By Paul Nicholson
February 26 – Nordeus, makers of the Top Eleven football management game, is reporting a successful relaunch with more than 2 million new downloads in the first week following the game’s release in the app stores.
Now, almost “a month later the downloads are still holding strong,” says head of business development Nikola Cavic.
The game engagement numbers are impressive. Over 100 million people have now played the game with 10 million active on a monthly basis and 3.5-4 million daily active users and growing.
Launched in 2010 as a free to download game, Top Eleven quickly established itself as a leader in the games marketplace with the game “embracing emerging markets like Turkey, the Balkans and south east Asia,” said Cavic. “We were successful by localising and quickly built a critical mass of players, using revenues to invest in the game. Once we had the first five million players it was easier to take to 10 million.”
Top Eleven is published in 43 languages and since the 2010 launch has not looked back. Having gone through 26 game updates, the most recent version is the first to have a date tag – the game is played year round and does not follow a season. The Serbian-based gamemaker has grown from 30 people in one office to 150 employees with offices in Belgrade, Dublin, San Francisco and now London.
The ninth highest grossing app in the UK in 2014, the game has demonstrated an ability to stay in the top grossing app charts worldwide via its loyal and large playing base.
Top Eleven’s revenue model is based on in-app purchases of virtual currency that can be used in the game to buy players and improve squads. Depending on the country, between 1 and 10% of gamers progress to in-app purchases.
It is this area that Nordeus sees as expanding with the next game release, expected next month, adding new content and in-app paid features. The last release was focused on improved graphics and the establishment of a new technology platform allowing gamers to seamlessly switch between desktop, tablet and mobile playing platforms.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is the marketing face of the game which has 32 club licenses. “Real Madrid and AC Milan were our first two clubs. We now have 32 clubs and are working with most of the top clubs. We will probably only add one or two a quarter going forward,” says Cavic.
Deals with clubs are a mixture of flat fees, minimum guarantees and revenue share – a flexible approach in a fast moving market. The small Serbian game start-up that started with a focus on the world’s smaller and under-served markets has crept centre-stage with a carefully crafted game and growth strategy that has pushed it into the big leagues.
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