Apple’s list of Top Grossing Games is a big deal! Without a question, it’s on this list that game publishers desire to be mentioned because it affirms that “you” have figured out how to turn your app into a top grossing business.

While all of the top games, including Clash of Clans, Castle Age and Modern War, are successful at generating revenue, we wanted to see how they compare when you factor in not just total dollars grossed, but also the quality of each app’s user base.

To do so, we assessed the Top 25 Grossing Games of November, 2012, according to market share positioning (% of US iPhone users using the specified game), average engagement, and the relative value of their users (represented by a scoring system based on average revenue per user/ARPU).  Each of these performance metrics provides insight into the value of a game, its users, and the relationship between the amount it grosses and its users.

We found that the games with the largest market share were Angry Birds Star Wars (3.9%), Subway Surfers (3.5%) and Bike Race Free (3.4%), even though they were not the top three grossing games.

The biggest surprises however, came from Legend of the Cyrptids and Rage of Bahamut, both of which have comparatively small market shares but have the highest ARPUs of the Top 25 Grossing Apps!

The moral here? Size doesn’t always matter.  It’s the quality of users that really catapults games into the Top Grossing list.