Star Wars: The Force Awakens finally hit cinemas on December 18, after months of hype surrounding the seventh film in the series. That hype went further than theaters, with Star Wars apps surging in popularity over the weekend.
Mobile analytics firm Sensor Tower released startling information on the rapid surge in downloads and revenue for Star Wars apps on the iOS App Store, during the premiere (Dec 18) and the day after.
On Dec 18, the 22 apps examined saw a 102-percent increase in downloads compared to the last two Fridays, reaching 381,000 total downloads. Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes made the most revenue and achieved the most downloads during the premiere, with 164,000 downloads and $186,000 in revenue.
Other popular apps included LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga with 41,000 downloads and Star Wars Commander — Worlds in Conflict, which reached 29,000 downloads and $43,000 in revenue.
Those numbers pale in comparison to the day after, where Star Wars app downloads were up 193 percent over the previous two Saturdays. Combined downloads reached 556,000, with a 74-percent increase in revenue to $334,000.
Disney has an estimated $350 million advertising budget for Star Wars, and Sensor Tower reveals a major increase in advertising from the top three Star Wars apps during the premiere weekend on Facebook. All three were ranked high in Facebook’s ad network during the weekend, as they engaged in spending to promote the apps on social media.
The Force Awakens has already broken records, with $529 million in global ticket sales surpassing the previous record set in June by Jurassic World. The new Star Wars film has broken regional records in the U.S., Germany, Australia, and the U.K., among other countries.
No doubt the world will be in a Star Wars frenzy for the next few months. Luckily for fans of the series, you won’t have to wait another 10 years for the next Star Wars film, as Disney plans to have a new film released every year.
