Star Wars Mobile Games Rise Past $1 Billion in Lifetime Revenue

Star Wars games currently active on the App Store and Google Play have generated more than $1 billion in global player spending over the past six years, Sensor Tower Store Intelligence estimates show.

Leading the way is Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes from Electronic Arts, which has generated $924 million to date, or 87 percent of total user spending, and is on track to hit $1 billion from lifetime revenue in 2020. The No. 2 grossing title is Star Wars Commander from Zynga, which has picked up $93 million, or 9 percent, while LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga from Warner Bros. has accumulated $11 million, or 1 percent, rounding out the top three.

The release of each annual Star Wars film since The Force Awakens in 2015 has resulted in the highest grossing month for the mobile games each year, except for 2018, which saw the theatrical release of Solo in May. That was the fourth highest grossing month of 2018—interestingly still higher than the Christmas period, which is typically a bumper time for revenue regardless of external influences. This helps show just how influential the films have been in boosting user spending.

The United States accounts for the majority of revenue generated to date, with user spending reaching $640 million, or 61 percent of the total. Germany ranked No. 2 with $66 million, or 6 percent of all spending, and Great Britain was No. 3 after picking up $57 million, or 5 percent.

The App Store accounts for the majority of gross revenue, with iOS users spending $534 million, or 50.4 percent of the total. Google Play users, meanwhile, spent $524 million in the games, or 49.6 percent of all spending.

When it comes to downloads, combined installs of current Star Wars mobile titles have hit almost 273 million to date for the apps we tracked. Galaxy of Heroes still reigns supreme, generating close to 70 million unique installs to date, or 26 percent of all downloads. Angry Birds Star Wars from Rovio was No. 2 for downloads with 63 million installs, or 23 percent, while Angry Birds star Wars 2 ranked No. 3 with approximately $61 million, or 22 percent of the total.

Much like with user spending, the U.S. was also No. 1 for downloads with 64 million installs, or 24 percent of the total. Russia generated the second highest number of downloads with 21.5 million, or 8 percent, and Brazil ranked No. 3 with 17 million downloads, or 6 percent.

Google Play took the lion’s share of installs with 172 million downloads, or 63 percent of all installs. The App Store meanwhile generated 100 million downloads, or 37 percent of the total.

The Force is Strong With This One

The No. 1 app for average revenue per download is Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, which currently stands at approximately $13.20. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic from Aspyr Media, meanwhile, has an estimated RPD of $9.00, while Star Wars: Commander stands at around $2.80.

Given the films have typically resulted in a bump for user spending, today’s theatrical release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will likely spark an increase in revenue for December 2019. With the films set to be released less often moving forward, and the Skywalker saga concluded, it will be interesting to see how the franchise develops on mobile moving forward, and whether tie-ins with Disney+ shows such as The Mandalorian will start having an impact on spending.