2011 in review: Jussi Laakkonen, CEO, Applifier
From creating the most powerful games promotion network on Facebook, 2011 saw Finnish outfit Applifier turning its attention to mobile.
Its cross-promotion platform launched for iOS and Android in July.
We caught with CEO Jussi Laakkonen to get his take on the fast developing market.
PocketGamer: What do you think was the most significant event for the mobile games industry in 2011?
Jussi Laakkonen: Free-to-play games overtaking paid games in iOS App Store revenues.
The trend was already there, but the mental switch that went off in everybody's collective minds was tremendous. We'll soon be well over 75 percent revenues from free to play.
What was the most significant event for Applifier?
For us and on mobile, it was definitely launching our mobile cross-promotion network.
What was your favourite mobile game of the year?
That's a real hard one with so many games that totally rocked in 2011. But there is still something uniquely appealing about a single person creating a chart topping game that exudes style and charm, so I'll have to go with Tiny Wings.
What do you predict will be the most important trends in 2012?
In no particular order:
- Free-to-play games totally ruling the both iOS and Android app stores
- Mid-core free-to-play games for tablets
- Battle to win the 'mobile social platform' with very well funded players like GREE, DeNA, Facebook and naturally Apple and Google
- Facebook's growing impact on mobile game discovery and distribution
- First real world examples of connected TV gaming, based on a combination of mobile and social gaming
What's your New Year's resolution and what resolution would you enforce on the industry?
Personally, it is to help many more mobile game developers to be more successful through collaborating with other developers.
For the mobile games industry, it would be one of creating more innovative free-to-play games that truly leverage the unique properties of mobile and tablet gaming.
Thanks to Jussi for his time.
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