By Peter Warman
Editor’s note: Newzoo and Distimo have released monthly mobile game data for March 2013, listing top worldwide games and publishers for iOS App Store and Google Play. Peter Warman, CEO of Newzoo, contributes his analysis.
Top iOS Games
The top three iOS games remained unchanged once again with Supercell’s Clash of Clans still at the number one spot, and its other game HayDay at number three. Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North moved up to number four and MineCraft Pocket Edition stayed put at number 5.
EA’s successful adaption of the free-to-play business model is apparent in Real Racing 3, which saw a rapid climb from number 586 in February’s iOS charts to number fourteen for March. The racing game follows EA’s first efforts in free-to-play with TheSims FreePlay and The Simpsons Tapped Out. The publisher claims three of the top 20 iOS games in the latest chart.
It is worth noting that of the top 20 best performing iOS games, only two of them are using the pay-to-play business model — Minecraft: Pocket Edition and LocoJoy’s entry at number 16. Also worth noting is the continued success of the social casino genre, with one quarter of the top 20 games featuring gambling game mechanics.
The Simpsons: Tapped Out shows up twice on the list at both sixth and 20th because the latter is a localized version of the game for U.S. and Canada. Combining sales for both titles would place the EA game at number four.
Rankings based on gross sales in 44 countries including key markets US, UK, DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, BR, RU, AU, CN and JP.
Top iOS Publishers
The top five publishers in March 2013 remained unchanged from February, and three of the top 20 have only one game in the top 200 list — Mojang, Playtika and Social Quantum. Supercell still claims the top spot even with only two games in the top 200 list. Funzio was the month’s mover, climbing five positions from last month to take the number nine spot.
There are three new publishers on the list — Disney, who debuted at number 13 with yet another film-spun version of Temple Run with Temple Run: Oz. The other two new entries are Social Quantum and Glu Games. Natural Motion, which experienced great success with CSR Racing, has dropped out of the top 20 list.
Rankings based on gross sales in 44 countries including key markets US, UK, DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, BR, RU, AU, CN and JP.
Top Google Play Store Games
More than 50 percent of the top 20 moneymakers on Google Play Store for March 2013 is made of Asian games, including all five new entries on the list. Puzzle and Dragons was once again the best performing game in terms of revenue. Candy Crush Saga from King.com was the highest ranking Western game at number four in the list. Gree from GREE INC. saw the biggest drop, falling eleven places to number 16.
Candy Crush Saga, The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-Earth and MARVEL War of Heroes are the only games to feature on both iOS and Playstore top 20 lists for March.
Rankings based on gross sales in 34 countries including key markets US, UK, DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, BR, RU, AU, CN and JP.
Top Google Play Store Publishers
Not surprisingly, just as Google Play Store top sellers are being dominated by Asian games, the top publishers list is dominated by their Asian game makers. King.com is the best performing Western publisher at number nine. GungHo Online Ent. fell from the top spot in last month’s list to number five, with WeMade Entertainment now claiming the number one position for March 2013.
Among the biggest movers, NHN Corp climbed from number 18 to number five, while Gameloft dropped five places from February to rank 15 in March. Electronic Arts, King.com Limited, Kabam, Zynga Inc. and GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc. feature in both the iOS and PlayStore lists.
Naver, makers of Line Pop and Line Bubble, has changed its name to LINE Corporation.
Rankings based on gross sales in 34 countries including key markets US, UK, DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, BR, RU, AU, CN and JP.
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