Everyone is joining the billion dollar club.
This week, the big news is a $1.5 billion investment by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank and Puzzle & Dragons developer GungHo in Supercell.
Kristian Segerstrale, partner of Initial Capital and Supercell board director - who will be presenting the opening keynote at the Pocket Gamer Global Game Stars Track @ GMIC - gave his thoughts on his blog on what this means for the industry.
Write me that check
A strong proponent of DIY self-publishing, Segerstrale will be on hand at the conference to advise studio heads on how to think about choosing where to get money, how investments are chosen by VCs, and where he's placing his bets.
"2013 will see the emergence of the first billion dollar grossing mobile game franchise," opened Segerstrale.
"The King IPO along with the Supercell event is creating massive financial strength for market leaders. This will inevitably lead to continuing growth of M&A over the next 18 months.
"The financial strength of the emerging leaders will also push up production values and marketing budgets further. Few mobile or tablet games will be made with combined production and marketing budgets below $1 million in the future.
Segerstrale speaking at Pocket Gamer's Casual Connect SF Mixer in August
"Mobile game marketing budgets will not only grow substantially but also toward a more balanced approach between mainstream brand advertising and performance advertising.
"Increasing the importance of brand marketing talent and high production assets in combination with the quantitative performance marketing skills.
"Picking the right partner for financing, be it a venture investor, a publisher or strategic investor, is critical for your long term success."
Be there
From inspiration to brass tactics and all the essential networking in between, if you're doing business in mobile gaming, you won't want to miss the GMIC mobile mega-conference with thought leadership sessions from hundreds of leading CEOs, top execs, venture capitalists, technology, consumer and gaming press.
Programmed and moderated by Pocket Gamer's Chris James and Martine Paris, the Pocket Gamer Global Game Stars Track @ GMIC will be action-packed with memorable keynotes, stimulating panels, exciting pitch sessions and a must-attend afterparty.
Join the conversation!
The impressive roster of track speakers includes:
- Chris DeWolfe, CEO, SGN
- Chris Early, VP digital publishing, Ubisoft
- Chris James, MD, Steel Media
- Chris Carvalho, COO, Kabam
- Dave Roberts, CEO, PopCap
- David Helgason, CEO, Unity
- Dean Takahashi, lead writer, VentureBeat
- Ed Fries, co-creator, Xbox
- Fabien-Pierre Nicolas, GM Mobile, Perfect World
- Giordano Contestabile, VP product and revenue, Tilting Point
- Glenn Kiladis, VP & GM, Fiksu
- Jay Wright, VP product management, Qualcomm
- Jeff Lyndon, co-founder & EVP, iDreamSky
- Kristian Segerstrale, co-founder and partner, Initial Capital
- Kyu Lee, President, Gamevil USA
- Lei Zhang, general manager USA, CocoaChina
- Lori Kozlowski, editor, Forbes
- Martine Paris, US events editor, Pocket Gamer
- Mickey Maher, VP, Applifier
- Mike Cohen, VP GM, InMobi
- Mike Lu, VP product management, GREE
- Nabeel Hyatt, partner, Spark Capital
- Niccolo De Masi, CEO and president, Glu Mobile
- Nick Ning Yang, Chaie, China Young Angel Investor
- Patrick Mork, advisory board, Onavo & Pocket Gems
- Perry Tam, CEO, Storm8
- Remco van den elzen, CCO and co-founder, Distimo
- Rick Liu, VP Asia Pacific & Latin America, NativeX
- Becky Ann Hughes, VP product & marketing, PlayFirst
To enjoy GMIC and all it has to offer, click here for 20 percent off Gold and VIP passes or for a free expo pass, click here.
Then when the sun goes down, party like the future is here
with Pocket Gamer, Qualcomm & Everyplay. Delight in drinks, bites and beats by DJ R3Y in the swanky subterranean digs of Vessel nightclub. RSVP here for a free afterparty ticket.
This programming is made possible by the generous support of Pocket Gamer's Global Game Stars track sponsors UCWeb, Logitech, NativeX, SGN, Distimo, InMobi, Fiksu, HasOffers, and CocoaChina, and Pocket Gamer's afterparty sponsors, Qualcomm Vuforia and Everyplay.
