Rise
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Documents about Rise
Trend Watch: The Rise of Publisher as a Service
The emergence of Publisher as a Service (PaaS) represents a strategic shift in how independent PC and console developers bring titles to market.
- The Publisher as a Service (PaaS) model allows independent developers to retain intellectual property and higher revenue shares by replacing traditional revenue-sharing deals with flat-fee or hourly-rate service structures.
- PaaS providers, such as popagenda, offer comprehensive operational support including marketing, trailer production, social media management, and technical release tasks like console certification and porting coordination.
- The shift toward PaaS is driven by increased availability of non-equity funding and greater industry knowledge regarding self-publishing, which helps studios reduce long-term overhead and burn rates.
The Walking Dead: Survivors – A Player Perspective on Monetization
The mobile title The Walking Dead: Survivors functions as a 4X strategy game that shares significant structural and design similarities with established genre competitors like State of Survival.
- The Walking Dead: Survivors utilizes a 4x strategy framework highly similar to KingsGroup Holdings’ State of Survival, featuring comparable FTUE, world map mechanics, and tower defense-style campaign elements.
- Monetization is heavily driven by character acquisition and development, with specific IAP recommendations and VIP system benefits centered on obtaining the character Michonne.
- The game employs a shard-based gacha system for character summoning and star-level upgrades, requiring premium currency or tickets that can be purchased via bulk discount bundles.
Interest in Online Gaming Services Continues Strong Rise: Germany
The German games industry experienced a significant surge in the adoption and financial performance of online gaming services throughout 2020.
- Sales revenue from online gaming services in Germany grew by 50% in 2020, reaching a total of 692 million euros.
- Cloud gaming services experienced the fastest growth within the sector, increasing by 67% to reach 72 million euros in revenue.
- Online services for cooperative console gaming, such as PlayStation Plus, Xbox Live Gold, and Nintendo Switch Online, remain the largest submarket, generating 439 million euros in 2020.
Chinese Game Three Kingdoms Tactics Published by Alibaba Surpasses $1 Billion in Revenue
The mobile strategy game Three Kingdoms Tactics, published by Alibaba, has achieved significant commercial success, surpassing $1.2 billion in lifetime revenue as of April 2021.
- The mobile game Three Kingdoms Tactics, published by Alibaba, has surpassed $1.2 billion in lifetime revenue since its September 2019 release.
- As of April 2021, the title became the highest-grossing 4X strategy game on the App Store and the 5th top-grossing iOS game globally for that year.
- China drives the vast majority of the game's financial success, accounting for 96.2% of its total iOS revenue.
Infinity Kingdom: Monetisation Analysis
This analysis examines the monetization strategy of Infinity Kingdom, a mobile strategy game released in early 2021.
- Infinity Kingdom shifts the traditional 4X strategy power balance by assigning 90% of player power to heroes and troops, compared to the 50-70% typically allocated to construction and research in the genre.
- The game utilizes a 'water team' meta to drive early-game monetization, incentivizing players to purchase Merlin via a first-time buyer offer and subsequent VIP chests totaling approximately €45.
- Scaling IAP bundles are used to monetize hero progression, with specific 'Crowned King' packs requiring a total spend of €205 to fully upgrade a single hero to seven tiers.
Rise of Kingdoms: Analyzing How It Became a $2 Billion Game
Rise of Kingdoms has established itself as a dominant force in the mobile 4X real-time strategy genre, surpassing 100 million downloads and generating over $2 billion in lifetime revenue since its 2018 debut.
- Rise of Kingdoms has generated over $2 billion in lifetime revenue since its September 2018 release by developer Lilith Games.
- The game maintains strong performance with over 100 million total downloads and consistent monthly revenue exceeding $20 million.
- Monetization relies heavily on in-app purchases, including a tiered gem store, subscription-based supply depots, and a battle pass system known as Lucerne Scrolls.
The Rise of Recurrent Revenue: The Next 10 Years in Gaming, Part 2
This analysis explores the structural shift toward recurrent revenue models in the global video game industry, positioning 2021 as a pivotal year for business model innovation.
- Service-based gaming firms command significantly higher valuations, trading at revenue multiples of 10–20x compared to 2–5x for traditional product-based companies.
- Subscription models generate approximately $120 in annual revenue per user, substantially outperforming the $19–$32 annual margin typical of traditional physical or digital unit sales.
- Microsoft’s Game Pass has emerged as the industry benchmark with 20 million subscribers, significantly outpacing Sony’s PlayStation Now, which holds 2.2 million subscribers.
Rise of Kingdoms: A Player Perspective on Monetization
This analysis provides a player-centric examination of the monetization strategies employed in the mobile strategy game Rise of Kingdoms.
- Rise of Kingdoms utilizes a tiered VIP system that gates exclusive commander sculptures behind specific purchase levels, creating a logical progression path that encourages players to continue spending to complete their investment.
- The game features a high-frequency premium currency drain through the VIP shop, which offers personalized, level-dependent access to essential items like XP boosters and speed-ups.
- Daily special offers provide high value by bundling premium currency, keys, and VIP points, often serving as a preferred alternative to direct gem purchases for players looking to maximize their spend.
Facebook's Cloud Gaming Aspirations and the Rise of Social Gaming
This analysis examines the evolving landscape of the video game industry in late 2020, focusing on Facebook’s strategic entry into cloud gaming and the pandemic-driven surge in social gaming.
- The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed a massive surge in social gaming, with Roblox reaching 150 million monthly active users, Minecraft hitting 131 million, and Among Us exceeding 100 million downloads.
- Facebook’s cloud gaming strategy focuses on a mobile-centric, ad-supported model that prioritizes accessibility over high-end technical performance to avoid direct competition with console hardware.
- Social gaming platforms succeeded by providing structured environments with clear rules and objectives, which helped users maintain interpersonal connections during the pandemic.
Top Mobile Games by Worldwide Revenue: September 2020
The mobile gaming industry experienced significant revenue growth in September 2020, characterized by strong performances from established titles and successful new market entries.
- Tencent’s Honor of Kings was the top-grossing mobile game worldwide in September 2020, generating approximately $240 million in revenue, an 87% increase year-over-year.
- PUBG Mobile ranked second globally with over $198 million in revenue, representing 13.3% year-over-year growth, with 56.5% of its earnings coming from China.
- Coin Master achieved its best month ever in September 2020, earning nearly $113 million, a 121% increase year-over-year.
Top Mobile Games by Worldwide Revenue: June 2020
The mobile gaming industry experienced significant revenue growth in June 2020, driven by strong performances from established titles and successful regional expansions.
- Tencent's Honor of Kings was the highest-grossing mobile game worldwide in June 2020, generating over $193 million in revenue, a 50.4% increase year-over-year.
- PUBG Mobile ranked second globally with $168 million in revenue, achieving 12.8% year-over-year growth with 53% of its earnings coming from the Chinese version, Game For Peace.
- Supercell’s Brawl Stars reached its highest-grossing month ever at $84 million—a 300% increase from June 2019—following its launch in the Chinese market.
Top Mobile Games by Worldwide Revenue: February 2020
This analysis details the top-grossing mobile games worldwide for February 2020, utilizing data from the Store Intelligence platform.
- PUBG Mobile was the top-grossing mobile game worldwide in February 2020, generating over $191.6 million, a fivefold increase compared to February 2019.
- Honor of Kings ranked second globally with $121.6 million in revenue, with 92.6% of its earnings originating from China.
- Several top titles, including PUBG Mobile, Monster Strike, Coin Master, and Rise of Kingdoms, achieved their highest-ever monthly user spending in February 2020.