Candy Crush Soda Saga, the sister game to the enormously popular Candy Crush Saga, has launched worldwide on iOS and Android.
The Candy Crush series is one reason that mobile games are expected to overtake console revenues in 2015, according to Newzoo. The market researcher estimates mobile game revenues will grow from $25 billion in 2014 to $30.3 billion in 2015.
London-based King Digital Entertainment said the new game has 135 “yummy new levels” at the outset, with more coming on the way on a regular basis. That’s part of the formula that helped King dominate the free-to-play mobile game business during the past couple of years with Candy Crush Saga, alongside rivals such as Supercell (Clash of Clans, Hay Day), Machine Zone (Game of War), and GungHo Entertainment (Puzzle & Dragons).
King recently reported third-fiscal quarter earnings that were better than expectations, as it now makes 49 percent of its revenues games besides Candy Crush. But the blockbuster is still huge, generating $264 million in gross bookings in the quarter. Candy Crush Soda Saga’s mission is to keep the fervor for Candy Crush going. King has more than 495 million monthly active players for all of its games on mobile, social, and the Web.
The new game is set in the same “Candy Kingdom,” with new candies, characters, and five game modes. Players are tasked with filling the board with fizzy purple soda. Gamers must release the floating bears in soda, fight to crush the ice to free the bears, release bears stuck in honey, and remove all chocolate from the board. King previously released Candy Crush Soda Saga on Facebook last month.
“We’re excited to offer our players the chance to experience the next installment in the franchise now that Candy Crush Soda Saga is available on mobile devices,” said Sebastian Knutsson, the chief creative officer at King, in a statement. “We continue to be astounded by the global success of Candy Crush and the initial response to Candy Crush Soda Saga, since it launched on Facebook last month, has been positive. With the mobile launch, fans will be able to play the game anywhere, anytime, and on any device and we hope they have as much fun playing it as much as we have had making it.”