- Industries
BrandsLaunch and accelerate your mobile channel growth
GamingStay ahead of the latest mobile gaming trends
FinanceInform investment and strategic decisions
Publishers & Ad TechIdentify and target the best leads for your solution
- Sensor Tower
Ad IntelligenceStreamline campaigns with network and creative data
App IntelligenceBuild mobile growth with key competitive analysis
Consumer IntelligenceAnalyze granular, true-to-life mobile usage data
Store IntelligenceGenerate deep insights with accurate app store data
Usage IntelligenceMap industry-based spend across digital ad channels
Integrations & APIImprove the way your application talks
Game IntelligenceDrill down into mobile gaming strategies
- Pathmatics
PathmaticsReveal insights about your market, competition, and customers
DashboardMarketing intelligence that helps marketers make smarter decisions
ConnectDigital ad intelligence data to power your systems, tools, and models
Retail Media InsightsSee how your competitors are investing in retail media networks
- Audience Insights
Audience InsightsTarget audiences based on what they actually do.
STORE INTELLIGENCE · RANDY NELSON · DECEMBER 2017
Hearthstone's Kobolds and Catacombs Expansion Doubled the Game's Mobile Revenue—But It Could Have Been Bigger
Sensor Tower data shows that Blizzard's latest expansion trails previous add-ons in terms of revenue impact.
Blizzard's hit digital card game Hearthstone has doubled its mobile revenue since its seventh content expansion, Kobolds and Catacombs, launched on December 7, grossing an estimated $5.2 million worldwide within five days on the App Store and Google Play, according to Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data.
We analyzed the launch of Hearthstone's expansions to date to see where its latest offering stands in terms of total revenue and revenue impact. Keep reading for the results.
Kobold's Success Is Rare, But Not Quite Legendary
As shown in the chart below, Kobolds and Catacombs ranks fourth in terms of worldwide gross revenue during its first five days of availability, behind Journey to Un'goro ($5.5 million), Whispers of the Old Gods ($5.7 million), and the No. 1 expansion in our analysis, Knights of the Frozen Throne ($6.6 million). Note that these totals are estimated player spend on the App Store and Google Play excluding China.
To look at this data from another perspective that accounts for the game's increasing player base since its first expansion launched in 2014, we compared revenue growth for the first five days of availability to the five days leading up to release. By this measure, Kobolds and Catacombs ranks fifth at 119 percent, after Journey to Un'goro (171 percent), Knights of the Frozen Throne (176 percent), Mean Streets of Gadgetzan (311 percent), and the very first Hearthstone expansion, Goblins vs. Gnomes, at 416 percent growth.
Blizzard Is Playing the Long Game
While grossing more than $1 million per day is a metric many mobile gaming publishers would be happy to claim, the figures above reveal that — despite an impressive amount of pre-launch marketing — this expansion hasn't quite gripped player's wallets in the same way as the two other 2017 releases. That said, Blizzard clearly still has a strong grasp on what will make players continue to spend in a game that averages more than $8 million per month on mobile worldwide and isn't showing any signs of slowing.
