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Devs need to move beyond what's currently top grossing to new worlds, says Spymaster creator

Lasse Seppänen of PlayRaven calls for an end to Clash of the Clones

Devs need to move beyond what's currently top grossing to new worlds, says Spymaster creator

The future of mobile gaming belongs to those willing to take risks on new types of games according to PlayRaven’s CEO Lasse Seppänen.

Speaking on the gaming stage at the Slush 2014 conference in Helsinki, Seppänen called for developers to embrace the spirit of Christopher Columbus and explore the new gaming world.

“Too serious”

Taking a look at the current state of the industry, Seppänen identified an over emphasis of developers on what is currently doing well.

Pinpointing an over emphasis at looking at the top grossing charts, Seppänen believes that it is inhibiting creativity and innovation.

“It’s a bit too serious” he said in reference to the top grossing focus. “Imagine if we were a soda start-up and we saw Coca Cola. If we said “let’s make cola” then we wouldn’t last very long.”

Think outside the box

Instead, Seppänen believes that developers should be taking on the mass market gaming opportunity and allowing creativity to flourish.

Highlighting the success of PlayRaven’s supposedly niche WW2-inspired stratregy game Spymaster in the iOS strategy charts, Seppanen called on developers to move beyond safe core games to help the industry evolve.

Spying a new mobile gaming frontier with Spymaster

“There is no way Christopher Columbus could have mapped the new world without going there” he said.

“We need to launch portfolios of new titles that are new and unique and I believe the success for us is to build new styles of games with new mechanics to reach new audiences.”

Staff Writer

George Osborn (no, not that one) has been ensnared by PocketGamer.biz to write words for them on pain of death/in return for money. He works with the events team to produce pitch perfect editorial for Pocket Gamer's ever-expanding events schedule, as well as working on advice features and articles to help game developers make the most of mobile.