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Puzzle & Dragons grossed $1.5 billion in 2013

Road

Member
GungHo released their fiscal year earnings today: http://www.gungho.co.jp/ir/uploads/irk20140203_2.pdf

The Puzzle & Dragons IP (the smartphone game, the 3DS game and other related products) brought in ¥148.584 billion ($1.46 billion) in revenue last year for GungHo. Average of ~$4 million per day.

The worrying part, Puzzle & Dragons accounted for over 90% of all GungHo sales in 2013.

Code:
Mobile Consumer segment sales (not just P&D): ¥157.239 billion

Sales share:

Google: ¥81.543 billion
Apple: ¥69.162 billion
Others: ¥6.534 billion

PC online sales: ¥6.007 billion

GungHo overall:

Net Sales: ¥163.060 billion
Operating Income: ¥91.228 billion
Net Income: ¥54.768 billion
 

SmokyDave

Member
It's a monster. Fair play to 'em though, it's rather good as match 3 games go.

Google: ¥81.543 billion
Apple: ¥69.162 billion
This made me go 'huh, fancy that'. Nice going Android cats.
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
Could have bought the Yamauchi Nintendo shares with that kind of money, crazy part is that they still haven't released PvD officially in many European markets or digital stores. Don't know what they are waiting for.
 

x-Lundz-x

Member
I played it and liked it but refused to spend money on it but the lack of an account system killed it for me.

Still, pretty incredible the money they raked in from people.

I've basically sworn off games that do not have an account system tied to iCloud so you can play across multiple devices.
 

inky

Member
Why is that worrying?

Mobile games tend to crash hard when their userbase moves on to the next big thing. If they don't have protections in place (like new IP, or not overspending on expanding, etc) it can take the company down.

Those are insane numbers. from what I've heard the game is pretty addictive.
 

Phatmac

Member
I'd normally be upset about this but after playing it I can see why it's so successful. It's a pretty good match 3 game.
 

Interfectum

Member
They just spent like 600 million to buy Euphoria. They have money sitting somewhere lol.

They are spending their money to remain relevant and it probably won't work. The mainstream mobile gamer has no loyalty. They'll go where 'everyone else' is going.
 
Point being, a company can't rely on a single IP for their future. Need to have multiple successful one.

Popularity of these type of games dwindle all the time.
Why does everybody keep forgetting that GungHo has existed perfectly fine as a game developer for years before P&D happened? They're not stupid; they've thus far bought Grasshopper Manfacture, released another F2P mobile title, Divine Gate, and merged with SoftBank with their cash earnings.
 

Sakujou

Banned
played this on my ipad and i cant believe why so many are into this.

my complaints:
-you need to be online
-overload on monsters, you cant train or use
-heavy use of dlc to have more slots and to carry more monsters
-the puzzling sucks
-the menus are frustrating

do people really enjoy this or are they playing this on their smartphones for a second???
 

SmokyDave

Member
played this on my ipad and i cant believe why so many are into this.

my complaints:
-you need to be online
-overload on monsters, you cant train or use
-heavy use of dlc to have more slots and to carry more monsters
-the puzzling sucks
-the menus are frustrating

do people really enjoy this or are they playing this on their smartphones for a second???
You can always sell your excess monsters, or feed 'em to your team for XP. The extra slots can be bought with magic stones, and they give plenty of those away.

I'm surprised you think the puzzling sucks. I thought it was a nice twist on the match 3 formula.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
It's a monster. Fair play to 'em though, it's rather good as match 3 games go.

This made me go 'huh, fancy that'. Nice going Android cats.

Carrier availability problems and low tablet adoption depress iOS relative to most other countries.
 

proccor

Neo Member
All their eggs are in one basket, and the casual market are incredibly fickle. Zynga failed to find another FarmVille-style success, and look how far they've fallen.

You, and others, have a good point; but hasn't PnD exploded in popularity just this year or maybe last year? I think they have some time before the inedible fall. They have shown they are trying to expand, the recent DS game (albeit based on the same property) and the purchase of the team that made Clash of Clans.
 

Sakujou

Banned
You, and others, have a good point; but hasn't PnD exploded in popularity just this year or maybe last year? I think they have some time before the inedible fall. They have shown they are trying to expand, the recent DS game (albeit based on the same property) and the purchase of the team that made Clash of Clans.

they will fall.

pnd was a huge success in the beginning of 2013 in east asia. came over late 2013 to western country. i cant compare it with the japanese version, or if there is anything different, but i played it for around 5-10hours and its to me some cheap ass game. i cant understand it.

but for me f2p is in most cases crap. its rare that one of these free mobile games stick out.

i havent seen one to this date.

congratz to gung-ho.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
All their eggs are in one basket, and the casual market are incredibly fickle. Zynga failed to find another FarmVille-style success, and look how far they've fallen.

They are spending their money to remain relevant and it probably won't work. The mainstream mobile gamer has no loyalty. They'll go where 'everyone else' is going.

I never entirely got this sentiment. The top grossing iOS app chart might be even more static than the NPD one these days.

That said people seem to be having some success in terms of breaking in or growing their game, but still, given the stability of some of these titles and how companies like King and Supercell have been able to cross-promote their own apps to multiple successes, this doesn't feel like some ultra arcane market no one can figure out.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
they will fall.

pnd was a huge success in the beginning of 2013 in east asia. came over late 2013 to western country. i cant compare it with the japanese version, or if there is anything different, but i played it for around 5-10hours and its to me some cheap ass game. i cant understand it.

but for me f2p is in most cases crap. its rare that one of these free mobile games stick out.

i havent seen one to this date.

congratz to gung-ho.

What does it mean to "stick out"? Most franchises in conventional gaming don't last, let alone most individual games. The longevity of free to play games that end up being hits, whether on mobile or MMOs or MOBAs already exceeds the longevity of most conventional games.
 

sörine

Banned
they've thus far bought Grasshopper Manfacture
They've been buying up devs at a pretty consistent 2-3 years rate for awhile now.

2005: Game Arts
2008: Gravity
2011: Acquire
2013: Grasshopper Manufacture

They're also invested in Broccoli and Gmode. I wonder who's next after the P&D windfall?
 

Brazil

Living in the shadow of Amaz
Many Gaffers won't be happy to know the mainstream doesn't give a shit about whether a game is always-online or not.
 
One of the few F2P mobile games I've been able to get a lot out of, haven't made any IAPs yet but wouldn't be against it considering I've already got hours and hours for free
 

Koppai

Member
Nintendo will be excited when a P&D Z releases in the US, and they make exclusive bundles that sell bajillions of copies.
 

Interfectum

Member
I never entirely got this sentiment. The top grossing iOS app chart might be even more static than the NPD one these days.

That's because a huge majority of App Store consumers buy or download what's on the top of the charts on the iOS store. It feeds itself.
 
tremendous game and is way more hardcore than the kind of games that mostly litter GAF's award lists.

easily playable and enjoyable without spending much money, provided that you go through the reroll hoops and read enough information on how to optimize. All money gets you is from point A to point B faster.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
That's because a huge majority of App Store consumers buy or download what's on the top of the charts on the iOS store. It feeds itself.

From the top grossing chart though? A lot of these aren't at the top of downloads chart anymore.

I'd imagine that acquisition is overwhelmingly driven by in-app advertising, paid acquisition, and referrals, at least until it gets pushed up the download chart.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
That's because a huge majority of App Store consumers buy or download what's on the top of the charts on the iOS store. It feeds itself.

Right, but the argument can't simultaneously be "mobile games are fads that don't last" and "mobile games last an extremely long time because even though they're shit dumb sheeple keep buying what's popular and keeping it popular". Like, only one of those things can be true at the same time.
 

sörine

Banned
Nintendo will be excited when a P&D Z releases in the US, and they make exclusive bundles that sell bajillions of copies.
I sort of expect Nintendo to pick it up themselves for publishing in the west. Iwata seems really fixated on it.
 

Caspel

Business & Marketing Manager @ GungHo
Right, but the argument can't simultaneously be "mobile games are fads that don't last" and "mobile games last an extremely long time because even though they're shit dumb sheeple keep buying what's popular and keeping it popular". Like, only one of those things can be true at the same time.

Disclosure: I work for GungHo.

I do believe the second one belief (besides sheeple insults) is more in line with trends on the mobile market as of today. Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, and Puzzle & Dragons have often been #1 in territories they released in for majority of 2013. For all of 2013, according to public AppAnnie tracking, Puzzle & Dragons has been the #1 grossing app for 2013 besides one day.
 

vinnygambini

Why are strippers at the U.N. bad when they're great at strip clubs???
sörine;99447284 said:
They've been buying up devs at a pretty consistent 2-3 years rate for awhile now.

2005: Game Arts
2008: Gravity
2011: Acquire
2013: Grasshopper Manufacture

They're also invested in Broccoli and Gmode. I wonder who's next after the P&D windfall?

Forgot Supercell 2013
 
sörine;99447284 said:
They've been buying up devs at a pretty consistent 2-3 years rate for awhile now.

2005: Game Arts
2008: Gravity
2011: Acquire
2013: Grasshopper Manufacture

They're also invested in Broccoli and Gmode. I wonder who's next after the P&D windfall?
if their 'real games' division is at least breaking even, I've got no problem with them buying and continuing to nurture smaller JPN developers. Acquire and Grasshopper gets to keep making whatever weird, non-commerical games they (and I) like, and Gungho gets to pretend they have a diversified output.

its win-win. Hell, would some of those companies even exist now if Ragnarok (and now Puzzle and Dragons) weren't subsidizing them?
 

Dunlop

Member
Great game, unfortunately my phone got wiped and of course I lost my "secret code". Must have put at least $50 in it...which is $50 more than I had put in any mobile game before
 
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