Candy Crush still earns nearly $1 billion a year, 14 years after launch

King's Candy Crush Saga, released in 2012, has become one of the most successful and durable mobile game franchises ever. The Swedish developer's puzzle title climbed to the top of download charts on both Android and iOS shortly after its debut, and it continues to hold a massive audience nearly a decade and a half later.

In fiscal year 2025, the original Candy Crush Saga generated $876.5 million in revenue, with the bulk coming from in-app purchases. That is a strong figure by any standard, yet it marks a slight decline from the previous six years, during which the game consistently brought in more than $1 billion annually.

The game follows the freemium model: it is free to play, but players can spend real money on extra lives, boosters, and special passes that make it easier to advance through its more than 23,000 levels. This monetization approach has proven remarkably resilient, keeping the game profitable long after most mobile titles fade from public attention.

King has not disclosed detailed revenue or profit numbers in recent years, but in 2023 the company announced that its cumulative revenue had surpassed $20 billion. That same year, the publisher also reported reaching 5 billion installs across the entire Candy Crush franchise, which includes the original title as well as spinoffs like Soda Saga, Jelly Saga, and Friends Saga.

Research by David Curry, data editor at app analytics firm Business of Apps, suggests that the original game currently has roughly 81.5 million monthly active users and was installed more than 190 million times across Android and iOS in 2025 alone. For context, King's IPO filing from 2014 stated that Candy Crush Saga had 93 million daily active users worldwide in December 2013. While daily numbers have since declined, the franchise's ability to sustain hundreds of millions of dollars in yearly revenue demonstrates its enduring appeal and the strength of its live-service design.