Pre-registration is coming west, Reforged is hiring, and why Activision Blizzard didn't buy Zynga, Glu or Kabam
Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll probably have heard about Activision Blizzard's purchase of King last week for $5.9 billion.
It's set tongue waggings, as everyone decided to throw in their opinion on whether the deal will be a success, and if Activision Blizzard will get their money's worth.
Jon Jordan also gave his two cents, talking about why King was an obvious choice compared to other potential candidates for purchase in what was our most popular article of last week.
Elsewhere in the world, young Helsinki-based developer Reforged Studios is looking to expand its team, and its CEO told us about what he's looking for and why the studio is so great to work at.
Staying in Finland, CEO of Tribleflame, Torulf Jernström, detailed why he believes you need $100,000 to prove your free-to-play game will make money.
And finally, we got some insight as to why Adways is trying to bring pre-registration to the west with its PreLaunch.me platform, and we gathered up all the financial information recently posted by some of the big hitters in the mobile space.
Check out the list to find out more.
#5: Snapshot of key mobile game company financials in 2017
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Snapshot of key mobile game company financials in 2017 »It's the time of year when companies start posting their financial information, and we've rounded up some of the financials from the bigger mobile developers in one handy list.
We've got the information on King, EA Mobile, Zynga, Com2uS, Gameloft, Glu Mobile, and Kabam, as well as some of the key metrics from the financial period for each company.
#4: Big in Japan, now Adways is bringing its $1 CPA pre-registration UA platform PreLaunch.me to the west
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Big in Japan, now Adways is bringing its $1 CPA pre-registration UA platform PreLaunch.me to the west »PreLaunch.me is a website and app that lets users pre-register for games, so that they can receive updates on the game and an in-game reward when it launches.
It's already popular in Japan, with a peak of 110,000 registrations for one game alone, and now Adways is bringing the service to the West.
"In the west, there hasn't been much opportunity or action in terms of pre-launch marketing," says Ken Asakura, the company's CEO, who goes on to explain what makes for a successful pre-registration campaign.
#3: Why you need to spend $100,000 to prove your F2P game works
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Why you need to spend $100,000 to prove your F2P game works »The key to making money in the free-to-play business is to make sure your LifeTime Value is greater than your Cost Per Install.
So says, Torulf Jernström, CEO of Finnish developer Tribeflame, who suggests that you need $100,000 to prove that your game can actually achieve this.
The reason being that you need to get users onto your game in the first place to work out what your Lifetime Value might actually be, and so need to be prepared to pay for user acquisition at the start.
#2: How to get a job at NetEase-backed Helsinki startup Reforged Studios
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How to get a job at NetEase-backed Helsinki startup Reforged Studios »It may be a young company, but Helsinki-based developer Reforged Studios is already looking promising, so much so that NetEase invested $2.5 million into the business.
It's hard at work on its first game, a currently nameless fantasy army battler, and it's already looking to expand its team.
We asked Teemu Vilén, the company's CEO, a few questions about the company, how it got started, and what they're looking for from new recruits.
Among other things, he says that "qualities such as self-awareness, cultural matching, a self-starter mindset and the ability to communicate and listen well are highly important, beyond technical expertise."
#1: Why Activision Blizzard bought King, not Zynga, Glu or Kabam
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Why Activision Blizzard bought King, not Zynga, Glu or Kabam »In a particularly high-profile deal, Activision Blizzard purchased King, maker of the ridiculously popular Candy Crush Saga, for the princely sum of $5.9 billion.
It's Activision Blizzard's first major foray into the mobile gaming world, but given King's declining sales and MAUs, it might not have been the best move to make.
Jon suggests a few other candidates that could have been snapped up for far less money and still proved profitable for the parent company.
However, he ultimately decides that "King was not only the most obvious deal for Activision Blizzard, but also a deal that was the most straightforward and provided the most bang for its buck, even when you're spending 5.9 billion of them."
