Full disclosure: This writer deplores the board game “Monopoly.”
It’s boring, takes forever, and I never win (yeah, yeah, skill issue).
That being said, objectively speaking, it is inarguably one of the most popular and enduring board games in existence.
The game, whose lineage can be traced back to 1903 and “The Landlord’s Game,” has carved itself out a genuine spot in pop culture.
Milburn Pennybags, the mascot of “Monopoly,” is iconic and instantly recognizable even amid a sea of mascots in 2024.
“Monopoly,” warts and all, is a big deal.
Given all that, even Pennybags would probably blush at some of the numbers that the free-to-play mobile video game version of “Monopoly” has been pulling — and spending.
The mobile version of “Monopoly” is published by Scopely, and the company put out a wild announcement on March 13.
“It’s amazing to think that at this time last year, we were preparing for the worldwide launch of ‘MONOPOLY GO!’ after a seven-year journey to develop the game,” Scopely co-CEO Javier Ferreira said in a blog post.
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“Today, I finally took a moment to reflect on the incredible journey of ‘MONOPOLY GO!.’
“Last month, we celebrated another major milestone in the MONOPOLY adventure by officially passing $2 billion in lifetime revenue. That exciting moment came just ten months since launch and only three months after reaching $1 billion, which is astounding.”
Yes, “$2 billion in lifetime revenue” from a free-to-play game. That should give you a scary idea of how much people have spent on the game.
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Ferreira further boasted: “The engagement of our players has been, and continues to be, exceptional—while early retention beat our expectations, the remarkable long-term stickiness of the experience has challenged what we thought was possible in casual games, with over 8 million people playing every day of the week—representing more than 70% of our 10 million+ total daily players.”
Perhaps the craziest part of all those gaudy numbers came when Ferreira stated that, “We continue to see extraordinary return on a large marketing investment (which is still less than a quarter of lifetime revenue to date).”
Putting two and two together, that means Scopely has spent approximately $500 million on marketing for the game. And that figure is staggering for two very disparate reasons.
$500 million is — obviously — nothing to sneeze at and the sort of massive figure that easily exceeds some of the most bloated box office busts.
It also exceeds what most AAA video games get in total development costs.
Conversely, $500 million in marketing investment compared to a $2 billion lifetime revenue? There isn’t a company or businessman alive who wouldn’t take that sort of return on investment.
Oh, and for that $500 million marketing investment?
According to Ferreira, “Monopoly Go!” has been downloaded by over 150 million people. That’s roughly five times the population of Texas.
“Monopoly Go!” is currently available on both Android and iOS. A cursory glance at the game shows in-app purchases ranging from $1.99 to $99.99.
