In 2016, Activision Blizzard finalized their acquisition of King Digital Entertainment, as they wanted ownership over the Candy Crush franchise. Activision Blizzard spent a staggering $5.9 billion dollars on the deal, which immediately made the Candy Crush series into one of the most profitable media franchises of all time, where it is currently valued at $4.96 billion.
The simple match-three puzzle gameplay style of the Candy Crush titles has been done in countless other video games in the past. The creators of Candy Crush just happened to be in the right place and the right time by creating a compelling version of the match-three formula on mobile phones and by monetizing the game in such a way that people will keep pumping their own cash into it.
A common headline around the time when Activision Blizzard purchased King Digital Entertainment was that they paid more for Candy Crush Saga than Disney paid for Lucasfilm (and by extension, Indiana Jones and Star Wars), as Disney only gave George Lucas $4 billion for his iconic media franchises.
The truth is that Star Wars has made a lot more cash over the course of its existence than the Candy Crush games, but there are still a lot of iconic movies, TV shows, and video game series that have made far less money than a simple puzzle game for mobile phones.
We are here today to see which media franchises are worth more or less than the Candy Crush series - from the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the most famous woman in video game history.
Here are Ten Iconic Franchises That Are Worth Less Money Than Candy Crush Saga (And Ten That Are Worth More).
More: The Marvel Cinematic Universe (28 Billion Dollars)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has defined a generation of blockbuster movies by proving that inter-connected stories that span several different films and genres can engage the audience and keep them coming back for more, even when it means checking out a character or team that they have never heard of before, as was the case with Guardians of the Galaxy.
The MCU hasn't shown any sign of slowing down yet and has the potential to keep going for years to come, with the next Avengers movie shaping up to be the biggest film of 2019. It should come as no surprise that the MCU is a multi-billion dollar business, to the point where it is currently beating the mighty Star Wars in merchandise sales.
Less: The DC Expanded Universe (4.919 Billion Dollars)
The DCEU contains movies based on some of the most famous fictional characters of all time, yet it has faltered at the box office compared to the MCU. There are films like Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League that have underperformed in comparison to their pedigree.
The DCEU has had a few successes, such as Suicide Square bringing in just under $750 million at the box office despite its poor critical reception, but the other movies haven't grabbed the imagination of the public in the same way as the MCU.
The divide between the DCEU and Candy Crush would be a lot wider if it wasn't for the recent success of Aquaman, which has propelled the ticket sales of the DCEU within spitting distance of Candy Crush's value, which means that the next DCEU movie only has to be a moderate success in order to push it over the line.
More: Harry Potter (30 Billion Dollars)
The Harry Potter franchise took the world by storm when the movies brought the series to new levels of mainstream success, which led to a decade-long saga of films being released.
Harry Potter has been a merchandise-selling machine on the same level as the MCU or Star Wars, to the point where the franchise has even been able to sustain several amusement parks across the world.
The fans expected the Harry Potter hype to fade away after the movies had ended, but the series has continued on in the form of prequel films, the Cursed Child sequel play, and a slew of video games that could keep on being released for years to come.
Less: Friends (4.8 Billion Dollars)
There are several shows that could be considered the "greatest comedy TV show of the 90s," with the likes of Frasier, Seinfeld, and The Simpsons being highly ranked among them, but it's hard to argue against the success of Friends during its heyday, as it was hugely popular throughout a run that lasted over two-hundred episodes.
Friends has made over $3.5 billion dollars in syndication, as it's still shown regularly on TV channels across the globe, but even that level of exposure isn't enough to help the Central Perk crew when it comes to beating Candy Crush in of cash.
More: Shonen Jump (34 Billion Dollars)
You might not recognize the name of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, but you will have almost certainly heard of some of the series that have appeared inside of it, as they include the likes of Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Naruto.
The top ten list of best-selling manga series of all time includes six from Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, which consists of Bleach, Slam Dunk, KochiKame, Naruto, Dragon Ball, and One Piece.
One Piece alone makes a lot of money for Shueisha (the publisher of Weekly Shonen Jump) as its one of the best-selling comic book series of all time, but the magazine has produced many different popular series over the years, some of which have become worldwide hits.
Less: My Little Pony (4.3 Billion Dollars)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has become associated with the outlandish fanbase that it has spawned in recent years, but the history of the franchise goes back a long way and predates the birth of many modern "bronies."
The My Little Pony toy line debuted in the 80s and was aimed specifically towards young girls. The franchise has gone into hibernation and been revitalized several times since its debut, to the point where the Friendship is Magic era is considered to be the fourth iteration of My Little Pony.
The accumulated sales of the My Little Pony toys have brought in over $4 billion, with the movies and TV shows only bringing in a fraction of the money compared to the merchandise, but it still hasn't beaten the numbers of the Candy Crush franchise.
More: Super Mario (35 Billion Dollars)
There are many people who consider Mario to be the face of video games, even though Tetris and Minecraft have made far more money than any of the Super Mario games. The fact is that tetrominoes aren't really characters and most people create their own avatar in Minecraft, which leaves the iconic status to a portly Italian plumber.
The original Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System is the seventh best-selling game of all time, even if a large portion of those sales were due to the fact that it was a pack-in game for the NES, which is the same reason why Duck Hunt is the seventeenth best-selling game of all time.
Mario is the face of Nintendo and he continues to star in critically and commercially successful games to this day, which means that his status as the face of gaming is assured for the future.
Less: Assassin's Creed (4.3 Billion Dollars)/(Less)
The Assassin's Creed franchise debuted in 2007 and quickly became one of the most successful video game series of all time, which would go on to spawn other forms of media, including one bad movie.
There have been numerous Assassin's Creed games that span different parts of history, with the most famous being the trilogy that followed the life of Ezio Auditore. It was the beginning of Ezio's journey in Assassin's Creed II that really helped put the series on the map and helped propel it to mainstream success.
The twenty-odd games in the Assassin's Creed series have yet to be able to earn as much money as the Candy Crush franchise, which is likely due to a secret Templar plot to stop you from playing good games.
More: Disney Princess(45 Billion Dollars)
Disney Princess is the name given to a specific brand of animated movies that are released by The Walt Disney Company, which covers media related to eleven different princesses - Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Merida, Mulan, Pocahontas, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Tiana.
The individual movies that make up the Disney Princess line have brought in hundreds-of-millions of dollars at the box office, but the real profit lies in the merchandise associated with the brand, which has brought in over forty-four billion dollars. The mighty heroes of the MCU have yet to come to close to bringing in the kind of cash that is generated by the Disney princesses.
Less: The Legend of Zelda (3.44 Billion Dollars)
There are many Nintendo fans who will rate games in The Legend of Zelda series above those in the Super Mario Bros. series, with titles like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Breath of the Wild counted among the greatest video games of all time.
The Legend of Zelda series might be a critical darling, but it's nowhere near as financially successful as Super Mario. The Zelda series has done incredibly well for itself and has brought in over $3 billion, but it was still outdone by Candy Crush Saga in of sales.
Nintendo doesn't need to worry too much about King, as the biggest media franchise of all time is associated with their brand...