Royal Kingdom makes money primarily through a polished free-to-play model built around in‑app purchases, with supporting revenue from aggressive user acquisition loops and high player spending rather than from forced ads.

Quick Scoop

  • The game is free to download and play, but carefully tuned so that paying speeds up progress and removes friction.
  • Most of its revenue comes from players buying boosters, extra moves, lives, and coin packs inside the game.
  • It has already generated well over $100 million in player spending, which helps fund its massive celebrity-filled ad campaigns.
  • Unlike many mobile games, it leans on in‑app purchases and high‑value players more than on spamming forced ads.

Main Ways Royal Kingdom Makes Money

1. In‑App Purchases (IAPs)

Royal Kingdom uses the classic match‑3 playbook: make it free and fun at first, then slowly add difficulty and time pressure so spending feels tempting rather than mandatory.

Common purchases include:

  • Boosters and power‑ups (rockets, bombs, etc.) to clear hard levels.
  • Extra moves or retries when you’re one or two moves away from winning.
  • Lives, so you don’t have to wait for them to recharge.
  • Coin packs and limited‑time bundles that feel like “good deals”.

A typical player might think: “I’m so close, it’s only a few dollars,” and repeat that many times over weeks or months.

2. Progress Friction and “Pay to Smooth” Design

The game deliberately creates small points of friction in the experience and then sells ways to remove them.

  • Early levels are easy and generous, handing out wins and free power‑ups to get you hooked.
  • Later levels tighten move limits, add blockers, and increase failure rates, which nudges players toward boosters and extra moves.
  • Time‑limited offers, streak rewards, and “one‑time” bundles increase urgency to spend.

This isn’t a bug; it’s the core of how the game turns attention into money.

3. High‑Value Players and ARPU

Reports on Royal Kingdom’s performance show very strong spending per player (high ARPU) for a match‑3 title.

  • It reached about $2.4 million in the first 14 days of global launch alone.
  • Within months, it passed $100 million in lifetime player spending, with the U.S. and U.K. as major revenue engines.
  • Analysts estimate revenue in the mid‑nine‑figure range less than a year from launch, driven mostly by IAPs rather than ad spam.

In simple terms, a relatively small share of players spends a lot, and the whole economy is tuned around them.

What About Ads and Celebrities?

4. No Forced Ads, But Heavy Ad Spend

One of the selling points in some Royal Kingdom ads is “no ads, no Wi‑Fi, just me and my kingdom”, suggesting the game doesn’t rely on intrusive interstitial ads to monetize.

  • That means non‑paying players are mostly there to keep the ecosystem lively and to eventually convert some into payers.
  • The serious money comes from in‑game purchases, which then funds a huge user‑acquisition budget.

Commentators have noted that the game’s celebrity‑stuffed ad campaigns look more like expensive prestige projects than frugal performance marketing.

5. “How Do They Afford So Many Celebs?”

This question has become a meme on forums and Reddit.

Common community explanations include:

  • The game is “printing money” thanks to high‑spending users in key markets like the U.S. and U.K.
  • Ads are extremely effective at pulling in curious players, using “fake fail” style creative that makes viewers think they can do better than the actor in the ad.
  • Once hooked, a subset of those players spends repeatedly on boosts and lives, indirectly paying for the next wave of celebrity commercials.

“Their foolish game is crafted to draw people in… leaderboards, gambling vibes, social hooks – once you’re in, it’s hard to leave.”

Forum Talk and Trending Context

On gaming and advertising forums, Royal Kingdom is often discussed in the same breath as Royal Match: highly polished, heavily advertised, and extremely lucrative.

People tend to debate:

  • Ethics of difficulty tuning: Is the game fair, or is it engineered to squeeze wallets?
  • Misleading ads: Many feel the gameplay shown in ads doesn’t match the real core loop.
  • Spending habits: Some players insist they enjoy it completely free; others admit to dropping serious money over time.

As of 2025–2026, it remains a textbook example of how a modern free‑to‑play puzzle game can explode into a nine‑figure business in under a year using tuned progression, deep monetization, and flashy marketing.

Simple Answer Wrap‑Up

  • Royal Kingdom is free to play but makes money when players buy boosters, extra moves, lives, and coin packs.
  • It designs levels and friction so that spending feels like the easiest way to keep the fun going.
  • Strong spending from a fraction of players has pushed revenue past $100 million, which in turn funds its massive celebrity ad campaigns.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.