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2021

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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 presented its fair share of challenges, Famitsu is a Japanese and still, our industry reacted, adapted 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 . 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 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 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.

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111 Dots Studio – Akatsuki Games Online

Location: and Location: ,

Key titles: Garena Free Fire Key titles: 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, Z: has proved incredibly popular, even in the increasingly Dokkan Battle. crowded 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 and on the New York Stock to distribute exchange back in 2016, : Mobile in off the back of the south east . success of Dokkan Battle.

Alibaba – Ejoy &

Location: , 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 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.

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Archosaur Games –

Location: , China Location: , 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 employees, the studio is known for Castle in the Sky. developing games in the Dragon Ball and 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 $100m, coming from the Stock Exchange 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 , a subsidiary of , 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 Entertainment has seen success with a much newer IP: of the MMORPG. 2016’s 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. A sequel, Overwatch 2, was franchises of all time. announced in 2019 and is expected in 2021.

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Bungie Camel Games

Location: Washington, United States Location: Beijing, China

Key titles: Key titles: Age of Z Origins

Bungie slides comfortably into the Develop 100 list on the Founded in 2009, Camel Games is a Beijing based back of its live service title, Destiny 2. Originally released in mobile developer that has found success with a range 2017, the game has seen multiple updates and significant of titles for the more expansions over the years. devoted mobile gamer, Most recent is the November 2020 release of Beyond such as Little Empire, Light, which made significant changes to the game and its Storm Age, War and Order previous expansions. and Titan Throne. The Destiny franchise Its big hit of late, (including the original though, has been Age game) is listed as one of Z Origins, a post- of the highest-grossing apocalyptic base building game franchises of title with great reviews all time. SuperData that has been pulling in estimates that Bungie serious money across saw $300m in digital numerous regions on revenue in 2019. official app stores.

Capcom

Location: In 2020, Capcom Osaka, Japan released another remake, this Key titles: 2, : World time for Resident Evil 3. While this Japanese developer and publisher Capcom has had an couldn’t top its incredibly successful few years lately, thanks in no small predecessor, it part to it dipping back into its back catalogue and remaking sold 2m copies in their older titles, with the re-releases and remakes of the its first week. Resident Evil franchise routinely topping the sales charts. Looking forward, The series continues to generate revenue for the company, and 2019’s remake proved (8), was announced particularly popular. back in June 2020, The game released to rave reviews and picked up and is expected to multiple awards, including picking up the Ultimate Game of hit PC and next-gen hardware sometime in 2021. the Year award at the 2019 Golden Joysticks. Stepping away from Resident Evil, the company has seen More importantly than all of that, however, Resident huge success with Monster Hunter: World. Released in 2018, Evil 2 also sold incredibly well. By September 2020, the it’s gone on to become -selling game in Capcom’s game had sold over 7 million copies, outselling the original history, with over 16.4 million copies sold, as of September Resident Evil 2 – a game that has been on sale since 1998. 2020. With plenty of DLC to help further boost revenues.

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Capital Games COLOPL – Square

Location: Sacramento, USA Location: Tokyo, Japan

Key titles: Wars: Galaxy of Heroes Key titles: Dragon Walk

Since 2015 : Galaxy of Heroes has been providing It may be a long time before an AR title matches the many fans with their mobile fi x of their favourite galaxy, a global phenomenon that was Pokémon Go, but away long time ago and far, far away. Character collecting and from Niantic, it’s Walk that has made the turn-based battles are the order of the day here. With best eff ort to date. the whole thing overseen by the team at EA’s Capital The augmented reality Games in Sacramento. RPG title has been Whether its a natural lifespan or the result of a break in earning big since its the movie release schedule, the game has seen revenues launch in Japan in June declining over the last year. And that’s last year, but it’s still without a global launch the standout mobile to date. performer based on The title is just one of the IP. many from the Tokyo- Meanwhile the based developer, but it team is working on a looks set to be the one new untitled game. that puts it on the map.

Creative Assembly

Location: Horsham,

Key titles: Total War series

Part of the Europe family, has been making incredible wargames for 33 years now. The Total War franchise has been a hit even longer than , although for a long time now it’s been a -enabled success story. That changed somewhat this year, when the studio decided to switch it up by releasing its latest title, working on an unannounced FPS IP from its second team A Total War : Troy, in Horsham, expect more on that in early 2021. exclusively on The company has also seen success with Total War titles Games Store, with a using the tabletop Wahammer IP, Isolation (an FPS 24-hour giveaway to stealth title) plus it made Wars 2 for . really get things going. As part of Sega Europe, the studio works alongside It’s not all Total War for , , Amplitude the future though, with Studios and . With SEGA leaning heavily Creative Assembly also into the strategy genre in Europe.

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Com2Us Crystal Dynamics

Location: , Location: Redwood City, California, USA

Key titles: Summoners War Key titles: Tomb Raider, Marvel’s Avengers South Korean developer Com2Us, part of the larger Even with 28 years under its belt, during which time Crystal Gamevil group, launched Summoners War back in 2014. Dynamics successfully adopted gaming’s biggest heroine in The title is a huge success, grossing over a $1bn lifetime, Lara Croft, it must still have been somewhat intimidated to and continues to pull in revenues today, being part of be handed the reins to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. the top 100 mobile titles of the year, on offi cial stores, Marvel’s Avengers had sky-high according to Sensor Tower. expectations. The results were The RPG successful enough to place the continues to lead studio in our top 100 list, but the company’s critically the consensus is that broad off ering it’s still something of a work- today, which in-progress. Parent ’s includes MLB and deal with Marvel reportedly covers NBA sports titles, multiple titles, so there’s more dating games and to come. And in 2018 the studio even a stick-fi gure opened a satellite in Bellevue, beat ‘em up. Washington, Crystal Northwest.

Cygames

Location: , Tokyo, Japan

Key titles: Princess ! Re:Dive, Granblue Fantasy

Cygames has two standout titles, either of which would have secured it a place in this year’s cohort. Action RPG Princess Connect! Re:Dive has been phenomenally popular in Japan, and has just secured a worldwide release as we go to press – working with Games. It’s also seen enduring success with gacha RPG Cygames is based in Shibuya in Tokyo, situated Granblue Fantasy, which alongside its CyberAgent parent. The company has shares creative talent, and a numerous subsidiaries, including an anime studio to whole lot more, with the Final further its homegrown IPs. Upcoming titles include Fantasy series. The game has console action RPG Project Awakening, which appears seen 25m in Japan alone by to riff off the Monster Hunter series. the end of 2019, spinning off Elsewhere, Cygames is again sponsoring the back of the console titles, anime series Juventus football team shirt, until 2022. And has launched and in the process. its fi rst Switch title in : Champion’s Battle.

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Delightworks

Location: Tokyo, Japan In 2017, the year Key titles: of its English- Fate/Grand Order language launch, the game was Japanese studio Delightworks is primarily known as the the year’s sixth developer behind the mobile title Fate/Grand Order, highest-grossing published by Aniplex – who also appears in this list. The mobile game, online free-to-play title is based on Type-Moon’s hugely pulling in $982 popular Fate/stay night franchise. million. To date, The game was released in Japan in July 2015 for Android, the game has with the iOS version coming in August. The English surpassed $4 language version of the game, meanwhile, launched two billion in revenue (as of the end of 2019), and has a global years later in 2017. install base of 13.8 million. Fate/Grand Order accumulated The game is enormously popular in its home country of $1.1 billion in 2019 alone, becoming the top-grossing Japan, with some reports indicating it has seen a level of mobile game in Japan. success comparable with Niantic’s Pokémon Go – another It attracted media attention in 2018, when a player spent title that makes this year’s list. $70,000 in the game. Surprisingly, the report only served In the fi rst year of the game’s Japanese launch, from to highlight the game’s popularity, which continues as 2015 to 2016, Fate/Grand Order grossed over $646 million. strong as ever, blending turn-based and gacha mechanics.

DIGIT Game Studios DoubleU Games

Location: , Ireland Location: Seoul, South Korea

Key titles: Star Trek Fleet Command Key titles: Mobile DoubleDown - Casino Slots Game Founded in 2012, DIGIT is the largest games studio in The South Korean company describes itself enigmatically Ireland, based in Dublin. as the ‘Enfant Terrible of the Global Games Market’. Its The studio’s fi rst game was the free to play, strategy biggest title, and the reason for its inclusion here, is Mobile MMO King of the Realm, which became a top grossing DoubleDown - Casino Slots Game. It’s a social casino title, game in over 50 countries. DIGIT are perhaps better with over 100 slot machines included. known as the creators of Star Trek Fleet Command. Also on its slate As of July 2019, the game has surpassed $100m in are DoubleU lifetime revenue with a massively engaged playerbase Bingo and Hello – 85 per cent of Vegas Slots. players played Established in Fleet Command 2012 it pivoted away 5 out of 7 days from initial success of the week, creating with over 4.7m games to make days played in mobile titles. the game.

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Digital Extremes

has repeatedly gone Location: , Ontario, Canada above and beyond. Key titles: Based in Ontario, the company was founded in 1993. Warframe showed a then suspicious console industry how Early key titles were to do free-to-play the right way. After years and in partnership with with more than 60m players, developer , Epic, creating both has built an enviable community of dedicated fans for its Unreal and Unreal PvE and PvP space ninja action title. Tournament. By avoiding pay-to-win mechanics, reinventing and Today it’s a expanding the game at an impressive rate, engaging subsidiary of Chinese with its community firm , which also (both digitally and in the owns Splash Damage real world with its own in the UK. convention), plus With over 300 staff onto new platforms, Digital Extremes including Switch and (as continues to focus we go to press) next- on evolving the gen consoles, the team Warframe experience.

EA Gothenburg EA Tiburon

Location: Gothenburg, Sweden Location: Florida, United States

Key titles: Heat Key titles: Madden NFL 21

EA Gothenburg, formerly Ghost Games, is known for Formerly known as Tiburon Entertainment, EA Tiburon is its work on franchise, which is one a Florida-based studio known for its work on the Madden of gaming’s most successful franchises, selling over a NFL franchise. combined 150m copies. The now 32-year old franchise is one of the largest in Their most recent title is the One, PS4 and PC title the industry, with a combined lifetime sales of over 130m , released in November 2019. copies for the series. In February 2020, EA announced plans to return Ghost EA Tiburon’s titles have proven successful enough Games to being an that local city councils engineering support are eager to attract the studio for all of EA (and company. During their renaming the studio EA recent headquarters Gothenburg, its original move to Downtown name), while moving the Ontario, the city council Need for Speed license offered $9m in economic back to incentives to bring EA to in , UK. the city. Now that’s NFL.

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EA

Location: 2014) it’s taken , , on EA Sports Canada UFC franchise Key titles: FIFA, NHL, EA Sports UFC too. Tot all of those up EA’s largest and longest-serving outpost is based and you have in Barnaby, British Columbia, and has been the core an incredible developer for the astronomically successful FIFA series revenue- since the early nineties. generating FIFA is one of the biggest grossing games in the world, powerhouse. with FIFA 20 reaching over 35m consumers on console The location and PC across the last cycle, plus earning well beyond that boasts over thanks to the incredibly 1,300 staff in total and supports development at other popular FIFA Ultimate studios, providing a huge testing capability and motion Team mode. capture facilities, as well as playing home for corporate The developer is also teams. Numerous rooftop patios overlook the studio’s responsible for the full-size football pitch, giving you an idea of both the NHL series, again going quality of the offices and their dedication to the cause. back over 25 years, and More broadly EA had a stellar 2020, with record-breaking more recently (since results across multiple metrics.

Epic Games

Location: As with Cary, North Carolina, USA any title that becomes Key titles: a cultural phenomenon, , responsible for the hugely popular Unreal Fortnite is no Engine, as well as the creator of the and stranger to Unreal franchises, finds a comfortable spot in the Develop controversy: 100 list off the back of one game: Fortnite. both contrived Fortnite’s dominance of the industry, following its and justified. release in 2017, is unquestionable. While Epic Games did Most recently not invent the battle royale genre – and indeed Fortnite the game originally launched without a has been at the heart of an ongoing legal battle between battle royale mode, the game Epic Games and Apple – a battle that began with Epic has become synonymous Games circumventing Apple’s revenue cut for games with it, and quickly became a by offering direct payment methods for the game’s household name. The mobile . The legal battle even became part of version of the game alone an in-game tournament, the #FreeFortnite Cup, which has accumulated $1bn in featured an evil-looking, apple-headed businessman skin revenue in just two years. called the Tart Tycoon.

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Firecraft FoxNext

Location: Bay Area, USA Location: , USA

Key titles: Matchington Mansion Key titles: Marvel Stike Force, : Pandora Rising Firecraft, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, are the Currently the most successful of the Marvel licensed crop creators of casual Match-3 title Matchington Mansion. is Marvel Strike Force. The turn-based mobile RPG uses a It’s the small team’s only title to date but it’s performed gacha model to allow players to collect heroes and villains brilliantly, earning them a place in our 2020 cohort. alike for their team, and then engage in 5v5 fights with Launched in 2017, the game combines puzzle mechanics other teams. with a makeover game, letting players renovate the Los Angeles developer FoxNext created the game as titular mansion as part of Fox, it then became part of Disney in they progress. the $71bn Fox buyout, The game has but was moved on received highly in early 2020. It now positive feedback operates as part of for its soft approach Scopely, and continues to monetisation, to develop the upcoming incentivising players Avatar: Pandora Rising to spend rather than strategy title, currently making it a necessity. in soft launch.

Funplus – Gearbox Century Games

Location: Various, China Location: Frisco, Texas, USA

Key titles: State of Survival: Survive the Key titles: Apocalypse Chinese-based publisher and developer Funplus, and its It’s made many other games in its 20 year history, but subsidiaries, including Century Games, manages a number Gearbox is now synonymous with the Borderlands of high-grossing games with a global release strategy. franchise, with its shoot-and-loot . Of particular note is the long-titled State of Survival: The latest iteration, Borderlands 3, was launched just Survive the , which has been heavily before our qualifying period, but even shorn of its release promoted and has a huge following, combining base day earnings, the game has totted up enough sales to building and real- make the 100. time combat. Then Based in Frisco Texas, and run there’s strategy by games press favourite Randy builder King of Pitchford, the company partners Avalon: Dominion, with Take Two’s label for plus Guns of Glory: publishing duties. It’s stated that The Iron Mask, Borderlands 3 had sold 8m copies an MMO based by the end of 2019, with the in a fantastical biggest Windows sales to date French setting. for any 2K title.

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Game Freak

Location: Tokyo, Japan running anime Key titles: series, films, Pokémon Sword and Shield merchandise and even a short- Before it was the architect of many of our childhoods, lived theme park. actually began life as a video game magazine Despite the in the 1980s. series’ age, However, because video game magazines are a stupid new entries idea that will never catch on, the video game company of have proven to the same name launched in 1989. be remarkably After finding initial success with the NES title Mendel popular. Palace (known as Quinty in Japan), Game Freak went on to The most recent entries to the series, Pokémon Sword create Pokémon in 1996, which has dominated their output and Pokémon Shield, have sold more than 19 million copies (and the industry as a whole) ever since. worldwide and are the fastest-selling Switch Pokémon is the world’s largest media franchise, earning games to date. roughly $4 billion a year. Pokémon’s other foray onto the , As of March 2020, the series has sold a combined Pokémon Let’s Go & Let’s Go also proved 368 million units worldwide. Beginning life in video monstrously popular. These remakes of the original games games, it has since expanded into trading cards, a long- have sold over 12.5m copies.

Glu Mobile Gram Games –

Location: San Francisco, USA Location: Istanbul and London

Key titles: Design Home Key titles: Merge !

US mobile developer and publisher has had a Gram Games is one of three parts of the Zynga family successful couple of years, boosted by its back catalogue to make our 2020 cohort. It became part of Zynga in of titles, such as Design Home. Looking ahead, the 2018 and reports since have shown that it has very company is expected to continue to ride this wave of much outperformed expectations. success into next year as well. Its star title remains the smash hit Merge Dragons! The developer’s title, Design Home, which has Which has often been Zynga’s top performer, surpassed $435 million in lifetime revenue. In March 2020 an impressive feat Glu officially launched given the internal Disney Sorcerer’s Arena, competition. With a soft-launched title that offices in Istanbul had already seen 100,000 and now London, downloads on the company has a play alone prior to its range of Merge titles official launch, no doubt as well as classic helped by the Disney IP. puzzle game 1010, among others.

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Grande Games Gumi Inc & Square Enix

Location: Hong Kong Location: Tokyo, Japan

Key titles: Cash Frenzy Casino Key titles: War of the Visions: Brave Exvius

Based in Hong Kong, Grande games has built an enviable Founded in 2007, Gumi is a Tokyo-based studio stable of social casino titles. Led by its Cash Frenzy Casino responsible for a number of titles, most notably War of the – Free Slots Games, there’s also Lotsa Slots – Vegas Casino Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, which Gumi developed and Cash Frenzy. in collaboration with Square Enix. All of which feature War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius borrows the usual multitude gameplay elements from the Final Fantasy Tactics series, of virtual slot and proved instantly machines each. popular. Newer titles such Following its Japanese as Jackpot Fever release on November and Vegas Friends, 14, 2019, the game has developed in been downloaded 3 , looks set million times in 10 days. to continue By February 2020, it had its success. been downloaded over 9 million times.

GungHo Online Entertainment

and mobile MMORPG Location: Tokyo, Japan Raganarok Masters, via subsidiary Gravity. Key titles: Puzzle & Dragons It operates , a card battler based upon Capcom’s characters Tokyo based Gungho has seen incredible success with and properties. its Puzzle & Dragons IP since it launched way back in Gungho is also the 2012. Although ‘managed decline’ was the phrase usually parent company of many associated with the breakout Match-3 title in recent years, Japanese developers. which in its heyday was the , talk of the industry and even ’s arthouse spawned a crossover developer, creator of console classics and game for the 3DS. Killer 7; Acquire, co-developer of Octopath Traveler; and The IP looks to have turned , creator of the series. a corner in early 2019 though Gungho has been involved in gaming since the early days with earnings up for the first of MMORPGs. Created as a joint venture by Softbank, time in years. Elsewhere the Gungho was majority owned by the company until 2016 company has seen success when it became fully independent at a cost of around with Switch title Ninjala $685m for just under a 24 per cent stake.

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Hypergryph/Studio Huuuge Games Montagne – Yostar

Location: 12 o� ces globally Location: , China

Key titles: Billionaire Casino, Huuge Key titles: Arknights Casino slots Huuuge Games has offi ces in 12 countries and over 600 Arknights is amongst the newest mobile titles in this year’s employees, pretty huuuge. Its biggest earners are social list having received a Chinese release in mid-2019 and a casino titles, but it’s not a one-trick pony, with puzzle worldwide one early in 2020. A blend of tower defence and games and other casual titles in its portfolio. Most notable gacha mechanics, the polished gameplay and production of late is Trolls Pop, a bubble puzzle game based on the values place it well ahead of many competitors. popular license. Co-developed by Hypergryph and Studio Montagne, Originating in who are based in Shanghai, and published by Yostar Poland, the (also in this year’s company fi led for cohort for Azur a potential IPO in Lane), the game the middle of last is quickly building year, and has been a big fanbase and acquiring others looks well-equipped too, with developer to build a media Double Star joining empire to rival its the group recently. ship-based sibling.

IGG (I Got Games)

Location: Richardson, Texas, USA Location: Singapore

Key titles: , Key titles: Lords Mobile, Castle Clash

id Software is a Texas-based studio known for the Singapore’s I Got Games owes a lot of its success to Lords and Doom Franchises. Both are still popular Mobile, which has become one of the most infl uential today, Doom in particular, despite the franchise strategy titles on mobile – attracting 200 million players celebrating its 27th birthday in 2020. worldwide and winning multiple awards since its launch in 2016’s Doom, which revived the franchise, proved March 2016 immediately popular on release – and again upon its re- In 2018 it was announced that the game had generated release on the Nintendo Switch. $825 million in lifetime revenue. During that same year I 2020’s Doom Eternal Got Games was earning meanwhile, doubled the up to $50 million a month launch weekend revenue from Lords Mobile alone. of the 2016 title. The Another of the studio’s game debuted at number titles, Castle Clash, 2 in the UK charts, beaten has generated over only by some tough $550 million in lifetime competition in Animal revenue, according to a Crossing: New Horizons. 2018 report.

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Infinity Ward

Call of Duty: Location: Los Angleles, USA Warzone, co- Key titles: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, developed by Call of Duty: Warzone and Founded in 2002, Infinity Ward has become a household has now seen in name as the creator of the Call of Duty franchise. The excess of 85m studio’s first game was the original Call of Duty, and Infinity players to date. Ward has been responsible for numerous entries to the And Activision franchise in the years since: Most recently with 2019’s Call reported that the of Duty: Modern Warfare and its battle royale spin-off Call entire franchise of Duty: Warzone. had seen $3bn of As of May 2019, the revenue across all formats in the last 12 months — that Call of Duty franchise figure includes ’s Black Ops: Cold War, which has sold over 300m missed our qualifying period, so we’ll be seeing them here copies, and has been next year. verified by the Guiness While Modern Warfare’s time in the sun looks to be over, Book of Records as the Warzone continues to on, with Infinity Ward’s design best-selling FPS series and , supported by Raven’s work, and now with content of all time. drawn from Treyach’s Cold War. It’s a truly modern beast.

Jagex Kabam

Location: Cambridge, UK Location: Vancouver, Canada

Key titles: Key titles: Marvel Contest of Champions

The success of Runescape under is an incredible, Vancouver’s Kabam became part of back in enduring story. Celebrating its 20th anniversary as we 2016, largely as a result of its success with Marvel Contest go to press, the fantasy MMO continues to enthrall, with of Champions, a success that continues for the studio subscriber numbers higher than ever before. And it pays to this day, with the title remaining Netmarble’s biggest homage to its own history, running Old School Runescape single earner internationally. alongside the core game since 2013. The online brawler remains immensely popular, with an More recently we’ve seen mobile versions of the game, ever-growing array to let its devotees play as and when they like, plus at the of characters to keep end of last year the game players engaged and was finally released on Steam entertained. as well, in order to draw yet Set to run for as long more players. Meanwhile as Marvel retains its Jagex is also taking its popularity, which given expertise and utilising it in a the new TV series third-party publishing arm. looks like forever.

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King

Location: , Sweden Location: Tokyo, Japan

Key titles: Key titles:

King has gained fame from their astronomically successful ‘What did next’ sums up this entry. The cross-platform franchise Candy Crush franchise, which veteran split from in 2015 to make includes Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga, Candy Death Stranding, a title that launched at the very start of Crash Jelly Saga and Candy Crush Friends Saga. Activision our Develop 100 year in early December 2019. Blizzard acquired the developer in 2016 for $5.9bn. Kojima Productions already existed in name as a Konami Five years after its mobile release, the Candy Crush Saga subsidiary, but having split away, Kojima had to rebuild the series has received over 2.73bn downloads. team, largely with Konami veterans, in order to create his According to Sensor latest title. Tower estimates, the It’s one of the few titles series has generated that had strong appeal a collective $1.5bn across all our key regions, in propelling the studio onto revenue, adding up to the list despite it being an absolutely enormous its only title, and with no average daily spend of paid DLC released to date $4.2m. Truly Kingly. either.

Lilith Games Long Tech Network

Location: Shanghai, China Location: Hong Kong

Key titles: AFK Arena, Rise of Kingdoms: Key titles: Last Shelter: Survival Lost Crusade Founded in 2013, Lilith Games is China’s third largest Beijing-based Long Tech Network has a big hit on its hands game developer and publisher by overseas revenue. The with Last Shelter: Survival. Even just looking at the offi cial studio has seen success with mobile titles such as Rise of Google and Apple stores, it’s clear the game has a huge Kingdoms: Lost Crusade and AFK Arena. Their fl agship title, following, giving it a high ranking in Sensor Tower’s top Soul Hunters, has garnered over 80 million players. 100 earning titles for the last year. Casual multiplayer title AFK Arena surpassed 6.6 million The MMO zombie strategy game has many of the typical players in just two months, following its launch back in genre tropes, with players throwing up complex bases April 2019. very quickly. The game has grown That makes the popular enough to experience much like feature hugely popular Long Tech’s own, which YouTuber Markiplier only started in 2015 with in the game, as well as fi ve employees and now a new advert starring numbers over 160. It has starring Elijah Wood. released three strategy games to date.

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Mediatonic Mixi

Location: London, United Kingdom Location: Tokyo, Japan

Key titles: : Ultimate Knockout Key titles:

London-based has been busy since its Mixi is a Japanese company founded in 1999. It’s also founding back in 2005, having released over 100 games. known for its social networking site of the same name, but In more recent times however, the company has hit upon its relevance to this list however lies in its gaming efforts, a genius formula in Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. namely in developing and publishing iOS and Android title The knockabout, assault course, battle royale title Monster Strike. has undoubtedly put the studio on the map. The game By 2018 the game had surpassed Puzzle & Dragons to launched as a free title to PS Plus subscribers, as well become the highest-grossing mobile game of all time, as a simultaneous PC and has grossed a total launch. Within 24 hours revenue of at least $8.13 of release, the game had billion as of 2019. drawn over 1.5 million Gameplay blends players. By August 2020, Pokemon-style monster Fall Guys had become collecting with flicking the most downloaded PS your monsters in to Plus game of all time. battle a la Puzzle Bobble.

miHoYo

The game Location: Shanghai, China grossed over Key titles: $393 million on mobile devices within two Chinese studio miHoYo is the developer behind the months, making smash-hit free to play title Genshin Impact. The company Genshin Impact was founded by three Shanghai Jiao Tong University the second students, united by their love of anime. biggest mobile The studio has released a number of games since its game launch in founding in 2011, such as Guns GirlZ and Honkai Impact 3rd, history, after but Genshin Impact is by far its most successful title . to date. The action Upon the game’s launch RPG title blends an environment with a battle on September 28th 2020 on system using powers and gacha character PC, PS4 and mobile devices, switching. Up to four players can form a party to fight Genshin Impact became an togther, while some elements of its gameplay and style overnight sensation. Within have been compared to Nintendo’s Zelda Breath of the Wild. its first week after release Speaking of which, miHoYo is now planning on releasing itwas downloaded 17m times. Genshin Impact on the Nintendo Switch (and PS5 too).

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Mojang Studios

Location: Stockholm, Sweden off titles, such as : Key titles: Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons Story Mode (developed Founded as an independent studio back in 2009 by Markus by TellTale “Notch” Persson, the studio then just called Mojang, this Games) as Swedish developer has certainly come a long way from the well as the early days of Minecraft’s first publicly-released alpha stage. augmented The studio was founded around the development and reality title release of the ubiquitous sandbox title Minecraft – Minecraft a game that would go on to dominate the gaming Earth, which landscape, eventually was also developed by . becoming the best- More recently the studio released Minecraft Dungeons, selling games of all time. which was developed by Mojang in collaboration with To date the game has Double Eleven, the first new Minecraft game by the studio sold 200m copies, and since the original’s release. has 126m monthly active In November 2014, the studio was acquired by Microsoft users. That success has for $2.5bn and was later rebranded as Mojang Studios in prompted multiple spin- May 2020. It seemed like a lot of money then, it wasn’t.

Moon Active

Location: Tel Aviv, Israel Location: Shanghai, China

Key titles: Coin Master Key titles: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

Moon Active is a startup based in Tel Aviv, Israel, that Shanghai-based Moonton has launched a raft of games focuses on iOS, Android and Facebook games. The under its Mobile Legends IP, but it’s the 2016 Mobile studio has a second office in Kiev, and boasts Legends: Bang Bang that is performing best for the over 600 employees. 300-person company and secures its place in our list. The studio is perhaps best known as the creator of the The 5v5 mobile MOBA title has grown its roster from 10 hugely successful casual free to play mobile title Coin to 103 heroes since release, providing a steady income Master – which was released back in 2015 and is currently stream. Its success has brought attention, though, with the highest-grossing Tencent and Riot taking mobile game in the UK. legal action in 2018 for As of October 2019, plagiarism and winning. Coin Master has seen Despite that the title over 81m downloads, and continues to flourish, has grossed in excess of being one of the few $508m in gross revenue mobile MOBAs to have in its lifetime. also thrived in the US market.

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Nat Games – NHN PlayArt +

Location: Seoul, Korea Location: Tokyo, Japan

Key titles: V4 Key titles: , Yo-kai Watch Wibble Wobble

Nat Games is responsible for creating hit MMO RPG V4, Disney’s curiously limbless yet adorable Tsum Tsums the grand prize winner at the 2020 Korea Game Awards. are are a phenomenon, and also very suited to a twist on A high production value title spanning PC and mobile, the the usual Match-3 genre. Developed by Tokyo-based game builds on the studio’s previous title, the Korean NHN PlayArt and operated by LINE, Disney Tsum Tsum chart-topping Heroes of Incredible Tales (HIT). has been a huge success alongside the collectible Nat Games was acquired by the goliath Nexon (best plush toyline. known for Dungeon In fact, Disney Tsum Tsum appears to be the best- Fighter Online) back in performing mobile IP from May 2018. In recent the powerhouse brand, with months it has seen 85m downloads worldwide. record revenues and The IP now has a spinoff profits as V4 has become too, the new Tsum Tsum the next big thing in Stadium, which takes the South Korea. And with concept and applies it to 300 player boss battles 50-player survival games – there’s room for all. a Tsum Tsum royale!

Naughty Dog

in terms of Location: Santa Monica, USA both physical and digital Key titles: Remastered, sales (though The Last of Us Part II at the time of writing, CD protagonist may have gone into Projekt Red’s retirement back in 2016, but that hasn’t kept Cyberpunk from having an absolute blockbuster of a year in 2020, 2077 has yet to following the June 19 release of The Last of Us Part II. release, so this Predictably, the game did pretty well. The Last of Us Part may change). II is one of the best-selling Playstation 4 games of all time, The game is on in part thanks to launching every game of the year list under the sun, and has swept late into the console’s life. multiple awards this year. In November 2020 the game It is also the fastest-selling went home from the Golden Joysticks with 6 awards – PlayStation 4 exclusive, with winning in every category in which it was nominated. over four million units sold in The original game in the series remains popular too, The its release weekend . Last of Us is among the best-selling games on the PS3, and The Last of Us Part II was The Last of Us Remastered is one of the best selling PS4 the biggest launch of 2020 games of all time.

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NCSOFT NDcube

Location: Seongnam, South Korea Location: Tokyo & Sapporo, Japan

Key titles: M, Lineage 2 M Key titles: Super

NCSOFT is based in Pangyo, Seongnam, South Korea, Most of Nintendo’s first-party efforts are grouped under its and is perhaps best known for its work on the MMORPG gigantic Nintendo EPD group. But the perennial Mario Party franchise Lineage. series is the sole domain of Nintendo subsidiary NDcube . In recent years NCSOFT has seen huge success with That even a smaller Mario title, such as Super Mario Party, mobile ports of the older Lineage titles, 2017’s Lineage can put a developer on our list is a testament to the power M and 2019’s Lineage 2 M – the former of which has of both the IP and the Switch. The series’ consistent success generated $2.8bn, as of July 2020. The latter meanwhile over the last decade is down to series director, now company grossed $152m following CEO, Shuichiro Nishiya. Who has upheld the quality bar set by the first three months Nintendo itself. after its release. The company also The Lineage franchise made the well-received as a whole is one of : 51 the highest-grossing Worldwide Classics, a IPs of all time, with brilliant eclectic collection a combined lifetime of classic games from revenue of $10.3bn. Mahjong to slot car racing.

Neople NetherRealm

Location: Jeju-si, South Korea Location: , USA

Key titles: Key titles:

Beginning life back in 2001 as an independent developer, Ed Boon’s Chicago-based studio creates (literally) Neople was later acquired by Nexon back in 2008. The incredible fighting games. The Warner Bros subsidiary South Korean studio is primarily known as the creator has done just that with title after title, most recently with of Dungeon Fighter Online. Mortal Kombat 11 – available on all console formats. Although the game was released in 2005, the game The game actually launched back in Spring 2019, but it’s remains incredibly popular, and is one of the most played a testament to its staying power that the studio makes and highest grossing games of all time. The game has our top 100 without a flagpole release in our qualifying exceeded 700m players period, with big earnings worldwide, and as of in both the US and EU. May 2020 has grossed Recently the game has $15bn in lifetime added both Rambo and revenue – Making it one Terminator characters to of the highest-grossing its roster, and with cross- entertainment media play now set to unite the products of all time. community, it’s a game with a lot more potential.

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NetEase

Location: Hangzhou, China

Key titles: Fantasy Westward Journey, Knives Out, Identity V NetEase is a goliath of gaming. In its third quarter of 2020 alone it posted revenues of $2bn, an increase of 20 per cent year on year. If we could actually identify its various internal teams, they would likely all have their own individual presences on this list. That said, no one of Netease’s titles are on the scale of Game for Peace, or Honor of Kings, but its strength in depth is incredible, and also gives it a stability that places it On mobile, at least, that title is closely followed in above almost anyone, bar arch rival Tencent. revenues by Netease’s battle royale effort, Knives Out Fantasy Westward Journey remains the firm’s top- (not to be confused with the excellent film of the same grossing title, and that’s after almost 20 years of incredible name). Also notable are Identity V, an asymmetrical returns on PC. multiplayer horror titles and Onmyoji, with its fantasy The mobile version of the popular MMORPG, launched in turn-based battles. It’s also launched the Marvel Super 2015, now takes the lead but the brand remains as strong, War MOBA, although that doesn’t seem to be getting a if not stronger, than ever. global release.

Netmarble

Location: Seoul, South Korea Location: Vancouver, Canada

Key titles: Lineage 2 Revolution Key titles: ’s Mansion 3

South Korea’s mobile gaming giant recently posted Q3 Next Level Games is an independent developer results of $535m in total revenue up 3.6 per cent year on established in 2002. While the studios’ first project year. Behind that success lies its perennial earner, the was NHL Hitz Pro, it is perhaps better known for its UE4-powered MMO Lineage 2 Revolution. collaboration with Nintendo. The company has also shown itself adept at making The studio has developed the Mario Strikers games, the most of licensed IPs. A big title for the last 12 Punch Out!! for the , 3DS titles Luigi’s Mansion 2 and months was The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross, based Prime: Federation Force, and most recently – on the successful 2019’s Luigi’s Mansion 3. manga and anime The latter in particular series (which is shown proved successful for globally by ). the studio, attracting Netmarble has positive reviews and worked with Marvel on receiving the ‘Best Marvel Future Flight, a Family Game’ award at 2019 action RPG title. 2019.

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Nexters Niantic

Location: Larnaka, Cyprus Location: San Francisco, United States

Key titles: Hero Wars Key titles: Pokémon Go

Yes, you know Hero Wars, it’s the game advertised by Formerly known as Niantic Labs, this San Francisco-based those everpresent lava//acid/hero ‘puzzles’ at studio has seen enormous success with its augmented the bottom of every page on the internet. Well it turns out reality mobile titles Ingress, Pokémon Go, and Harry Potter: that those ads really work, and the game behind them has Wizards Unite. captured players’ attention too, notching up a very healthy Pokémon Go has been a particular success story, revenue stream, boasting a lifetime revenue of over $4bn, with $1bn earned propelling creator in 2020 alone – despite the COVID-19 pandemic limiting Nexters into our player’s mobility. cohort this year. Niantic attracted Privately-owned enormous mainstream Nexters is based in attention following the Cyprus, from which 2016 launch of Pokémon it also operates RTS Go – And even got a title Throne Rush and shoutout during Hilary Island Experiment, an Clinton’s unsuccessful adventure-puzzle title. Presidential run.

Nintendo EPD

back catalogue, Location: Kyoto, Japan such as and The Key titles: : New Legend of Zelda: Horizons, Zelda: Link’s Awakening Link’s Awakening (co-developed After the disappointment of the , Nintendo has with ). bounced back in spectacular fashion with the Switch, By far the which seems to print money – thanks to both its own titles company’s and strong indie sales on its digital store. The console has biggest success performed fantastically for Nintendo – particularly during story last year 2020, with sales boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic. was Animal The console now sits Crossing: New Horizons. The game released at absolutely at over 68.3m units sold the right time: March 2020, right as the pandemic forced in its lifetime, off ering an countries worldwide into lockdown, and towards gaming – enormous user base for particularly social games. Nintendo’s fi rst party titles. As such, the game surpassed its lifetime sales As such the Switch has expectations within its fi rst two months, and is now the seen a lot of popular remakes second-best selling game in Japan of all time, beaten and re-releases of Nintendo’s only by Game Freak’s Pokémon Red and Blue.

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PawaPuro Productions – Peak – Zynga Konami

Location: Osaka, Japan Location: Istanbul, Turkey

Key titles: Pro Yakyuu Spirits Key titles: Toy Blast,Toon Blast

In the media, much has been made of Konami’s Based out of Istanbul, Peak Games is now part of the focus on mobile titles for its home market rather than growing Zynga family, having been acquired for a massive attempting to repeat past glories on console. $1.8bn in June of last year. The deal was Zynga’s largest However, based on the earnings of titles such as Pro to date and the key prizes were Toy Blast and Toon Blast, Yakyuu Spirits (or Professional Baseball Spirits to give its puzzle titles which have performed incredibly well in westernised title), this is a sound move for the company. recent years – with a One of the top earners globally, it competed with the total DAUs of 12m at likes of and Call of Duty: Mobile in terms of the time of purchase. total revenues from By Sensor Tower’s offi cial app stores. reckoning Toon Blast The title was was Zynga’s biggest developed by Osaka- single grossing title, based PawaPuro but the original Toy Productions, a part Blast is also pulling in of Konami’s internal a huge chunk of cash development team. annually as well.

Pearl Abyss PES Productions – Konami

Location: Anyang, South Korea Location: Tokyo, Japan

Key titles: Key titles: eFootball PES

Pearl Abyss is a Korean developer best known for the The eFootball PES series remains a strong alternative to MMORPG Black Desert Online, Black Desert Mobile and FIFA. And in terms of the mobile version of the game, PES Shadow Arena. appears to be ahead of its rival, with Sensor Tower putting Pearl Abyss has reached over 30 million players in over the game in its top 100 titles globally in offi cial app stores. 150 countries through Black Desert Online, earning a PES Productions approach the mobile version by trying lifetime revenue of $1.5 billion worldwide. to stay as true as possible to the console gameplay.. The developer is currently working on Crimson Desert, a The well-received 2020 version of the game only got PC and console title that a ‘Season Update’ for was originally planned 2021, eff ectively new to act as a prequel title stats and lineups for the to Black Desert. As the current game. That’s game’s development because PES Productions went on however, is working on an all-new it became a new, next-gen version for PS5 standalone IP with a new and Xbox Series consoles story and characters. to launch in late 2021.

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Plarium – Aristocrat Playdemic – TT Games Technologies

Location: Herzliya, Israel Location: , UK

Key titles: RAID: Shadow Legends Key titles: Golf Clash

One of two developers here from the Aristocrat family but Playdemic earns its place here for the continuing this is a long way from the publisher’s core social casino success of its smash-hit multiplayer title Golf Clash titles. RAID: Shadow Legends is a high-production value – the undoubted king of casual golf games. With the fantasy RPG with the action centred around PvE and PvP Manchester-based developer having increased in size to combat featuring hundreds of champions. around 65 staff in recent years as a result. Founded and headquartered in Israel, with offices around Playdemic’s future isn’t just beautiful links and keen the globe, Plarium was acquired by Aristocrat back in 2017 competition, though. Acquired in 2017 by Warner Bros for $500m. Other subsidiary TT Games, it’s key titles include also been set to work on Match-3 adventure, developing mobile titles Lost Island: Blast using the LEGO IP. Adventure, and To that end it’s been upcoming is Mech involved in the soft-launched Arena: Robot LEGO Star Wars Battle, which Showdown, a 5v5 is being led by sibling studio real time PvP title. TT Brighton.

Playrix Playtika

Location: Dublin, Republic of Ireland Location: Herzliya, Israel

Key titles: Township, Gardenscapes, Key titles: Slotomania Homescapes, Fishdom Founded in Russia, but headquartered in Dublin, Playrix Headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, Playtika has now is an incredible success story, with 18 offices around the expanded to 4,000 employees in offices around the world. world and over 2,000 employees. Its strength in depth It also has expanded into multiple genres, such as puzzle, is impressive, with four top earners in the last year: hidden object and solitaire titles. Township, Gardenscapes, Homescapes, Fishdom. That said, the company’s biggest titles remain in the Its consistency in driving massive hits is incredible. social casino genre, with titles such as Slotomania Free Most titles blend Match-3 gameplay with other activities. Slots: Casino Slot Machine Games, Bingo Blitz - Bingo The formula let the developer soar over 1bn downloads games, and House of Fun - Casino Slots. across its catalogue The company of titles last year. acquired Gardenscapes even developer Seriously pulled in more than last year, creator Candy Crush Saga of Best Fiends and some months, the -based Wooga first time its been (June’s Journey) the topped since 2012. year before.

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Product Madness – Aristocrat Technologies

Location: London (UK) and (USA) Location: , USA

Key titles: Cashman Casino Key titles: Slots, Lightning Link Casino Slots Product Madness was acquired by Aristocrat back in Founded in 2000, this studio is best known for its 2012. The deal brought together an expert in the social breakout hit, Rocket League. Launched in 2015, and free casino genre with a manufacturer of real-world casino slot on Playstation Plus upon release, the game has had long- machines, and the combination has proved irresistible to lasting success, eventually going free to play in 2020. fans of the genre. The game is actually a sequel to Psyonix’s Supersonic Cashman Casino Las Vegas Slots, Lightning Link Casino Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-, but has far Slots and Heart of Vegas Casino Slots, were all top 100 outshone its predecessor in terms of success. grossing apps according Rocket League proved to Sensor Tower over immediately popular, the last year. To support seeing 5m downloads its titles the developer and 179,000 concurrent now has key offices in players in its launch London and Seattle, month of July 2015. As plus additional outposts of September 2018, the in Vegas, Austin, Minsk game had seen 50 million and Lviv. players since launch.

PUBG Studio

Location: Seongnam, South Korea Location: Los Angeles, USA

Key titles: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Key titles: ,

After more than a few name changes, the Seoul-based Now over ten years old, League of Legends continues developers of the ongoing PC phenomenon are now called to dominate the MOBA space on PC. Still the biggest PUBG Studio, a part of , which handles publishing competitive game around, last year’s World Championship duties. To date the PC title has sold over 70m copies and was watched by over 100m viewers. The Tencent- despite tough competition in the genre it created, the owned company is based in Los Angeles, amongst 24 original retains a huge offices worldwide. Recent news is split between two audience globally. titles. Valorant is Riot’s effort to dethrone CS:GO with PlayerUnknown’s a competitively- Battlegrounds continues focused shooter. to evolve, the recent While League’s mobile Season 9 launch brought spin-off Wild Rift, in with it a new map, soft launch, finally Paramo, with dynamic allows Riot to compete lava flows and locations, directly with the providing variation in innumerable mobile every battle. League clones.

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Respawn Entertainment

Location: Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles USA Key titles: , Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Respawn Entertainment was founded in 2010 by Jason West and Vince Zampella, who previously co-founded Infinity Ward (which also features on this list) and created the Call of Duty franchise. Now that’s a CV. The studios first effort was the franchise, But today Respawn is primarily known as the creator of battle royale hit Apex Legends – which boasted 50 million players expects it to earn $1 billion a year. Now into its seventh within its first month when season the game’s season pass model is flourishing launched in February 2019. More recently the studio was behind the November 2019 Apex Legends has proved title Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which sold more than ten so popular that EA not only million copies by the end of March 2020. The game has expects the game to hit $1 proved remarkably popular in the states, where it’s one of billion lifetime revenue in the best selling games of the year – ranking second, beaten 2021, but based on its current only by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The game cleverly trajectory the publisher blends mechanics from Uncharted and Dark Souls.

Roblox Corporation

Location: coverage, and California, United States the game getting drowned out by Key titles: other platforms released around Roblox Corporation is the creators of the multi-platform, the same time. free-to-play phenomenon Roblox. The game’s Although the game was released all the way back in 2006, success lies not in the game was relatively small until it found significant simply attracting success in the , and now boasts over 164m monthly players, but in active users as of August 2020, and is played by over half of turning them all children under 16 in the USA. into creators, its For most of the this community which generates the practically endless game’s history, content that its player-base enjoys. however, the Roblox then spreads the wealth around, with creators on game’s player base the platform being projected to have earned a combined was relatively small $250m over the course of 2020. due to co-founder Roblox Corporation is valued at $4 billion, with the iOS David Baszucki being version of the game passing a lifetime revenue of $2 billion uninterested in press in October 2020. An upcoming IPO is being watched keenly.

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Rockstar Games SciPlay

Location: New York, USA Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Key titles: Redemption II, Key titles: Jackpot Party - Casino Slots V Established in 1998, has gone on to SciPlay is the social gaming arm of real-word slots become a titan in the games industry, thanks in no small manufacturer Scientific Games. With five studios and part to its two biggest franchises: Grand Theft Auto and 400 staff, the subsidiary has grand plans following great . success leading to an IPO last year. is the fastest-selling entertainment The developer’s leading title is Jackpot Party - Casino product in history, earning $800 million in its first day and Slots, which $1 billion in its first three days. Although its now the huge includes hundreds success of spin-off GTA of slot games, many Online that’s key. based on popular Red Dead Redemption real-world models. II saw the second- The rest of its biggest launch in the slate consists of history of entertainment, other slots-based generating over $725m in games, including sales during the game’s the licensed opening weekend. Monopoly Slots.

Small Giant Games – Zynga Sports Interactive

Location: Helsinki, Finland Location: London, United Kingdom

Key titles: Empires and Puzzles Key titles: 2021

Zynga acquired Small Giant Games back in 2018 for Founded in 1994, Sports Interactive is best known for the $560m in cash and shares. The small Helsinki-based studio hugely popular Football Manager series. remains known for its Empires and Puzzles Match-3 RPG The simulation title has existed under its current title, which is one name since 2005, although it dates way back to ‘92. of Zynga’s largest The unrivalled title in its space, it’s inspired multiple grossing over the documentaries, and has even been used by football last year by Sensor clubs for scouting potential players. Tower’s reckoning. The most recent entry Small Giant to the franchise, Football has since soft- Manager 2021 – released launched Puzzle on November 24th – Combat, a sibling marks a return to the title with many Xbox platform, as well as similar features and PC, Mac, a Touch version a colourful modern is available for iOS, warfare setting. Android and Switch.

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Smilegate Entertainment

Location: Pankyo, South Korea

Key titles: Crossfire

Smilegate Entertainment is the studio behind the colossal free-to-play shooter hit Crossfire. Undeniably the leading shooter across the asian markets, the game boasts 8m concurrent players and 650m registered users. It’s also available in 80 countries worldwide. The free-to-play military FPS had grossed over $10.8bn lifetime as of 2018 and has appeared consistently on the modes and maps, as well as characters and weapons – top-grossing PC games lists all of which are based around real-world guns and special from Superdata since then. forces units. Smilegate’s total revenues An Xbox-exclusive spin-off, CrossfireX is in the offing, in 2018 were $703m, led by with a campaign provided by no less than Remedy Crossfire’s earnings. Entertainment. Although that title has been delayed First released way back in until an undecided date in 2021. In addition, Smilegate 2007, the game now includes Entertainment also launched VR title Rogan: The Thief in almost innumerable game the Castle in 2019, which received an Epic Mega Grant.

Square Enix Creative Business Unit I

as director Location: Tokyo, Japan on some of Key titles: Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake biggest titles, including the Square Enix’s Creative Business Unit I, previously Business original Final Division 1, is the area of Square Enix responsible for the Fantasy VII Final Fantasy and franchises. Most notably The studio was formed in 2019, following a restructuring in 2020, at the company which combined Business Division 1, (who Business handled the mainline Final Fantasy series), with Business Division 1 was Division 3 (Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy spin-offs and the responsible SaGa series) and Business for the long, long anticipated release of Final Fantasy VII Division 4 (who handled the Remake, a recreation and re-imagining of one of Square Final Fantasy spin-offs that Enix’s most beloved titles. are produced alongside Upon its release,Final Fantasy VII Remake proved an external companies). instant sensation: selling 3.5m copies worldwide within The unit is led by Yoshinori three days, and being received warmly by critics. As Kitase, who was the leader of of August 2020, the game has sold over five million Business Division 1 and acted copies worldwide.

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Sucker Punch Productions Super Creative

Location: Bellevue, Washington, USA Location: Seongnam, South Korea

Key titles: Key titles: Epic 7

American studio , founded Part of the Smilegate group, since it was acquired in in 1997 and the creator of Sly Cooper and the February 2019 for a reported $98m, Super Creative is franchises, exploded into yet greater prominence last based in Seongnam, just outside Seoul. The studio is year with the July 2020 release of Ghost of Tsushima. responsible for the highly-successful RPG Epic 7, a Upon its release, the PS4-exclusive topped charts top-earner in asian markets which has also received globally, selling over 2.4 million copies in its first three a global release. days after release. Launched in early That made Ghost of 2017 the RPG stands Tsushima the fastest- out from the crowd selling new IP this with its detailed generation, surpassing 2D graphics and even the hugely popular incredible anime- Horizon Dawn. quality . All As of November 2020, the more impressive the game had sold over as Epic 7 is the 5m copies globally. studio’s debut title.

Supercell Tactile Games

Location: Helsinki, Finland Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Key titles: , Key titles: Lily’s Garden

Founded in 2010, Supercell has long been a titan of the Tactile Games is a Danish game developer, located in the industry. In 2016, Tencent bought a 81.4% stake in the heart of Copenhagen. company, which valued Supercell at $10.2 billion. The studio has developed a series of highly popular What is perhaps the company’s most famous game, puzzle titles, such as Cookie Cats and Bee Brilliant, as well Clash of Clans, still holds a place in the top 50 grossing apps as a series of titles based on the animated cartoon and in both the Play Store and App Store, despite releasing book series Simon’s Cat, namely Simon’s Cat: Crunch Time eight years ago. The game has generated over $7 billion and Simon’s Cat: Pop Time. in revenue since January The studio’s most 1st, 2014, according to popular title is Lily’s Sensor Tower. Garden, which generates Supercell’s second much of the company’s most popular title, revenue. For instance Clash Royale, recently in February 2020, Lily’s surpassed more than $3 Garden was downloaded billion in lifetime revenue 800k times, earning $3 since its release in 2016. million in revenue.

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Tencent Lightspeed & Quantum

behind PUBG Mobile Location: Shenzhen, China Lite, a spin-off title Key titles: running on Unreal PUBG Mobile/Game For Peace Engine 4, which is then optimised to Arguably the biggest game in the world right now is PUBG work on more Mobile, or Game For Peace as its modifi ed Chinese sibling modest handsets. is known. The mobile version of the original title sticks In a complete pretty close to the formula, but is entirely re-engineered change of to work on mobile devices. direction, the Lightspeed studio last year & Quantum is released The responsible for that Everlasting Regret, reworking. The a beautiful puzzle studio was founded game based on in 2008 and is a part a classic poem and rendered in a period-perfect Tang of Tencent, which dynasty art style – one that won’t trouble the censors. publishes both The studio also got a new sibling recently, with PUBG Mobile and Lightspeed LA being launched back in July 2020. Led by Game For Peace. Rockstar veteran Steve Martin, it promises to develop The studio is also triple-A titles.

TiMi Studios

Location: Android and iOS Shenzhen, China devices, is one of the most popular Key titles: Honor of Kings and highest- grossing games in Tencent subsidiary TiMi Studios is a Chinese studio with the world, and is the offi ces in Shenzhen, Los Angeles, Chengdu and Shanghai. most downloaded TiMi Studios was founded in 2008, and was originally app globally. named Jade Studio. Honor of Kings The studio changed its name back in 2014 after it has seen over 100 merged with Wolong Studio and Tianmeiyiyou Studio – million daily active forming TiMi. players, as of The company is November 2020. responsible for a number of As of March 2019, the world’s most lucrative game had titles, but is perhaps most surpassed $4.5 billion in lifetime revenue, since its launch famous for developing the in October 2015. mobile game Honor of Kings, The game has seen the lion’s share of its revenue adapted as in generated in China, but has seen signifi cant overseas western regions. Honor of success. According to Sensor Tower estimates, the game Kings, released in 2015 on has generated over $200 million outside of China.

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Toys for Bob &

Location: Novato and Albany, USA Location: Paris, France

Key titles: 4: It’s About Key titles: Time, Reignited Trilogy A combined entry for two studios to recognise their huge Ubisoft Paris is the core developer of the Tom Clancy’s success in remaking and continuing classic PS1 IPs Spyro Ghost Recon series and the Just Dance series. and Crash Bandicoot for today’s consoles. The Just Dance franchise has been particularly Vicarious Visions kicked things off with 2017’s Crash successful for Ubisoft, on which Ubisoft Paris has Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, which still sells well today, with collaborated with the likes of Ubisoft Pune, Ubisoft creating the Switch version. Toys for Bob then Shanghai and Ubisoft Bordeaux. made 2018’s Spyro Reignited Trilogy, another big seller. was the last in the franchise to release Most recently Toys for Bob on the Nintendo Wii – got to create a new Crash where it all began back game in Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s in 2009. Despite that About Time. While Vicarious platform being 14 years Visions undertook another old now, the Wii version successful Activision remake accounted for 21 per in the excellent Tony Hawk’s cent of the game’s Pro Skater 1 + 2. opening week sales.

Ubisoft

launch title, Location: Montreal, Canada Assassin’s Creed Key titles: Valhalla sold more Assassin’s Creed Valhalla copies in the first week of release It’s been a busy year for Ubisoft Montreal, with the recent than any previous release of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – the first in the series Assassin’s Creed to launch on the new generation of consoles. title, with Ubisoft Ubisoft Montreal was founded in April 1997, as part of confirming it Ubisoft’s expansion into worldwide markets at the time. had over 1.8 The studio is one of the largest in the world, with over million players 3,500 employees. on November Ubisoft Montreal is so 17th 2020. influential that it is credited Ubisoft Montreal has a long-standing relationship with for helping to establish the Assassin’s Creed franchise, having worked on the Montreal as a creative city, series since its in 2007. and cementing it as a local The series’ back catalogue continues to perform, hub for the games industry. including Assassin’s Creed Origins, as well as Odyssey, No doubt boosted by on which Ubisoft Paris collaborated with sister studios releasing as a next-gen Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Singapore and Ubisoft Milan.

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Visual Concepts Entertainment

The NBA Location: Novato, California, USA 2K franchise Key titles: has been NBA 2K21 particularly successful – Entertainment is an American developer according to based in Novato, California. Take-Two The studio specialises in sports games in the 2K Interactive, franchise, particularly NBA 2K and WWE 2K. NBA 2K20 Visual Concepts was founded in 1988, before being made over acquired by Sega in 1999 and eventually being sold to $1 billion in Take-Two Interactive in January 2005. combined It was this acquisition by sales and microtransaction revenues in just its first year. Take-Two that led to the The followup, NBA 2K21 has sold 5 million copies to date, creation of the 2K label, of following its release in September 2020. which the studio’s NBA 2K Things are looking less rosy for the WWE 2K franchise, and WWE 2K franchises are however. The most recent entry, WWE 2K20 was roundly both a part, alongside other panned by fans and critics alike, due to releasing with a franchises, such as the likes number of serious bugs. In turn, WWE 2K21 was cancelled, of Bioshock and Borderlands. with the studio looking to jump to a next-gen version.

Valve Vizor Interactive

Location: Bellevue, Washington, USA Location: Minsk,

Key titles: Half Life: Alyx, 2 Key titles: Klondike Adventures

Although much of Valve’s attention has been focused on Established in 2007, Vizor Interactive is a Minsk-based its Steam storefront in recent years, the company remains developer responsible for a number of mobile titles. a household name in the industry, and continues to draw The most recent, and most popular of their games is significant revenue from its back catalogue alone Klondike Adventures. – Counterstrike and , in particular. Since its release in 2018, the game has been downloaded This year Valve made a surprise return to the Half Life over 16 million times. In December of that year, the game franchise, after a 13 year hiatus. While Half Life: Alyx’s earned $6.3m in monthly revenues. sales were likely limited Between Q1 and by being a VR-only title, Q3 2020, Klondike the game saw a total of Adventures was the 860,000 players in March, third-highest grossing following its release on mobile simulation title the 23rd, as well as in the United States, being received warmly generating just by critics. over $80m.

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Wargaming Minsk WB Games Boston

Location: Minsk, Belarus Location: Boston, USA

Key titles: World of Tanks Key titles: : Conquest

Whilst has seen success with various spin-offs, Part of Warner Bros Interactive such as World of Warships, plus mobile and console takes Entertainment, the Boston- on the formula, it’s the original World of Tanks on PC that based studio leads development continues to lead the charge. on strategy title Game of Developed by the team at its Minsk office, the free-to- Thrones: Conquest. play title features a huge arsenal of over 600 real-world The mobile title appears military vehicles, with a focus on PvP play – although PvE to have outlasted its source campaigns have been material in popularity – thankfully added in recent years. the game’s developers never had Its success has allowed to tackle that tricky ending. its parent to branch out Launched in 2017 to take into other genres and advantage of the GoT hysteria, even set up studios in the game has proven to be the US and UK to more consistently successful, with directly target audiences more than 20m downloads in western territories. to date.

Yostar Games Yotta Games

Location: Shanghai & Tokyo, Japan Location: Shanghai, China

Key titles: Key titles: City

With offices in Shanghai and Tokyo, Yostar worked with Chinese studio Yotta Games is responsible for the developers Shanghai Manjuu and Xiamen Yongshi to simulation game Mafia City, which is available on iOS and create 2017’s Azur Lane, a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up with Android devices. RPG elements. Despite releasing in 2017, the game has maintained an The game anthropomorphises actual World War 2 impressive level of success, listing in the top 10 grossing battleships as female characters. It’s all bizarre as it games worldwide in March, April and May 2019, according sounds, with the predictable stylings you’d expect – to SuperData. a Dead or Alive beach The game is hugely volleyball crossover popular in Japan, where has just kicked off for it frequently finds itself instance. And that’s in the top 15 highest- just one part of an ever grossing games. But it growing empire around also has seen significant the title, which has overseas success in the proven incredibly popular UK, US Germany and in Japan and beyond. South Korea.

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