Japanese developer GungHo Online have released their financial figures for 2013, and there’s one figure in particular that stands out. Of the company’s $1.5bn in turnover, precisely $1bn of that can be accredited to the game Puzzle & Dragons – the first mobile game to ever reach such a figure.
This truly astonishing figure becomes all the more mind-boggling once you realise that the game is free to play. You can check in to the Apple iOS App Store or Google Play store and download Puzzle & Dragons for free right now, if you haven’t already.
And the chances are you haven’t. Puzzle & Dragon has amassed its record-breaking sales tally almost exclusively through sales in Asia and the USA.
Of GungHo Online’s total turnover, $650m of it was derived from the iOS App Store with a further $775m from the Google Play Store.
The good news doesn’t stop there for GungHo Online, as it seems that the only other mobile game to come anywhere near matching their insane turnover total is Clash of Clans – which they just purchased from developers Supercell.
So far in 2014, GungHo Online announced that Puzzle & Dragons has turned over $155m, meaning the game is making $4.5m every single day. Anyone care to bet against the longevity of the freemium mobile gaming model now?
