Clash of Clans
GameBy Supercell · Released Aug 2, 2012
Documents about Clash of Clans
Top Mobile Games of Q2 2017: Revenue Grew 32% as Honor of Kings Surged
The mobile gaming industry experienced significant growth in the second quarter of 2017, with worldwide revenue reaching $12.2 billion, a 32 percent increase compared to the same period in 2016.
- Worldwide mobile gaming revenue reached $12.2 billion in Q2 2017, marking a 32% year-over-year increase.
- Total mobile game downloads grew 19% year-over-year to approximately 9.2 billion, with Google Play installs rising 25% compared to 2% growth on the App Store.
- Asian-developed titles increased their market dominance, accounting for five of the top 10 highest-grossing mobile games globally.
Crush the Norm: Diversity Rules (At King)
Game development requires a fundamental shift in character creation, moving away from reliance on traditional stereotypes toward a process that prioritizes personality and narrative depth before defining physical attributes.
- King has spent the last 18 months embedding a diversity mapping framework into its development pipeline to systematically move character design away from traditional Western stereotypes.
- The diversity mapping framework functions as an analytical tool that benchmarks character rosters against industry norms to identify and mitigate biases like the centering of whiteness and uniform body types.
- Effective character creation requires prioritizing personality and narrative depth before defining physical attributes to ensure more inclusive and original global representation.
Deconstructing Clash of Clans: The Builder Base
The Builder Base update for Clash of Clans represents a significant structural shift for the long-running mobile title, effectively introducing a secondary, distinct game within the existing application.
- The Builder Base update functions as a standalone sequel within the original Clash of Clans, featuring distinct trophy rankings and non-shared resources that render years of player investment in the original base irrelevant.
- The new combat system shifts from asynchronous raiding to synchronous, real-time head-to-head battles where the player who destroys the highest percentage of the enemy base wins.
- Supercell removed the resource cost for training troops and automated the process, allowing players to engage in combat every 5 minutes rather than waiting for long manual training queues.
Clash Royale: Highest Earning Week Ever
The mobile strategy game Clash of Clans achieved its highest-grossing week in history following the release of the Builder Base update on May 22, 2017.
- Following the May 22, 2017, 'Builder Base' update, Clash of Clans achieved its highest-grossing week ever with over $25.7 million in U.S. consumer spending.
- The update drove a 250 percent increase in weekly revenue compared to the previous week's $7.3 million.
- The $25.7 million weekly total represents a 20 percent increase over the game's previous record of $21.3 million, set during the week of December 21, 2015.
Supercell's Clash Royale Surpasses $1 Billion Gross Revenue in Its First Year
Clash Royale, the mobile strategy title developed by Supercell, achieved a significant financial milestone by surpassing $1 billion in global gross revenue within its first year of release.
- Supercell's Clash Royale surpassed $1 billion in global gross revenue in less than 12 months following its worldwide release on March 2, 2016.
- In its first 11 months, Clash Royale generated approximately five times the revenue that the original Clash of Clans earned during its own first 11 months of availability.
- Clash Royale has maintained a consistent position in the top 10 grossing iPhone apps on the U.S. App Store since September 2016.
Top Mobile Games of 2016: Pokémon GO Conquered Clash Royale
The mobile gaming industry experienced significant growth throughout 2016, characterized by a 70 percent year-over-year revenue increase in the fourth quarter, which generated approximately $7.5 billion globally.
- Worldwide mobile game revenue reached approximately $7.5 billion in Q4 2016, representing a 70% year-over-year growth compared to $4.4 billion in Q4 2015.
- Mobile games accounted for over 80% of all revenue on the Apple App Store and 90% of revenue on Google Play throughout 2016.
- Pokémon GO became the highest-earning new launch of 2016 and the year's most-downloaded game, setting records for the biggest launch in mobile history.
Pokémon GO Ends 2016 with Its Strongest Week of U.S. Revenue Since Launch
Pokémon GO experienced a significant resurgence in U.S. revenue during the final week of 2016, marking its strongest performance since the game’s initial launch in July.
- Pokémon GO achieved its highest U.S. weekly revenue since July 2016 during the week of December 26, generating approximately $22.1 million.
- On December 31, 2016, Pokémon GO recorded its best single-day U.S. gross revenue since July 18, totaling approximately $4.9 million.
- During the final week of 2016, Pokémon GO was the No. 1 grossing app in the U.S., outperforming Supercell's Clash of Clans and Clash Royale.
Best Fiends developer Seriously on what comes after shipping a hit game
The transition from shipping a successful mobile game to sustaining long-term growth presents a unique set of operational and creative challenges.
- Treat an initial hit game as a foundation for long-term intellectual property development rather than a standalone product to ensure multi-year franchise sustainability.
- Avoid the temptation to over-diversify or chase every business opportunity post-launch, as excessive sidetracking dilutes focus on the core product.
- Balance data analysis with creative intuition, as viral hits often generate inflated vanity metrics that can lead to poor decision-making.
Playraven on why you should burn the boats to win in mobile
The core strategy for success in the mobile gaming industry, as practiced by the Helsinki-based studio PlayRaven, centers on the concept of burning the boats—a metaphor for eliminating all fallback options to ensure absolute focus on innovation.
- PlayRaven mandates a 'burn the boats' strategy by exclusively developing original IP in the mobile free-to-play strategy genre, strictly prohibiting the cloning or reskinning of existing titles.
- The studio prioritizes the creation of entirely new game categories, a focus that has resulted in three consecutive global launches reaching top-ten status in multiple countries.
- Development cycles have been compressed to five months, shifting from long production periods to early, data-driven soft launches in markets like Canada and Australia.
Pokémon GO Ends Its Reign as the Top Grossing U.S. iPhone App After 74 Days
Pokémon GO concluded a 74-day streak as the top-grossing iPhone application in the United States in September 2016.
- Pokémon GO ended its 74-day streak as the top-grossing U.S. iPhone app after being unseated by Supercell’s Clash Royale following a content update.
- In terms of consecutive days at the top of the U.S. iPhone grossing chart, Pokémon GO ranks third behind Clash of Clans (347 days) and Candy Crush Saga (109 days).
- Despite losing the top spot in the U.S., Pokémon GO remained the number one grossing iPhone app in eight other countries and maintained the top position on the U.S. Google Play store.
FTUE: Batman: Arkham Underworld
Batman: Arkham Underworld, a mobile strategy title developed by Turbine and published by Warner Bros., serves as a case study for the integration of high-profile intellectual property into the free-to-play mobile market.
- Batman: Arkham Underworld utilizes a hybrid model combining base-building mechanics similar to Clash of Clans with squad-based tactical combat.
- The game relies heavily on the DC intellectual property and film-related cross-promotion to drive user acquisition rather than mobile-first innovation.
- Aggressive push notification prompts early in the user experience risk permanent rejection due to iOS limitations that prevent re-prompting after a denial.
FTUE: Battle Ages
Battle Ages, a mobile build-and-battler title, serves as a case study for the evolution of first-time user experiences within the strategy genre.
- Poorly designed tutorials and onboarding processes lead to immediate user uninstalls, directly negating the high financial investments made in mobile user acquisition.
- Battle Ages, released in 2016, serves as a case study for the failure of relying on legacy design patterns from 2014-era strategy games like Clash of Clans and DomiNations.
- Forcing players to spend hard currency to complete basic onboarding steps creates a negative first-time user experience that hinders long-term retention.