With the continuous growth of the gaming market, the total number of mobile game downloads in 2023 reached 88 billion, marking a 2% decrease compared to the previous year. On iOS, the countries with the most downloads were the United States (2.1 billion), China (1.2 billion), and Japan (355 million). Mobile games accounted for 49% of total sales, generating around $90 billion in revenue. The mobile game market is expected to rebound, with projections indicating it will grow to $118 billion in revenue by 2027.
With the revenue potential of the mobile industry attracting more and more players committed to breaking down the barriers of competition through innovative technologies, many small and medium-sized indie developers have been able to achieve great success in developing interesting and high-quality games that appeal to gamers. This includes the two indie game developers we will be focusing on today, Top Games and uCool, and how they have managed to break out of the competition by forging unique paths.
Top Games was founded in 2015, and in 2016 it released a game that saw its revenues soar—Evony: The King's Return. This is a war strategy game based on different civilizations, featuring resource collection, management, and unique characteristics such as the summoning and use of legendary characters from across time and space, like Napoleon, King Arthur, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Cleopatra. The game also includes in-depth human strategy gameplay, where players need to master various skills, and strong social alliances, where players join forces to participate in large-scale battles. The game supports more than 25 auto-translated languages to help players from all over the world communicate.
The game has been on the market for over seven years, with over 200 million downloads to date. Founder and CEO David Guo maintains his team's core drive to continually improve the user experience and bring fun games to players all over the world, a development philosophy he adheres to in all their projects.
uCool was established earlier than Top Games, in 2012. The former CEO, Lu Lu, is an outstanding female entrepreneur with excellent game development management and marketing strategic vision. She successfully launched Heroes Charge, an action RPG game that has attracted millions of players. The game has been rated 4/5 stars by Gamezebo, and one of uCool's innovative marketing strategies included advertising during the Super Bowl, which helped the game reach more users and improve its ranking.
Top Games has developed eight game projects, while uCool has developed about six. The number of their projects shows that small and medium-sized independent developers are bound to experiment in different game genres. Success is a probability, but it requires finding the right methods and learning from continuous experience, rather than imitating other successful games. "Imitation is not a rational choice for a successful game developer," as the success of TPI and uCool demonstrates. Their success means they are more innovative and creatively free, as well as goal-oriented.
TPI's VP, Benjamin Gifford, said the company is constantly adapting to market developments and changes. They plan to further integrate AI into game mechanics, using it for comprehensive player behavior analysis. "AI is becoming a game-changer, automating tasks, fostering creativity, and enabling adaptive gaming environments. At TGI, we’re harnessing this tool to tailor game experiences, enhance user engagement, and streamline development and support processes," Benjamin explained.