Monster Strike, a mobile action RPG developed by Japan based social networking service company Mixi, made $387 million between April 1 and June 30, according to the company’s latest financial report. As Tokyo-based consultant Dr. Serkan Toto notes, that averages out to roughly $4.2 million a day. The vast majority of Monster Strike players reside in Japan, though the game is available in other markets. Mixi plans to push a “large scale” marketing campaign in the West, where the free-to-play title is already available on iOS and Android devices, sometime in the near future. On the opposite side of the coin, Monster Strike hasn’t been anything close to successful in China, where it’s ceased to accept new users ahead of plans to withdraw from the country entirely.
What is especially astonishing about the FY2015 Q1 figures is that:
- close to 100% of sales should come from Japan alone (in fact, Mixi is currently in the process of closing Monster Strike in China where it already doesn’t accept new user registrations anymore)
- Mixi operated with a 48.6% operating profit margin in the last quarter – and that includes all of its other businesses like ticket sales, photo sharing services, or its eponymous social network
- Japan is home to GungHo Online Entertainment, which operates its own hit Puzzle & Dragons with sales numbers in the same ball park
- Mixi “just” spent around US$ 21 million in advertising (overall) in the same quarter – or US$ 230k per day
On an annualized basis, global companies like Supercell generated only slightly more sales last year while spending 4-5 times more per day on advertising: it pays to be the leader in a high-value, largely closed market. Monster Strike is available in English in North America – where Mixi plans a “large-scale” marketing campaign in Q2.
Source: Serkan Toto and Destructoid
More information: Mixi
