Shares in King Digital have dipped by more than 10% as its hit game Candy Crush attracts less in-game purchases from players. The London-based game maker managed to beat investor expectations but warned that revenues for the current quarter would be “seasonally softer” and by hit by currency fluctuations. King Digital’s revenue fell 6.1% to […]
Shares in King Digital have dipped by more than 10% as its hit game Candy Crush attracts less in-game purchases from players.
The London-based game maker managed to beat investor expectations but warned that revenues for the current quarter would be “seasonally softer” and by hit by currency fluctuations.
King Digital’s revenue fell 6.1% to $569.5m (£361m) in the first three months of the year from a year ago, but that was higher than analysts’ forecasts of $563.4m.
The firm admitted that the amount of people spending money in-app in the second quarter will be below what investors are hoping for.
“We look toward the remainder of the year, we expect the mid-year period to be seasonally softer, returning to growth trends in the latter part of the year,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The company said that falls in both gross bookings and revenue in the first quarter were largely due to lower sales from its Candy Crush Saga and other “more mature games” – a sign that players are moving on to other games.
King’s main game is Candy Crush Saga, but it has released other games to try to diversify.
A handful of new titles are expected later this year, including a resource management game similar to Zynga’s FarmVille.
Candy Crush Saga and other titles are available to play on Facebook but traffic to the site has dwindled as the focus moves to mobile. King Digital now relies on smartphone and tablet use for 81% of its revenue.
While the firm’s user base is growing – around 158 million people play King titles each day – the number of people spending money on in-game items and perks has fallen.
Those that do choose to spend money while using the firm’s apps spend an average of $23 (£14m) each month.
Chief executive Riccardo Zacconi said more games are in development than ever before.
