‘Candy Crush’ Players Spent Nearly $4.2 Million Per Day in 2018 (Analyst)

By Stefanie Fogel

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – King’s popular “Candy Crush” series made over $1.5 billion in 2018, with players spending an average of nearly $4.2 million per day on the Google Play and Apple App Store, according to market intelligence company Sensor Tower .

“ Saga,” the oldest game in the series, accounted for 63% (nearly $945 million) of the spending, Sensor Tower said. It first launched in 2012 and apparently still has a strong and dedicated player base. Its revenue was up 10% compared to 2017. It’s the most downloaded game of all time on iOS, according to mobile app analytics firm App Annie .

Meanwhile, “Candy Crush Soda Saga” accounted for about 29% of the total spending, Sensor Tower said. It grossed about $443 million last year. “Candy Crush Jelly Saga,” which celebrated its third anniversary in August, made an estimated $90 million and represented 6% of the franchise’s revenue in 2018.

The latest game in the franchise, “Candy Crush Friends Saga,” surpassed $3 million in player spending even though it launched in October, according to Sensor Tower. It was reportedly the second most downloaded game in the series last year with more than 30 million installs.

“Candy Crush” is a series of match-3 puzzle games where players complete levels by swapping colored pieces of candy on a game board. It brought in close to 230 million new players last year, the most since 2016 and a 17% increase compared to 2017, Sensor Tower said. “Saga” and “Soda” combined generated an average of 18 billion game rounds in September, according to CBS , which recently aired a game show based on the app.