Candy Crush Solitaire hits one million downloads, breaks some minor records
A fast success for King
- Candy Crush Solitaire is shaping up to be a winner for match-three giant King
- It's accrued over one million downloads, dwarfed by its predecessors but still respectable
- Candy Crush Solitaire is also the fastest to reach that milestone in its genre in over a decade
King's Candy Crush Solitaire, which blends many mechanics from their hit match-three franchise with TriPeaks Solitaire, has broken one million downloads. In the process, it's managed to break some minor records by being the fastest tripeaks solitaire puzzler in over a decade to hit the one million milestone that fast.
Not necessarily that impressive, of course. But upon being broken down it's intriguing to dig into this further. For one, although solitaire and its derivatives have consistently been favourites since the very inception of home computing, they've been overshadowed on mobile by all manner of flashy and simpler alternatives.
However, even King themselves have struggled to maintain their stranglehold on the casual puzzle market. And it seems their big saving throw was blending familiar elements from their own series with that of a well-known classic puzzler, a bet that seems to have paid off.
It's also tempting to consider the fact that Candy Crush Solitaire was one of the first King and Microsoft mobile releases to also hit alternative app stores, thanks to their partnership with Flexion. And it seems others have taken notice judging by the announcement that Flexion and another major publisher, EA, were also partnering up.
So what does it mean for us? I reckon a couple of things. For one we could see more Candy Crush spin-offs in the work, and for two it reinforces what I wrote earlier today about the fact that alternative storefronts seem a really great way for publishers to bolster their numbers. Whether that translates to benefits for the average player, though, is anyone's guess.
Want to find out more about how Candy Crush Solitaire came about? Why not check out our interview with Marta Cortinas, one of the executive producers on the project, to find out more about King's latest release?
