How does “Battle Cats” Make Money?

Duncan Schiller, MVC Writer

How does the game “Battle Cats” make so much money? First of all, it is estimated by SensorTower.com that the game makes around $1 million per month, and that is a lot of money. It is a free-to-play game, with in-app purchases for cat food, which is like gems, and special starter packs and event packs.

Cat food costs $1 for 30 units of it, so it is pretty expensive. Cat food can be used to purchase power ups and experience points, recharge cat energy, which is sort of like a heart system, and purchase capsules, which can unlock new cats. Power ups generally help out gameplay progression, and a treasure radar can be used to guarantee a normal or superior treasure, or to automatically get all rewards from a level that gives rewards. Experience can be earned normally by completing levels or selling obtained cats, and is used to level up the cats. It can also be bought for cat food in the shop, but it is expensive. Power ups are also pretty expensive, so that is a nice chunk of revenue for the game.

Buying cat capsules costs 150 cat food, and will give the player a random rare, super rare, uber super rare, or ??? rare. There are often events that will give alternate rewards from capsules, like limited edition units or power ups. Players that want to progress quickly will often buy multiple capsules to potentially get amazing units. Keep in mind that uber super rares only have a 5% drop rate, so players get frustrated when they use a lot of capsules and get none, and will then buy more capsules. This generates more revenue.

Starter packs are something that many players choose to purchase, because they are often cheap and give rewards like experience, power ups, capsules, or even a platinum ticket, which can be used to get a 100% uber super rare. Events will often also have special packs for purchase, with the first being $20, the second being $40, and the third being around $80. These packs seem like such an irresistible deal that players just have to buy them, and it generates even more revenue for the game. 

Overall, the multiple potential purchases in “Battle Cats” make a lot of money for PONOS.