Plants vs. Zombies 2 shambles to the top of the iOS App Store

I guess you just can’t keep a good zombie down (in the ground).

Plants vs. Zombies 2 was the most downloaded game in the iOS App Store in August, according to mobile analytics firm App Annie. Electronic Arts’ popular tower defense game has already been downloaded more than 25 million times since its debut on August 15, passing the total lifetime downloads of its predecessor. The fact that it was featured on the iTunes home page in over 100 countries through the end of August probably helped.

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Plants vs. Zombies 2’s success helped make Electronic Arts the top publisher by monthly downloads in the iOS App Store last month. When it comes to monthly revenue, however, It didn’t even crack the top 10. Unlike the original game, which cost $2.99, PvZ 2 uses a freemium business model that generates revenue through in-app purchases for experimental plants and power-ups. The first Plants vs. Zombies earned over $1 million in just nine days following its launch in September 2010.

Another freemium iOS game, Supercell’s Clash of Clans, re-took the #1 spot on App Annie’s monthly revenue ranking from Candy Crush Saga after celebrating its one year anniversary in early August. The Finnish developer celebrated the milestone with a promotion that boosted the strategy game’s resource collectors for one week. Another one of its titles, Hay Day, also performed strongly, maintaining its place in the #4 spot. In an interview with the Financial Times, Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen said the company is “very actively” thinking of expanding its presence in Asian markets by releasing Android versions of the two games.

On Google Play, Candy Crush Saga continues to dominate, reclaiming the #1 position on the monthly downloads list from Gameloft’s Despicable Me, but App Annie says other titles on the list remain uncharacteristically stable. Side-scrolling racing game Bike Xtreme was the only new game to break into the top 10 in August; it was released exclusively for Android and featured on the Google Play home page in 28 countries on July 26.

Meanwhile, GungHo Online’s Puzzle & Dragons continues to do well in Japan. It continues to be the top revenue generating game on Google Play every month in 2013.

Mobile publishers are trying to expand outside of their native regions and are forming partnerships to do so, according to App Annie.  Some publishers, like GungHo Online and Supercell, are turning to cross promotion, while ones like Kabam and Gameloft are working with smaller publishers to localize their existing games. App Annie predicts more of these partnerships will emerge as the global economy evolves and publishers look to expand their audiences.