Scopely is Breaking Bad, Vivendi is taking over Gameloft, and how Color Switch topped the App Store
February is drawing to a close, and with winter starting to melt away and spring dawning on us, it's time to look back at the hot articles that kept us warm during the last week.
Taking the top spot this time is the story of Color Switch, a game made in "codeless" development tool Buildbox that managed to hit the #1 spot of the App Store in over 100 different countries.
Secondly, we asked The Walking Dead: No Man's Land developer Next Games about the kind of people it's looking to hire and what it takes to become a part of its team.
Third, French congolomerate Vivdendi is making moves on French developer Gameloft, with the former increasing its stake in the latter from 10% to 30% and proposing a takeover in its latest financial report.
And finally, Scopely is working on a Breaking Bad game, and Supersonic's Tal Shoham talks about the "game changer" that is mobile video advertising.
Click through to the list and find out about the week that was.
#5: Supersonic's Tal Shoham on the 'game changer' that is rewarded advertising
More Info
Supersonic's Tal Shoham on the 'game changer' that is rewarded advertising »Speaking at Casual Connect Europe 2016, Tal Shoham, VP International Business Development at Supersonic, explained why mobile video advertising is a "game changer".
"The top developers in the world are all using rewarded video", he said, adding that users demand a large supply of rewarded ads, and that they generate a surprisingly high eCPM.
Shoham suggested that developers are, or should be, concerned about the user experience most of all, and care about how much money they're making far less.
#4: Scopely cooks up Breaking Bad license with F2P mobile title Breaking Bad: Empire Business in soft launch
More Info
Scopely cooks up Breaking Bad license with F2P mobile title Breaking Bad: Empire Business in soft launch »Adding another huge licensed IP to its roster, Scopely looks to be working on a city-building game based on the incredibly popular TV drama Breaking Bad.
Called Breaking Bad: Empire Business, a reference to a line in the show, it sees players recruiting a team of their favourite Breaking Bad characters, building a criminal empire, and cooking a lot of meth.
It's currently in soft launch in Australia and Romania, with the developer listed as "Phase One Games", the name Scopely used when its previous licensed IP, The Walking Dead: Road To Survival, was in soft launch.
#3: Vivendi makes a formal takeover offer for troubled Gameloft
More Info
Vivendi makes a formal takeover offer for troubled Gameloft »After ending 2015 with a 10% share in troubled French developer Gameloft, it looks like conglomerate Vivendi is going to make a formal takeover bid of the company.
This is evident from Vivdendi's increased stake of 30% in the developer, as well as it outright proposing the bid in its latest financial report.
Gameloft is priced at €6 a share, which means it is valued overall at around $570 million.
Vivendi justified its interest in a takeover by saying that it would help improve Gameloft's "industrial and financial levers", as well as pointing to the commonalities of the two companies, such as them both being French.
#2: How to get a job at The Walking Dead: No Man's Land developer Next Games
More Info
How to get a job at The Walking Dead: No Man's Land developer Next Games »With the success of The Walking Dead: No Man's Land under its belt, as well as $10 million of investment secured in January 2016, Next Games is looking like the place to be for people who want to work in mobile.
So we took the opportunity to ask its HR Manager, Anna Feodorow, a few questions about the company, and what its looking for in new hires.
On the latter topic, Feodorow said, "Substance is naturally crucial. Beyond that I’m always on the look for attitude."
"We want our candidates to be people who have a natural passion for mobile gaming, and an open mind to change and challenge."
#1: How solo-developed Color Switch topped the App Store using 'codeless' dev tool Buildbox
More Info
How solo-developed Color Switch topped the App Store using 'codeless' dev tool Buildbox »Sticking around for another week in our Hot Five is the story of David Reichelt and his game Color Switch, which went to the top of the App Store download chart after being in development for only a week.
Reichelt made the game in Buildbox, a development tool that allows people to make games without using a single line of code.
Of course, the game was actually ported over to native code to allow Reichelt and his publishers to add custom features into the game, but Buildbox will be adding these features into its development tool in response to this.
