Candy Crush Saga is currently making $850,000 a day, as the year-old mobile puzzle game reveals the secrets to its ‘freemium’ business model success. Launched in September 2012, Candy Crush is a "freemium" app, which means it's free to download, but users can purchase in-game upgrades. King, the team behind Candy Crush, have perfected the art in in-game purchases by keeping the game addictive and adding regular updates.
Watch a trailer for Candy Crush Saga below;
Brand: Candy Crush | Sector: Mobile gaming, Apps | Country: Global | Objective: brand awareness, consideration and purchase | Format: Mobile, Apps, Gaming
In fact, The Wall Street Journal claims King is meeting with bankers in the hopes of going public.
Mobile monitoring firm ThinkGaming.com indicates that that Candy Crush earns $850,000 per day from its 7.7 million active daily users.
This works out at approximately 11 cents per user a day, and the game is being installed on nearly 800,000 new smartphones every day.
Candy Crush is ranked #1 grossing app in Apple’s App Store and has held that position for the past month.
Speaking to the Guardian, Tommy Palm, Games Guru at King, said that most gamers haven’t spent anything on the freemium updates, completing the game for free (albeit with ads).
"70% of the people on the last level haven't paid anything. It's designed so you can complete the game," Palm said. "We focus internally a lot on the player experience, making sure it's really fun to play. And we do not differentiate between people who pay and people who don't: we just see them as players, and optimise in making sure the game is really fun. So far, that's been a great strategy for us."
