Animoca Brands (ASX:AB1) dominates Asian charts with 1.8 million downloads in under 2 weeks for new game, Doraemon Gadget Rush
Most daily downloaded iPad game on the App Store in Japan, China, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and more
Hong Kong – February 17, 2015 – The latest mobile game released by Animoca Brands, Doraemon Gadget Rush, topped charts on the App Store℠ after having been downloaded over 1.8 million times in less than two weeks since launch, and the company has signed a deal to publish the game in China.
Animoca Brands (ASX:AB1), which listed on the ASX in January, is the only ASX-listed pure play mobile game developer, with over 116 million downloads of its games and growing at 3-4 million downloads per month. Animoca Brands develops and publishes games including titles based on globally loved brands such as Doraemon, Garfield, Ultraman and more; its portfolio of Garfield games has garnered over 40 million downloads to date.
Doraemon Gadget Rush, based on Doraemon, the 12th highest-grossing animated franchise of all time (behind Pokémon), launched on February 5, 2015 and became the number one downloaded iPad® app in China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Brunei and Macau, based on daily rankings. It reached the status of most downloaded iPad game in Japan, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Macau, and Brunei (source: App Annie Store Stats for free downloads of iPad apps and games, highest daily rankings in the period February 5-16, 2015).
The game also performed well for iPhone®, entering the Top 10 daily lists for most downloaded free iPhone games in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Macau (source: App Annie Store Stats for free downloads of iPhone games, highest daily rankings in the period February 5-16, 2015).
Following the success of the launch of Doraemon Gadget Rush, Animoca Brands has signed a term sheet with Ourpalm Co. Ltd, a Chinese listed leading social web and mobile game developer and publisher, to publish Doraemon Gadget Rush on the Android platform in China and further boost popularity of the game.
“At Animoca Brands we pursue a ‘hit-resistant’ strategy based on producing a large volume of games to appeal to different markets, demographics, genres, niches, and play styles,” said Animoca Brands CEO Robert Yung. “Thanks to this calculated diversification of risk, and unlike the vast majority of competitors, we don't need our individual games to become blockbusters in order for our company to be successful. But it certainly helps when a game becomes as popular as Doraemon Gadget Rush!"
The company plans to release several new titles per month going forward (compared to about 5 titles per year for many other game studios).
Animoca Brands has a rich data set of user behaviour compiled over 4 years across over 160 titles and millions of users, giving it a higher degree of confidence in knowing which games are likely to appeal to a particular demographic, and which marketing methods are likely to result in a higher download rate of the game amongst that demographic.
The majority of games produced by Animoca Brands operate on a ‘freemium’ revenue model, whereby games are free to play and offer optional in-app purchases of virtual items and services. The company also generates revenues from in-app advertising and publishing other developers’ games.
2014 data released by Newzoo/Distimo indicate that the $25b mobile gaming market will grow to $40.9b annual spend by 2017. In terms of revenue generated by games on Apple’s App Store, Japan is ranked first, China is ranked third, and Taiwan is ranked tenth.
Doraemon is the title character of the famous Japanese manga and anime series by Fujiko F. Fujio. First appearing in 1969, the Doraemon manga tells the story of a robotic cat from our future who travels back in time to look after a boy named Nobita Nobi. The award-winning manga sold over 100 million copies worldwide and was adapted into television series, dozens of feature films, short films, videogames, and even a musical.
Doraemon’s licensing company, Fujiko Pro, issued Animoca Brands with a license to build mobile games using the characters of Doraemon and friends. Animoca Brands’ previous Doraemon game is titled Doraemon Repair Shop, and is available on both the App Store and Google Play™.
The latest Doraemon feature film, Doraemon: Nobita’s Space Heroes, will open in cinemas around the world in early March 2015 to commemorate 36 years of the franchise.
Availability:
Doraemon Gadget Rush is available worldwide for Android on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.animoca.google.doraemonpuzzle and on the App Store for iPhone, iPad or iPod touch® at http://itunes.apple.com/app/id848147135.
To view a video trailer of the game, visit http://youtu.be/GxF2aduqU_Q. Visit the Doraemon Gadget Rush Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DoraemonGadgetRush.
Get updates by “liking” Animoca Brands on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/animocabrands, following @AnimocaBrands on Twitter, or following Animoca Brands on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/u/0/113720175586022667118/posts.
For game logo, screenshots and other assets, please contact press@animocabrands.com.
Download Ranks Information (free registration)
App Annie highest daily rankings for Doraemon Gadget Rush on iPad: http://www.appannie.com/apps/ios/app/848147135/app-ranking/#device=ipad&type=best-ranks
App Annie highest daily rankings for Doraemon Gadget Rush on iPhone: http://www.appannie.com/apps/ios/app/848147135/app-ranking/#device=iphone&type=best-ranks
Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Google Play and Android are trademarks of Google Inc.
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd. (ASX: AB1) was formed in 2014 largely through the spinoff of the licensing and publishing portion of the app portfolio of Animoca (Appionics Holdings Ltd.). Animoca Brands publishes globally a broad portfolio of mobile games, including several games based on popular intellectual properties such as Garfield, Ultraman, and Doraemon. The company’s games have been downloaded over 100 million times. Animoca Brands is based in Hong Kong. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com.
