Maybe you just need to use a lot of words that start with the letter “C” if you want a huge mobile hit.
Candy Crush Saga is the most played iOS gaming app in the U.S. and U.K., but Clash of Clans tops the leaderboard in South Korea, reports Mobidia Technology Inc. Clash of Clans is second in the U.S. and U.K., while Candy Crush Saga is fifth in South Korea. The mobile market is huge, and these two games, which dominate the top charts in just about every region, are benefiting handsomely from it — and show how different sort of games do on a worldwide scale. Games make up 40 percent of all app-store downloads and about 75 percent of spending. Mobile games could hit $20 billion worldwide this year.
“We’re seeing a familiar story here again … the rich are getting richer,” says VB Insight’s John Koetsier “That’s great for established players in mobile gaming, who can iterate and extend existing games like Clash of Clans, or reinvent and get celeb endorsement for games like Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. It’s not so great for newcomers, who have to become increasingly savvy about user acquisition and gamer engagement month after month.”
Mobidia says that it gets its data from millions of smartphones and applications. It doesn’t count the number of downloads or in-game purchases, as some leaderboards do. Instead, it tracks the number of minutes and sessions players spend with the games. Mobidia has the top 25 played gaming apps for U.S., U.K., and South Korea listed here. You can also see the top 10 for each in the image below.
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Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans are both huge mobile hits. They’re not just little diversions, as they’ve become huge cultural sensations. Commercials for both games regularly air on TV. Still, Candy Crush Saga creator King has none-the-less taken a beating at the stock market.
Of course, as the lists show, the growing mobile market has plenty of room for other hits, including Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, and Words with Friends. Still, Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans still rule in most territories.
