Twenty-six billion downloads and counting – behind the success of Talking Tom

Unless you work in the mobile sector, we’ll wager there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Talking Tom. So it might surprise you to learn that this long-running franchise has racked up well over 26 billion downloads.

That is a phenomenal number – roughly equivalent to every person on Earth downloading three Talking Tom games each. It puts the franchise in the highest echelons of mobile success. For comparison, one of the most successful mobile titles ever, Subway Surfers, has been downloaded around 2.17 billion times according to AppMagic, while Candy Crush Saga is on 1.41 billion downloads and Pokémon Go is on 696 million.

The 26 billion figure comes directly from Outfit7, the publisher behind the franchise, and the numbers make a little more sense when you realise that there have been a considerable number of Talking Tom games down the years (around 40, although many have been discontinued). Plus a large portion of the downloads are in countries such as India, Brazil, and China.

Even so, there are discrepancies. According to AppMagic’s figures, Outfit7’s games as a whole have been downloaded around 7.9 billion times – still a huge figure, but some way short of 26 billion. A spokesperson for AppMagic put forward a few reasons why the numbers might not match. For one, AppMagic only counts unique downloads – and Outfit7 has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that its figures include reinstalls. Plus AppMagic’s data only goes as far back as 2015, and the Talking Tom series started in 2010.

For its part, Outfit7 is confident in the 26 billion figure. “These are the numbers that we stand behind,” says Jernej Česen, COO and general manager at Outfit7, who adds that the company only counts installs when the user has opened the game and begun to play it. “That’s why I’m ultra confident talking about these numbers.”

Which leads to the burning question: what’s the secret to Outfit7’s success?

Early doors

The short answer – which is likely to come as a disappointment to anyone hoping to follow in Outfit7’s footsteps – is simply that the first Talking Tom game got in there back at the very start of the smartphone boom. As Česen says: “We were in the right place at the right time.”

Outfit7 was founded in 2009 by the Slovenian couple Samo and Iza Login, two computer science graduates who experimented with making various different apps back at the dawn of the iPhone age. But the only one of their apps that saw any significant success was Talking Tom Cat, in which a cartoon feline repeated back what users said into the iPhone’s microphone in a high-pitched voice. Since then, Outfit7 has doubled and tripled down on the Talking Tom franchise, releasing a slew of sophisticated virtual pet games based on Tom and an ever-expanding cast of anthropomorphic animals, like Hank the dog and a white-haired cat called Angela.

In 2017, Outfit7 was bought in a deal worth $1 billion by the Chinese chemicals firm Zhejiang Jinke Peroxide Company, which renamed itself to Zhejiang Jinke Entertainment Culture. An unusual deal, perhaps, but we’ve seen a similar story before. Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited – which bought Digital Extremes in 2014 and Splash Damage in 2016, before itself being acquired by Tencent in 2020 – was initially a poultry business called Sumpo Food Holdings Limited.

Xinyu Qian was involved in corporate investments at Jinke before he moved over to Outfit7, eventually becoming its CEO. It was a bit of a dream come true for the long-time gaming fan and DOTA devotee. “I was super happy to spend most of my time and efforts with the entertainment and gaming people,” he says, “which was much more fun for me than an ordinary role in a traditional financial institution.”

It’s one thing for Talking Tom to have gained success back in those early days of smartphones, when every app was exciting and new. But it’s quite another for the franchise to have been able to maintain its success for 15 years. Qian puts this down to three core principles: inclusivity, global thinking, and long-term commitment.

“First, we create for everyone,” he says. “Inclusivity is at the heart of the Talking Tom & Friends brand, from game design to character development.” Česen agrees, saying that their games need to be designed in such a way that “kids can play it, but parents need to enjoy it, and also the grandparents will actually spend a crazy good time hanging in the game.”

The second point is that Outfit7 thinks globally, monitoring performance across regions and learning from cultural nuances. “That global-first mindset has been essential in helping us connect with a worldwide audience,” says Qian.

Finally, Outfit7 builds for the long run. “Our flagship titles – like Talking Tom and My Talking Angela – are still thriving more than a decade after their debut,” says Qian. “We’re not focused on chasing short-term trends; instead, we’re dedicated to creating lasting experiences that players can return to again and again.”

“We’re not focused on chasing short-term trends; instead, we’re dedicated to creating lasting experiences that players can return to again and again.”

There has been a bit of trend-chasing in the past, however. Various Talking Tom spin-off titles have aped popular genres, such as 2015’s Talking Tom Bubble Shooter, which bears a striking resemblance to Taito’s evergreen hit Puzzle Bobble. However, like most of Outfit7’s spin-off titles, Talking Tom Bubble Shooter has now been discontinued – although the endless runner Talking Tom Gold Run remains popular.

Ecosystem

Today, the Talking Tom franchise focuses on a few core games and characters that broadly fit into the virtual pet genre. The aim is to create an ecosystem, says Česen, where users “migrate from one game to another.”

“We try to keep the users engaged through different channels,” he says. “So you enter in one game, then through the [cross-promotional] mechanism, you can start playing another game, you go and watch videos, you return back. And the reality is that even today our users are playing more than one of our games simultaneously.”

Even after culling several of the older games down the years, there are still plenty of Talking Tom titles to choose from. “We have 24 games,” says Česen. “They’re all performing really well. That’s why we are keeping them there.”

He adds that there are ideas to do “some kind of store purification” and just focus on a few titles – but Outfit7’s data shows that users are still searching for the older games. That said, there are six core titles that Outfit7 considers as its flagship apps, some of which have up to 10 million daily active users. The cats Tom and Angela remain the most popular characters, says Česen, but Hank the dog is also gaining traction.

Outfit7 is a pretty big operation these days. Česen says there are up to 400 people working for the company around the world, and it still has a large studio in Slovenia, although the firm’s headquarters is in Cyprus. Česen says the company’s secret sauce is not to treat games as a “cash generating machine,” instead focusing on making sure players will enjoy them and want to spend time in them. “Then all the other things will follow.”

Audience first

“We are ultra strong in the China market,” says Česen, who notes that this was the case even before the Jinke takeover. Rather than partnering with a local publisher in the country, Outfit7 made its initial foray into China alone, and made sure to tailor its games to the market.

“Given China’s massive population and commercial potential, we’ve made a deliberate effort to localize our content,” says Qian, “incorporating culturally relevant features and celebrating key moments like the Lunar New Year through in-game events that appeal to both local and international audiences.”

“China’s mobile gaming ecosystem is also uniquely complex,” he continues. “With no Google Play Store, the Android market is highly fragmented, dominated by over ten major app stores. To navigate this landscape effectively, we established a dedicated local team to manage publishing and operations. This localized approach has allowed us to better understand player preferences, optimize distribution, and build a deeper connection with our Chinese user base.”

Beyond tailoring content to local tastes, Outfit7 is also looking to expand the Talking Tom brand through various transmedia enterprises. “Transmedia is important to our vision,” says Qian. “We’re evolving into a multi-IP, multi-platform entertainment company, with mobile gaming as a strong foundation. To ensure the Talking Tom & Friends brand remains evergreen, we must extend its presence beyond games and into a broader entertainment ecosystem.

“We want fans to engage with Talking Tom & Friends content across a wide variety of platforms and formats, wherever they are, and however they prefer to consume entertainment.”

Currently there’s a superhero-themed animated series called Talking Tom Heroes: Suddenly Super, along with licensed toys and merchandise, and in China there are more than 30 indoor Talking Tom theme parks in shopping malls. Qian says Outfit7 is also growing its presence on short-form video platforms such as TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and RedNote.

“Looking ahead, we see incredible potential in areas such as films, audio content, live-action shows, HTML5 games, immersive experiences, and more,” he continues. “That said, we’re approaching this expansion strategically. It’s about finding the right format for the right story, and aligning teams around a shared vision to make it happen.”

There have been collaborations with other brands, too, most notably a team up with Angry Birds from Rovio. Qian says Outfit7 has become more open to brand partnerships in recent years. “These collaborations have proven to be mutually beneficial and, most importantly, exciting for our fans. We’ve had several successful partnerships already.” Many more partnerships are in the pipeline, including Talking Angela and Talking Tom making their Roblox debut.

“We’re now actively exploring deeper collaborations, especially with partners from outside the gaming world,” says Qian. “The goal is to combine the brand power of major franchises with our game development expertise to create something truly unique.”

Future growth

The Talking Tom franchise has been impressive in terms of its staying power, racking up billions of downloads over the past 15 years. But what about the future? With growth plateauing in the mobile market, we’re entering a phase where the only way to expand will be through poaching players from other games.

“We believe in the enduring appeal of the Talking Tom & Friends IP and in the creativity and capability of our Outfit7 team.”

“It’s true, the mobile market is highly saturated,” says Qian, “and we’re not just competing with other games, but also with broader entertainment platforms like short-form video apps and streaming content.

“The landscape is crowded, but we still see meaningful growth opportunities. We believe in the enduring appeal of the Talking Tom & Friends IP and in the creativity and capability of our Outfit7 team. We focus on innovating within our own universe, exploring new game mechanics, genres, and experiences that resonate with both existing fans and new audiences.”

He gives the example of the recently launched Talking Tom & Friends World. “It’s a fresh, exploratory take within the franchise, and we’re confident it has strong potential to drive growth. And that’s just the beginning, several other projects are currently in R&D, all aimed at expanding our reach in meaningful and original ways.”

Although Talking Tom has proved to be an incredibly resilient franchise, Outfit7 is ultimately looking for growth opportunities in the form of new IP and through expanding to platforms beyond mobile. “Our vision is to become a multi-IP, multi-platform entertainment company, with mobile gaming remaining a strong foundation,” says Qian. “While Talking Tom & Friends continues to be a major focus, we also believe in the importance of creating something entirely new.

“With the talent and creativity of our team, I’m confident that we’re capable of developing original IPs beyond the Talking Tom & Friends universe. We’ve already set up a few small internal teams dedicated to non-TTF projects – games and experiences that can drive future growth. Our approach is to identify unmet user needs in the market and develop products that truly resonate with those audiences.

“It won’t be an easy journey, especially in today’s crowded entertainment landscape, but we believe this bold step is essential for Outfit7’s evolution – and we’re ready to invest in it.”