Skip to main content

App downloads up 8.7% in first quarter

Sensor Tower finds gains on Google Play offset declines on App Store, Crash Bandicoot: On the Run starts strong

This week, Sensor Tower released its 2021 Q1 data report, showing worldwide App Store and Google Play downloads have increased year over year by 8.7%.

This increase was driven by Google Play downloads growing by 15.3% in comparison to Q1 2020.

These gains were partially offset by the App Store's downloads decline of 8.6%, which Sensor Tower attributed to "an outsized total in 1Q20 during the initial spread of COVID-19."

Sensor Tower did not suggest why the tough comparison would apply to the App Store, which saw downloads grow 35% in the first quarter of 2020, but not Google Play, which saw downloads jump 38% in the same quarter.

Among the top mobile games of Q1 was King's Crash Bandicoot: On the Run, which amassed a total of 23.6 million downloads worldwide. That's more than double King's launch performance for 2015's Candy Crush Jelly Saga.

In regards to earnings, Crash Bandicoot: On the Run brought in nearly $700,000 within its first week, or about half of Candy Crush Jelly Saga's total over the same span.

Read this next

Jeffrey Rousseau avatar
Jeffrey Rousseau: Jeffrey joined GamesIndustry.biz in March 2021. Based in Florida, his work focused on the intersectionality of games and media. He enjoys reading, podcasts, staying informed, and learning how people are tackling issues.
Related topics