Candy Crush makers experience drop in Q2 results

The decline of mobile game Candy Crush Saga has continued after the makers revealed lower-than-expected second quarter results.

King Digital Entertainment has enjoyed huge success with the hit mobile game but has had to revise its expectations for the rest of the year. The company forecast in-game purchases to generate between $2.25 billion (£1.3 billion) and $2.35 billion (£1.4 billion), a substantial reduction on its previous estimate of $2.55 billion to $2.65 billion.

The forecasts sent shares tumbling 22 per cent in after-hours trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday (August 12th). Stocks closed at $18.20, prompting King to assess potential areas for growth which will bring it back to its strong performance during Candy Crush's peak. One area the company is exploring is the launch of a sister title in the future.

Hope Cochran, King's financial officer, said in an interview: "We expect Candy Crush will decline, but have a very strong tail and a long tail. We will be launching the Candy Crush sister title in [the fourth quarter], which will give more longevity to that title."

Highly addictive game

Candy Crush Saga burst onto the scene in April 2012 when it was released on Facebook. The game, which involves moving different coloured sweets to gain a high score or solve a puzzle, proved to be an instant hit on the social network site and was soon expanding. It was released on smartphones from November.

The highly addictive game swept the world with the app being downloaded 500 million times across Facebook, iOS and Android by November 2013, becoming the top downloaded free mobile app of the year. Off the back of its success, King announced in February 2014 that it would be floating on the New York Stock Exchange with analysts valuing the company at $5 billion.

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