Small Giant Games
Company
9 documents in the library are about Small Giant Games, from writers such as GameRefinery, Sensor Tower and Apptica. Each has a summary and key insights with the page they come from.
Connections
Each row is a game or company named alongside Small Giant Games, each column a document, oldest first. A mark means that document names it. Select a row to see those documents.
Key figures from the reports
Small Giant Games' title Empires & Puzzles has surpassed $500 million in lifetime gross revenue, reaching approximately $507 million from over 41 million downloads.
Sensor Tower, 2019 · Empires & Puzzles Storms Past $500 Million in Lifetime Revenue
The acquisitions of Gram Games (Merge Dragons) and Small Giant Games (Empires & Puzzles) were the primary growth drivers, accounting for approximately 46 percent of total mobile bookings in Q1 2019.
Sensor Tower, 2019 · Zynga's Acquisitions Drive Record Q1 Earnings
Documents about Small Giant Games
The Game Industry of Finland 2024
The Finnish game industry serves as a resilient, export-driven pillar of the national economy, currently navigating a complex global market transition.
- The Finnish game industry reached a record 270 active studios employing 4,300 professionals by the end of 2024.
- Annual industry turnover contracted to €2.85 billion, with private investment slowing to €128 million.
- Studios are diversifying away from a mobile-first model, with PC development now reaching parity and increased exploration of console and VR platforms.
two & a half gamers session #35 - Charge Champions in SL, Facebook UA tech checklist, Amplify update
The mobile gaming industry is currently navigating a period of growth deceleration, necessitating a strategic pivot toward diversified monetization models that extend beyond traditional in-app purchases and standard advertising.
- AppLovin is introducing branding demand into its exchange, which typically offers lower eCPMs than performance-based gaming ads but provides a new revenue stream as mobile games scale as a supply pool.
- Implementing 'app open' ads—ads displayed immediately upon launching an app—can yield a 10% uplift in ad revenue when managed with high price floors to protect user retention.
- AppLovin’s 'Vessel' is a new SDK-based marketplace and wallet that allows developers to integrate NFTs into their games, enabling users to buy, sell, trade, or convert in-game assets to cash.
How Zynga Executed Its Stunning Turnaround
Zynga’s corporate turnaround, initiated under the leadership of CEO Frank Gibeau in 2016, serves as a strategic blueprint for revitalizing stagnant companies within the highly competitive mobile gaming industry.
- Under CEO Frank Gibeau, Zynga’s stock price more than tripled between early 2016 and April 2020, while quarterly mobile bookings grew from $139 million in Q1 2016 to $387 million in Q4 2019.
- Zynga achieved its turnaround by acquiring proven, high-performing titles like Gram Games' 'Merge Dragons!' and Small Giant Games' 'Empires & Puzzles' at a premium rather than attempting to build unproven games from scratch.
- The company abandoned the industry-standard practice of centralizing shared services, instead devolving publishing power and operational control to satellite studios to maintain agility.
Empires & Puzzles Storms Past $500 Million in Lifetime Revenue
The match-3 RPG Empires & Puzzles, developed by the Finnish studio Small Giant Games, has achieved a significant financial milestone by surpassing $500 million in lifetime gross revenue.
- Small Giant Games' title Empires & Puzzles has surpassed $500 million in lifetime gross revenue, reaching approximately $507 million from over 41 million downloads.
- The game has become Zynga's strongest-performing acquisition to date, significantly outpacing other titles like CSR Racing 2 ($311 million) and Merge Dragons ($287 million).
- Android platforms drive the majority of the game's financial success, accounting for $340 million (67%) of total revenue and 34 million (83%) of total downloads.
Deconstructing Empires & Puzzles
Empires & Puzzles serves as a primary case study for the success of the Puzzle RPG genre, specifically analyzing how Small Giant Games achieved sustained market dominance following its 2017 launch.
- Zynga acquired Small Giant Studios in January 2019 primarily to secure the success of Empires & Puzzles, which has become a dominant title in the Puzzle RPG subgenre.
- The game achieves high retention by utilizing a conservative, accessible match-3 core loop that appeals to a broad audience, avoiding the complexity that caused similar titles like Legend of Solgard to fail.
- Strategic depth is driven by a complex meta-game involving base building and a hero collection system featuring 182 unique heroes across 5 rarity levels and 10 classes.
Zynga's Acquisitions Drive Record Q1 Earnings
Zynga achieved record financial performance in the first quarter of 2019, reporting total gross mobile game bookings of $278.4 million, representing an 85 percent increase over the same period in 2018.
- Zynga reported record Q1 2019 gross mobile game bookings of $278.4 million, representing an 85 percent increase over the same period in 2018.
- The acquisitions of Gram Games (Merge Dragons) and Small Giant Games (Empires & Puzzles) were the primary growth drivers, accounting for approximately 46 percent of total mobile bookings in Q1 2019.
- Combined revenue for Merge Dragons and Empires & Puzzles grew nearly 200 percent year-over-year, while the remainder of Zynga's portfolio experienced largely flat growth.
Publisher Market Share 2018 Infographic
The mobile gaming industry in the United States experienced a period of relative stability in 2018, characterized by a concentrated market share among top-tier publishers.
- The top 10 mobile game publishers in the US controlled 42.9% of the market in late Q4 2018, a slight increase from 42.1% in Q4 2017.
- While the overall top-tier publisher landscape remained stable, several major established names experienced a decline in market share compared to the previous year.
- Epic Games significantly impacted the market in 2018 through the success of Fortnite.
AppAgent meets Small Giant Games: How to create a media plan for a global launch
The media planning process for a global mobile game launch requires a disciplined, data-driven approach that balances product development with aggressive user acquisition strategies.
- A successful global launch requires a data-driven media plan that balances aggressive user acquisition with iterative product development based on real-time performance metrics.
- Soft launch phases must prioritize testing hypotheses and establishing baseline KPIs, such as cost per install and conversion rates, to ensure technical stability and accurate lifetime value modeling.
- If top-of-funnel performance is weak despite strong core gameplay, developers should be prepared to overhaul the game's visual identity to better align with target audience preferences.
Top In-App Advertisers of Q4 2017: Android, Game Category
This analysis identifies the leading mobile game advertisers on the Android platform during the fourth quarter of 2017, focusing on in-app advertising impressions.
- In Q4 2017, the mobile gaming advertising landscape on Android was dominated by the Puzzle and Role Playing (RPG) genres.
- Block Puzzle Jewel by Hua Weiwei and Empires & Puzzles: RPG Quest by Small Giant Games maintained stable, leading positions in in-app advertising impressions throughout the quarter.
- New major advertisers entered the top 10 rankings in December 2017, including Coin Master (Moon Active), Lords Mobile (IGG.COM), and Lineage 2: Revolution (Netmarble Games).