Every December the editors of Apple’s iTunes face the monumental task of selecting two games out of the thousands released during the year to receive top honours as the Best of 2013. This year they chose ridiculously well.
I cannot link you to iTune’s Best of 2013 feature — you’ll have to go into iTunes on your computer or iDevice for that — but I can tell you the two games that received top honours this year are worthy ones indeed.
Our own Kirk Hamilton said of Vlambeer’s Ridiculous Fishing, “Come for the fishing, stay for the uzis.” And then stay longer to see the game awarded iTune’s 2013 iPhone Game of the Year, beating out Simogo’s ingenious Device 6 and Plants Vs. Zombies 2.
On the iPad side, a game I very nearly overlooked won top honours. “Badland earns every positive iTunes review and both of (its) pre-release awards,” I said of the dark and lovely action strategy game. It’s also earned iTune’s iPad Game of the Year, besting PC port XCOM: Enemy Unknown and the stark and challenging work of rolling art, Impossible Road.
What’s interesting about iTunes’ Editors’ Picks is that neither of the games selected showed up on the year’s Top Sellers’ list. Instead, both the iPad and iPhone listings of the 15 Top Paid, Top Grossing and Top Free apps are topped by Candy Crush Saga and Minecraft – Pocket Edition.
Just goes to show you don’t need to make the best game to be a success on iTunes, and having the best game on iTunes doesn’t necessarily mean overwhelming success. What an odd market we’ve cultivated.
Comments
7 responses to “iTunes’ Top Selling, Top Grossing, And Simply Top Games Of 2013”
Ugh…. Minecraft
Problem?
^ This exactly.
Can someone please explain why Candy Crush is so popular? All it is is a blatant ripoff of the Bejewelled games.
BECAUSE ITS FREE
it obviously not completely free to be the top grossing game.
it is addictive though though i have never played it i see people play it on the train all the time
I think it’s also because of the social functions, like you can see where your friends are. Plus it has missions. That’s about all I can think of off the top of my head.
I stopped playing Bejewelled when it insisted on being given publishing rights to my facebook wall.