Match-3 games have always been popular in wide circles of fans of passing time. They are simple and straightforward, don't require a lot of time from the players and give the opportunity to play them almost always. And not so long ago, AppMagic reported that Royal Match by Dream Games managed to earn 3 billion dollars in total!
Let's try to figure out together what the reason for the staggering success of this genre is and look at the Match-3 market as a whole.
Let's try to figure out together what the reason for the staggering success of this genre is and look at the Match-3 market as a whole.
Looking at the market of Match-3 games, it can be seen that over a long period of time there were few changes. The leading games have been gradually losing market share, with Candy Crush Saga dropping 11% over the year and Homescapes dropping 13%. At the same time, Gardenscapes' shares were up 22% year-over-year. However, this pales in comparison to Royal Match, whose earnings were up 84% year-on-year. Notably, a significant market share shift occurred in July 2023, when Royal Match surpassed Candy Crush Saga in monthly revenue, and has held onto that achievement ever since.
What was the reason for the success of this game? Several factors influenced it:
What was the reason for the success of this game? Several factors influenced it:
- Marketing partnerships with celebrities
- A good mix of LiveOps
- The effect of advertising creatives
Thus, analyzing the Match-3 market, we can confidently state that Royal Match has achieved significant success. The application managed to overcome high barriers to entry and not only enter the elite group of first-level applications, but also bypass the long-standing market leader thanks to a comprehensive marketing strategy. However, further growth of ratings has stopped for the moment: the market of Royal Match and second-tier games is stabilizing, and there is even a slight decline in the segment of first-tier games. At the same time, newcomers, despite their risky strategies aimed at an atypical audience, remain far behind the leading games of the genre.
