A light green board, dice, little houses and a prison cell: Monopoly continues to excite, as evidenced by the success of the mobile game “Monopoly Go!” Explanations.
1- What is the topic?
Developed by American video game studio Scopely in collaboration with Hasbro, the creators of the popular board game “Monopoly Go!”, it was released in April 2023. The mobile game aims to “redefine” Monopoly in a modern way while “capturing the essence, what makes the brand famous,” explained Javier Ferreira, co-CEO of Scopely, in a press release.
Concretely, each user has his own board on which we find the usual elements of the real estate game, from the first square to the prison square. The objective remains the same: Earn as much money as possible and destroy others.The user is also encouraged to play against his close ones in order to recreate the noisy evening in the living room with family or friends.
But “Monopoly Go!” deviates from its predecessor because, To collect notes, players can participate in bank robberies or destroy buildings built by another user..
The simple and addictive gameplay represents each new level you reach in a city, such as New York, London or Paris. And, Like most mobile games, players can pay real money to get perks..
2- How successful?
The result: “Monopoly is on!” It generated more than $3 billion in revenue in just over a year, Hasbro President Chris Cox announced at the end of July during the group’s financial results presentation.
It's the first mobile game to reach that revenue milestone so quickly, in 473 days, according to Sensor Tower.
The company added that for 2024, Hasbro expects to generate at least $105 million in revenue from Monopoly licensing, acknowledging that this number could be understated.
More than 8 million people play “Monopoly Go!” every day, according to Javier Ferreira, who also speculated that Scopely has spent at least $500 million on marketing to promote the game, and an ad is also regularly aired on France Télévisions during the Olympic Games from Paris.
3- Khalid's privilege?
This victory led the two companies to come full circle and release a board game inspired by “Monopoly Go!” in mid-July, available only in the United States.
Designed for two to four players, it's less complicated than classic Monopoly and the game is faster. Each player has their own board and there are elements of the mobile game, such as robberies.
With Monopoly's 90th anniversary approaching, in 2025, Hasbro and Ubisoft have also announced a new version of the game for consoles and PC in September. Invented in the United States in 1903 by Lizzie Magie and popularized by Charles Darrow, an unemployed engineer, Monopoly was a hit when it was officially released in 1935.
The board game is now distributed in 114 countries, published in 47 languages, including Breton and Corsican, and available in 300 different versions. Its popularity never seems to run out, whether on board, mobile or console.
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