Cookie Run
GameBy Devsisters · Released Apr 2, 2013
Documents about Cookie Run
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review January 2022
January 2022 mobile game activity across the US, China, and Japan was dominated by Lunar and Chinese New Year programming, with titles such as Genshin Impact, Game for Peace, Rise of Kingdoms, and State of Survival running seasonal events.
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang experienced a significant revenue spike in January 2022 following the launch of its 'Aspirants Unite' event, which featured exclusive, high-profile gacha skins.
- The music/rhythm game Beatstar successfully scaled its performance in the US market, reaching a peak top-grossing rank of 43 after implementing its 'Tour Pass' battle pass system.
- Match-3 games are increasingly adopting light PvP competitive events, such as the 'Showdown' event in which players compete to use the most bombs within a set timeframe to win boosters.
Mobile Games in 2021: The Most Notable Trends and Releases
Western mobile game genres in 2021 are analyzed across revenue and downloads, with the aim of identifying the biggest shifts and drawing practical lessons for developers.
- Established genres like Slots and Match-3 remain dominant in the Tier-1 West market, though Match-3 faced significant disruption from the entry of Royal Match.
- Chinese developers continue to lead the 4X Strategy segment by leveraging major Western franchises to capture market share.
- The farming genre is a high-growth area characterized by steady expansion and strong long-term user engagement.
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review October 2021
October 2021 in mobile gaming was shaped by Halloween content and a broad push toward social features, with analysis centered on live-ops performance and regional market dynamics.
- The October 28th update for Cookie Run: Kingdom drove a significant revenue spike, with daily earnings nearly doubling from $200k to $390k.
- Hearthstone introduced a major shift in core mechanics with its Mercenaries mode, transitioning the game toward an RPG structure featuring hero leveling, base building, and PvE/PvP combat.
- Roblox expanded its virtual event capabilities by hosting the Insomniac World Party, a digital recreation of the Electric Daisy Carnival featuring over 50 artists.
Through the Grapevine: 3 Ways to Market Your Game With the Help of Your Player Base
Word-of-mouth remains a valuable complement to paid marketing in mobile games, and this October 2021 analysis argues that existing player bases can serve as an effective bridge to potential new users.
- Mobile games can drive user acquisition by implementing referral systems that offer progressive rewards, such as the tiered invitation events used by Cookie Run: Kingdom and Garena Free Fire.
- Mentorship mechanics, like those in Pokémon GO and Monster Strike, incentivize high-level players to recruit and retain new users by offering rewards for reaching specific progression milestones.
- Collaborative tasks between veteran and novice players, such as the joint missions in Ensemble Stars!! Music, can be used to deepen engagement and provide exclusive rewards for both parties.
PC Game Discovery: 5 Big Trends in 2022
GameDiscoverCo founder Simon Carless uses this newsletter to step back from his usual granular data posts and outline five broad trends shaping PC premium game discovery in 2021.
- Steam remains the dominant platform for non-AAA titles, frequently generating over 90% of their total revenue.
- Games designed specifically for PC with complex UIs and deep simulation mechanics are currently outperforming titles built for multi-platform parity.
- The market is increasingly saturated, with Steam averaging more than 250 new releases per week, making high quality alone insufficient for commercial success.
Success Through Localization: A Look Into the Japanese Version of State of Survival
State of Survival, the leading 4X strategy title in the US, was relaunched in Japan as a dedicated localized version on August 26, 2021, after the global edition was discontinued there in late June.
- The Japanese version of State of Survival achieved a top 100 grossing rank on the Japanese iOS market, more than doubling the revenue performance of the previous global version which had stagnated between ranks 300–500.
- The localized launch was supported by a pre-registration campaign that attracted over 600,000 sign-ups and utilized high-profile marketing, including a television commercial featuring actor Tatsuya Fujiwara.
- Localization strategy focused on cultural relevance rather than structural changes, featuring two exclusive Japanese heroes—Kaya and Nanami—complete with custom introductory cutscenes and traditional musical scores.
The Rise of the Cookie Run: Kingdom – How the Game Managed to Multiply Its Daily Revenue by 10 in a Month
Devsisters' Cookie Run: Kingdom, launched in January 2021, sat mostly below rank 200 in US grossing charts until a sudden surge in early September 2021 carried it into the top 10.
- Cookie Run: Kingdom achieved a 10x increase in daily revenue on iOS in the US during September 2021, moving from approximately $20k to $200k per day.
- The primary driver of the revenue and download surge was a targeted marketing campaign featuring English voice actors, which launched on September 2, 2021.
- The developer, Devsisters, leveraged the social media reach of voice actors by having them share content, review fan art, and participate in interviews to build community engagement.
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review September 2021
September 2021 mobile gaming was defined by live-ops innovation, collaboration-driven growth, and regionally distinct event strategies across the US, China, and Japan.
- Mobile games are increasingly integrating social features and live streaming, such as State of Survival's new in-game streaming function that allows players to participate in minigames and gift streamers, and Onmyoji's video mode for simultaneous viewing and chatting.
- Major titles are diversifying core gameplay through permanent system additions, exemplified by Genshin Impact introducing a fishing system and new islands, and Hearthstone moving its Battlegrounds mode out of beta.
- Battle Pass adoption remains a key monetization strategy for top-grossing games, with Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells recently adding a two-tier Battle Pass system featuring a 'Season Vault' to reward extra progression points.
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review April 2021
April 2021 in mobile gaming was defined by live-ops activity: large IP collaborations, seasonal events, and monetization experiments across the US, China, and Japan.
- Major mobile titles are increasingly utilizing massive, long-term cross-IP collaborations to drive engagement, such as the 200-day State of Survival x The Walking Dead event and the Seven Deadly Sins x Stranger Things collaboration.
- Developers are implementing sophisticated catch-up mechanics and new player features, exemplified by Clash of Clans’ introduction of 'Starter Challenges' to assist new users in legacy games.
- The 'Battle Pass' model continues to evolve as a primary monetization and retention tool, with League of Legends: Wild Rift launching its first Wild Pass and other titles testing innovative variations to differentiate themselves.
Devsisters 2021 Q1 Earnings Release
Devsisters reported record quarterly results for the first quarter of fiscal 2021, announced April 29, 2021, driven by the successful global launch of its new title "Cookie Run: Kingdom."
- Devsisters achieved a significant financial turnaround in Q1 2021, reporting KRW 105.4 billion in sales, representing a 475% increase year-over-year and 507% quarter-over-quarter.
- The company recorded an operating income of KRW 23.8 billion and a net income of KRW 20.7 billion, successfully reversing the losses seen in previous quarters.
- The primary driver of the record-breaking quarterly performance was the successful global launch and strong market reception of the new title, 'Cookie Run: Kingdom'.
Crash Bandicoot: On the Run Surpasses $1.2 Million in Revenue and 34 Million Downloads
King's mobile runner Crash Bandicoot: On the Run, launched just days before the end of Q1 2021, quickly became one of the quarter's top mobile titles by downloads and revenue.
- King’s 'Crash Bandicoot: On the Run' reached over 34 million downloads shortly after its Q1 2021 launch, becoming the fastest runner game to surpass 20 million downloads.
- The title generated $1.27 million in revenue within its first month of release, though daily revenue has since declined from over $70,000 at launch to approximately $33,000.
- The game achieved 21 million downloads in just four days, significantly outpacing the adoption rates of established competitors like 'Subway Surfers' and 'Temple Run 2'.
2019 Predictions: The Hyper-Casual Party, as We Know It, Will End
Mobile arcade games had a breakout 2018, but the hyper-casual segment driving that growth is already maturing, according to this analysis of the Arcade category within casual games.
- The hyper-casual market matured rapidly in 2018, characterized by slowing quarter-over-quarter download growth, increased competition, and rising user acquisition costs.
- Hyper-casual games experienced significant growth in 2018, with a greater than 200% year-over-year increase in downloads and a nearly 340% increase in in-app purchase (IAP) revenue.
- To combat low long-term retention, successful hyper-casual publishers are shifting toward hybrid monetization models that combine ad revenue with deeper IAP systems, such as subscriptions and light meta-game designs.