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2020

2020

in association with

The mobile movers & shakers of the last 12 months

Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 1 2020 2020 Contents a-z Welcome… 2020 Our Top 50 Mobile Game Makers list is now in its 11th year, in association with

From breaking industry stories and and what a year it’s been already. p27 p6 p21 p15 p10 in-depth interviews with key executives to updates on industry 2020 will be remembered for a lot of things, but in the events and detailed analysis of mobile mobile games industry it will likely be remembered for the games metrics, PocketGamer.biz is the continued growth of hypercasual as a genre, some first port of call for mobile game impressively large acquisitions, and a string of battles waged developers, publishers, operators, handset manufacturers, investors, and across and about the app stores. p4 p19 p19 p14 p5 p14 p25 service providers. We’ve seen Apple Arcade offer a new avenue for premium mobile developers, while free-to-play revenues have surged www.pocketgamer.biz thanks to people spending more time at home. And we’ve seen streaming services start kicking into high gear, with Stadia and xCloud battling it out on smaller screens with p6 p13 p15 p9 p7 p4 p7 console titles. It’s been tough picking out the developers we consider to be “the best” amongst all the chaos of 2020. It’s been a difficult year, and it isn’t getting any easier. Realistically, every Your top 50 p11 p9 p10 p13 p12 company still hanging on deserves recognition of some kind. countdown Still, we want to take the time to celebrate the best game begins here… makers in the industry, and so once again consider our Top 50. Ric Cowley | Editor Kayleigh Partleton | Writer There’s a lot to take into account – revenues, quality of games Matthew Forde | Writer – but perhaps the most important metric for this year’s edition p11 p22 p22 p5 p34 Joao Diniz Sanches | Production is potential. We want to commemorate the developers making the big Paul Summers-Edwards | Senior Designer Jez Bridgeman | Creative Director moves in the market, the ones who are investing heavily in their future and have exciting prospects on the horizon.

©2020 Steel Media Ltd Maybe that’s an upcoming game currently in soft launch, or p23 p20 p32 p20 p24 p25 p26 This publication and its contents are the perhaps it’s an intriguing acquisition that set tongues wagging copyright of Steel Media Ltd and may not be distributed, copied or reproduced without at the time. Whatever the case, bold actions and impressive permission. growth has been the key to success in this year’s Top 50.

p24 p30 p12 p31 p29 p18 p21

www.pocketgamer.biz

All statistics in this publication are for informational purposes only and are correct at time of going to press to the best of our knowledge. Steel Media can accept no Ric Cowley responsibility for inaccuracies that occur but where Editor – PocketGamer.biz mistakes are discovered we will correct any oversight. p28 p17 p18 p33 p17 p23 p35

2 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 3 2020 2020 www.capybaragames.com www.ndemiccreations.com Capybara Games Ndemic Capybara Games may have only released Plague Inc. is a staple of the premium one notable mobile game in the last 12 mobile market, but its importance has 50 months, but it’s fair to say that the arrival 48 surged due to rather obvious reasons: a of Grindstone has made a significant pandemic on the same scale as depicted P NEW ENTRY! impact across the industry. in the game. A launch title for Apple’s Arcade service, Now eight years old, the game’s success Grindstone quickly became the defining enabled indie studio Ndemic to donate game of the collection – an experience you $250,000 to coronavirus relief charities, and can only get on mobile, perfectly suited for add an anti-virus mode slightly more the platform, and with an assured long life befitting the current climate. ahead of it thanks to the addition of new Ndemic isn’t just a one-trick-pony, levels and mechanics. however, and its other title Rebel Inc. is also Capybara doesn’t work much on mobile greatly benefitting from its predecessor’s Softography anymore, but with the success of Grindstone, success, with a hefty single-player Softography that may change in the future. campaign due to be added in the future. Plague Inc. Grindstone Rebel Inc.

huuugegames.com www.eastsidegames.com Huuuge Games East Side Games Huuuge is perhaps best known as a social Carving out a niche in the crowded casino studio, but the last year has seen it mobile market is a pretty smart move, make a few big pushes into the more and it certainly seems to be paying off for 49 47 narrative-led idle game developer East traditional mobile games, too. Side Games. P NEW ENTRY! Not only did it pick up the Trolls licence P NEW ENTRY! for a casual bubble shooter, it also published It’s clearly caught the eye of TV execs, Matchland and Transport It Tycoon, further with the studio launching a game based on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and diversifying its portfolio. Softography securing The Goldbergs IP for another title. On top of all that, Huuuge acquired Bow It’s Always Sunny: East Side is also looking to grow the idle Land developer Double Star and interactive The Gang Goes ads firm Playable Platform as part of its Softography game market with its IdleKit SDK, which Mobile was used in Dragon Up: Idle Adventure from “Build and Buy” strategy, which will no Bow Land doubt see further M&A activity from the Trailer Park Boys: Night Garden Studio, and likely in more studio in the months to come. DreamWorks Trolls Greasy Money games to come. Pop The Goldbergs: Back Matchland to the 80s

4 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 5 2020 2020 www.annapurnainteractive.com www.hutch.io Annapurna Interactive Hutch Games While a relative newcomer to the gaming London-based Hutch Games has proven scene, Annapurna Interactive has itself to be a master of racing titles, both 46 cemented itself as one of the most 44 with its original IP and a particularly big interesting and exciting mobile licence now in its catalogue. P NEW ENTRY! publishers around. F1 Manager continues to race ahead, with Simogo’s Sayonara Wild Hearts is the a huge new update in 2020 to bring the jewel in its crown, but it’s important not to game in line with the current race season, discount the rest of Annapurna’s catalogue, adding new series and car components for a which in the last 12 months included Telling convincing and exciting refresh. Lies, If Found…, and a mobile port of Journey. And it’s secured top brands for its original While these titles may be multiplatform, titles, such as card-collector Top Drives and Softography Annapurna recognises mobile as a arcade racer Rebel Racing. We look forward Softography Sayonara Wild Hearts legitimate space for its less conventional to seeing what other spins on the racing F1 Manager games, and upcoming releases like The genre Hutch conjures up. Telling Lies Artful Escape and The Pathless are sure to Rebel Racing If Found… bring more intriguing premium experiences Top Drives to the platform.

www.frogmind.com www.jagex.com Frogmind Jagex Jagex could be accused of simply ticking Frogmind has clearly hit on a winning along with RuneScape and Old School 45 formula with its Rumble series – how else 43 RuneScape, though its sale to Macarthur can you explain its launch of Rumble Fortune Holding for $530 million is a sure Hockey so soon after Rumble Stars Soccer? P NEW ENTRY! P NEW ENTRY! sign of the faith people have in the studio. While both games follow a similar format, Indeed, Jagex posted annual revenues of Rumble Hockey caught our eye with its $137.6 million for 2019, the first time in its influencer program, offering a 100% revenue history that it has cleared the $100 million share from IAPs purchased by players the mark, thanks to an uptick in subscriptions influencers brought into the game. across both its games on mobile and PC. It’s an interesting proposal, and no doubt Not bad for a series which is fast helped push the title to clear 1 million approaching its 20th anniversary and is still Softography downloads in a month – something it is Softography finding its feet on the smaller screen. surely looking to replicate with its next RuneScape Rumble Hockey But Jagex is also looking forward: the release, presumably featuring the same recently announced deal to bring Flying influencer incentive. Old School Rumble Stars Soccer RuneScape Wild Hog’s next game to market signals its move into third-party publishing.

6 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 7 2020 2020 www.kwalee.com Kwalee It’s been a tough year for every developer, but Kwalee has taken the shift to remote 42 working in its stride. Not only has it launched two new hypercasual games developed while the UK was in lockdown, but it’s also expanded into India with a new studio and partnered with Buildbox to potentially publish games www.pocketgamer.biz www.blockchaingamer.biz made in the no-code development platform. With Kwalee now opening more of its roles to remote workers on a permanent basis, the studio looks primed to grow its Softography development capabilities and expand its Bake It catalogue of hypercasual titles no matter what the future holds. Line Up: Draw the Criminal

www.gunghoonline.com GungHo Interactive

Think of GungHo on mobile and you’ll www.pcgamesinsider.biz www.influencerupdate.biz 41 probably think of one game in particular: the ever-popular Puzzle & Dragons. Despite never quite breaking the western market, P&D has now cleared 54 million downloads in Japan eight years after first launching, and has recently added a subscription pass which is sure to appeal to CONNECTING YOU WITH THE GAMES INDUSTRY existing spenders. GungHo has other games, of course – mobile card-battle and Switch shooter Ninjala have seen strong starts – but Softography there’s no doubting Puzzle & Dragons will continue to be the company’s top performer, Puzzle & Dragons even as it approaches its tenth birthday. Teppen MOBILE • BLOCKCHAIN • PC • INFLUENCERS • XR 8 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 9 2020 2020 www..com www.mixi.co.jp Capcom Mixi Capcom may not have a huge mobile Monster Strike is another one of those presence, but it’s been making some games that never found an audience 40 interesting moves of late that have put it 38 outside of Japan, but its home country back on our radar. fans are big, big spenders. P NEW ENTRY! Not only has it returned to the casual The almost seven-year-old game has market with Snoopy Puzzle Journey, it also seen MAUs fall pretty consistently year-on- continues to pursue a core audience in year, but it continues to pull in huge Japan, with recently launched Monster revenues and remains the main focus of Hunter Riders clearing 5 million downloads Softography Mixi’s mobile gaming business strategy. within two months of release. That Monster Strike alone contributed the But most exciting is China-only release Riders bulk of Mixi’s $1.06 billion annual revenue : Pinnacle of Combat, the first for 2019 is staggering – even if it is a yearly mobile game to use the DmC licence and, Devil May Cry: decline. But with everyone stuck in their based on what has been shown so far, one Pinnacle of Combat homes for plenty of 2020, that figure is sure with some serious potential. Softography to again rise higher this year. Snoopy Puzzle Journey Monster Strike

www.lego.com www.jamcity.com Lego Jam City Recent months have seen Lego fully embrace the world of gaming – and not We’re still waiting for Jam City’s much- 39 just because of its partnership with 37 anticipated IPO, but its business on the impressive new Super continues to thrive thanks to existing P NEW ENTRY! Mario sets. titles and newer releases. Instead, it’s the launch of Light Brick The last year saw Disney Emoji Blitz and Studios, a development team working on Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery reportedly experimental mobile games, which has clear $100 million and $154 million in drawn attention in the mobile space revenues, respectively, while the studio also thanks to its beautiful, heartwarming Lego launched a new game with a major IP in the Builder’s Journey release. form of Frozen Adventures. Softography Softography No doubt Jam City will continue to The group hasn’t shied away from Disney Emoji Blitz Lego Builder’s traditional titles, with a Gameloft support its existing licensed titles for years Journey partnership resulting in Lego Legacy: to come, and perhaps one day its dream of Harry Potter: , but we’re excited to see an IPO will come true. Hogwarts Mystery Lego Legacy: Heroes Heroes Unboxed Unboxed which direction Light Brick takes next – if Frozen Adventures it remains part of the company’s strategy.

10 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 11 2020 2020 miniclip.com www.gameloft.com Miniclip Gameloft Miniclip has had a relatively quiet year, Gameloft has had its ups and downs over insofar as it hasn’t shouted about any big recent years, but any company 36 games lately, but it has made some pretty 34 celebrating its 20th anniversary will interesting acquisitions in recent months. inevitably have experienced its fair share P NEW ENTRY! It was reported (but never confirmed) P NEW ENTRY! of turbulence along the way. that the company acquired Israeli And it’s a developer which obviously still developer Ilyon Games for $100 million – holds weight in the industry, securing a perfect fit for the firm’s portfolio of casual licences from Lego and Disney for games. And it officially bought Eight Pixels numerous games, and maintaining an Softography Square, adding a selection of midcore titles average of 1.6 million downloads every to its catalogue. Asphalt 8: Airborne single day. Only time will tell how recently- Asphalt 9: Legends With Minions Rush nudging ever closer to appointed CEO Jurgen Post plans to expand 1 billion downloads and racing stalwarts Softography Miniclip further and which studios will join Minions Rush Asphalt 8: Airborne and Asphalt 9: Legends the family down the line. 8-Ball Pool continuing to draw in revenues, Gameloft’s Lego Legacy: Heroes road to its 21st birthday looks smooth. Agar.io Unboxed

www.rovio.com www.lockwoodpublishing.com Rovio Lockwood Publishing The Angry Birds franchise is now over a 2020 saw Lockwood’s mobile virtual decade old, and while the IP may have world/MMO Avakin Life surpass 200 lost a little altitude in recent years, Rovio 35 33 million registered users – not bad for a has shown signs that it’s planning to game now heading into its seventh year bounce back very soon. of operation. It started 2020 with a raft of soft-launches It’s also drawing in 1.4 million daily active across multiple genres, trialling games with users, no doubt thanks to the developer’s and without the Angry Birds IP, and focus on running in-game events and eventually acquiring midcore developer partnering with musical acts to host gigs in Darkfire Games and rebranding it Rovio the Avakin world. Softography Copenhagen. Lockwood has further capitalised on the Additionally, a new Angry Birds Angry Birds 2 title’s reach to go beyond games, bringing series on the way – and the launch of new IP TV show World of Dance into Avakin Life for Angry Birds Dream Small Town Murders – all point to a re- a month-long competition. It’ll be interesting Blast energised Rovio. Softography to see what other partnerships the Small Town Murders developer has lined up. Avakin Life

12 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 13 2020 2020 www..com/intl en.bandainamcoent.eu DeNA Bandai Namco DeNA may be best known to western It’s no surprise that Bandai Namco’s main audiences for its ongoing partnership successes in mobile come from its anime 32 with Nintendo on its mobile portfolio, yet 30 titles, especially given its involvement in it remains a strong mobile developer in some of the biggest franchises available. its own right. From One Piece to Dragon Ball, the Its latest notable release is Slam Dunk, a Japanese developer/publisher continues to 3v3 anime basketball game developed in see great sales from its existing titles partnership with Toei Animation, which has – Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle, for example, is been an unexpected success in China and estimated to have cleared $2 billion in is now spreading across Asia with similarly lifetime revenues as of November 2019. strong sales. Softography It’s also shown interesting moves outside its own franchises, including working on Couple that with an upcoming Dragon Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Quest title, as well as whatever DeNA is Nintendo’s . Could a deeper Softography Battle secretly working on with Nintendo at the partnership be coming down the line? Time moment, and there are definitely exciting Slam Dunk Dragon Ball Legends will tell. times ahead for the developer. Pokémon Masters Tales of Crestoria

www.ea.com www.glu.com Electronic Arts Glu Mobile EA continues to make significant revenues from long-running mobile It has been a good few months for Glu 31 games like Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes 29 Mobile as the company has finally and FIFA Mobile, but new releases are returned to profitability. often few and far between. Glu’s 2019 financials show an overall However, recent months have seen the upwards trend to its bottom line, largely soft-launch of Plants vs. Zombies 3, a new thanks to Design Home, Covet Fashion, and entry in the evergreen franchise, along with the MLB Tap Sports Baseball franchise, Softography promises of a few more mobile soft- which has now cleared over 40 million launches to come. downloads since its first entry. Design Home Softography One such soft-launch is supposedly the Oddly enough, the developer has also MLB Tap Sports Star Wars: Galaxy of mobile edition of Apex Legends, which is a seen a huge boost to the six-year-old Kim Baseball Heroes hugely tantalising prospect – if it can Kardashian: Hollywood, which experienced successfully translate the console a 320 per cent growth in bookings in Q2 Covet Fashion FIFA Mobile experience onto a smaller screen, EA will be 2020. Capitalising even on its older, Kim Kardashian: Plants vs. Zombies 3 strafing all the way to the bank. somewhat forgotten titles suggests Glu’s approach is working. Hollywood

14 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 15 WITH SEASON SPONSORS IN ASSOCIATION

2020MEET THE NEXT GENERATION 2020 OF TOP 50 DEVELOPERS… www.sybogames.com SYBO Games There’s no outrunning the success wave of 2012’s Subway Surfers, a title which has 28 now surpassed 3 billion downloads, accruing 500 million between May 2019 and August 2020. P NEW ENTRY! And SYBO Games has capitalised on this success by branching out into merchandise, teaming up with Walmart, Hot Topic, and Redbubble for lines of apparel and accessories based on the series. Co-developed with Kiloo and considered to be the most downloaded game of the last decade by App Annie, Subway Surfers has yet to show signs of slowing down. Softography Subway Surfers

Celebrating the best indie game developers, www.tiltingpoint.com Tilting Point ONLINE! Free-to-play specialist Tilting Point has connecting with publishers & press had a busy 12 months, from acquisitions 27 and big IP launches to strategic partnerships aimed at bringing its games P NEW ENTRY! to the MENA region. Let’s start with the acquisitions: the firm acquired mobile RPG Timelines from original developer Disruptor Beam, as well as the assets of FTX Games, the San Diego-based studio known for publishing Narcos: Cartel Wars. On top of this, Tilting Point partnered Softography with to launch SpongeBob: Star Trek Timelines Krusty Cook-Off, which went on to achieve an impressive 14 million pre-registrations. SpongeBob: Krusty For details of all upcoming events and pitching dates, visit Cook-Off www.bigindiepitch.com 16 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 17 2020 2020 www.sony.com www.com2us.com Sony Com2uS In the mobile space, Sony remains Summoners War may not enjoy the same something of a mystery. Not only does it level of hype as other mobile games, but it 26 never seem to mention its moderately 24 remains a strong performer for Com2uS. successful mobile studio ForwardWorks, The RPG recently surpassed $2 billion in but it also groups its anime mobile titles lifetime revenues from a total of 116 million under its Music label. downloads. The studio’s work on pushing But for all its odd approach, the firm the game into the arena will surely nevertheless continues to have a strong only help boost those numbers. foothold in the market, largely due to the We’re also starting to see the first signs of ongoing success of Fate/Grand Order around life from Com2uS’s deal with Skybound the world. Entertainment, with the developer now The five-year-old game is still holding working on a new Walking Dead game while Softography strong, but attention should now turn to the the entertainment firm puts the finishing Fate/Grand Order Japan-only Disney Twisted-Wonderland, an touches to a Summoners War comic book. RPG/visual novel with a focus on Disney’s Softography Disney Twisted- villains that’s currently picking up . Wonderland Summoners War

www.take2games.com www.cyberagent.co.jp Take-Two Interactive CyberAgent CyberAgent is another studio that is Take-Two’s focus may be its massive little-known outside of Asia, but is seeing 25 console franchises, but that doesn’t mean 23 fantastic revenues regardless. its mobile output is being ignored. Its money largely comes from card- P NEW ENTRY! The company’s acquisition of Spanish battler and RPG Granblue mobile developer Social Point has been the Fantasy, but don’t discount more niche titles key driver on its mobile front, with games like BanG Dream! Girls Band Party and like Tasty Town and World Chef leading the Princess Connect! Re:Dive, the latter of which charge alongside long-time hit Dragon City. recently launched in China. And then there’s 2K’s mobile offerings, Softography Softography CyberAgent has a pretty impressive including WWE SuperCard, which continues Shadowverse future lineup too, including the much- to perform well for the company. WWE SuperCard Granblue Fantasy anticipated NieR Re[in]carnation and a Not to mention the fact the US publisher Dragon City Switch version of Shadowverse. And it has 21 games “planned specifically” for Princess Connect! continues to operate in mobile over the next five fiscal years, Tasty Town Re:Dive partnership with Nintendo, the latter’s first reaffirming its commitment to the market. and only original mobile IP. World Chef NieR Re[in]carnation

18 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 19 2020 2020 www.nintendo.com www.applovin.com Nintendo Applovin Nintendo’s mobile efforts were called into While predominantly a mobile marketing question this year, following a bad start company, AppLovin’s internal game 22 for Dr. Mario World and a lack of 20 output has become rather impressive announcements for future titles. over the last 12 months. But it still found its successes. Animal P NEW ENTRY! Its hypercasual outfit Lion Studios has Crossing: Pocket Camp saw a huge boost in seen games like Slap Kings and Save the Girl sales thanks to the release of New Horizons top monthly download charts with close to on Switch, while Mario Kart Tour got off to 100 million installs between them, proving an excellent start and is fast becoming a key it has the capability to produce serious hits. title in the firm’s mobile portfolio. Meanwhile, AppLovin’s acquisition of Softography Softography With its mobile division passing $1 billion Game of War developer Machine Zone Slap Kings Heroes in lifetime revenues, one key question now represents a step towards the opposite end is which of Nintendo’s many beloved IPs of the mobile gaming spectrum, into a far Save the Girl Mario Kart Tour will see its own mobile outing next. more hardcore territory. It’ll be interesting to see what AppLovin has planned for this Game of War : former titan of the mobile market. Pocket Camp Mobile Strike

www.nexon.com www.stillfront.com Nexon Stillfront Group Acquisitions have proven to be very Nexon didn’t have the best start in 2020, successful for the Stillfront Group. This 21 with revenues falling slightly year-on- 19 year alone it picked up Candywriter and year, but it bounced back remarkably Storm8, in addition to the deal it struck with a record-breaking Q2. P NEW ENTRY! P NEW ENTRY! with Kixeye in late 2019. Its mobile library has performed well All three of those studios have aided over the past year, with MapleStory M Stillfront to secure an impressive year, with showing good growth, recently hitting 16 games like Property Brothers Home Design, million downloads. Another top performer BitLife, and War Commander: Rogue Assault is KartRider Rush+, which saw 10 million Softography all proving their worth in recent months. downloads in two weeks. BitLife With an evidently strong stable of Nexon also picked up FIFA Mobile for its Softography developers, including Big Farm: Mobile domestic market, which scored 1.2 million MapleStory M Property Brothers Harvest studio Goodgame, the question on downloads within a day of launch. And all Home Design most lips when it comes to Stillfront is, ‘who eyes are now on South Korea success V4, KartRider Rush+ will it buy next?’ which just launched worldwide. Big Farm: Mobile V4 Harvest

20 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 21 2020 2020 www.moonactive.com www.voodoo.io Moon Active Voodoo Give Moon Active’s Coin Master a spin for It’s impossible to talk about hypercasual a few days, and it’s not hard to see why gaming and not mention Voodoo at some 18 the game remains so engaging for players 16 point. Even in 2020, with so many after four years on the market. developers getting in on the genre, it The title is now estimated to have remains at the top of its game as a cleared $500 million in lifetime revenue developer and publisher. and makes regular appearances in monthly The studio now boasts over 3.7 billion top-grossing charts, so expect it to become downloads and 300 million MAUs, thanks another mobile gaming unicorn before long. to a staggering catalogue of games too As a social casino game, it’s currently numerous to mention separately here. toeing a fine line in many government’s Furthermore, it appears to be making eyes, but the winds are steering in its favour moves to evolve hypercasual as a genre, Softography following Germany’s decision not to ban the thanks to a new studio established in Draw Climber game in its country. Montreal and the acquisition of London- Softography based developer Gumbug. Woodturning Coin Master Spiral

www.n3twork.com www.netmarble.com N3twork Netmarble Netmarble struck gold earlier this year Back in November last year, N3twork when it launched adventure RPG Seven 17 began making moves by announcing that 15 Deadly Sins: Grand Cross, which hit it had raised $40 million in investment 3 million downloads within ten days of for games, its Scale Platform, and its release back in March 2020. community-facing fan app. But it has plenty of other strong games in Nearly a year on and the San Francisco- its arsenal. The King of Fighters Allstar based startup has put these funds to good continues to perform well, having pulled in use, releasing an official Tetris game and multiple collaborations, while long-running securing the rights to NBCUniversal’s Softography titles such as Marvel: Contest of Champions puzzler Funko Pop Blitz, all while increasing and Lineage2 Revolution haven’t stopped Seven Deadly Sins: their contribution of large sums of revenue. its UA performance by 25 per cent. Grand Cross More interestingly, N3twork launched its Softography With a second game featuring K-pop $50 million publishing fund for its scale Marvel: Contest of icons BTS and a new Kabam-developed platform, securing partnerships with Tetris Champions Marvel title currently in development, the Grand Cru, 99Games, and others to help Funko Pop Blitz Lineage2 Revolution path is trending upwards for Netmarble. grow their games.

22 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 23 2020 2020 www.outfit7.com www.pearlabyss.com Outfit7 Pearl Abyss One of the most common ways of South Korea-based studio Pearl Abyss succeeding in the mobile games market is has made a splash into the mobile market 14 to establish a solid IP and run with it. 12 this year by bringing its highly beloved That’s exactly what developer Outfit7 has Black Desert Online game to mobile P NEW ENTRY! achieved with its Talking Tom franchise. P NEW ENTRY! devices in the west. Launched in June 2020, latest game My The MMORPG has gone on to become a Talking Tom Friends exceeded 100 million huge success, accumulating more than 20 downloads in just over a month, adding to million downloads within its first two an already impressive 13 billion downloads months on the mobile platform and helping across the company’s catalogue. push revenue for the series as a whole past It will be fascinating to see how Outfit7 the $1.5 billion mark. plans to not only keep the existing audience Pearl Abyss is now set to enter its final Softography happy, but draw in new players further expansion phase for Black Desert before My Talking Tom down the line, too. looking to launch its next title in the last Friends quarter of 2021. Softography My Talking Tom Black Desert Mobile

www.playtika.com www.epicgames.com Playtika There’s a debate to be had around Playtika has certainly had an interesting whether Epic Games counts as a mobile year, with subsidiaries Wooga and 13 11 developer – especially now that is Seriously continuing to perform well no longer available on the App Store or through their June’s Journey and the Best . Fiends franchise, which cleared $285 million in lifetime revenues in late 2019. But there’s no denying the company’s presence on the market, particularly given Playtika has also been engaging in a that Fortnite recently cleared $1 billion in number of charitable acts through its estimated mobile lifetime revenues just two games, with Bingo Blitz donating meals to years after its small screen debut. Feeding America while the studio donated Epic’s future on mobile is in turmoil at its own catered meals to local communities Softography to help out during the pandemic. the time of writing, but if it does successfully June’s Journey force Apple and Google to lower their Wooga CEO and founder Jens Begemann revenue cut from games and apps on their may have left to pursue new ventures, but Best Fiends Softography stores, it’d be a hugely significant win for Playtika looks to be perfectly safe hands to developers everywhere. leave the developer in. Bingo Blitz Fortnite

24 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 25 2020 2020 www.playrix.com www.activisionblizzard.com Playrix Activision Blizzard

Playrix has been a dominant force in the In previous Top 50 editions, we’ve casual mobile gaming space for some 9 targeted King as its own company, largely 10 time now, and the last 12 months has seen strafing past owner Activision Blizzard it go from strength to strength, thanks to a due to the parent company’s focus on string of acquisitions, impressive revenue console, leaving King to take point when milestones for its evergreen titles, and it came to all mobile operations. Softography interesting moves for the future. But since our 2019 list, Activision has Gardenscapes When we spoke to Alexander Derkach, unleashed a monumental assault on the Playrix’s head of marketing, at the end of mobile landscape in the form of Call of Duty: Homescapes 2019, the studio had made eight Mobile, effectively bringing the companies’ acquisitions, bringing its total headcount to mobile game might into step. Softography 1,700 people. And it didn’t stop in 2020, Call of Duty: Mobile has been nothing Candy Crush Saga picking up Plexonic and Cateia Games short of a phenomenon, generating 100 within a few months of each other, million downloads in its first week – Call of Duty: Mobile strengthening its presence across Europe as reportedly making it the fastest mobile Diablo Immortal a result. game to ever hit that figure – and growing The studio’s games haven’t slacked off that figure to 250 million just eight months either. Flagship title Gardenscapes surpassed after initially launching. $1.5 billion in revenue just over three years Sensor Tower figures estimate that it’s after launching, while its follow-up, also generated $327 million in lifetime Homescapes, cleared $1 billion just after its spend, $60 million of which came from its second birthday. launch month alone. And it swept up a Future games are looking rather strong surprising number of industry awards to as well. It’s already launched Wildscapes, a boot, nabbing a BAFTA, Google’s Game of more traditional match-3 experience the Year, and a nod from the Game Awards, combined with Playrix’s narrative-led among numerous other nominations. metagame, and it has Farmscapes King hasn’t exactly been resting on its currently in soft-launch, which follows in laurels either, of course. Largely thanks to Gardenscapes’ footsteps a little more closely. the coronavirus pandemic, its revenues But it’s also branching out of its comfort have grown to the highest they’ve been zone with hidden object title Manor Matters since Activision Blizzard’s acquisition, and match-3 RPG Puzzle Breakers, both with MAUs also climbing to 271 million. exciting new avenues for the developer. All sights are now trained on two With its top titles continuing to bring in mobile outings for major IPs, with money, and new ventures starting to take Blizzard’s Diablo Immortal progressing form, Playrix’s future feels very well through internal testing and King’s Crash grounded. We look forward to seeing how Bandicoot: On the Run in soft-launch. And all much more it can grow over the next year. the while, Call of Duty: Mobile forges ahead.

26 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 27 2020 2020 www.supercell.com www.seagroup.com Supercell Sea

Supercell has been slipping and sliding It’s entirely possible that, if you’re around recent Top 50 editions – it working in the western market, you’ve 8 remains a powerhouse in the mobile 7 not heard much about Sea and its gaming gaming market, but has had its third division, Garena. But you’ll almost consecutive year of falling revenues. P NEW ENTRY! certainly have heard of the games it’s Of course, even with a yearly decrease, worked on in Southeast Asia. the developer’s 2019 revenue came to $1.56 Take Speed Drifters, the name ’s billion from just five games – impressive, no QQ Speed goes under outside of China. Or matter how you slice it. And with people , another Tencent title it stuck in lockdown earlier this year, you’d operates outside of the behemoth’s home expect that figure to grow for 2020. country, where it’s known as . Let’s remember Clash Royale has now Softography And who can forget Call of Duty: Mobile, Softography cleared an estimated $3 billion in revenue Clash of Clans which proved so popular for Activision? just over four years since launch. And its Free Fire But the cherry on top of Garena’s ice most recent game, Brawl Stars, has finally Clash Royale cream is Free Fire, an enormously popular landed in China, where it got off to a Brawl Stars battle royale that’s given the likes of PUBG respectable start thanks to first-week Mobile and Fortnite a run for its money in revenues of $17.5 million. recent years. All that said, Supercell’s future is looking It’s already cleared $1 billion in lifetime a little odd right now. For one, its much- revenues, around two years after launch, anticipated Rush Wars was cancelled not from 450 million registered users. And, long after being soft-launched, largely according to Sea’s Q2 2020 financial release, because the developer failed to “find the the game now sees over 100 million daily fun”. And the studio currently has Hay Day active users, helping it become the highest Pop in soft-launch, a grossing mobile game in Latin America and match-3 puzzler using an Southeast Asia for that quarter. older IP that marks a It’s seriously impressive stats for a game huge departure for the that still has some markets left to capture, Finnish developer. but with Fortnite now Still, we know that out of the race for the Supercell only launches a new time being, we could game when it’s guaranteed to be a see Garena muscling in billion-dollar release, so whatever it’s on the game’s market working on now that is allowed to share in the US and see the light of day will almost Europe before long. certainly set chins wagging, match-3 or not.

28 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 29 2020 2020 www.roblox.com www.scopely.com Roblox Scopely

What can be said about Roblox that hasn’t Scopely’s rise through the Top 50 ranks is already been said? The company and its 5 nothing short of meteoric – only two 6 gaming platform are nothing short of a years ago it clocked in at #33, before phenomenon, and 2020 has seen it firmly leaping into tenth place for 2019. And cement its place in the mobile ecosystem. now, thanks to an already stellar 2020, it’s For starters, Roblox on mobile surpassed climbing ever higher. an estimated $1 billion in revenue in It all started with a $200 million series D November 2019, and added another $500 funding round in October 2019, which million to that figure within just seven ended up being topped off with an months. And thanks to a $150 million additional $200 million in March 2020. funding round in February 2020, the And that money went straight to work, Softography company is now valued at $4 billion. with the publisher acquiring FoxNext Scrabble GO It’s not just Roblox that’s raking in the Games, along with games Marvel Strike cash, either. Developers using the platform Force and the in-development Avatar: Star Trek Fleet Softography to sell their own experiences are currently Pandora Rising, and its very own console Command Roblox on track to make $250 million, with some developer in the form of Cold Iron Studio. Marvel Strike Force teams hitting over a million concurrent But it hasn’t forgotten its casual roots players on their products. either, with Scrabble GO launching in March But all that pales in comparison to the 2020 and reportedly experiencing the best fact that Roblox is currently played by over launch week of a mobile word game of all half of children under 16 in the US. time. Scopely snapped up the game’s Furthermore, it’s worth noting that a large developer, PierPlay, a month after launch. number of the game’s developers To top it all off, it’s made several key themselves are under 18, meaning its huge hires, including former Rogue Games audience is also creating content for their founder and CEO Mike DeLaet as its new peers, and getting paid for it in the process. SVP of strategic partnerships, while With online communities now more ex-Product Madness MD Daniel Freireich important than ever, Roblox may well be on became its president of games. track to have its best year ever in 2020, and With plenty of funds now it’s a question of how it will capitalise raised and games doing on that milestone and grow for the future. well across the board, Dismiss it as “just a kid’s game” at your peril Scopely is well – it’s so much more. positioned to become an even more powerful force in mobile gaming – next year’s Top 50 list should tell us.

30 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 31 2020 2020 www.nianticlabs.com www.tencent.com Niantic Tencent

Pokémon GO is a game designed almost Tencent’s presence in mobile is entirely around going outside, and if 3 unavoidable. Look over this list and 4 there’s one thing 2020 will be you’re sure to find plenty of companies remembered for, it’s everyone in the that have at some point received world doing the exact opposite. investment from the Chinese behemoth, With this in mind, it’s frankly amazing and some that may even be owned by it, if that Pokémon GO has not only successfully only indirectly. managed to turn itself into a game that can But Tencent is a phenomenally huge be enjoyed from the comfort of your own publisher and developer in its own right, abode, but that it’s experienced its second- Softography and outside of all its investments and best year of revenues since launch during acquisitions, it has a thriving mobile that period. Pokémon GO Softography business all of its own. Niantic hasn’t just kept its spoils to itself, Harry Potter: Wizards PUBG Mobile A large part of that comes down to either. It made a huge donation to Black Unite internal team TiMi Studios, the developer charities and communities using proceeds Pokémon Unite Catan – World behind the beast that is PUBG Mobile and from 2020’s Pokémon GO Fest, and it Explorers Honor of Kings China-only sister title Game for Peace, which provided free advertising for businesses cleared $3 billion in revenues in July 2020 across the world in-game to help out when and is consistently one of the top-grossing the pandemic was at its peak. games across the mobile market. But Niantic’s business doesn’t begin and TiMi is also partnering with SNK to bring end with its monster capturing title. It beloved run-and-gun series Metal Slug to acquired 6D.ai to help further its AR mobile with a new game, and with The technology, and it’s partnered with Pokémon Company on Pokémon Unite, an interactive theatre company Punchdrunk arena battler that bears a striking to help “reinvent storytelling”. resemblance to Honor of Kings – which, by It does have other games too – though the way, is also still incredibly successful. these maybe haven’t been the success Tencent still continues to invest heavily, Niantic was hoping for. Ingress, and Harry of course, most recently picking up a Potter: Wizards Unite have been all but minority stake in Voodoo, but also forgotten at this point, and the acquiring shares in Sumo Digital and soft-launched Catan – World Explorers PlatinumGames, to name just three. It’s could be seen as an odd choice for its even helped Nintendo bring its Switch to next release. China, but that’s another story for But with ten games in development another list. and its Real World Platform getting Clearly, Tencent isn’t going better all the time, Niantic remains a anywhere, and you can expect the company to be reckoned with – and giant to continue lumbering around one that can clearly survive the higher reaches of our Top 50 list even the toughest times. for many years to come.

32 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 33 2020 2020 www.neteasegames.com www.zynga.com NetEase Zynga

NetEase is another Chinese colossus that We thought in 2019 that Zynga had done a 2 keeps on growing and doing ever more 1 fantastic job turning its business around, exciting things in the mobile space, but its finally getting the most out of the mobile future right now – especially for western market, and growing rapidly. But we had gamers – is perhaps its most appealing yet. no idea about its plans for 2020. Not that its games in China are slouching, In particular, the eye-watering of course. Its Fantasy Westward Journey acquisition of Turkish developer Peak game series, which includes a recently- Games for $1.85 billion shook the mobile released 3D edition, continues to do the industry, and marks a clear faith in the Softography numbers in the publisher’s home country, continued performance of the developer’s Softography Harry Potter: for example. main games Toy Blast and Toon Blast. Awakened And its licensed titles consistently see But Zynga continues to explore new Toon Blast pretty staggering results – like its 4v1 take on avenues, too. It picked up hypercasual Lord of the Rings: Tom and Jerry, which accrued over 100 studio Rollic for $168 million, marking its Zynga Poker Rise to War million players within its first year of release. first foray into the fastest-growing genre out Harry Potter: Marvel Duel Indeed, its ability to acquire and there, released Word Pop for Amazon’s Puzzles and Spells effectively utilise licences is precisely what Alexa, and has signed a multi-game deal makes NetEase so exciting currently, with a with Snapchat. trio of games being of particular interest: Existing titles and studios continue to Marvel Duel, Lord of the Rings: Rise to War, perform well – Empires & Puzzles has and Harry Potter: Magic Awakened. cleared $500 million in lifetime revenues, The first two are already in soft-launch, while NaturalMotion has opened a new while Magic Awakened is currently in beta in office in Birmingham. China and may never see the light of day And it already has a huge licensed game beyond the country, but all three have the in soft-launch, with match-3 puzzler Harry potential to be huge hits if done right. Potter: Puzzles and Spells in development NetEase also has its eyes on the future, thanks to a partnership with Portkey Games setting up a new development studio in and Warner Bros. Tokyo specifically for next-gen games, We already know Zynga isn’t planning including mobile. And on top of all that, it’s on slowing down its M&A strategy, and with listed itself on the Hong Kong Stock over $2 billion spent on new studios this Exchange, reportedly raising $2.7 billion in year alone, it clearly isn’t scared of splashing the process. the cash to get where it wants to be. How these partnerships and investments Zynga is the shining example of a will play out is too early to assess, but fast-growing, successful mobile developer NetEase’s performance in next year’s Top with an exciting future ahead – and why it’s 50 should offer some guidance. topped our Top 50 Mobile Game Makers list for the second year in a row.

34 Top 50 Developer 2020 in association with 35 20 2020 Top 50 Developer 2020: At-a-glance USE CODE: % TOP50LIST20OFF 21 Nexon Page 20 Zynga 22 Nintendo Page 20 1 Page 35 23 CyberAgent Page 19 24 Com2uS Page 19 2 NetEase Page 34 25 Take-Two Interactive Page 18 26 Sony Page 18 Tencent 3 Page 33 27 Tilting Point Page 17

SYBO Games Page 17 Niantic 28 4 Page 32 29 Glu Mobile Page 15

Scopely 30 Bandai Namco Page 15 5 Page 31 31 Electronic Arts Page 14 Roblox 32 DeNA Page 14 6 Page 30 33 Lockwood Publishing Page 13 Meet top developers, publishers, investors, Sea 7 34 Gameloft Page 13 Page 29 media and toolmakers from around the world 35 Rovio Page 12 Supercell 8 Page 28 36 Miniclip Page 12 37 Jam City Page 11 9 Activision Blizzard Page 27 38 Mixi Page 11 39 Lego Page 10 10 Playrix Page 26 40 Capcom Page 10 11 Epic Games Page 25 41 GungHo Interactive Page 9 12 Pearl Abyss Page 25 42 Kwalee Page 9 PLUS! 13 Playtika Page 24 43 Jagex Page 7 14 Outfit7 Page 24 44 Hutch Games Page 7 FINN-TASTIC 15 Netmarble Page 23 45 Frogmind Page 6 FRINGE 16 Voodoo Page 23 46 Annapurna Interactive Page 6 EVENTS 17 N3twork Page 22 47 East Side Games Page 5 18 Moon Active Page 22 48 Ndemic Page 5 19 Stillfront Group Page 21 49 Huuuge Games Page 4 20 Applovin Page 21 50 Capybara Games Page 4

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