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The Weekly: The $1 billion talking cat, Gordon Ramsay's Restaurant Dash, and Improbable's $500 million plans

Rounding up the week's industry analysis and news from around the internet

The Weekly: The $1 billion talking cat, Gordon Ramsay's Restaurant Dash, and Improbable's $500 million plans

Each weekend we’ll be rounding up a selection of the most interesting articles related to mobile and the games industry at large.

This week includes an investigation into why Chinese companies outside the games industry are paying big bucks to buy Western games studios, an interview with Gordon Ramsay on why he leant his name to Glu Mobile’s hit game, and an interview with Improbable’s CEO on why it has just raised $500 million.

See an article you think we should share? Email PocketGamer.biz Craig Chapple at craig.chapple@steelmedia.co.uk to add it to our weekly round-up.

Why Did a Chinese Peroxide Company Pay $1 Billion for a Talking Cat?

"Chinese companies are betting that by adding game studios that have better margins than a stodgy industrial business, their stock price will rise. Regulators and investors in China focus almost exclusively on a company’s bottom line. In Shanghai, a company must show three years of profitable operations before listing."

Gordon Ramsay on Going From Michelin Stars to a Mobile Game

"They pushed me. I'd get a 50, 60"70 page document for voiceovers in a booth. I'm in there at midnight with my ears sweating for these voiceovers. I'm literally on my knees. Screaming into this microphone. Everything we can ever think about in the middle of service to add different sort of layers to make it feel so much more real."

Improbable's CEO on its huge new $500 million funding round: 'It's about sending a signal'

"Our goal is to remain independent. The control aspects of this deal were very important to us ... The company is completely founder-controlled, and will remain so. We can't realise this vision as an acquisition of anyone."

How Tencent's appeal to Western games companies drives its global gaming domination

"As Tencent continues to pursue its acquisition journey, building up further gaming and social media influence outside Asia, the question is whether there will be a Western counterpart that can replicate this strategy and use its non-­Asian influence to entice Chinese success stories and penetrate the territory as a result."

Oliver twins: “Failure to change results in complete collapse”

"I think it's unkind to name individuals who have fallen from grace, but let's look at some companies... there's Atari, Acclaim, Infogrames, Hasbro Interactive, 3DO and THQ. They all failed to change when change was required, resulting in complete collapse and failure not only to their own companies, but also causing massive damaging ripples across their partners and the industry."

Deconstructing Gardenscapes

"It’s interesting to note that King.com, Big Fish, PopCap and Playrix all competed within the casual market in these formative years. It’s not a coincidence that many of the top puzzle game developers today competed back in the casual PC market more than a decade ago."

New iOS and Android games out this week - May 18

Our friends over at Pocket Gamer UK help keep you up to date with the latest mobile games on the App Store and Google Play.

How the Madden Makers Produced the Magical Puzzle Platformer ‘Henry Hatsworth’ 

"Unlikely though it was then and remains today, eight years since its March 2009 release (in North America and Europe only - sorry, the rest of the world), Henry Hatsworth really was developed internally at EA Tiburon, a subsidiary operation best known for its Madden NFL, NBA Live and PGA Tour sports simulation series."

How Tencent’s WeGame is changing to compete with Steam in China

“Industry gossip has that Riot isn’t very happy with Tencent’s recent mobile MOBA success, thinning the player base of League of Legends in China and going against Riot’s no-mobile policy.”

PocketGamer.biz's Hot Five

You can of course also keep up to date with our own news, analysis and interviews by checking out the most read stories on PocketGamer.biz during the last week.


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Head of Content

Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.