Considering how well Candy Crush supports its free to play base, to the point you don’t need to spend money with smart grinding, how Candy Crush makes money is something a lot of people ask about. Even the best free to play games find a way so that the most dedicated few can still empty their pockets and keep the lights on.

How does Candy Crush make money?

Since Candy Crush Saga is free to download and play, the developers, King, have to make money in other ways since they’re not making money off of individual downloads.

As you’d expect from a free to play mobile game, the largest part of their earnings come from in-app purchases. Gold Bars, Boosters and of course, extra lives are all things that can be purchased in the in-game shop for real world money. These small purchases add up, generating significant revenue. Boosters like lollipop hammers and extra moves can be purchased to make tricky levels easier. These items are tempting for players who are stuck and don’t want to wait to continue. However, savvy players can effectively get infinite lives. If they hold their resources correctly, even as a free to play player.

In-game currency

Gold bars are the in-game currency. Players can buy gold bars to purchase lives, boosters, and other in-game items. This creates a continuous revenue stream as players progress through the game.

Ads in Candy Crush make money even if you’re not spending

Candy Crush also makes money through advertisements. Players can watch ads to earn free boosters or extra lives, providing another revenue stream for the game.

For players that absolutely don’t want to spend money, this is how they often end up contributing to Candy Crush Saga’s revenue. Since the game is on both mobile as well as PC, with the PC version having more levels than mobile, their ad strategy is different per system. For things like the Facebook browser roots of the game, it opted for non intrusive banner ads, rather than the pop up ads that you have to watch and skip past in order close like on mobile.

King often runs special events and offers limited-time deals on in-game items. These events encourage players to spend money to take advantage of the deals and progress faster. Especially for those that might have alternative credit solutions, like Google Play Credit, stockpiling those and waiting for a sale might allow even the most staunch of free to play players spend a little money in game without affecting their real world finances.

Candy Crush makes money through a combination of in-app purchases, gold bars, ads, and special events. These methods keep the game profitable while allowing players to enjoy it for free.