21 Mobile Games That Have Earned Over A $1 Billion

In my younger days, mobile gaming meant having a handheld version of your home console; the game gear, the game boy, etc… you know, those old stalwarts. Then phones got cool enough to have downloadable games like Angry Birds and Flappy Bird to keep us company on our commutes.

Then, sometime in 2012, true mobile games came out that were monitized, offering in-app/in-game purchases and online game play. Then, shit got real. All of a sudden, there were legit tournaments, kids getting addicted and popular Twitch streams.

Now, these guys are billionaires. Who’d have guessed?

PUBG Mobile
Total Lifetime Sales: Roughly $2 billion

Released in March of 2018, it really exploded this past Q2, reaching revenue of around $160 million/month.

Fortnite
Total Lifetime Sales: $2.4 Billion+

Late last year, Forbes was reporting that the game was earning $1 Million a day on mobile, with more registered users than Tinder.

It’s now the world most top earning game.

Lineage M
Total Lifetime Sales: $1.2 Billion

This game was one of the most popular mobile games in South Korea, and made a quarter of a billion within the first month of release in 2017. It crossed the billion mark in Jan 2018, and has since cooled down.

Lineage 2 Revolution
Total Lifetime Sales: $1 Billion +

This game dropped in South Korea in 2016, and within 11 months, was just shy of a billion. Now, it’s been hovering somewhere over that benchmark, still driving revenue for the company.

Pokemon GO
Total Lifetime Sales: As of March 2019 – $2.45 Billion.

It only took 7 months to hit $1 Billion, and it’s not stopping anytime soon.

Clash Royale
Total Lifetime Sales: $1 Billion +

Not sure where this game sits now, but it dropped in 2016, and hit the billion mark by the following January. This game was a pioneer in monetizing mobile games.

Fantasy Westward Journey
Total Lifetime Sales: $1.5 Billion in 2017

At its peak, the game had hundreds of millions of players, and is still going strong, 4 years after release.

Honor of Kings
Total Lifetime Sales: As of March – $4.5 Billion.

This is one of the most popular mobile games out there, with the majority of its users in China.

Fate/Grand Order
Total Lifetime Sales: $3 Billion

Making over $982 within the first 2 years of its release, it’s jumped in popularity recently in Japan, with their players contributing 82 of that revenue.

Mobile Strike
Total Lifetime Sales: Roughly $1 Billion

MZ pushed this game everywhere and roped in Arnold Schwarzenegger for the marketing, and it shows. Sadly, they haven’t been all that transparent with their exact numbers, but it’s a monster game.

Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle
Total Lifetime Sales: $1.6 Billion as of March 2019.

This game got insanely popular because the developers timed the release with a plot point on the tv show, as well as offered a 77 hour in-game summoning festival for the chance to win some coveted characters.

Boom Beach
Total Lifetime Sales: Roughly $1 Billion

This is one of Supercell’s least popular hits, but it’s still a sick game. It had a huge launch in 2014, and now is doing pretty well for itself.

Monster Strike
Total Lifetime Sales: $7 Billion (estimated)

This Japanese game was on fire in 2015, earning more than $4.2 million/day. They supposedly hit their huge numbers in 2018, but it’s also due to merchandizing, an anime on the IP and tournaments.

Game of War: Fire Age
Total Lifetime Sales: Roughly $1 Billion

This game is notable for 2 things: the first is using Kate Upton in their ads and 2) playable ads.

Disney Tsum Tsum
Total Lifetime Sales: $1.5 Billion

Coming out in 2013 and containing some minimalistic Disney characters, this game is always in the top 10 grossing charts in Japan.

Also, according to the developer, this game has ben played over 165.4 billion times since launch.

Candy Crush Saga
Total Lifetime Sales: $3.91 Billion

If you’ve only played one mobile game in your life, odds are, it was this one. Every month, there are 18 billion games being played and the game and its sequels are always in the bestseller charts.

Clash of Clans
Total Lifetime Sales: $4 Billion +

This is one of mobile gaming’s biggest revenue generators, and it assumed to be one of the greatest grossing games of all time, across all platforms.

It’s thought that the game earns $1 billion a year, since it’s release.

Hay Day
Total Lifetime Sales: $1 Billion+

This was the first game that Supercell ever developed and set the market for mobile games. And it still in the top 80 highest grossing mobile games on the US App store.

EA Sports
Total Lifetime Sales: $1 Billion+

This isn’t one single game, but the entire franchise, on the backs of the Madden NFL franchise and the free-to-play FIFA games. While the current earnings are still on the low side, they’ve got some ideas in the pipe that’ll grow their sports revenue.