The "Royal Match" puzzle game of Türkiye's Dream Games, one of the country's first unicorns, became the highest-grossing puzzle game worldwide in July 2023, according to a report shared by Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday.
Royal Match secured the top spot by generating some $82.6 million (TL 2.42 billion) through in-app purchase revenues, the data compiled by AA from the online statistical portal Statista showed.
Istanbul-based Dream Games, one of Türkiye's first unicorns, a term used to describe startup businesses worth more than $1 billion, was estimated to hold a valuation of $2.75 billion in 2021. The startup, with its 200-person team, is said to have doubled its revenue this year.
The Royal Match thus dethroned Candy Crush Saga, the famed matching game that had been at the top for 10 years and had a revenue of $76.13 million worldwide as per July 2023 data.
According to the report, following the duo was Playrix's Gardenscapes with $51.78 million in revenue, Homescapes with $35.56 million and Fishdom with $27.67 million.
The sixth position on the list was reserved for GungHo's Puzzle & Dragons game with $22.02 million.
Another King's game, the Candy Crush Soda Saga, came in seventh with $19.38 million.
Empires and Puzzles: Match-3 RPG ranked eighth on the list with $15.23 million, while Triple Match 3D secured the 10th position with $12.2 million.
Moreover, "Toon Blast," the game of Peak Games, Türkiye's first domestic unicorn, which sold its shares to the U.S.-based Zynga in 2020, secured ninth place on the list with revenue amounting to $14.12 million.
In July, Royal Match also earned the title of the most downloaded free puzzle game worldwide on both Google Play and the App Store, with 16 million downloads.
Candy Crush Saga, with 13.8 million downloads, secured the second position on the list, respectively.
