Hot Five

9 growth hacking tips, Rovio vs King and Supercell, and gameplay first

Last week's top 5 stories

9 growth hacking tips, Rovio vs King and Supercell, and gameplay first

Welcome to PocketGamer.biz's weekly rundown of the stories clocking up the hits, picking up the click-throughs and generally keeping the advertisers and editor happy by serving up page views.

Or, if you'd prefer, the top five stories currently dominating our readers' attention.

Each week, we'll be counting down the biggest news from the previous seven days, giving just a glimpse of the industry's big issues, from five to one.


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  • 5 Supercell planing a 'Rovio' as it looks to hire merchandising experts

    Supercell planing a 'Rovio' as it looks to hire merchandising experts logo

    A recent job listing posted by Clash of Clans developer Supercell has hinted the firm is planning on creating a 'world class' line of merchandise for its fans.

    The Finnish studio expects that an ongoing licensing and merchandising strategy will help deepen its brand experience.

    According to the job listing, the developer is only interested in hiring someone with the vision to look beyond the digital world.

    "Supercell makes games loved by tens of millions of players, who enjoy more than the games," read a company statement.

    "They love Supercell’s characters & worlds, and want to enjoy them outside of the games themselves."

  • 4 Gameplay first, visuals later: Why publishers don't want you to pitch a finished article

    Gameplay first, visuals later: Why publishers don't want you to pitch a finished article logo

    Thanks to the never-ending 'games as art' argument, combined with the fact we've all been spoiled by a swathe of visually astonishing titles, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the only thing publishers care about is looks.

    Of course, the industry isn't really that shallow, and while a game's graphical style is undoubtedly important, it is by no means the most important issue, especially when the game remains in development.

    Indeed, according to PlayStation's Dr. Maria Stukoff, who was speaking at Manchester Tech Nights, developers are becoming fixated on presenting potential publishers with the finished article.

    In reality, suggests Stukoff, all any investor really wants is a great idea.

  • 3 10 key steps to project management success

    10 key steps to project management success logo

    Project management is probably the most daunting, and distinctly unglamorous, part of game development.

    Keeping track of your finances, attempting to stay afloat, and setting yourself deadlines isn't easy. 

    Even if you know what you're supposed to be doing, putting it all on paper, and forming a plan that's actually feasible is no easy task. So, how can you ensure that you steer clear of any project management pitfalls?

    Well, you could always read freelance game producer Trevor Klein's 10 key steps to project management success.

  • 2 Don't make me Angry: Why Rovio is better equipped to ride the mobile wave than King or Supercell

    Don't make me Angry: Why Rovio is better equipped to ride the mobile wave than King or Supercell logo

    Angry Birds developer Rovio has come under fire recently following the firm's decision to lay off 16 percent of its workforce.

    Indeed, according to our Finnsider, Steve El-Sharawy, the news was met with a "barrage of negativity" in Rovio's native Finland.

    However, while some are suggesting that Rovio's reign at the top of the mobile pile may be coming to an end, our Finnsider disagrees.

    Instead, he believes that longterm Rovio is still better equipped to ride the mobile wave than King or Supercell.

    "Rovio is probably the best example there is of any company capitalising upon their IP so fast and so well and establishing roots that will enable it to weather this cold period," said El-Sharawy.

    "Despite what King would have its shareholders believe, one hit wonders can’t be replicated at will.

    "The only way that any company in this position can hope to achieve success again and again is to create an ecosystem in which brilliant new ideas and games can be nurtured internally until one of them turns out to be another beanstalk - and then capitalise on that, again."

  • 1 9 growth hacking tips to boost your mobile game's success

    9 growth hacking tips to boost your mobile game's success logo

    How can you boost your mobile game's success without blowing your budget? It's the holy grail of questions, and the answer - or at least one of them - may just lie in the power of growth hacking.

    According to Pascal Clarysse, who used to be the marketing driving force at Lik-Sang.com, Growth Hackers work with a much lower budget than traditional marketers, usually working for start-ups looking to kick things into motion.

    Instead of pouring vast sums of cash into UA and advertising, Growth Hackers keep their eye on the latest market trends, and tend to be the early adopters of new marketing tactics.

    "When something yields better results than average, the Growth Hacker doubles down looking for scale, until the platform saturates or the trend evaporates," explained Clarysse.

    "Always keep your ear to the ground and your eye on analytics - the targets we aim for in marketing are constantly moving, for volatile human beings are hiding behind these numbers."

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What do you call someone who has an unhealthy obsession with video games and Sean Bean? That'd be a 'Chris Kerr'. Chris is one of those deluded souls who actually believes that one day Sean Bean will survive a movie. Poor guy.