Gameloft Celebrates Half a Billion Downloads of Despicable Me: Minion Rush, Developed in Collaboration with Illumination Entertainment and Universal Partnerships & Licensing

PARIS, March 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Gameloft, a leading publisher of digital and social games, is proud to announce that Despicable Me: Minion Rush, developed in collaboration with Illumination Entertainment and Universal Partnerships & Licensing, has surpassed half a billion downloads. This is a huge milestone for mobile gaming as it's the equivalent of one in every 14 people in the world^[1].

Based on Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures' phenomenally successful Despicable Me franchise, since its release in June 2013, the number of downloads for this game has increased exponentially, from 50 million less than a month after its release, to 300 million by its one-year anniversary, and finally, surpassing the half a billion mark in early 2015. As a result, Despicable Me: Minion Rush is the "highest downloaded licensed game in the world across the App Store and Google Play in 2014^[2]".

A veritable worldwide phenomenon, the game has received numerous accolades as well, winning the prestigious Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award and the BAFTA Award. It was also included in App Store's Best of 2013 & 2014 and Google Play's Best of 2014 collections.

Over time, Despicable Me: Minion Rush has grown and enhanced its gameplay with 14 updates. These featured new challenges, plenty of mini-games such as the snowboard race or skateboard course, and locations from the movies, including El Macho's Lair, Minion Beach, the Jelly Lab and Minion Park.

The Gameloft, Illumination and Universal teams worked closely with each other so that each character and feature remained faithful to the beloved universe of the Despicable Me franchise. Since the game's release in 2013, players have committed over 273 billion Despicable Actions, and have traveled over 37 million kilometers within the game, the same as running from the Earth to the Moon 100 times!

"Despicable Me: Minion Rush has seen enormous success since its release in 2013 and continues to bring endless entertainment to our players around the world," says Gonzague De Vallois, Senior Vice President Publishing at Gameloft. "Thanks to the ongoing collaboration with Illumination Entertainment and Universal and the power of our Gameloft development and marketing teams, we were able to break the impressive half-a-billion downloads barrier, which few entertainment properties in history have been able to reach ."

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1. Population is currently 7.2 billion according to United States Census Bureau 

2. Source App Annie 

About Universal Pictures 

Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (http://www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is part of NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

About Illumination Entertainment 

Illumination Entertainment, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007, is one of the entertainment industry's leading producers of all-audience event films.  In July 2010, Illumination, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Pictures, released its first film, Despicable Me, starring Steve Carell, which earned more than $540 million worldwide and launched a beloved global franchise. With the success of 2011's Hop, 2012's Dr. Seuss' The Lorax and 2013's juggernaut Despicable Me 2- the highest-grossing first-run film in Universal's history and the year's third-highest-grossing film at the worldwide box office-Illumination's films have made almost $2 billion. Universal and Illumination's next film Minions, starring Academy Award®-winner Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm, arrives in theaters on July 10, 2015.  In 2011, Universal Pictures acquired the animation division of French visual effects studio Mac Guff Ligne and formed Illumination Mac Guff to work exclusively on Illumination Entertainment's fully CG movies. Fans may also experience Minion Mayhem in 3D with the Ultra-HD movie motion simulator adventure at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood. 

About Universal Partnerships & Licensing 

Universal Partnerships & Licensing (UP&L) oversees NBCUniversal's consumer product and digital licensing for Universal Pictures, NBC Television, Focus Features and Sprout Channel.  This dedicated division is also responsible for film, home entertainment and television promotions.  UP&L is part of NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

About Gameloft: 

A leading publisher of digital and social games, Gameloft® has established itself as one of the top innovators in its field since 2000. Gameloft creates games for all digital platforms, including mobile phones, smartphones and tablets (including Apple® iOS, Android® and Windows® devices), set-top boxes and connected TVs. Gameloft operates its own established franchises such as Asphalt®, Order & Chaos, Modern Combat or Dungeon Hunter and also partners with major rights holders including Universal, Illumination Entertainment, Disney®, Marvel®, Hasbro®, Fox Digital Entertainment, Mattel® and Ferrari®.

Gameloft is present on all continents, distributes its games in over 100 countries and employs over 5,200 developers.

Gameloft is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris (Euronext: GFT.PA, Bloomberg: GFT FP, Reuters: GLFT.PA). Gameloft is traded OTC in the US (sponsored Level 1 ADR ticker: GLOFY).

Press Contact: 

Mandy Paez
Gameloft U.S PR Manager
[email protected]
+1(415)852-7209

SOURCE Gameloft