2021 IN ASSOCIATION WITH Panton 7708 C C94 M51 Y31 K30 R0 G85 B112 01 Develop 100 Cover.indd 1 11/12/2020 08:16 Panton 151 C C0 M100 Y60 K0 R245 G130 B32 MCV DEV100 - INDIGO PEARL:Layout 1 14/12/2020 15:38 Page 1 In association with 100 Welcome back Develop 100 株式会社角川アスキー総合研究所／ロゴ WITH THANKS TOPanton OUR DATA7708 C PROVIDERS C94 M51 Y31 K30 There has never been a more exciting R0 G85 B112 time to be a game developer. 2020 has FAMITSU presented its fair share of challenges, Famitsu is a Japanese and still, our industry reacted, adapted video game magazine to deliver its most successful year. started in 1986. Publicly listed publishers delivered Panton 151 C We started to run a databaseC0 with M100 Famitsu Y60 resources K0 in an average 30 per cent growth in the 1997. Now our team belongs to KADOKAWA ASCII Research second calendar quarter, while Newzoo R245 G130 B32 Laboratories Inc. Recently, we have published various white upgraded its annual forecasted growth to nearly 20 per cent papers and reports. And we have partnered with MCV over year-on-year. 15 years. For more details on Japanese market data visit In a world where almost everyone is either a current or www.f-ism.net or contact [email protected]. potential gamer, our cultural relevance has never been greater. Game engines are branching out of games and enhancing more aspects of our lives, for example by replacing traditional dashboards with interactive displays. And when cultural scenes GSD became out of reach due to the pandemic, virtual music concerts GSD is a unique opportunity to access and and digital art exhibitions started to fill the void. analyse full game download digital sales data Working in such a fast-paced industry means we rarely take on PC, PSN and XBL. The project is based on time to look back and celebrate our big successes. With the the ‘share data to get data’ principle and is gaming landscape changing by the year, which new studios have supported by National Trade Associations broken out and become huge household names, and which have from across Europe. To get involved, please created generation-defining blockbuster games? For 2020, it contact your trade association or email [email protected]. wasn’t always those you might expect. It’s important to celebrate the studios that contribute to making the games industry better and the powerhouse that it is NPD MCV/ today. That’s why we’re so passionate about supporting With NPD, you get more complete, Develop’s Develop 100, and why we were so excited to be a part accurate information about your products’ of bringing the list back for 2021. market share and mindshare, plus industry For everyone included in the list, I want to extend our warmest insights, to help you track trends, and congratulations. You are a huge reason why the global games identify business opportunities. We industry is going from strength to strength. And all that while also offer custom research solutions, creating games that bring a smile to the face of millions around comprehensive video game metadata, and game evaluations the world. Thank you for making this industry what it is today and to help you answer critical research questions and gain data- being a source of inspiration to thousands of game developers driven feedback throughout the development cycle. For more worldwide. information on NPD Games, please contact Brent Martyn at Gilles Langourieux, CEO, Virtuos [email protected]. HOW IT WORKS SENSOR TOWER We set out to find the most successful games studios Sensor Tower’s platform from around the globe. We sourced data from our leading leverages billions of data providers, representing the very biggest markets, for points to offer unparalleled console, PC and mobile games, from Nov 2019 to Oct 2020. real-time analysis for millions of apps and thousands of We combined that data with reports from publicly listed publishers in all major countries and categories. Trusted by companies, official announcements and public market data. global mobile game developers, top research institutions, major While no such dataset will be perfect and complete in this news publications, and leading financial firms, Sensor Tower often-secretive industry that we work in, we believe the serves more than 500k mobile apps worldwide. Contact sales@ combination of all these sources is unrivalled in creating sensortower.com for a demo, or head to www.sensortower.com. this list of the 100 most successful studios on the planet. 3 03 Develop 100 2021 Intro Embedded V3.indd 3 16/12/2020 10:37 100 111 Dots Studio – Akatsuki Garena Games Online Location: Vietnam and Singapore Location: Tokyo, Japan Key titles: Garena Free Fire Key titles: Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle The Vietnamese studio 111 Dots developed Garena Free The Tokyo-based studio Akatsuki has seen enormous Fire for Singapore-based Garena Games. And the title success with its Dragonball Z mobile game, Dragon Ball Z: has proved incredibly popular, even in the increasingly Dokkan Battle. crowded battle royale genre. It was the most downloaded According to Forbes, the game is responsible for about mobile game in 2019 and in May 2020 set a record with three quarters of the company’s annual revenues of over 80m daily active users globally. $254m. The free to play title has exceeded 350 The third-person shooter puts its success down to million downloads since its release in 2015, grossing performance, as it an excess of $2bn in runs smoothly on worldwide revenue. low specification The studio itself, handsets. Garena meanwhile, was founded also works with in 2010 and was listed Activision and on the New York Stock Tencent to distribute exchange back in 2016, Call of Duty: Mobile in off the back of the south east asia. success of Dokkan Battle. Alibaba – Ejoy Aniplex & Walt Disney Location: Hangzhou, China Location: Tokyo, Japan Key titles: Romance of the Key titles Disney: Twisted-Wonderland Three Kingdoms: Strategy Edition Alibaba is primarily known as a technology company Japanese company Aniplex is largely focused on anime specialising in e-commerce, but it has made significant and music production, but it makes the Develop 100 list investments in its entertainment division in recent years. off the back of Japanese mobile title, Disney: Twisted- In 2018, the company invested ¥1 bn ($145m) to create a Wonderland. Developed in collaboration with Walt Disney global distribution ecosystem for mobile games. Although, Japan, the game is only available in Japan, and released it’s best performing title is only available in China to date. in March 2020. Despite this, the game has already seen Romance of the Three explosive success, attracting 1.5m pre-registered users Kingdoms: Strategy before the game had Edition, developed by even launched. Alibaba’s subsidiary Aniplex also acts Ejoy, is among the as a publisher, and is most profitable games responsible for publishing worldwide, with a Fate/Grand Order, with its lifetime revenue of developer Delightworks $500m since its launch also appearing on this in September 2019. year’s list. 4 4 Develop 100 2021 V5 FINAL.indd 4 14/12/2020 08:33 100 Archosaur Games Bandai Namco – Dimps Location: Beijing, China Location: Osaka, Japan Key titles: Dragon Raja Key titles: Dragon Ball Legends Archosaur Games, formerly Zulong Entertainment, is Dimps Corporation is a Japanese developer, based in located in Beijing, and is responsible for a number of Osaka. Founded on March 6, 2000 by several former mobile games, such as World of Kings and Novoland: The SNK and Capcom employees, the studio is known for Castle in the Sky. developing games in the Dragon Ball and Street Fighter Most recently the developer is behind the game franchises – and most notably for our purposes, Dimps, in Dragon Raja, a mobile MMORPG which launched globally collaboration with Bandai Namco, developed the iOS and on February 27th 2020. The game proved immediately Android title, Dragon Ball Legends, which has proven to be successful, attracting 1.5 a global smash hit. million pre-registered Launched in May 2018, players prior to launch. the game has already The developer/ grossed over $140m publisher recently raised worldwide – with the HKD$2.17bn (£222m) in majority of that success, its IPO on the Hong Kong $100m, coming from the Stock Exchange United States and Japan. Blizzard Entertainment Location: Since then California, United States the game has Key titles: World of Warcraft, Overwatch seen multiple content packs to maintain Blizzard Entertainment, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, its devoted is responsible for some of the biggest franchises in gaming playbase, as history and, in better times, is behind the annual gaming well as the convention Blizzcon, which celebrates franchises such as 2019 release Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo and Overwatch. of World of Almost unquestionably the studio’s most famous game Warcraft – and one of the most famous games in gaming generally – Classic, which is the 2004 MMORPG, World of Warcraft. recreates the game in its original state, as it existed when That title has thrived in its 16-year lifetime, becoming it launched all the way back in 2004. synonymous with the genre, and seeing off countless Stepping away from World of Warcraft, Blizzard competitors seeking to take its spot as the indisputed king Entertainment has seen success with a much newer IP: of the MMORPG. 2016’s hero shooter Overwatch. The game generated By 2017, the game had generated over $9.23 billion in $1 billion in its first year of release, and has seen over 50 lifetime revenue, making it one of the most lucrative game million players in its lifetime.