From PUBG x Dragon Ball to Goddess of Victory: NIKKE x Nier: Automata and State of Survival x Resident Evil, collaboration events with renowned franchises have consistently demonstrated their ability to significantly enhance mobile game performance. These events can drive UA by tapping into an existing fanbase, potentially bringing in thousands of new players who might not otherwise have considered hitting the download button.
Collaboration events can also provide new monetization opportunities, with many players willing to purchase cosmetics and other items based on their favorite franchises. These events can also benefit the franchises, as they get exposed to an existing game’s user base—and many of these players might grow to become long-term fans.
With all that in mind, it’s no surprise that IP collaboration events have seen a surge in popularity over the past few years on mobile. That’s particularly true of the midcore side of the market, with almost 60% of the top 200 titles incorporating them as part of their LiveOps strategy, especially those within the shooting, sandbox, and 4X strategy genres. But they’re also becoming increasingly prominent in casual space, as demonstrated by the likes of Stumble Guys and Roblox, which have a new crossover every month (if not more).
Two people who know all this too well are Kalle Heikkinen, Market Insights at Liftoff Intelligence, and Altti Fromholdt, Content Creator at Liftoff Intelligence. In our recent Unlocking Growth with IP Collaborations Webinar, the pair discussed some of the most successful IP collaborations and looked at the latest trends in branded LiveOps. Below, we go through the highlights.
Transformers x Mob Control
We’ve written much about how mobile games have been using blockbuster movie releases to generate engagement, which Kalle said was in full swing once again this year with Transformers One. However, this time, the crossover wasn’t just in one mobile game but several at once—with Mob Control, Roblox, and Squad Busters launching events simultaneously.
You’d think that having multiple crossovers at once would result in over-saturation, with Transformers fans unsure where to turn. While that might have been the case to some extent, each title performed well on its own merits mainly because they all offered wildly different experiences in their genre. Mob Control is a tactical battler, Squad Busters focuses on action, and Roblox is more of a sandbox-style experience, meaning they avoid stepping on each other’s toes.
However, Kalle and Altti thought that the most successful of these collaborations was that of Mob Control, which rather unusually lasted for almost six months, beginning in March and wrapping up in September. Its drawn-out approach meant that the game released its Transformers updates in stages rather than all at once, with highlights including three battle passes with Transformer-themed cosmetics, a competitive Transformers league, and a story-based event called Echoes from Cybertron that explored the lore behind the franchise.
Mob Control saw its biggest performance increase in June following the release of its second battle pass, which resulted in daily revenue almost doubling in the US iOS market. There was also a similar spike near the event’s start, which saw daily downloads hit a 150% increase over the previous month.
Strangely, the event was its least successful in September, when Transformers One was released in theatres. Of course, the film had a lengthy marketing campaign, and earlier spikes may have coincided with trailers and other advertisements. Mob Control also generates significant ad revenue, which isn’t reflected in the chart below and may have increased during the film’s theatrical release.
Spongebob x Brawl Stars
Supercell’s Brawl Stars has had a spectacular year-and-a-half on mobile after launching and retooling a wide range of features, which catapulted the game back to the top reaches of the mobile market after a downward slump. Kalle and Altti said the latest addition to Supercell’s comeback efforts is collaboration events, which started with Spongebob Squarepants.
Squad Buster’s collaboration event was noteworthy because it consisted of several separate yet loosely connected events. It all started with Krusty Kash, a new premium currency introduced as part of the event, which players could spend in a limited-time store offering a range of Spongebob-themed skins and cosmetic items.
That sounds very typical, but what’s interesting is that players could also use their Krusty Kash to purchase Power Meals, special power-ups utilized in all-new Spongebob-themed game modes. One such game mode was Jellyfishing, where two teams raced to capture a designated number of jellyfish. There were seven upgradeable power-ups for each of the game’s seven Brawler Classes—the Tank Class, for example, could get a Krabby Patty that orbits around them as a shield.
It all came full circle, as the first Spongebob-themed game mode win of the day awarded the player additional Krusty Kash. It was a case where you must spend money to make money: By investing in Krusty Kash and getting the upgrades, you could perform better and grab your daily reward faster. This was also bolstered by a collaborative guild event, The Club, where grouped-up players had to work together to attain a certain amount of Krusty Kash to unlock exclusive rewards, including the SpongeBob El Primo skin.
Overall, the crossover was an immense success, fuelling a 300%+ spike in daily revenue on the US iOS market when the event launched on 5 September. Notably, the event also included many of the more standard features you might expect from a collaboration event, such as a new premium battle pass, which will also have supported the revenue boost.
Dave the Diver x Goddess of Victory: NIKKE
Finally, the last example of successful collaboration events that Kalle and Altti focused on was in Goddess of Victory: NIKKE. This incredibly popular title has launched a few crossover events since it blasted onto the scene in November 2022—including Chainsaw Man, Nier: Automata, and most recently, Neon Genesis: Evangelion—but its partnership with the award-winning PC and console game Dave the Diver was by far its most noteworthy.
Rather than simply creating a selection of live events inspired by Dave the Diver, developer Shift Up dived much deeper with Aegis the Diver, an almost like-for-like version of Dave the Diver faithfully recreated within the confines of Goddess of Victory: NIKKE. Recreating any game from the ground up is no small feat, but it’s particularly impressive as Dave the Diver, developed by MintRocket, is such an unusual title.
For those unfamiliar with Dave the Diver, it’s an unusual hybrid of an action-adventure diving and fishing game with a restaurant management sim, brought to life with a soothing tropical soundtrack and a colorful pixelated aesthetic. That impressive combination has landed the game a huge amount of critical and commercial acclaim, winning in multiple categories at the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 and selling more than five million units to date.
Playing through the event in Goddess of Victory unlocked Dave the Diver-inspired items for the main game. There was also a battle pass with a premium option. However, monetization was generally light, suggesting that the event aimed to drive user acquisition rather than revenue. Adding to that was the fact players could also get a special Goddess of Victory-themed skin for their boat in Dave the Diver by entering a code, encouraging fans of the diving restaurant sim to take a look at Goddess of Victory’s recreation.
Dave the Diver itself was also on sale across PlayStation, Switch, and other platforms for the duration of the event, presumably timed to push those who enjoyed its gameplay in Goddess of Victory (and own a suitable PC or console) to pick up the full title.
Given that Dave the Diver isn’t yet available on mobile, this crossover almost raises the question of whether this was some sort of test for how it could work on pocket-sized devices. That seems unlikely, given that the game’s director has gone on the record saying that Dave the Diver started as an idea for a mobile game but shifted to other platforms early in development. Nevertheless, Goddess of Victory proves Dave the Diver could work on the platform.
The future of IP collaborations on mobile
With these three innovative and highly successful examples of collaboration events on mobile, it’s hard to imagine crossovers getting any better than they are already. However, according to Kalle and Altti, this is likely just the beginning, and they have three different theories as to how these events might improve in the near future.
More brands will collaborate with multiple titles simultaneously
As demonstrated by Transformers, done correctly, it’s possible for a major franchise to successfully crossover into multiple mobile games at once. The key, it seems, is to ensure that each collaboration offers something unique or caters to a different genre. For example, having the same franchise front and center in a puzzle game, a 4X strategy, and a racing game is most likely fine, but you wouldn’t want two shooters at the same time.
With that in mind, it’s likely only a matter of time before other franchises with significant fanbases start taking a multi-game approach, especially when something important is happening with the brand—such as a new movie, video game, or milestone. We recently touched upon something similar happening for Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary in our September 2024 analyst bulletin, suggesting this trend is already in the works.
Collaboration Events Will Become Even More Expansive
While six months might sound like a long time to run a collaboration event, Mob Control has demonstrated that the long-winded approach can be effective. As time goes on, Kalle and Altti suspect that more titles will extend their crossovers for longer periods of time, especially considering that there’s likely a lot of back-and-forth between the developers and the IP holders in negotiating these types of events.
The pair also predict that crossovers will incorporate more event types, modes, and cosmetics to cater to as many different player motivations as possible. The potential list goes on, including a story-driven narrative, competitive leaderboards, guild-based challenges, and multiple battle passes.
There will be even more collaboration events
Given the costs and challenges involved with user acquisition, Kalle and Altti expect that collaboration events will become even more commonplace as many see them as a potential solution. Inevitably, as more collaboration events launch on the market, at least some will become a roaring success, which will inspire even more games to jump on the bandwagon.
If you enjoyed this blog post and want the full lowdown on Mob Control, Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, and Brawl Star’s collaboration events, be sure to catch the full Unlocking Growth with IP Collaborations Webinar on demand.
