It is time of the year again where App Annie consolidates the top 52 Publishers in the world that are leading the Mobile industry, pushing the app economy to a new heights. Most of the familiar brands are still there while some managed to climb above expectations. Read on to find out more on 2015’s TOP 52 Publishers!
Every year, App Annie will compile a list of top 52 Publishers from around the world and make them into a deck of Poker Cards. It’s reserved for the top earners from the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. If you have read my article last year, you’ll notice that there isn’t much changes from Top 10 Rankers in 2015. Also, the Top 3 Publishers have proven once again that Quality will net you more money than Quantity.
Rank 1: Supercell – Previous Rank: 1
Once again, the Ace of Spades has fallen to the hands of the publisher from Finland, Supercell. Since 2012, the Finnish giant has been dominating the Mobile Game market with Clash of Clans, Hayday, Boom Beach and the recent released Clash Royale. This is the second year in a row that they are crowned as the number one publisher in the world. They have proven to the world that quality games will always earn you more money!
Rank 2: King – Previous Rank: 2
The most expensive candy in the world has managed to retain it’s number 2 spot for the second year in a row. Bought over by Activision Blizzard in a deal worth $5.9 billion, Candy Crush publisher King, is definitely one of the most influential company in the world. I’m pretty sure you’ll see people playing Candy Crush on publish transports every where you go. Although King has a few games under it’s belt, I’m pretty sure Candy Crush alone is making enough for them to enter the top 10 spot.
Rank 3: Mixi – Previous Rank: 8
Until last year, I have no idea who Mixi was and what Apps are they publishing. They were totally unranked in 2013 but shot to fame in 2014, debuting at Rank 8 on the charts. Last year, Mixi did even better clawing away the number 3 spot from Puzzle Games giant, Gungho Online. Mixi is actually a social networking service with 8.6 million monthly active smartphone users in Japan. The mobile game that they are famous for is Monster Strike. The game started to top the Japan’s Grossing chart in 2013 and since last year, it has managed to take over the number one grossing spot from Puzzle and Dragons. With the recent release of Marvel Tsum Tsum, I believe the company will continue to do well in 2016.
Rank 4: GungHo Online – Previous Rank: 3
To be honest, GungHo online hasn’t really been active in 2015, releasing only 1 game (Legend of Kingdom). The once, number one publisher in the world (2012) rise to fame with the number one puzzle game, Puzzle and Dragons. Other games such as Summons Board and Divine Gate are also doing okay in the Japan Store. However, I do think that GungHo needs to come up with a brand new innovative title if they want to claim back the number one spot.
Rank 5: Line – Previous Rank: 4
I have been reading many articles about Line and it’s declining growth rate as a Communication App. However, we’re talking about mobile games here so here’s Rank 5 from App Annie Chart! Recently, many publishers and developers has been making use of Line’s multi-million user base to launch their gaming App. Line itself, has it’s own games with Line characters such as Line Dozer and Line Pop. To my friends who are reading this article… Please stop sending the Let’s Get Rich requests…
Rank 6: Tencent – Previous Rank: 5
One of the Big 3 game publishers in China, Tencent has been dominating the Chinese market for a while now. Recently, there are news of the WeChat Giant, entering the Western market through Glu Mobile Inc.. To be honest, I have not been following the Chinese Mobile Game industry last year thus I’m unsure of what mobile games are they famous for, but I do know that Tencent will be holding a Beta test for their upcoming mobile game, Blade & Soul Mobile! It’s actually a simple Card game with pretty Art.
Rank 7: Machine Zone – Previous Rank 9Â
I believe many of you have seen the Game of War commercial or ads online multiple times throughout your past 2 years of Internet life. Machine Zone is probably the number one company in the world that spends a lot of money on marketing their game. No offence to anyone but I have never seen anyone playing this game (at least in Singapore) or discussing the game online but it always managed to somehow, be in the Top 10 grossing. However, I do understand why people would spend a lot of money on such games. Similar to COC, “buying” time to grow your Kingdom will definitely put you in the top spot. I do hope they’ll publish more interesting games and spend some marketing budget on my site đŸ˜€
Rank 8: Netmarble – Previous Rank: 24
Ever since the rise of Summoners War, many Korean Publishers has realise the opportunities in the Western Market and has started to launch more games for the English Players. Leading the Korean industry as the only Korean Publisher in App Annie’s Top 10, Netmarble has been releasing tons of new English games which includes, Seven Knights, Marvel Future Fight, Raven, Blade Waltz and many more. Also, at the recent “Netmarble Together with Press” event, the company has announced 26 new mobile games to be launched in 2016 which includes Lineage II, Blade & Soul and Tera. Some of these games will also see an English localised version.
Rank 9: NetEase – Previous Rank: Unranked
Probably best known as the publisher of WoW in China, NetEase is one of the Big 3 game publishers in China. The Chinese publisher has doubled their amount earned in 2014 and made their way up to the number 9 spot. Most of their games are semi-casual but the number one game that is racking in those Yuan is actually 梦幻西游. The game has been topping the grossing charts for quite some time now and to be on the top spot in the world’s number 2 mobile game market definitely means something.
Rank 10: Electronic Arts – Previous Rank: 7
One of the world’s top game publisher has barely managed to hang on to the Top 10 spot for mobile games. Their portfolio for mobile games are mainly Sports and Casual games. In my opinion, it’s not really the best genre that will bring you large amount of money on mobile. However, they are still the Top 10 which means they are EARNING a lot.
Overall, the Top 10 Rankers for last year deserve their spots. 2016 will be an important year for the mobile games industry. I have a feeling that something will change over the next few months and we’ll see which publishers will come up on top in 2016!
