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Documents about Rise
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.
White Paper on Global Mobile Games
The white paper argues that mobile-game advertising has entered a new phase of intensity and sophistication, driven by rapid creative growth, the dominance of video formats, and evolving privacy regulations.
- Mobile advertising has shifted toward a video-first model, with video ads now accounting for over 85% of total spend and vertical formats outperforming horizontal ones with conversion rates near 0.15%.
- Privacy regulations have forced a move toward probabilistic attribution models like SKAN, shifting industry focus from granular user targeting to high-quality creative design.
- Ad creative volume surged 200% year-over-year in 2021, while CPMs increased by 34%, reflecting a period of intense market competition.
Capcom First Half Report: Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2021
Capcom’s first-half report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, outlines a period of strong financial growth driven primarily by the company’s digital contents segment.
- Capcom achieved net sales of 42,059 million yen and an operating income of 17,863 million yen for the first half of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020.
- The digital contents segment was the primary driver of financial performance, generating 35,378 million yen in sales and 19,849 million yen in operating income.
- The company maintained its full-year guidance, targeting record profits and an eighth consecutive year of operating income growth despite pandemic-related market volatility.
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.
Hyper Casual Gaming in 2020: Charting the Rise of a Blockbuster Genre
Hyper-casual gaming emerged as a dominant force in the global mobile market during 2020, fueled by a massive surge in consumer demand during early-year pandemic lockdowns.
- Between December 2019 and March 2020, global hyper-casual game installations more than doubled, with session counts increasing by 72%.
- The optimal monetization strategy for hyper-casual titles is two to three ads per minute, as exceeding four ads per minute causes a sharp decline in user retention.
- Hyper-casual games maintain the lowest cost-per-install metrics in the industry, enabling rapid scaling despite lower long-term retention compared to complex genres.
Rise of the Player-Fan: The Growing Opportunity of Mobile Esports in Asia
Mobile esports has emerged as a primary driver of player engagement and revenue across Asia, signaling a shift from traditional PC and console dominance to a mobile-first competitive landscape.
- Asia dominates the global mobile esports landscape, accounting for 68% of the $19.5 billion in total global mobile esports revenue generated in 2019.
- China is the world's largest esports market with 350 million fans, while Southeast Asia experienced a 244% surge in tournament prize values between 2018 and 2019.
- Global esports prize pools grew by 40% between 2017 and 2019, reaching a total valuation exceeding $228 million.
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.
The Rise and Rise of Video Games
The provided content serves as a digital archive entry for an analytical essay originally published in The Economist.
- The video game industry has experienced a significant rise in prominence and economic influence, positioning it as a dominant force in modern entertainment.
- Video games have evolved from niche hobbies into primary social and interactive platforms, fundamentally changing how consumers engage with media.
- The industry's growth is driven by a shift toward persistent, digital-first environments that function as virtual social spaces rather than just static products.
Top Mobile Games by Worldwide Revenue: January 2020
The mobile gaming landscape in January 2020 was characterized by significant revenue growth, driven largely by the influence of the Chinese market.
- PUBG Mobile was the top-grossing mobile game globally in January 2020, generating $176.3 million, nearly four times its revenue from January 2019.
- Honor of Kings ranked second with $151.3 million in gross revenue, marking a 25 percent year-over-year increase.
- Lilith Games' AFK Arena experienced a significant surge to $88.3 million in revenue following its launch in China, nearly tripling its previous monthly record of $31.2 million set in August 2019.