It’s been over six months since Apple rolled out its augmented reality framework ARKit in September, and ARKit apps have been downloaded over 13 million times. Games are still leading the way, comprising 47 percent of installs according to market analyst Sensor Tower.
Sensor Tower notes that its analysis only encompasses apps that “primarily focused on the AR experience,” and it did not include titles that simply added an AR mode or functionality as a novelty. It reports that the Apple App Store now has over 2,000 of these ARKit-focused apps.
Many of the top titles are the same from the first month after ARKit debuted. PlaySide Studios’ AR Dragon still sits on top as the No. 1 free AR game and app, and Directive Games’ The Machines remains the top paid game.
The chart looks a little different when considering ARKit apps overall. AR Dragon is the top free download, but Occipital, Inc.’s TapMeasure has been dethroned by another utility app, Tasmanic Editions’ CamToPlan Pro, as the top paid title.
Many of the top 10 apps are games, which is no surprise since 47 percent of installs come from that category. Utility and entertainment apps sit at second and third place with 14 percent and 12 percent of downloads respectively.
Consumers aren’t flocking to AR titles, as 13 million downloads isn’t exactly booming. Epic Games’ Fortnite: Battle Royale garnered nearly half of that within the first two weeks when entering an invite-only beta on iOS. However, the charts seem to indicate that people are willing to pay for games as in the more traditional mobile market. Seven of the top 10 grossing ARKit apps are games, and so are three of the top five — AR Dragon, The Machines, and Limbic Software’s Zombie Gunship Revenant AR.
