Popular 'Monument Valley' Game Earned More Than $5.8M, Saw 1.7M Sales on iOS

Ustwo, the developers behind the hit game Monument Valley today published a detailed infographic that gives a rare inside look at what it takes to develop an ultra popular game and the rewards developers can reap from creating an app that soars to the top of the App Store charts.

For those unfamiliar, Monument Valley is a highly popular indie puzzle game that asks players to lead the main character through a series of mazes spanning 10 separate levels. The game was highly praised for its design, which included a unique and striking art style.


According to Ustwo's infographic, it took Ustwo's eight person team 55 weeks and $852,000 to develop the original version of Monument Valley ahead of its April 2014 launch. The app's Forgotten Shores expansion, released in late November, took an additional 29 weeks and $549,000 to develop.

developmentcosts
Monument Valley received some negative attention after the expansion was priced at $1.99 in-app by users who believed that the update should be free, but the half a million in development costs for the Android and iOS apps explain why it would have been largely unreasonable for the team to release an expansion at no cost.

The more than $1 million that Ustwo poured into the development of Monument Valley paid off, and the game earned a total of $5,858,625 from 2,440,076 sales. 81.7 percent of all revenue came from iOS from 1,736,431 sales while Google Play and Amazon represented a combined 18.2 percent of revenue. The game's highest one day revenue was $145,530, which it earned on the first day it launched.

monumentvalleysales
Monument Valley saw upticks in sales after earning an Apple Design Award in June, following the launch of the Forgotten Shores expansion, at Christmas, and after the December announcement of its status as iPad Game of the Year.

The majority of iOS sales came from the United States at 38 percent, and the game ended up being translated into 13 local languages. 12 percent of sales came from China, five percent from the U.K., and 4.4 percent came from Japan. Half of the players who purchased Monument Valley finished the game, and 24 percent of players went on to purchase Forgotten Shores.

Ustwo's full Monument Valley infographic can be seen over at the company's blog. Monument Valley can be downloaded from the App Store for $3.99. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

Ubuntu Avatar
114 months ago
Well deserved, it's a truly innovative game. Also the difference in revenue between iOS and Android is just insane.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lexdexia Avatar
114 months ago
Goes to show how market share doesn't mean much.

Funny how this game made the most revenue from iOS, despite Android having a significantly greater mobile device market share. I guess this just proves that market share isn't much of a competitive advantage.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sualpine Avatar
114 months ago
More objective, statistical proof that Android's market share means absolutely nothing in terms of revenue or ROI.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Daalseth Avatar
114 months ago
I play a lot of iOS games, it's my primary gaming platform. Most are retreads of other games, a few are designed for iOS, occasionally one will rise above the rest and be more interesting.

Then every once in a while a game will appear, almost always from some Indie developer, that is wonderful, way beyond anything else I've seen. The kind of game you play through and then feel,sad that it's over so you play it all over again. That's what Monument Valley was.

It was beautiful and creative, and frustrating, and rewarding.
All kudos were well deserved
I didn't begrudge them the money for the expansion pack.
It was all worth every penny.

I can't wait to see what they are working on next.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KdParker Avatar
114 months ago
Well deserved, it's a truly innovative game. Also the difference in revenue between iOS and Android is just insane.

But I thought android was winning the OS battle.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Keirasplace Avatar
114 months ago
There has been a lot of talk and articles published saying how iOS developers are going to need to stop ignoring Android and start developing for both iOS AND Android simultaneous if they want to sustain high revenue. This looks to contradict that, over 80% on iOS alone? Crazy.

I'd choose the iOS only path, over the headache of Android any day with those numbers.
Android with the fragmentation would be longer to develop for and give you 5 to 10 times less money, sure sounds like a "winner" ;-). And this is for games/apps that has good word of mouth coming from IOS.

The breakdown must be even more brutal for more niche and marginal apps.

Considering that most apps don't even break even on IOS, devellopping for Android phones seems insane unless you already have a success on IOS to publicize your game.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Multi Display CarPlay 1

All-New Apple CarPlay Launching Later This Year With These 5 New Features

Friday September 29, 2023 11:29 am PDT by
At WWDC 2022 last year, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, personalization options, and more. Apple said the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience would be announced in late 2023, but it has still not shared any additional...
iPhone 15 Pro lineup

Apple to Address iPhone 15 Pro Overheating Issue With iOS 17 Update

Saturday September 30, 2023 9:28 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an iOS 17 update to address a bug that may contribute to the reported iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max overheating issue, according to a statement the company shared today with MacRumors and Forbes reporter David Phelan. Apple also says some recent updates to third-party apps have overloaded the system and contributed to the overheating issue. The report notes that...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 Details: Action Button, USB-C Port, Face ID, and More

Wednesday September 27, 2023 1:34 pm PDT by
Significant changes are expected to arrive with Apple's fourth-generation iPhone SE, in terms of both design and hardware, MacRumors has learned. The iPhone SE 4, known internally under the codename Ghost, is expected to receive a new design derived almost entirely from the base model iPhone 14. According to our sources, the iPhone SE 4 will use a modified version of the iPhone 14 chassis...
BMW Logo iPhone 15 Pro

Warning: BMW Wireless Charging May Break iPhone 15's Apple Pay Chip

Sunday October 1, 2023 6:14 am PDT by
If you have an iPhone 15 and drive a BMW, it might be best to avoid charging the device with the vehicle's wireless charging pad for now. Over the past week, some BMW owners have complained that their iPhone 15's NFC chip no longer works after charging the device with their vehicle's wireless charging pad, according to comments shared on the MacRumors Forums and X, formerly known as Twitter. ...
iPhone 16 Side Feature

iPhone 16 and 16 Pro: Preliminary Weights and Dimensions

Friday September 29, 2023 12:34 pm PDT by
MacRumors has obtained preliminary information on the weights and dimensions planned for the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The information corroborates previous reports suggesting that the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max will feature larger displays. iPhone 16 and 16 Plus Current information suggests that the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus will maintain the same...
CarPlay SharePlay

CarPlay Not Working for Some iPhone 15 Users, Possibly Because of USB-C Cables

Friday September 29, 2023 2:27 pm PDT by
CarPlay is not working as expected for some iPhone 15 users, an issue that is likely linked to the transition to USB-C. There are multiple complaints from MacRumors readers and Reddit users who are unable to get CarPlay to work with their new devices. Cable type and available port options are a common theme in the CarPlay reports, with many of the functionality problems linked to USB-A to...
iPhone 15 USB C Port Keynote

Some USB-C Power Banks Fail to Work With iPhone 15

Thursday September 28, 2023 2:06 pm PDT by
Apple added a USB-C port to the iPhone 15 lineup this year, allowing it to work with USB-C cables, USB-C power banks, and more. It turns out that some USB-C battery packs are not working properly with Apple's iPhone 15, resulting in charging issues. As highlighted on Reddit and the MacRumors forums, not all existing USB-C power banks can be used with the iPhone 15 models, perhaps due to the...