How Culver City-based Scopely built 'Monopoly Go!' into a mobile games juggernaut

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Set us as preferred Passing “Go” has become especially lucrative for mobile game publisher Scopely.The Culver City-based firm launched “Monopoly Go!” in 2023, betting fans of the classic board game would flock to a mobile version aimed at casual gamers.By 2025, “Monopoly Go!” had accrued $6 billion in lifetime in-app purchase revenue, becoming the fastest mobile game to do so, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower.This summer, the app is expected to reach $8 billion in lifetime revenue, the company says, solidifying “Monopoly Go!” as Scopely’s biggest game and far surpassing the company’s popular “Pokémon Go.”As overall downloads in the mobile game market have stagnated and in-app purchases and retention become the main drivers of growth, Scopely has hit on an age-old Hollywood strategy — using known franchises and intellectual property to bring out fans.“These are incredibly durable and long-lasting games that have really passionate communities and fandom around them,” said Javier Ferreira, co-chief executive of Scopely.“We’re in the business of building people’s favorite thing, and that’s a difficult thing to do.

The power of [intellectual property] is that, in some cases, that is already their favorite thing.”The company’s journey toward “Monopoly Go!” began in 2014, when Scopely formed a partnership with Rhode Island-based toymaker Hasbro.Its first collaboration was a Yahtzee mobile dice game that ultimately drew millions of players worldwide (though it was especially popular in the U.S.) and generated more than $1 billion in lifetime revenue.After that, Scopely approached Hasbro about taking on the “crown jewel” of its board game empire — Monopoly.Monopoly’s massive global popularity was an obvious draw.

But adapting an hours-long real estate transaction game ...