King float raises fears that Candy Crush has peaked
KING’S filing for its public offering yesterday revealed that Candy Crush Saga, the game that accounts for 78 per cent of King’s revenue, could be in decline.
Candy Crush was 2013’s top grossing mobile app, but King’s gross bookings fell 2.5 per cent in the fourth quarter to $632m (£378m), led by a drop in Candy Crush’s gross bookings.
“If the gross bookings of our top games, including Candy Crush Saga, are lower than anticipated and we are unable to broaden our portfolio of games or increase gross bookings from those games… our financial results could be adversely affected,” King warned in its filing.
King last year turned a profit of $714.3m on revenue that grew to $1.9bn.
“A few titles from companies like King, Supercell and Electronic Arts dominate 40 to 50 per cent of all the revenue on the app store,” IHS analyst Jack Kent told City A.M. “What we have not seen is developers repeating their success.”