The iOS top grossing charts were shaken up in November, as Clash of Clans studio Supercell overtook Electronic Arts as the company making the most monthly revenue on the App Store.
What makes this even more impressive is that Supercell has reached these lofty monetary heights with revenue from just two games, Clash of Clans and Hay Day. In comparison, EA has 969 apps currently available on the App Store.
Note that Supercell doesn't even have a game in the top 10 downloads for the month, according to App Annie -- rather, the company is monetizing its existing users at an extremely high rate.
Mobile development requires nimble thinking. Larger companies are process-heavy with many greenlight stages. This slows everything down when the business demands that you think on your feet. It demands that you empower your team to make calls as they see it and not bring every decision to a management meeting.
I dunno, it seems to be more likely that they just got lucky with a fad game, and happened to lack the restraint other companies show and offer $99 store purchases.
Zynga is probably kicking themselves for not gouging players more when they were the hot thing.
Zynga is probably kicking themselves for not gouging players more when they were the hot thing.