The Clash of Clans season pass launched a little over a week ago and it’s been a smashing success for the developers behind the game. The new business model has seen the game’s revenue more than double in just a few short days, making for a total 145% increase in overall revenue. In total, the Clash of Clans Gold Pass has earned $27 million in this week alone.
Sensor Tower reports that the Clash of Clans season pass has caused players worldwide to spend close to $3.9 million a day since its introduction, totaling $27 million in revenue for the week. The week prior to the introduction of the Gold Pass saw players spending $1.6 million a day collectively and grossing $11 million over seven days. Purchases of the Gold Pass in the United States (priced at $4.99) skyrocketed the game to the top five in iPhone revenue in 46 countries. The app also hit the #1 spot on the US app store for the first time since October 2017.
Clash of Clans is a free-to-play strategy game for mobile devices that first released for iOS in 2012 and Android in 2013. While it’s entirely possible to play the game for free, many players opt to spend money on premium purchases for cosmetics and gameplay-enhancing effects. These purchases have made a significant amount of money for developer Supercell; Clash of Clans has accumulated $5.5 billion in revenue since its launch and the game has been downloaded more than 600 million times.
Season passes have been a mainstay of the gaming industry for nearly as long as paid DLC has existed, but the Clash of Clans season pass shows that the same sort of model is viable for free-to-play mobile games as well. It remains to be seen whether Supercell will apply a similar model to their other titles Clash Royale and Brawl Stars, but it’s clear that this particular business model has proven to be a viable experiment.
