Strategies are the third highest—grossing genre in the American App Store. They account for 17% of the store’s revenue. Such success of the strategy is partly due to the novelties that bring the mechanics of casual games to the genre. This was told in a recent report by the analytical company GameRefinery.
Market situation
- Analysts did not say how much the entire genre of strategies in the American App Store earns in dollars. They were limited only to its market share — 17%.
- GameRefinery noted that now the iOS strategy segment is oversaturated. Most of the games in the box office top 100 have been on the market for many years. There are not so many successful newcomers to the genre. One of the most profitable young games is Puzzles & Survival. It was released in August last year and now ranks sixth in the top 10 at the box office. In addition to Puzzles & Survival, there are no more tiles in the top ten that had a release less than two years ago.
- At the same time, developers are increasingly experimenting and actively adding elements from other genres to strategies, hoping to break into the top. For example, in the same Puzzles & Survival, the combat system is based on match-3 mechanics, and the construction of Top War: Battle Game (another game from the top 10) is based on merge mechanics.
Chart of the box office of old and new titles in the genreMOBA games are still having a hard time in the American market.
- Only two games (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Brawl Stars) have been in the box office top 200 for a long time. Last year, League of Legends: Wild Rift also showed good results, but it could not maintain its position. Perhaps this year the recently released Pokémon UNITE will get into the top, but analysts are not in a hurry to draw conclusions yet.
- A significant part of the genre’s revenue goes to 4X strategies. Now they occupy 20 places in the top 25 highest-grossing strategic iOS games in the United States.
- Supercell games (Clash of Clans, Clash Royale and Brawl Stars) are the only non—4X strategies that are listed in the box office top 10. The total revenue of these three titles in the second quarter of 2021 amounted to $54.3 million.
Top 10 highest-grossing strategies in the App Store for the second quarter of 2021Mechanics and features of the 4X strategy category
- Separately, analysts analyzed 4X strategies. They identified the most popular mechanics that bring the highest cash. Among them are renewable live events, awards for participation in events, advertising collaborations, non—renewable live events and battle passes.
- Another thing that has a good effect on revenue and the level of engagement in 4X strategies is a long-term progression cycle, which is tied to continuous improvement. To feel their progress and achieve better results in the game, gamers need to constantly upgrade something. For example, to build new buildings and upgrade existing ones, train soldiers in the army and hire new ones. Often, in combination with such mechanics, different types of game currencies are used.
- Almost no 4X strategy is complete without social functions. This is usually what allows gamers to collaborate or compete with each other.
The most popular mechanics in 4X strategies and the degree of their impact on revenue