PocketGamer.biz Week That Was: Flappy Bird causes a flap, Dungeon Keeper creates a stir, and Puzzle & Dragons tops $1 billion

The past 7 days in bite-sized portions

February 8, 2014

PocketGamer.biz Week That Was: Flappy Bird causes a flap, Dungeon Keeper creates a stir, and Puzzle & Dragons tops $1 billion

This past week's headlines are the sort of fodder that give mobile a bad name to those in the console space.

While there was plenty of merit underneath the furore, most eyes were firmly fixed on the disruptive - and perhaps questionable - success of two unknown games, Flappy Bird and Red Bouncing Ball Spikes.

Then, there was the outcry against the monetisation strategies EA employed in Dungeon Keeper - all this after we'd just got over that business with King, Candy, and Sagas.

With any luck, next week will be quieter and we can put a better foot forward - but until then, let's take a look back at the PocketGamer.biz week that was.

Tools and platforms

Gameplay sharing service Kamcord announced its integration with Unreal Engine 3.
Meanwhile, Capcom let slip that it views console and mobile as two separate markets - but it's not opposed to crossovers.
In third, but for how long? Windows Phone was dubbed the fastest growing mobile OS.

Monetisation

GungHo's million dollar darling Puzzle & Dragons graduated up to the b-leagues and became the first mobile game to generate $1 billion in revenue.
And as a counterpoint, Nintendo's CEO Iwata dismissed F2P as 'free-to-start', arguing that it makes gaming 'as easy as possible' to lure players in.
While Jon Jordan examined the monetisation strategy of Flappy Bird - concluding that banner ads just don't do the business.

Industry voices

Zynga's COO Clive Downie talked about his studio's plans for Natural Motion and what it thinks about real-money gambling.
And Everyplay's Oscar Clark shared his thoughts on how to best deal with anti-F2P outbursts.
While 148Apps' Carter Dotson quipped Dungeon Keeper isn't the end of gaming as we know it.
An opinion shared by our editor Keith Andrew, who said you shouldn't care about the Dungeon Keeper debacle.
Wooga's Eric Seufert, author of Freemium Economics, said his goal was to encourage better F2P games - not more of them.
Our mobile gaming mavens hashed out what Apple needs to get back on track after the iPhone 5C.
Finally, Kirk Mckeand gave us a look at the making of Republique.

Discovery, user acquisition, and retention

Our own Keith Andrew took a look at Flappy Bird and examined why its breakout success sent the industry into a tizzy.
And our Charticle this week looked at what Flappy Bird's success can tell us about social openness and geopolitics.
Meanwhile, another dark horse - Red Bouncing Ball Spikes - shot to the top of the US paid downloads chart overnight.
And in broader UI terms, Full Indie UK gave some tips on how to master dynamic UIs.

Funding, acquisitions, personnel, and shutterings

Call of Duty: Strike Team devs The Blast Furnace came under fire from Activision, which was reportedly looking to shutter the studio.
This led TIGA CEO Richard Wilson to pen an open letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne on the subject of Games Tax Relief.
Elsewhere, Apportable raised $5 million in funding to finance cross-platform iOS and Android games.
And Amazon caused a bit of a stir when it acquired Killer Instinct dev Double Helix Games.
Meanwhile, Microsoft bade bye-bye to Ballmer - naming 22-year veteran Satya Nadella as its new CEO.
And Kumo Lumo's team announced its post-Blitz return, as former devs formed a new Lumo Developments studio.