Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days
- To give those particularly thorny topics a further going over we've created a weekly digest where the members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming in the past week
The games industry moves quickly and while stories may come and go there are some that we just can't let go of…
So, to give those particularly thorny topics a further going over we've created a weekly digest where the members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming in the past week.
Daniel Griffiths
Top Chinese official removed following gaming crackdown confusion
It's not been a great couple of weeks for the Chinese games market. While nobody particularly enjoys returning to work in the new year, the government-imposed extended holiday foisted upon one Feng Shixin is one nightmare before Christmas that the otherwise dutiful purveyor of government will wont forget.
But after all, when the Chinese government smoothly lets slip that they intend to bring in some of their stiffest anti-gaming legislation yet and billions are wiped off the stock values of giants such as Tencent and NetEase as a direct result, the buck has to stop somewhere right?
So how about with the guy that runs the department in charge getting the message out rather than those who proposed the draconian changes in the first place? Yeah, that'll do the trick.
See? We've all forgotten about now.
Craig Chapple
Kim Kardashian: Hollywood removed from app stores with end of service in April
News that the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood game is closing actually had me surprised this week.
Clearly Glu Mobile had moved on from the game, particularly with the success of the MLB Tap Sports Baseball series and its acquisition of Covet Fashion and Design Home developer Crowdstar many moons ago.
It was a fascinating game of its time - utilising celebrity power (at apparently great cost) to market a game, and it worked extremely well. According to AppMagic data, the title generated $324.3 million from lifetime player spending. Such success was not repeated with another big name game - Britney Spears: American Dream.
Kim Kardashian: Hollywood has clearly passed its sell-by date. Though it’s interesting that its closure comes at a time when huge IP is being touted as one of the answers to privacy challenges and user acquisition woes.
Perhaps sometime soon, Glu will be looking for another big licence to shoot its next game up the charts.
And around and around we go.
Paige Cook
Square Enix promise greater globalisation and "aggressive" use of AI
It’s the first week of a new year, and Square Enix has wasted no time presenting its intentions for the year ahead. In a letter to the industry, president and representative director Takashi Kiryu highlighted some areas that we can expect to see the company pursue further, and to nobody's surprise, AI is listed here as a focus.
Last year was a massive one for the growth of AI and the beginning of a much broader adoption of this technology in the gaming industry, and I see no sign of that slowing down in 2024 or beyond.
I find it interesting that Square Enix was giving blockchain the big talk in the previous few years, and now, in this letter, it’s only afforded a fleeting mention. While 2024 will see the release of the anticipated Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on PlayStation, I'm still waiting for a solid mobile contribution from Square Enix. Is 2024 the year for that? Will AI play a role in its creation? I suppose time will tell.
Aaron Astle
You have to hand it to China: they certainly know how to cause a stir. Somehow, the country’s plan to ban gacha games, login bonuses, and more has been met with a “How could they do that?” and a “Yep, that sounds about right!” all at once.
The region’s anti-gaming legislation is either unpredictably predictable or predictably unpredictable - it’s hard to decide which - and the announcement of the potential ban came just at the end of a good year for gaming in China, at that.
I looked at some of the biggest gacha games right now and their revenues without including the Chinese market to gain a bit of perspective on how their monthly earnings could look in the future if they get banned, and they’re optimistic, really.
Of course, I don’t claim to know every game’s business expenses, and the list speaks for revenues, not profits, but even so, $28 million from Honkai: Star Rail in one month, excluding China. I’d be happy with that!
For now, all we can really do is keep our eagle eye on the news in China as it develops because, ultimately, anything’s possible…
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