Hot Five

How to get a job with Gameduell, and how Siegefall makes money

We round up the top five stories of last week.

How to get a job with Gameduell, and how Siegefall makes money

We've crossed the T's, dotted the I's, and crunched the numbers; here are the top five stories of last week.

First off, we got chatting with GameDuell's Head of HR, Rüdiger von Hennig, to find out just how you should go about getting a job at the Berlin-based developer.

Which is probably a good thing, because last week news broke that GREE has cut 30 percent of its workforce from its San Francisco office.

Elsewhere, our IAP Inspector Matt Suckley drilled down deeper into how Clash of Clans-esque strategy game Siegefall monetizes. 

We also took a closer look Zynga's launch statistics for Empires & Allies, and how Tengami made 90 percent of its $1.1 million sales on iOS.

Click on the link to the right to read the stories in full.


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  • 5 How to get a job at Berlin casual developer GameDuell

    How to get a job at Berlin casual developer GameDuell logo

    Following our coverage of GameDuell's open positions, we got in touch with Head of HR Rüdiger von Hennig to find out more about the company and what it's looking for in a future employees.

    Von Hennig ran us through some of the best things about working for the Berlin-based casual developer, current vacancies, and some insider tips for those thinking of applying.

    "Technical excellence and team fit are essential for us to hire somebody. On our company website, we give some impressions of our company culture that we are also looking for in candidates," he said.

    "In order to apply we require a complete CV, a cover letter and ideally some work samples. Candidates should show a passion for games, a hands-on mentality and be flexible to adapt to a fast changing environment."


  • 4 Mainly the same but a bit different: The monetisation of Siegefall

    Mainly the same but a bit different: The monetisation of Siegefall logo

    The In-App Purchase Inspector is our regular look at free-to-play games from the consumer's perspective.

    Last week we put Siegefall under our microscope, Gameloft's take on the mobile strategy management genre.

    Much of the game's monetization is based around a consumable card-based battle system. From restoring health to summoning a fire-breathing dragon, these cards can provide many functions to swing battles in your favour.

    Matt Suckley concluded that the monetization mechanics are solid, but not groundbreaking - and those who cling to their cash will progress at a slower pace than their paying counterparts.


  • 3 Zynga's Empires & Allies is off to a solid start, especially in US, Japan and China

    Zynga's Empires & Allies is off to a solid start, especially in US, Japan and China logo

    Empires & Allies is Zynga's first foray into the strategy genre, so we took a look at the numbers to see how well it's been performing.

    Breaking down the figures, Jon Jordan found that Empires & Allies has found itself a solid paying audience.

    Looking at the key English-speaking markets - the UK and the US - on iPhone, Empires & Allies has found a nice position in and around the top 40 and top 60 grossing, especially in the US.

    In the UK, the game has peaked higher, touching the top 20, but more recently fell outside the top 100, before the latest update - which tweaked a number of unit attributes - brought it back.


  • 2 Pop-up game Tengami made 90% of its $1.1 million sales on iOS, and still sells strongly

    Pop-up game Tengami made 90% of its $1.1 million sales on iOS, and still sells strongly logo

    Jennifer Schneidereit of Nyamyam, the woman behind Tengami, sought to break tight-lipped developer tradition by detailing the game's development costs.

    On stage at Develop: Brighton 2015 she said, “It cost me £55,000 to make Tengami, which includes my investment in the company, development costs, and my living costs for 3.5 years."

    “Tengami made more than $1.1 million in gross revenue, and about $650k net revenue - about 90% of which came from iOS."

    To fund Tengami, the entire development team invested out of their own pockets.


  • 1 GREE lays off 30% of its key San Francisco office

    GREE lays off 30% of its key San Francisco office logo

    Following heavy jobs losses over the past couple of years in Japan, and declining sales, 2015 has been the year in which GREE has cut back hard in North America.

    Following the news that it had shut down its Vancouver office in May, comes the follow up that 30 percent of staff at its international HQ in San Francisco have been let go.

    While we don't know specifically how many people work at the San Francisco offices, it's estimated to be into the hundreds.

    "Today we made the difficult decision to reduce the workforce of our GREE International Inc. business by 30 percent," said GREE International COO Andrew Sheppard.

    "This was done to better align operations with our development goals and business strategy."


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