Netmarble, NCSoft, Kakao, DoubleUGames on top publisher list

South Korea’s major tech companies such as Netmarble Corp., NCSoft Corp., Kakao Corp. and DoubleUGames were selected among the world’s most profitable app publishers last year.

App data analysis platform data.ai, formerly App Annie, on Tuesday unveiled the top 52 app publishers by global consumer spend. Netmarble ranked No. 10 and NCSoft was No. 22. Kakao and DoubleUGames ranked No. 41 and No. 51, respectively.

Consumers spent more time and money than ever before – nearly a third of their waking hours – on mobile devices last year, data.ai said in a statement. Users in the top 10 countries of mobile device usage spent 4.8 hours on average, up 30% compared to 2019. Gamers paid about $116 billion for mobile games in 2021, accounting for 68% of total app store sales of $170 billion.

More people relied on mobile devices and settled for human interaction through mobile games and social apps last year, data.ai explained. In-app payment systems and premium content subscriptions within mobile games and social apps became mainstream, increasing profits for developers of those apps, it added.

TENCENT, NETEASE TOP SPOTS FOR FIFTH YEAR

China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. and NetEase Inc. held the top spots on the successful publisher list for the fifth consecutive year.

Tencent ranked No. 1 on strong domestic demand for core games such as Honor of Kings, followed by NetEase, which attracted users with the game Fantasy Westward Journey.

US-based Activision Blizzard was No. 3 with longstanding favorite Candy Crush Saga published under King and console-turned-mobile Call of Duty: Mobile showing demand for both casual and core games from a global user base.

Entertainment and social app publishers were also popular with Google and ByteDance at No. 5 and No. 7, respectively.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.