Nintendo’s latest mobile game, “Dragalia Lost,” came out less than six months ago, but it’s already surpassed “Super Mario Run” and “Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp” in lifetime revenue to date, according to market intelligence company Sensor Tower.
Player spending in “Dragalia Lost” is now more than $75 million worldwide on the App Store and Google Play, Sensor Tower said. That’s more than the estimated $68.6 million in gross revenue “Super Mario Run” made since its launch in December 2016, and more than the estimated $70.8 million “Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp” made since November 2017.
Players in Japan contributed the most toward the action-RPG’s revenues. That country accounts for about 65% of the $75 million grossed to-date, Sensor Tower said. The United States is the game’s second largest market, contributing 18% of the revenue.
“While it’s made only a fraction of the more than $500 million we estimate Nintendo’s best performing mobile game, ‘Fire Emblem Heroes’, has brought in since February 2017, ‘Dragalia Lost’ has established itself as a relatively close second to that title in terms of monthly revenue,” said Sensor Tower head of mobile insights Randy Nelson. “In January, it generated close to $15.7 million in player spending, which was 76% of the $20.7 million grossed by ‘Fire Emblem Heroes’ for the month. What’s important to note is that ‘Dragalia Lost’ achieved this from just five countries, compared to the 40 where ‘Fire Emblem Heroes’ is available.”
Nintendo announced it was teaming up with Japanese developer Cygames to create “Dragalia Lost” in April 2017. It’s the first mobile game from the company not based on an existing intellectual property. Featuring swipe-based controls, it lets players amass a collection of characters, dragons, and items as they complete the story campaign either solo or in 4-player co-op. It has over 60 voiced characters and a soundtrack by Japanese artist Daoko.
