'Game Of War' Makes $1M A Day Thanks To Kate Upton's Super Bowl Adverts

Mobile game development may appear lucrative at the outset, but the reality is vastly different. Of the hundreds of games hitting the app stores each day, only a few go on to make any kind of money. This has even prompted a lot of indie mobile developers to quit the business altogether. Amidst such bleak conditions, there's the case of iOS game "Game of War: Fire Age," which went on to rake in money to the tune of $1 million per day.

The reason for the mobile game's success is quite apparent for those who have been watching any amount of TV programming these days. That's because the developer Machine Zone has been inundating the airwaves with advertisements for "Game of War." These aren't the usual garden variety of ads but epic swords-and-sandals productions featuring supermodel Kate Upton. The advertisement has reportedly been aired over 9,000 times, with most of the instances pushed through high viewership programming such as Super Bowl.

Smartly targeted at commercial ad spots with the mostly young male viewership, the "Game of War" ads feature Kate Upton in a tantalising take on medieval warfare. The success of the adverts can be attributed to the supermodel being featured in settings that are meant to appeal to the young male target demographic. This includes parading Upton in strategically revealing armour and a gratuitous bathing scene. Backed by a high budget and impressive production values, Upton's "come and play with me" request seems to have worked its magic.

The advertising campaign cost the free-to-play mobile game a whopping $80 million in total, according to a Gamespot report. However, the investment has more than justified itself, considering the sheer volume of money the developer has raked in through the route of microtransactions. This has been achieved through in-app purchases, some of which are pegged at an eye-watering $100-a-pop items. Sure enough, mobile gamers seem to have bitten into the marketing blitz because the microtransaction revenue has doubled since the ads were aired.

Cinema Blend points out that despite the recent spurt in revenue, "Game of War: Fire Age" still hasn't managed to upstage the reigning mobile gaming champions "Clash of Clans" and "Candy Crush Saga." Nevertheless, this still gives the multiplayer strategy game the distinction of being the second best revenue earner in the mobile gaming scene. For those wondering exactly how the Kate Upton advertisement made such a profound change to the game's fortunes – well, there's no better way to find out than watching the original Super Bowl commercial embedded below.

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Game of War - 2015 Super Bowl Commercial "Who I Am" ft. Kate Upton (credit: Game of War: Fire Age YouTube channel)