Lineage 2 M has been available in South Korea for less than three months, but the mobile MMO has already earned over $150 million, according to an estimate from market analyst Sensor Tower.
Lineage 2 M is based on the popular PC MMO Lineage 2, which released back in 2003. Publisher NCSoft created both the original Lineage 2 and this new mobile version. This shows that companies can find new players — and new revenue — by bringing aging MMOs to mobile, especially in Asia.
Along with this new title, Lineage has other hit games on mobile, including the action RPG Lineage 2: Revolution and Lineage M, a mobile game based on the original entry in the franchise. Together, Lineage has earned over $4.4 billion mobile.
Most of the spending in Lineage 2 M has come from Google Play, accounting for 84% of the $150 million total. Google Play also earned most of the game’s installs, accounting for 1.3 million of the 1.6 million total.
This success shows the continued strength of the Lineage brand in South Korea, although Sensor Tower does note that the launch of Lineage 2 M has somewhat cannibalized Lineage 2: Revolution’s earnings.
Author: Mike Minotti.
Source: Venturebeat