Since its inception in 2012, Candy Crush Saga, a popular matching game played by millions of commuters, has generated $20 billion in income, according to developer King, who announced that the game will soon include levels up to 15,000 for the most devoted players.
It started on a website, moved to Facebook, and then took off on mobile devices, where it has since been downloaded 5 billion times.
It invented the “freemium” business model, where users can watch advertising or make in-game purchases to improve their performance while playing for free.
Candy Crush Saga and its sister games, such as Farm Heroes Saga, according to King President Tjodolf Sommestad, have shown that mobile games may be popular for a long time.
In an interview, Sommestad remarked, “We’ve demonstrated to ourselves and to the industry that it is possible to reignite games that are years old, keep them relevant for a decade or longer, and break records even a decade in.”
According to Todd Green, general manager of Candy Crush, the game is continually being improved, from introducing new levels like the 15,000 mark to optimizing the slight bounce when candy drops in the grid.
According to Sommestad, the effectiveness of King’s strategy and the difficulty for new game creators are highlighted by the fact that Candy Crush has been the top-grossing franchise in American app stores for the last six years.
The bar is high, and it takes a lot to launch a new game, he said, adding that his company makes an effort to create new games. “We spent a few months building Candy Crush and then another ten years developing it.”
Since 2016, Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O), the American firm that makes “Call of Duty” and has agreed to be acquired by Microsoft for $69 billion, has controlled King. King generated $747 million in net sales in the second quarter or 31% of Activision’s total.
