Netmarble is eyeing Playtika, Flaregames triples sales, and how to get a job at Future Games of London

The hottest articles of last week

• 5 King's midcore title Hero pulled from soft launch for a second time

  

  Poor action-RPG Hero is having a rough time in soft launch, having been quietly released, mysteriously pulled, and then quietly released once more.

  And now it's been pulled yet again, with no word from King as to why.

  The studio has probably hit a certain number of downloads, and wants to take the time to study those players and metrics in order to cater the experience to the people who actually play the game.

  With any luck the game should be back in a month or so with a bunch of new content, which is exactly what happened last time it went away.

  

• 4 How does CSR Racing 2 monetize?

  

  It's been four years since the first CSR Racing hit mobile, and while its approach to monetisation may have seemed outlandish back then, these days it's practically the norm.

  So with the launch of CSR Racing 2, it only felt right for our IAP Inspector to dive in and see if the new game pushes the monetisation enevelope the same way the first game did.

  In short: no. But what it does do is manage to present IAPs as a useful way to boost your progress, while still letting you have fun if you decide to freeload.

  As the IAP Inspector puts it, "spending money has an immediate and satisfying result. And who can argue with that?"

  
  

• 3 Netmarble reportedly eyeing social casino with a $4.3 billion Playtika acquisition

  

  What do you do if you're looking into getting a foothold in the social casino market, and you've got, say, $4.3 billion lying around?

  The natural course of action is to snap up a company that is already doing well and has all the licenses already - which is probably why Netmarble is reportedly eyeing up Playtika for acquisition.

  Sources claim that the Korean publisher recently sent a letter of intent to purchase Playtika, and was offering between $3.4 billion and $4.3 billion.

  It would be a smart way of entering the social casino world, especially given Playtika's track record - it generated $725 million in revenues in 2015, and is projecting revenues of $900 million in 2016.

  Don't know anything about the social casino market? Here's a video from PGC London 2015 that should clear things up for you.

  
  

• 2 Flaregames triples revenue as Nonstop Knight surpasses four million downloads

  

  Flaregames, the German developer-turned-publisher, wasn't exactly having the best time since pivoting around 18 months ago to focus on its "boutique" publishing approach.

  But now, thanks to the success of Nonstop Knight and Olympus Rising, the studio is in a very secure place, with a positive cashflow and tripled revenues.

  "We found something that we can grow and scale on a portfolio level," said Klaas Kersting, Flaregames' CEO and founder.

  "Nonstop Knight is a showcase of what Flaregames can contribute to a developer."

  Nonstop Knight has managed to surpass four million downloads as well, thanks to some UA spending and the fact that it's a mighty fine game.

  
  

• 1 How to get a job at Ubisoft's Future Games of London

  

  Future Games of London is having a strong 2016 so far, with its latest game, Hungry Shark World, having hit over ten million downloads in just six days.

  Now's the time to get involved with them - not least because they're having a recruitment drive - so we decided to get in touch and ask what it takes to be a part of the studio.

  According to FGoL's HR Manager Amarpreet Lidder, it's all about having the right attitude, and always looking to push the envelope.

  As she puts it, "we are very ambitious at FGOL, so it’s important that our employees are creative and constantly look to challenge themselves in their work."