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A mascot dressed as a character from the mobile game "Candy Crush Saga" walks the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during the IPO of Mobile game maker King Digital Entertainment Plc March 26, 2014.
Brendan McDermid—Reuters

Stocks for Candy Crush game maker King Digital Entertainment plummeted on the first day of trading after its initial public offering Wednesday, making it the worst debut for an IPO yet this year.

King’s stock price fell more than 15% during its first day on the shelf, dropping from an opening price of $22.50 to close at $19.00.

The company’s IPO had been hotly anticipated after the runaway success of its “Candy Crush Saga.” The company raked in a $567.6 million profit last year, a 7,000% increase from a year earlier, due largely to Candy Crush’s success. Nearly 100 million people play the game every day.

King Entertainment’s dismal performance bucked the trend over the last 15 months, which have seen some of the best IPOs in the U.S. in years, The Wall Street Journal reports.

[WSJ]

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