From fledging upstarts to mature markets, the mobile gaming segment has evolved at an unprecedented rate. In the past few years, the mobile gaming industry has become increasingly significant in the global digital games market. Today, Google Play Store and iTunes store are flooded with a variety of exciting mobile gaming applications and mobile gaming companies are seeking to offer new gaming experiences to their dedicated fans.
Top 30 mobile gaming companies in the world 2019
1. Supercell
One of the leading and recognizable mobile gaming companies, Supercell is based in Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 2010, Supercell has had an astonishing growth curve thanks to popular game offerings like ‘Clash of Clans’ and ‘Hay Day.’ In 2017, the company scored a profit of around $1 billion with 100 million active monthly users. Supercell is currently valued at an impressive $10 billion.
2. Niantic
A small time American gaming company previously owned by Google, Niantic has gone from obscurity to being counted amongst the top mobile gaming companies in record time. Niantic lab exploded onto the scene with its most famed augmented reality game Pokémon Go. With over 100 million downloads, Pokémon Go became one of the most headlined games in 2016. Last year, Niantic announced that its successor to Pokémon GO will feature the incomparable, and immensely profitable, Harry Potter.
3. Tencent
Tencent is a leading value-added internet services provider that became the first Chinese tech brand to be valued at over $500 billion. The 19-year-old company has showed no signs of slowing down- indicative of the massive Chinese surge in tech advancement. Gaming makes up a significant part of Tencent’s revenue, with its most well-known game being ‘Honor of Kings”.
4. NetEase
One of the top Chinese online and mobile gaming companies, NetEase poses significant competition to Tencent. Although better known for its distribution of World of Warcraft and other Blizzard games in China, NetEase’s foray into mobile gaming has been a successful endeavor thus far. It presently holds the number one position in the Chinese App Store with the game, Fantasy Westward Journey. The company is also ranked fourth in terms of global revenues amongst mobile gaming companies. Currently, NetEase is also the number two iOS publisher in China.
5. Machine Zone
A little-known game developer that began with text-based role-playing games a few years ago, Machine Zone is now a prominent player in the mobile gaming industry after launching the “Game of War: Fire Age.” Machine Zone was previously known as Addmired and rebranded after it annexed $8 million in funding from Menlo Ventures.
6. Netmarble
Netmarble is South Korea’s largest mobile gaming company and was founded by Bang Jun-Hyuk (the most headlined entrepreneur). One of Netmarble’s games wound up in the top 5 grossing charts spanning 78 countries around the world, thereby earning this pioneer instant recognition amongst global mobile gaming companies. The company has reached this milestone with two games actually- Lineage 2 Revolution and Marvel Contest of Champions. According to App Annie, Netmarble was ranked No.8 pertaining to global in-app sales last year.
7. King Digital Entertainment
King Digital Entertainment, the makers of ‘Candy Crush,’ is a world-leading interactive entertainment company specializing in mobile gaming. The company’s Candy Crush franchise has surpassed 2.75 billion downloads since the first game in the series launched on mobile five years ago. King Digital Entertainment’s franchises include Candy Crush, Pet Rescue, Farm Heroes, and Bubble Witch.
8. EA Mobile
EA, the popular video game company, is making well timed and profitable sorties into the mobile gaming domain with EA Mobile. The creator of sports-related games including, FIFA 15 Ultimate Team, and Madden NFL, EA has seen a substantial shift in the amount of business it transacts over mobile devices. EA Mobile hit a milestone of $500 million in 12-month revenues in 2016, and for the subsequent year, mobile revenues surpassed $637 million.
9. Mixi
Mixi Inc.’s ‘Monster Strike’ game is a mobile juggernaut in Japan. It has frequently been ranked amongst the top grossing mobile gaming apps on both iOS and Android, boasts of over 40 million downloads, and has spawned a devoted fanbase.
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10. GungHo Online Entertainment
Gungho Online Entertainment is the largest game publisher in Japan, well-known for the ‘Puzzle and Dragons’ application, a combination of a standard gem-matching game and a Japanese-style RPG. This wildly successful game has already been downloaded 47 million times in the region. While it has been immensely successful in its native Japan, uptake in the lucrative and critical US market has been slower.
11. Nintendo
Nintendo is one of the most vibrant makers of mobile games in the industry. The company enjoyed a profitable 2017, thanks to the Nintendo Switch and the long awaited foray into mobile gaming. From ‘Super Mario Run’ to ‘Animal Crossing’ and ‘Zelda’, Nintendo is consistently launching a range of mobile gaming applications that will eventually help them annex a significant stake in the industry.
12. Jam City
Jam City is top-of-the-heap amongst a slew of globally popular US based mobile gaming companies. Founded in 2010, Jam City has introduced multiple mobile games that have been downloaded more than 800 million times cumulatively. The most popular amongst these is ‘Panda Pop’, which has amassed over 100 million downloads with 9.3 million monthly active users.
13. Sony
Sony Interactive Entertainment formed a new company dedicated to developing mobile games, namely ForwardWorks Corporation. Sony’s move towards mobile gaming piggybacks off of Nintendo’s recent prominent entry into the mobile gaming market. Last year, it revealed its first batch of mobile games, including new titles for Wild Arms, Hot Shots Golf, and Arc the Lad series.
14. Peak Games
Peak Games, a Turkish outfit, made its first appearance into casino games in 2016 with Bid Whist and Gin Rummy. Throughout 2016 and 2017, the company’s games including ‘Toy Blast’ and ‘Toon Blast’ became a consistent top 20 App Store top grosser in the UK and US. A major part of Peak Games’ success is driven by how the brand reaches out to underserved markets with culturally-specific games that employ strong monetization and engagement strategies.
15. Com2uS
A Korea-based developer and publisher of mobile games, Com2uS Corporation is consistently building its reputation and winning awards at home and abroad. The company provides an enormous selection of online sports, arcade, action, music and role-playing games, which are accessible on multiple platforms including Android and iOS. Com2uS corporation’s mobile games include Homerun Battle, Derby Days, Tiny Farm, Las Vegas Story, Witch Wars, Zombie Band, Escape the Ape, Chocohero, and MiniGame Paradise.
16. NCSOFT
After two decades of innovating, South Korea-based NCSOFT has become one of the biggest mobile gaming companies on the planet. NCSOFT boasts of a long list of hits and efficacious franchises. Games like its flagship title, ‘Lineage’, were blockbusters in Asia. It has also produced some interesting games including WildStar, Guild Wars, City of Heroes and Aion.
17. Square Enix
Square Enix Holdings Co, a Japanese video game developer, has been an active player in the mobile gaming space with titles based on its popular role-playing games and original free-to-play titles like ‘Final Fantasy XIV.’ Square Enix recently announced that it will launch more games in 2018.
18. Miniclip
The maker of 8 Ball Pool, Agar.io and Football Strike, Miniclip is a legend amid mobile gaming companies. The company hit a significant milestone recently by accruing one billion downloads for its mobile portfolio. Today, it boasts of almost 200 million monthly active users, and its flagship mobile game ‘8 Ball Pool’ has become a number one top grosser on the UK App Store in January 2017. With its newly launched Football Strike mobile game, Miniclip is set up nicely for future success.
19. IGG
I Got Games (IGG) is a Singapore based company that gained immense success with its most popular game, ‘Castle Clash.’ The latter continues to experience strong year-on-year growth, generating over $120 million annually.
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20. Rovio
Released in 2009 and downloaded over 3 billion times already, the ‘Angry Birds’ game is the top paid mobile gaming app of all times. Angry Birds is the brainchild of Finland based Rovio. After a slow start, Rovio has seen a resurgence over the last two years with ‘Angry birds 2’, which has been a consistent top 50 grosser game following a series of updates. In 2017, the company launched several new mobile titles such as Angry Birds Match, Angry Birds Evolution, and Battle Bay.
21. CyberAgent
CyberAgent is a media conglomerate whose businesses range from smartphone advertising to mobile video and games. The company has achieved impressive revenues, thanks to the continued strong performance of its games like Shadowverse, Granblue Fantasy and Cinderella Girls Starlight Stage.
22. Ourpalm
Ourpalm, a leading China-based developer of mobile games, has become a massive entertainment company, thanks to investments, acquisitions and strategic partnerships in the animation, film, television, VR, and gaming sectors. Today, Ourpalm is a major force driving the growth of the global gaming market, both on PC and mobile.
23. Playrix
Russia’s Playrix has quickly become a major influencer amongst the global mobile gaming companies. It has scored three remarkable hits, and recently, it has introduced another major mobile gaming money-spinner with Homescapes. The latter has had 7 million downloads on Android and iOS in its first week. Victories like this have allowed Playrix to become one of the top 30 mobile gaming companies on the planet.
24. COLOPL, Inc.
Alongside Mixi and GungHo Online, COLOPL is one of Japan’s most successful mobile game developers in terms of popularity as well as profit margin. Although COLOPL develops mobile games that rarely make it to the US, they are hugely popular in Japan. COLOPL doubled-down on its local domestic market, launching ‘White Cat Tennis’, and investing massively in the nascent virtual reality (VR) market.
25. Nexon
Founded in 2013, Nexon is a mobile game developer and operator based in Los Angeles and Oakland. Nexon is primarily focused on free-to-play games for mobile and counts some of the world’s leading developers as its partners, including Ndoors, Shiver Entertainment, Secret New Co and Turbo. Nexon’s recently released game, Dynasty Warriors Unleashed, racked up six million downloads in 2017.
26. Pocket Gems
Pocket Gems, the mobile game developer based in San Francisco and creator of the hugely popular ‘War Dragons’, is growing at an unprecedented rate. Its products have been downloaded over 280 million times around the world. With backing from Tencent and Sequoia Capital, Pocket Gems is breaking new ground with fun new genres of mobile entertainment, graphically rich mobile games and innovations like the mobile-first Mantis Engine.
27. Scopely
Los Angeles based mobile game startup studio Scopely is tackling the global mobile game market with a completely unique approach. Scopely has built a unique platform for promoting and monetizing mobile games, whether created in-house or by third-party studios. Its titles include Wheel of Fortune Free Play, The Walking Dead: Road to Survival, and WWE Champions. Recently, the firm announced that it has raised $60 million in Series C financing.
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28. Playdemic
Founded in 2010, Playdemic is a free-to-play mobile game developer based in the UK. Their market leading ‘Golf Clash’ game has all the ingredients that define a popular ‘viral game’ and is designed to provide a fun and competitive experience. In July 2017, Golf Clash was said to have earned over $1 million in a single day. This success led Playdemic to be acquired by Warner Bros-owned TT Games with an intent to develop new mobile projects.
29. Flaregames
Flaregames is a fast-growing mobile game developer based in Germany. 2016 was the turning point for Flaregames, thanks to Kopla Games’ (acquired sister concern) adventure ‘Nonstop Knight’. It is said that the game alone tripled the developer’s revenue and significant profits turned the company’s cash-flow positive.
30. Ustwo
Ustwo is best known for its incredible game, ‘Monument Valley‘. Over the last few years, Monument Valley has won countless awards and fan approval. While this game continued to get impressive sale figures, Ustwo announced ‘Monument Valley 2’ at Apple’s annual WWDC 2017 event. As a result, it topped download charts globally and hit the 50th place on the US top grossing chart.
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