App Annie: 2017 Top 52 App Publishers by Revenue

Tencent, NetEase, Netmarble, Activision Blizzard, and Supercell round out the top 5; Asia-Pacific publishers dominate

February 1, 2018, Beijing - App Annie, the world's leading mobile application data and analysis company, today announced the 2017 "Top 52 Publishers" list, revealing the 52 publishers with the highest revenue in the iOS and Google Play stores.

New publishers included in App Annie’s Top 52 list for 2017 include: NCSoft (South Korea), Giant Interactive Group Co., Ltd. (China), FunPlus (China), Nintendo (Japan), 37 Games (China), Google (US), Youzu Interactive (China), Longtu Games (China) and Kakao Corp (South Korea).

Publishers from the Asia-Pacific region once again dominated this year’s list, occupying 31 of the 52 rankings. China’s Tencent topped the list for the second consecutive year; NetEase (China) rose one spot to 2nd place; South Korea’s Netmarble jumped six spots to 3rd place; Japan’s mixi’s ranking remained unchanged from 2016, still ranking 6th. Other outstanding companies include: Playrix, which rose 21 spots to 11th place; and NCSOFT, which was not on the list before but jumped to 12th place this time thanks to the game “Lineage M” (released in June 2017).

In addition, several app publishers have been ranked in the top 10 for many years, maintaining their leading position in the increasingly competitive app industry, including Activision Blizzard, Supercell, BANDAI, NAMCO, MZ and LINE.

“Ten years ago, Apple’s launch of the App Store sparked a mobile revolution, and today, apps are still reshaping entire industries at an unprecedented scale,” said Danielle Levitas, senior vice president of research at App Annie. “As in previous years, gaming companies continue to dominate App Store revenues, but we’re also seeing big gains in mobile app revenues from media and entertainment companies, such as InterActiveCorp (IAC), which climbed to No. 20, Netflix, which jumped 10 spots to No. 25, and Google, which broke into the top 52 thanks to a strong showing from YouTube.”

The Top 52 publishers were recognized the week of January 29, 2018 as part of App Annie's Top 52 Publisher Recognition events held in Tokyo, Seoul, and Beijing.

“App Annie’s Top 52 list is the gold standard for measuring publisher success in the global mobile market. Apps are providing more and more business opportunities for both emerging and traditional companies, so it is critical for companies to have accurate data and practical insights to transform their businesses through apps,” said Levitas. “Congratulations to all the winners, especially those publishers who have just made it to the Top 52 list!”