In 2020, top Star Wars mobile games saw over a 900% increase in downloads on Star Wars Day.
What’s Happening:
Today, Disney+ will be releasing Star Wars: The Bad Batch to coincide with Star Wars Day (“May the Fourth”) — an annual celebration of the franchise’s dedicated fanbase. Last year, Disney+ released an eight-episode docuseries with behind-the-scenes footage from The Mandalorian. Historically, fans engage through mobile each year on May Fourth — highlighted through timely growth in Star Wars-related apps and games. We expect to see similar growth in demand this year.
Why It Matters:
In addition to exclusive streaming releases, our Game IQ analysis leveraging our custom IP tag shows Star Wars-themed gaming apps also see significant growth in downloads as fans celebrate “Star Wars Day.”
Star Wars mobile apps have traditionally seen a spike in downloads in the lead-up to May Fourth each year. Most notably on May 4, 2020, LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga saw over 14,000 downloads, compared to an average of 1,400 daily downloads the week prior. LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens also saw a 190% increase in downloads and Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes had the most downloads on May 4 than any other day over the course of two months.
However, the dedication of Star Wars’ fan base extends far beyond this annual celebration. In previous years, the release of Star Wars content on Disney+ led to increased downloads—no matter the time of year. The Mandalorian, the first live-action series in the Star Wars franchise, was released with the Disney+ US app launch in November 2019. The premiere of the second season, released October 30 2020, drew an increase of over 40% in daily active users vs the week prior average (Oct 30, 2020 vs Oct 23 - 29, 2020).
Go Deeper:
The significant growth in Star Wars-related intellectual property on mobile — tied to both the May Fourth celebration and franchise content releases — highlights the importance of finding new ways to maintain timely and relevant engagement with users. Publishers should also consider the increased demand for search traffic during this time and factor this into a robust app store optimization (ASO) strategy.
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May 4, 2021
Mobile Minute