Key differences for licensing mobile IP in the U.S., Japan, and China

Games using licensed IP are a steady presence in the top-grossing ranks of iOS games. Finding the correct IP for your genre and market can significantly differentiate your game’s player acquisition, especially in the post-IDFA era. A good IP supports a game’s subgenre, player demographic and game feature set and should be knitted together from an early stage to ensure an optimal playing experience. Let’s look into some of the IP utilization trends and how they differ significantly across three of the major iOS markets we track: the U.S., Japan, and China.

United States

Looking at the most successful games in the U.S. iOS market, it’s clear that, with the notable exception of Pokémon Go, the top 10 grossing list is full of original games not based on well-known external IPs.