2023's Apparent Biggest Mobile Game Launch Is Not What You Expect

Game company Scopely has announced that its mobile game Monopoly Go has now raked in more than $1 billion in revenue, becoming 2023's "biggest mobile game launch," according to the company.

Scopely, which is owned by Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games, added that Monopoly Go is bringing in more than $200 million every month. Citing data.ai, Scopely went on to say that Monopoly Go reaching $1 billion in revenue after seven months on the market is faster than any other casual game in mobile game history. Monopoly Go is a free game that makes money through microtransactions, as is the way many mobile games handle monetization.

The mobile game market is bigger and more lucrative than console and PC. Part of the reason why Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard was to get a foothold in the mobile market with titles like Candy Crush and Diablo Immortal. EA, for its part, spent billions to acquire Glu Mobile, the developer of Kim Kardashian's popular mobile game.

In terms of downloads, Scopely says Monopoly Go has been downloaded more than 100 mllion times already. Players have collectively passed go more than 40 billion times and got sent to jail more than 6 billion times. Scopely said players have sent more than 150 million friend invites.

Scopely went on to say that Monopoly Go is played by "millions" of people every day around the world. Monopoly Go is a mobile version of the iconic board game, and it's the third Hasbro property that Scopely has worked on, following Scrabble Go and Yahtzee With Buddies.

You may not necessarily be familiar with Scopely, but it's a gaming giant, having previously worked on Star Trek, The Walking Dead, and Marvel games. Beyond licensed games, Scopely is behind the popular Fall Guys-like battle royale game, Stumble Guys.

It was acquired by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund earlier this year for $4.9 billion, which made it one of the top 10 most expensive acquisitions in the history of video games.