Harry Potter Mobile Games Magic Up $1 Billion in Global Player Spending

Mobile games based on the Harry Potter IP have generated a combined $1 billion from player spending worldwide across the App Store and Google Play, Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data reveals.

The highest revenue-generating mobile title to utilize the license is Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery from Jam City, which has accumulated more than $400 million in revenue since its release in April 2018. The No. 2 top grossing title based on the franchise is Harry Potter: Magic Awakened from NetEase with approximately $358 million. The title is currently only available in select markets such as China, where 90.6 percent of its revenue is generated, as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells from Zynga ranks No. 3 with more than $218 million. Geolocation AR title Harry Potter: Wizards Unite from Niantic, meanwhile, ranks No. 4 with $39.6 million.

Mobile Spellbook

According to Sensor Tower Game Intelligence, Harry Potter: Magic Awakened ranked as the No. 31 revenue generating IP-based mobile title worldwide between January 1 and September 30, 2022, accumulating $85.4 million. It ranked above titles such as FIFA Online 4 M from Nexon and Game of Thrones: Conquest from Warner Bros. Analyzing just titles based off of book licenses, Magic Awakened ranked No. 1 by player spending during the period, followed by Puzzles & Spells at No. 2 and Hogwarts Mystery at No. 3. Sherlock from G5 Entertainment and Peter Rabbit: Hidden World from Poppin Games round out the top five at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.

Bold Beasts

The United States ranks as the No. 1 market for Harry Potter games by player spending, accounting for $374.8 million, or 36.6 percent of total revenue. China ranks No. 2 with $324.3 million, or 31.6 percent, via iOS alone (Sensor Tower does not track spending on third-party Android stores, such as those found in China), while Germany rounds out the top three with $51.6 million, or 5 percent of total player spending.

The App Store accounts for the lion’s share of global revenue, picking up approximately $683 million, or 66.6 percent of revenue. Google Play, meanwhile, accounts for $342.5 million, or 33.4 percent. Outside of China, however, there is a much more even revenue split, as Google Play accounts for 49 percent of international player spending, while the App Store makes up 51 percent.

When it comes to downloads, Harry Potter mobile titles have accumulated more than 156 million installs worldwide to date across the App Store and Google Play. The U.S. ranks as the No. 1 country by downloads, picking up 31.8 million installs, or approximately 20 percent of the total. China ranks No. 2, while Brazil ranks No. 3.

Google Play accounts for the largest shares of Harry Potter mobile game downloads, generating 84.5 million installs, or 54 percent of the total. The App Store, meanwhile, accounts for approximately 72 million installs, or 46 percent.

Wizarding World

Since the launch of the first book, The Philosopher's Stone, in 1997, Harry Potter has become one of the most successful entertainment franchises in the world, spawning a series of sequels, films, attractions and video games. Not every mobile game entry has been a hit–particularly when matched with the popularity of the license–but the IP has shown it has the power to generate publishers hundreds of millions of dollars in both Eastern and Western markets. However, revenue for Harry Potter games was down by 32 percent year-over-year during the first three quarters of 2022, suggesting that even the wizarding world is not immune to wider industry challenges, and that the current crop of titles have perhaps peaked–at least in currently available markets.