Mario Kart Tour was the most downloaded iPhone game of 2019

Despite launching relatively late in the year, Mario Kart Tour was the biggest game on the iPhone in 2019. Today, Apple revealed its top charts for the year, and the free-to-play version of Mario Kart, which debuted in September, topped the free game charts. Nintendo’s offering beat out strong competition from Call of Duty: Mobile and Fortnite. Apple didn’t reveal any specific download numbers (though we already know that Call of Duty was downloaded an estimated 100 million times during its first week, across both iOS and Android), but even still, the charts provide a window into the tastes of App Store users.

Here are the complete charts for games across both the iPhone and iPad:

Top free iPhone games

1. Mario Kart Tour
2. Color Bump 3D
3. aquapark.io
4. Call of Duty: Mobile
5. BitLife – Life Simulator
6. Polysphere – art of puzzle
7. Wordscapes
8. Fortnite
9. Roller Splat!
10. AMAZE!!

Top paid iPhone games

1. Minecraft
2. Heads Up!
3. Plague Inc.
4. Bloons TD 6
5. Geometry Dash
6. Rebel Inc.
7. The Game of Life
8. Stardew Valley
9. Bloons TD 5
10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Top free iPad games

1. Roblox
2. aquapark.io
3. Paper.io 2
4. Color Bump 3D
5. Magic Tiles 3: Piano Game
6. Fortnite
7. Polysphere – art of puzzle
8. Wordscapes
9. Tiles Hop – EDM Rush
10. Helix Jump

Top paid iPad games

1. Minecraft
2. Geometry Dash
3. Bloons TD 6
4. Plague Inc.
5. Amazing Frog?
6. Stardew Valley
7. The Game of Life
8. Heads Up!
9. Terraria
10. Bendy and the Ink Machine

Aside from the breakout success of Mario Kart, there aren’t a lot of surprises. The free charts are filled with unheralded time wasters and big-name titles like Call of Duty, as per usual, while Minecraft continues to dominate the paid mobile game space. With the exception of Stardew Valley, premium indie games are also generally absent from the paid charts, which could be a byproduct of the launch of the Apple Arcade subscription service.

The news does represent something of a change in fortune for Nintendo’s mobile efforts. The company made a big splash with the launch of Super Mario Run in 2016, but a year later the company said that, despite 200 million downloads, the game didn’t reach an “acceptable profit point.” Since then, the Kyoto company has shifted to more aggressive free-to-play mechanics with titles like Fire Emblem, Dragalia Lost, and Animal Crossing, culminating in the blockbuster success of Mario Kart Tour this year.