French hypercasual developer TapNation has reported that they’ve cracked a major milestone, garnering over 750m downloads in total across their catalogue of hypercasual games. The announcement was posted to their LinkedIn page on Thursday of last week, and marks an impressive achievement for the small studio.
Previously, VP of publishing at TapNation Florian Jauffrineau had commented on their business model and what he viewed as the USP of hypercasual games “Hypercasual games are not a genre but more of a business model. It includes a lot of different typologies of games such as Arcade, Simulation or Puzzle. All those types of games abide by different rules, but generally speaking, what makes a game truly special is taking one gameplay loop that is satisfying, build upon it and introduce variety, all the while remaining loyal to the original vision or concept.”
Tapping away
The developer produces a wide catalogue of mobile games, 22 and counting so far. Although many of their games bear strong resemblances to established properties, for example titles including Manga Run: Rasengan, Z Warrior Runner and Craft & Mine: Idle Merge. However, the main draw for downloads seems to be their more original games, with Ice Cream Inc. proving their most popular at a reported 193m download, with Giant Rush coming in second at 160m downloads.
The announcement certainly points to the increasing popularity and strength of the hypercasual market. It also indicates that for many developers, a ‘trial and error’ approach is a lot more feasible when it comes to hypercasual. It could also show that riffing on an existing property is not always a recipe for success, as games like the aforementioned Z Warrior Runner sit at only around 3m downloads. Originality, or at least producing something that looks as much, seems key to TapNation’s success.
It’s been an eventful year for TapNation as well, with the company reporting 500m in total downloads back in March. As well as announcing a partnership with blockchain company Ternoa to integrate blockchain technology into their games.
