Monopoly, the timeless board game that's been bringing joy, frustration, and fierce competition to families and friends for generations.
Created by Charles Darrow during the Great Depression in the 1930s, Monopoly has become a household name and an iconic symbol of capitalism and strategy.
The game's title perfectly encapsulates its core objective: to monopolize the market, control the properties, and amass a fortune—all while navigating the unpredictable twists and turns of luck and strategy. Whether you're building hotels on Park Place or negotiating deals for Boardwalk, Monopoly is a test of wits and resilience.
Hasbro, Inc., the company that acquired the rights to Monopoly in 1991 when it purchased Parker Brothers, the original publisher of the game, partnered with Scopely to create and launch MONOPOLY GO!, a freemium mobile app for the game.
Scopely then spent a massive $500 million on marketing for the game.
As it turned out, that eyewatering amount was well spent.
Scopely co-CEO Javier Ferreira announced that MONOPOLY GO! has generated $2 billion in revenue in just 10 months after launch, saying in a blog post that:
"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. The trajectory of this experience has been nothing short of extraordinary, and we have our talented team and passionate players to thank."
The reimagined take on Hasbro’s iconic board game has garnered a massive player base, solidifying its place as a beloved, highly engaging title in the free-to-play market.
In the extremely short window to hit $2 billion in revenue, the game has been downloaded by more than 150 million times, a feat that is nothing less than remarkable.
The massive win is not for both Hasbro and Scopely, but also to Savvy Games Group, which bought Scopely.
Savvy Games Group acquired Scopely in April for $4.9 billion in a deal that if compared to MONOPOLY GO! revenue, makes the deal look like a huge bargain.
This achievement comes at the time when most mobile apps make no money.
To put the $500 million marketing budget in perspective, if based on some redacted leaked documents which detailed a set of budgets for some of PlayStation's biggest AAA titles, The Last of Us Part 2 cost $220 million to develop, and Horizon Forbidden West cost $212 million to develop.
Above that, is Cyberpunk 2077. The game features a massive open world, detailed character creation, and multiple branching storylines, costs around $300 million to develop.
With marketing, the game costs around $450 million.
According to Ferreira, his company spent part of that $500 million on tailoring MONOPOLY GO!’s marketing to specific regions around the globe.
"Our marketing team was a fierce advocate for taking a hyperlocal approach," Ferreira said. "In turn, much of our upfront marketing investment went to developing individualized creative that reflected the language and culture of every country where the game is available."
Ferreira also explained that, as the game’s popularity grew and revenue came in, the company could then reinvest that revenue into marketing.
"We didn’t set out to create a blitz campaign, but as the game rapidly grew, so did our marketing efforts,” he said. “For much of the title’s first six months, we were fully recouping our spend in a matter of weeks, something not often seen in games today."
