Candy Crush creator King Digital continues profit level of £575m
King, the mobile gaming developer, reported in 2014 a profit of $575m, boosted by November’s release of Candy Crush Soda Saga on iOS, Android and Windows smartphones.
The firm on Thursday (13 February) reported an annual profit of $575m for 2014, an increase of one per cent ($7m) upon 2013's results. Meanwhile, profit was $141m, a decline of $19m (12 per cent) year-on-year.
Furthermore, King announced that for Q4, non-Candy Crush titles recorded a 55 per cent of gross bookings, an industry standard measurement of in-game purchases which have yet to be monetised, generating $324m.
Daily active users (DAU) during Q4 increased to 149 million, a year-on-year increase of 20 per cent. However, monthly unique payers (MUP), the number of individuals making in-app purchases on a monthly basis, saw a 31 per cent YOY drop by $3.8m to $8.3m. The firm attributed the decrease in MUPs to its adoption of virtual currency in the third quarter of 2014, requiring users to make those one-off transactions less often.
The results represent a turnaround for the company which recorded a poor second quarter in August, with subsequent releases propping King back into the green.
Riccardo Zacconi, chief executive of King, said: “Our full year and fourth quarter 2014 results demonstrate the strength of our franchises, the extraordinary power of our massive player network and our ability to repeatedly launch new top grossing games.
“This is evident in the strong performance of our most recent launch, Candy Crush Soda Saga, which soared to the top of the mobile download list and became a top 10 grossing game worldwide on Apple's App Store and Google Play Store very quickly after its launch according to App Annie .
Zacconi added: "We are pleased with this recent success and look forward to continuing to deliver innovative games and features to delight our players in 2015 and beyond.”
Shares jumped 21 per cent on Thursday as the company exceeding earning expectations.