The free-to-play gaming model has helped pushed revenue for the top 200 grossing iOS games 79 percent higher over the past year, according to app store tracking firm Distimo.

The company, which releases monthly reports tracking growth in various app stores, said freemium gaming revenue made up slightly more than half of all the revenue generated by the top 200 iOS grossing games in June, up from an eight percent share a year earlier.

Virtual currencies were used in 35 percent of the top 300 free games in June, up from 24 percent at the beginning of the year. Indeed, free games that monetize through the sale of virtual currency from companies like Sequoia-backed Pocket Gems, Storm8, Zynga and Capcom’s Beeline Interactive have come to assume fairly predictable rankings atop the highest-grossing charts.

Unsurprisingly, this handful of publishers drives a big share of downloads for both free and paid apps. Ten companies drive about 27 percent of all downloads for the top 300 free apps. The paid side of the store shows even more consolidation with ten publishers driving 54 percent of the downloads for the top 300 paid apps.

The paid side of the store is also not immune to downward pricing pressure. The average selling price of the top 300 paid apps fell by 28 percent to $1.44 in June from a year earlier as developers taking the premium route have tried to bolster downloads by lowering price points.