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Appy's Paul O'Connor on why Hollywood doesn't get mobile games... yet

Turning down the usual suspects

Appy's Paul O'Connor on why Hollywood doesn't get mobile games... yet
Appy is a feisty, independent iOS game developer and publisher. Paul O'Connor is its brand director.

Once every couple weeks here at Appy Entertainment’s secret worldwide HQ we get a call from Hollywood. Hooray for Hollywood!

The conversation always goes like this:

*ringringring*

BIG STUDIO: “We’re (name of big studio) and we are looking for developers to make apps based on (name of big movie coming out soon), and we think you’re perfect for the job!

APPY: Thanks for calling, that’s very flattering, we respect your studio and this new movie sounds interesting. We understand the challenges of making movie games, in our console days we did a game based on Robert Ludlum’s Bourne Identity property.

BIG STUDIO: Great! Here’s the deal. It has to be cutting-edge and like nothing ever seen before and it has to be out in the time with the movie. Also, there is a chance that we will go with somebody else who is less expensive, so sharpen your pencils! And don’t forget the Android version!

It's Chinatown, Jack

We’ve had this conversation dozens of times in our three years developing and publishing apps. Often we’re tempted to make a movie-based game, because we wanted to be in business with that studio, because we were fans of the property, or because we thought we could create a dynamite game for our players.

But despite some plum opportunities we haven’t yet found a movie deal that has made sense for Appy Entertainment.

Here’s why.

QualityAppy puts quality first - all of our free-to-play games have average ratings of 4.5 stars on the App Store - and quality takes time. Movie apps often come with immutable and aggressive deadlines.

Narrow marginsApps are expensive to produce and in most cases must be given away free or sell for very low prices if they are to reach a mass audience. Sharing the majority of every dollar a game earns with Apple and a licensing partner slashes already narrow margins to the vanishing point.

Opportunity costAppy is a young company laser-focused on developing our own technology and original intellectual properties. Every minute spent developing games for someone else is a minute we aren’t building equity in Appy.

We haven’t seen a scenario yet where it makes more sense to build games for movie studios than developing original games like our newest title, SpellCraft School of Magic.

One & done 

It is difficult to monetise a game that depends on the narrow window of promotion associated with a movie release to earn the majority of its revenue. Games can require months if not years to earn a profit in the App Store, with continuing care and updates after release, including follow-on games that build on the technology of the first release.

With the emphasis that movie marketing places on opening weekend box office, we’ve yet to find a partner that appreciates the continuing commitment a successful app requires.

Not be enough customers 

Coming out of the Christmas period, a glance at the Top 200 Grossing apps for iPhone on the US iTunes Store reveals ... zero games based on movies. Not one. For the most part, the market prefers home-grown mobile game brands to licensed entertainment brands.

Some like it hot

There are plenty of shops in the business that make movie games, and do a fine job of it, but for Appy, it hasn’t penciled out so far.

But the day will certainly come when Appy does a great movie game - someone will make us an offer we can’t refuse, or we might be offered a multi-game deal for a franchise we just can’t resist. We can think of a few great ones, so if you’re running a major motion picture studio - let’s do lunch!
To find out more about Appy, follow it on Twitter or check out its blog.  

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