A new analysis of top-grossing games on the iOS App Store finds free-to-play titles bringing in nearly two-thirds of all game revenue in June, a turnaround from a market dominated by pay-to-download games in January.
The new
game-focused report by mobile analytics firm Flurry looked at the top 100 highest grossing games among over 90,000 iOS apps the company tracked in June, and found 65 percent of all game revenue came from free-to-play games.
In January, free-to-play titles represented only 39 percent of top-grossing game revenues on the App Store, showing growing traction for what Flurry general manager for games Jeferson Valadares calls "the single most dominating business model in mobile apps today."
Flurry's analysis found that anywhere from 0.5 to 6 percent of players actually spend money on free-to-play titles, depending on the game. Heavy spenders, who can spend up to tens of thousands of dollars on a free-to-play title, can help make up the revenue lost from free players, Valadares said.
An April study from analysis firm Xyologic estimated that free-to-play titles with in-app purchases
made up 40 percent of all game downloads in the App Store, without pointing out specific revenues.
