Publishing in China, why gacha and auto-play are key gameplay trends, and King soft-launches a mid-core game
It's always big news when one of the major players in mobile gaming soft-launches a new game, particularly when it's not their typical fare.
And last week was no different, as our most read story was the news that the usually casual-focused developer King will be bringing out a mid-core title in the near future, called Hero.
Second on our Hot Five list is our interview with Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinovic, who claim that his company is "more Supercell than Machine Zone".
Trends, revenues, and tips
Third up, our old friend Torulf Jernström is back with another of his fantastically insightful columns, this time focusing on the gameplay trends he's noticed so far in 2016.
And finally, Summoners War has hit a lifetime revenue of $500 million, despite having only 60 million downloads, and Tom Van Dam offers some tips on how to get into China.
Click the link below to find out more about the stories that caught our reader's attention last week.
#5: 4 top tips for publishing your mobile game in China
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4 top tips for publishing your mobile game in China »Just about anyone working in mobile will tell you that breaking into China is a very hard thing to do, but with such a large population of smarphone users, its an extremely tantalising prospect.
But if you've got your heart set on it, you may went to check out the advice of Tom Van Dam, head of mobile business development at NetEase Games, who has four tips on publishing your game in the market.
Number one on the list is to know what you want from the market, with Van Dam advising "a more modest approach, not aiming for the top 100 (which as you can see at any given time across Android and iOS holds few foreign-developed titles)."
#4: Summoners War hits $500 million in lifetime revenues, boosting Com2uS to another sales record
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Summoners War hits $500 million in lifetime revenues, boosting Com2uS to another sales record »It's entirely possible that the average consumer doesn't know what Summoners War. Ric Moore certainly seemed to think so when he announced it as one of his "secret winners" of 2015 at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2016.
But those who do know what it is are clearly very keen on it, as the game has reached a lifetime revenue of $500 million, despite only having 60 million downloads.
The news came as part of developer Com2uS' financial report for Q1 of 2016, during which time Summoners War generated $85 million in revenue for the company, making up a huge majority of the overall revenue of $119 million.
#3: Why gacha, social glue and auto-play are 2016's key gameplay trends
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Why gacha, social glue and auto-play are 2016's key gameplay trends »We think that auto-play is amazing here at PocketGamer.biz. Heck, we've even written articles about why it makes some games better than others.
So it's nice to know we're not the only ones, as Torulf Jernström has included it in one of his key trends for gameplay mechanics in 2016.
He writes that auto-play is a useful mechanic to use in some games because "it is the meta game that keeps players retained and spending in the game."
Aside from automated games, Jernström also talks about the rise of social glue and gacha mechanics, saying of the latter "it will take the players a lot longer to complete their ambitions when there is an element of luck involved, compared to when they can just buy directly what they want."
#2: We're more Supercell than Machine Zone, says Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinovic
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We're more Supercell than Machine Zone, says Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinovic »We've already heard from Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinovic recently, as he teased the company's next game at Reboot Develop 2016, saying it will likely surprise Top Eleven fans.
But his penchant for headline-writing quotes has made itself apparent once more, and this time he's claiming that Nordeus is more Supercell than Machine Zone.
SEO-friendly headline aside, what does he actually mean?
Milutinovic states that Nordeus' approach to making games is to " look at retention first… monetisation should be there, but it's not how we design products [first and foremost].”
He also spoke about the company's culture and ethos, saying “I think it's valuable that we're self-aware. If you're cocky and you're not good, you're going to fall hard - and that's bad in any business.”
#1: Updated: King goes midcore, soft-launching one-handed RPG Hero
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Updated: King goes midcore, soft-launching one-handed RPG Hero »With Candy Crush Saga, its spin-offs, and just about every other game by King regularly dominating the App Store charts, it may seem slightly strange that the developer would decide to break from the mould.
But it's done exactly that, and soft-launched Hero, a one-hand RPG mid-core title, in Singapore and South Africa.
We initially reported that the game was in development from Nonstop Games, although an unofficial source kindly pointed out that it was most likely King's Spainish studio that was working on it.
But regardless of who is developing it, King is still attaching its name to the game even at this early stage, flying in the face of conventions set by Scopely and Rovio, both of which have games in soft-launch under different company names.
