SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lion Studios, a media division of AppLovin, today announced the return of its global contest for independent mobile game developers: Lion Studios’ Ultimate Game Changers. Lion Studios works with mobile developers of all sizes to publish, market, and grow their businesses. AppLovin will give away $300,000 USD in cash prizes to the developers of the four apps judged to have the most potential to become number one in mobile games.
More than 230 applications from 32 countries were submitted to last year’s inaugural competition, with 21-year-old Swedish developer Oliver Eriksson taking the top prize for his game Flip Trickster. With the help of Lion Studios, the casual gymnastics game hit the number one spot in the U.S. and U.K. App Stores just one month after winning the competition. Since its launch with Lion Studios, Flip Trickster has driven about 45mm installs worldwide.
“We held last year’s contest to celebrate the launch of Lion Studios and we were impressed by the variety and creativity of entrants, which is precisely why we’re making this an annual event,” said Rafael Vivas, President of Lion Studios. “Getting Flip Trickster to number one shows the huge potential this competition has to unearth talent from across the globe. Good luck to everyone entering – we’re looking forward to working with this year’s winners to unlock their games’ full potential.”
“While opportunities for developers at big studios continue to provide a great way into mobile gaming, there is rarely a platform that offers the same to indies,” said Steve Lie, CEO at Game5Mobile. “Lion Studios’ Ultimate Game Changers is one of those rare opportunities. There is so much talent out there that goes unnoticed, but Ultimate Game Changers can be transformative for a game like Happy Glass that would otherwise be overlooked.”
“In this highly competitive industry, game developers are rarely given the opportunity to compete for top prize money. Lion Studios’ Ultimate Game Changers is one of them,” said Thomas Castel, Co-Founder of 1Button. “I am thrilled to see that it’s returning as an annual event so we can see more great indie games being rewarded as they deserve. You don’t need to be a big studio to have App Store success!”
This year’s contest, which launches today and runs through to August 15, is open to independent game studios. Entries need to be available on the App Store or Google Play Store and have been downloaded less than 100,000 times. Games don’t need to be new – with thousands available on the app stores, it’s clear there are still many great games waiting to be discovered. Winners will be announced on the contest home page on September 16, 2019.
Think your game has what it takes to be the next big mobile hit? More details about the Ultimate Game Changers contest can be found at https://lionstudios.cc/contest/.
About AppLovin
AppLovin helps mobile game developers connect with billions of global users each month so they can get discovered. Founded in 2012, the company provides a solution for mobile game developers to monetize, publish, understand, and grow their businesses—all in one place. Developers use AppLovin’s platform and powerful analytics tools to acquire new users and improve profitability. Lion Studios, AppLovin’s independent media division, gives developers access to proven resources for publishing and promoting their apps. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto with offices in San Francisco, Dublin, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Toronto and Berlin. Learn more at www.applovin.com.
