undoubtedly provide an enormous marketing boost and potentially save tens of millions in marketing costs. Still, the game itself needs to be stellar to stay up in the charts. Building up IP or using existing IP both have serious pros and cons for game developers. With our recent research, we aim to provide insight into what makes a game based on IP successful and who the most valuable target group is. The report also reflects our objective to do more in-depth reporting on the US market specifically.”
Battle of the Animated Sitcoms: The Simpsons vs. Family Guy
Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff and The Simpsons: Tapped Out have been locked in a monthly battle for the top IP town-building game, with different leaders in the iOS rankings each month. Just like the sitcoms, these titles target a similar audience. This can be seen in the cross-franchise behavior, with Family Guy gamers proving less loyal to the title. Two-thirds of Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff players have also played The Simpsons: Tapped Out, compared to 51 percent of Simpsons gamers having played the rival title.
Profile Your Audience & Competitors
Our IP report and data answer questions such as: How do the most popular IP game franchises perform in terms of awareness, players, recommendation and time and money spent Who are the gamers playing them, who spends money and what aspects do they enjoy the most
The report takes an in-depth look at the IP gamers in the US (based on the players of 21 franchises), examining demographics, game play and spending behavior, platforms used, cross-franchise gaming, engagement and much more.
Along with the report, subscribers get one year access to the Newzoo Data Explorer, where they can cross-analyze the 50+ topics and make custom reports and filters with the support of Newzoo analysts.
The full topic list and the franchises that are included can be found here.
