King plans Candy Crush Saga weekend event to reward dedicated players

Candy Crush Saga is still one of the top-grossing mobile apps in the world, and publisher King is planning a weekend event to keep its player base engaged.

Starting today and running through Sunday, King will host the CakeClimb live event in Candy Crush Saga. This is a challenge that requires players to figure out how to clear a series of levels brimming with explosive cakes. This should get players to reopen Candy Crush Saga to try to best this temporary mode and to gather the loot they will get for beating it. Live events like these are crucial to keeping mobile and free-to-play games feeling fresh to players, and that makes a primary driver of retention in the $30 billion smartphone and tablet gaming space.

Here’s what King is promising players who best the CakeClimb:

• Striped Candy
• Wrapped Candy
• Color Bomb
• Free Switch
• Lollipop
• Coconut Wheel
• Jelly Fish
• Lucky Candy

Candy Crush Saga debuted on mobile in November 2012. That means we are nearing a point where it has dominated the charts (along with Clash of Clans) for three entire years. These days, Candy Crush Saga hovers at around No. 3 or No. 4 on the highest-grossing list on both iOS and Android behind Clash of Clans and Game of War. And the game that’s right behind Candy Crush Saga is its sequel, Candy Crush Soda Saga.

King has managed to maintain this level of success by continually updating Candy Crush Saga to keep it fresh. This includes base updates to the functionality of the game, but it also means regularly giving players opportunities to participate in live events like the CakeClimb.

The other major aspect of keeping Candy Crush Saga on top is using its revenue to advertise and acquire players. This manifests as television ads as well as promos that appear online and in other games. King, along with Clash of Clans developer SuperCell and Game of War studio MachineZone, are the top spenders on marketing in the mobile space.

Those commercials and events like CakeClimb are working as it doesn’t seem like Candy Crush Saga is going anywhere anytime soon.