It’s no secret that video games like the wildly popular Angry Birds can be a huge moneymaker for developers.
Some of the most popular video games coded for consoles and PCs often rival the piles of cash generated by top Hollywood films. Although most mobile games don’t carry the same buzz as franchises such as CoD or MW, they are still quite capable of racking up a nice amount of change for devs.
Currently, one of the most popular games on the iOS platform is dubbed “CSR Racing.” Essentially, this is a drag racing game that gamers control by moving their iPhone back and forth. The title was developed by a company known as NaturalMotion, which recently confirmed CSR had exceeded a cool $12 million in monthly revenue.
It should be noted that the highest earning iOS game record was previously set by Infinity Blade, which clocked in at around $5 million monthly – an amount reached in December 2012.
CSR Racing is an interesting game that has partnerships with Ford, Mini, Nissan and several other automakers – allowing the game to feature an extensive lineup of cars based on real life vehicles. As expected, all the above-mentioned cash is made through in app purchases. Indeed, players earn credits in the game to purchase cars and upgrades, but it’s obviously much faster to whip out real money to buy game credits for upgrades.
“We tried to monetize many parts of the game, but not too aggressively,” explained NaturalMotion CEO Torsten Reil. “We think this is a more sustainable and defensible approach that’s ended up working.”
Interestingly, NaturalMotion kicked off over a decade ago as a company specializing in realistic 3D animation of the human body. Technology developed by the corporation has been licensed to numerous studios including Rockstar Games, where it was used for GTA4. NaturalMotion technology also made an appearance in the big Hollywood film Troy, starring Brad Pitt.
