King Digital Entertainment is trading sharply lower in its first hours as a public company.

Shares in the maker of Candy Crush Saga moved as much as 15% below its $22.50 opening price on Wednesday morning, indicating that investors have become wary of mobile gaming companies that rely on revenue from hit games.

The highly anticipated launch of King shares on the open market included a large flag draped across the New York Stock Exchange.

Pedestrians walk past a King Digital Entertainment banner hanging on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, U.S., on March 26, 2014. Image: Jin Lee/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Candy Crush accounted for 78% of the company's fourth-quarter revenue in 2013, garnering comparisons to other gaming companies like Zynga. King raised just shy of $500 million in its IPO, which valued the company at about $7 billion.

Zynga has also struggled in the market. It currently trades at $4.61, well off its $10 IPO price.

King shares recovered slightly to trade about 9.7% lower at $20.31 in morning trading.