Line is the world’s top-earning app publisher outside of gaming

Mobile games continue to earn nosebleed-inducing sums of money, but the world’s top-earning app publisher that isn’t a gaming company might surprise you.

Excluding games, it was Line – the Japanese messaging platform that’s gunning to be much more – that topped App Annie’s 2015 ranking of app publishers based on combined revenue from iOS and Google Play. It’s actually the third year in a row that Line earned the superlative.

Even with game publishers included, Line still managed to claim the number-seven spot. As a standalone app, Line was also ranked number-two globally for revenue, behind only music subscription service Spotify. Line Manga and Line Play were number six and seven, respectively, just behind fifth-ranked Tinder.

Charts via App Annie.

As you’d expect, Line also dominated the domestic rankings. It was both the top app and the top publisher (games included) in Japan. Line’s collaborative game with Disney, Tsum Tsum, was also the country’s most-downloaded game of 2015, ahead of Mixi’s Monster Strike and GungHo’s Puzzle & Dragons. Three other Line games also appear in the top 10.

Charts via App Annie.

Line’s growth has slowed as it struggles to gain influence outside of its four core markets: Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia. Despite plateauing monthly active user numbers, there’s no denying that Line knows how to monetize its service. Line’s cute sticker characters have evolved into a brand of their own, with an anime series and stores across Asia selling goods emblazoned with their likenesses.

The company’s popular Line Manga service went global in 2014, adding English and Chinese support to the cheers of otaku everywhere. Its recently-added music subscription service also sneaked its way into App Annie’s third-quarter music streaming app rankings at number nine worldwide, across both iOS and Google Play.

On top of games, stickers, comics, and music, Line is now offering everything from taxi hailing and payments to job search and a peer-to-peer marketplace. We reached out to Line for a breakdown of its revenue by category, but a spokesperson declined to comment ahead of an upcoming earnings call.