Success Factors in Profitable Mobile Games : From the Perspective of Top-Earning Nordic Game Developers

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to study top-earning Nordic mobile games in order to pinpoint what it is that makes them profitable from the perspective of the game developer. This study seeks to identify these elements, so that the information can be used as a reference to produce profitable mobile games in the future. The question that drives this study is, “which factors make up a profitable mobile game according to top-earning Nordic mobile game companies?” To answer the problem statement, the study mainly employs qualitative interviews of representatives from two Nordic game development companies, King and Rovio, as well a representative from The Swedish Games Industry. A small quantitative study on user comments from these companies’ mobile games was performed to support the interviews. Our findings show that a well-implemented business model as well as a properly targeted audience are most crucial for having a profitable application. However, in order for a mobile game to be profitable, it must first be popular among players, which entails that it must be fun and easily discoverable by potential users.