(本文原文由Naavik发布，作者是Harshal Karvande)
At the end of 2023, King, the developer of the best-selling match-3 mobile game "Candy Crush Legend", released two new "candy" IP products in the Philippines, namely "Candy Crush 3D" and "Candy Crush: Blast!". Both games are currently in early beta, with no in-app purchase options and less than 5,000 cumulative downloads. In this article, I would like to talk about how King has expanded the "candy" IP to different leisure sub-categories, and what trends are affecting the development of casual mobile games.
The direction of development of the nootropic/elimination category
According to the list of the top 10 best-selling puzzle mobile games compiled by mobile app market research company Data.ai, in the past five years, the number of "sliding match-3" and "stack elimination" products has increased by one each, respectively, "Royal Match" from Turkish manufacturer Dream Games, and "Triple Match 3D" by Boombox/Miniclip. King's new product "Candy Crush Saga 3D" belongs to the subcategory of "stack elimination".
For the past five years, there has been a "merge" game among the top 10 best-selling puzzle mobile games, with Zynga's Dragon Evolution a few years ago and Metacore's Merge Mansion in 2023. On the other hand, the number of "click blast" games in the top 10 list has decreased by one. This may not be good news for King's other new product, Candy Crush Saga: Explosion, which also belongs to the same subcategory.
From the perspective of the revenue scale of mobile games in various sub-categories, "stacking elimination" has continued to rise in the past four years, while "click explosion" has continued to decline in the past three years. Before we get into King's overall strategy around the two "candy" IP games, let's take a quick look at the two games and compare them to their closest competitors.
Candy Crush Saga 3D
Sub-categories: Stacking elimination
Biggest competitor in 2023: "Triple Match 3D" (developed by Boombox and published by Miniclip)
Game Description: "Candy Crush Legend 3D" is very similar to the popular mobile game "Triple Match 3D" that came out in 2022, players need to click on 3 identical 3D candies in the game to match and match. If the player clicks more candies than the maximum number of candies (up to 6), or takes more time than the level time limit, the game screen will pop up a "Continue" prompt - one of the important parts of the paid design of puzzle mobile games.
Innovation: A streak mechanic. If players complete candy matches in quick succession, they will be rewarded with powerful power-ups to speed up the match.
The biggest risk: Can the "candy" IP help Candy Crush Saga 3D reach a larger player base than Peak's new toy-themed "Match Factory" or the abstract theme of the sub-category leader "Triple Match 3D"?
Candy Crush Saga: Explosion
Sub-categories: Click Explosion
Biggest competitor in 2023: Toon Blast
Game Description: Candy Crush Saga is King's second game to enter the "Click Blast" category, and in this segment, Turkish manufacturer Peak's products "Toon Blast" and "Toy Blast" firmly dominate. King tried to launch Candy Crush Cubes in 2018, but the latter barely made any splashes. Based on all the items in the "Candy Candy" series, the overall look and gameplay of Candy Crush Saga is completely different from other "click and blast" mobile games.
Innovation: Candy Crush Saga uses all the candies and power-ups from the "Candy" series, with a fresh visual look and feel and innovative gameplay.
Biggest risk: Although Candy Crush Saga is different from similar games in terms of real-time gameplay, it also makes the level rules and the use of items more difficult to understand, which invisibly raises the threshold for players to get started.
Expand the strategic value of IP to other sub-categories
Whether in the field of casual games or for the "candy" IP itself, it is a logical strategy to expand IP to other sub-categories. As mentioned earlier, in 2024, the overall revenue of the three sub-categories of "Slide Match-3", "Merge" and "Stack Elimination" is likely to continue to grow. Soner Aydemir, co-founder and CEO of Dream Games, has also said that with a delicate balance that puts the player's skill and luck to the test, puzzle games tend to retain players for a long time, making them want to replay again and again without getting bored.
However, it should also be noted that the overall market share of the "click explosion" sub-category is declining, and its core gameplay mechanics do not seem to have the enduring appeal of "sliding and match-3" games. Therefore, in terms of the overall trend of market development, it may be difficult for "Candy Crush Saga: Explosion" to achieve the success that King expected.
In fact, Peak's Star Blast and GoodJobGames' Wonder Blast both offer great product value and gameplay, but two years after their beta launch, the two click-and-blast mobile games still haven't made it to the global market – a segment that can be challenging to craft and launch a successful new product.
Considering that Stack Elimination is a younger sub-category that has continued to grow in recent years, I believe that Candy Crush Saga 3D is more likely to be successful than Candy Crush Saga Explosion.