Reigns achieves 600,000 downloads, Peter Vesterbacka joins Lightneer, and why you should get into Hong Kong
As developers of free-to-play titles all know, landing a highly-engaged user, or a "whale" as they are sometimes known, can help boost your revenues in a magnificent way.
So it's no wonder that our most read article of last week was a guide on how to get into, and find success in, the "whale market" that is Hong Kong.
Coming in second place is the news that Peter Vesterbacka has joined educational developer Lightneer, which also closed a €2.8 million funding round as it pushes on with its first game.
Acquistions, Asia, and achievements
Third, we asked our Mobile Mavens if Supercell should be looking to acquiring new studios, following hints from Ilkka Paananen that the developer might well do so.
And finally, we talk to Goodgame Studios about its upcoming Asian-style RPG Infernals, and indie strategy title swipes 600,000 downloads.
Click the link below to find out more about the stories that caught our reader's attention last week.
#5: Tinder-esque indie strategy game Reigns swipes 600,000 downloads
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Tinder-esque indie strategy game Reigns swipes 600,000 downloads »We could debate the merits of free-to-play monetisation over premium games and vice-versa until the cows come home, but sometimes its nice to just congratulate the games that make it no matter what.
So let's raise our glasses and give a hearty well done to indie developer Nerial and publisher Devolver Digital for achieving 600,000 sales of its bizarre Tinder-esque strategy title Reigns.
Selling at $2.99 a pop, that works out to around $1.8 million in revenue, so everyone involved will have made a tidy sum.
More importantly, the Reigns Twitter account also claimed that a majority of these sales were on mobile over PC, proving the merits of premium games in the mobile space.
#4: Goodgame Studios bets on gacha-based Asian-style RPGs after restructuring
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Goodgame Studios bets on gacha-based Asian-style RPGs after restructuring »In a slightly worrying turn of events, Goodgame Studios recently announced it would be letting 114 members of its staff go as it restructured its company.
But before all that happened, we met the studio at Gamescom to discuss its decision to focus in on an Asian-style RPG in its upcoming title Infernals.
"Even from a game design perspective, we looked at differences between Asian and North American games," said Oliver Kutnik, Infernals' Product Lead.
"Asian games are very fully-featured, have as many mechanics as possible, and are very grindy. We looked at easing the player into the mechanics, making it not so grindy, and a bit more exciting."
#3: Would Supercell acquiring other studios be a good idea?
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Would Supercell acquiring other studios be a good idea? »At his big BAFTA talk, Supercell's Ilkka Paananen hinted that the company might be using some of its billions to acquire some studios and spread its unique company culture around.
We debated the soundness of the idea, but as we are mere wordslingers in the world of mobile gaming, we decided instead to turn to our Mobile Mavens to find out what the experts thought about Supercell potentially making acquisitions.
The general concensus was that Supercell had enough business sense to make an acquisition work, and should do so without haste.
Torulf Jernström put it more succinctly, saying "Ilkka: please buy our company!"
#2: Finnish educational games developer Lightneer secures €2.8 million funding as Peter Vesterbacka joins studio
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Finnish educational games developer Lightneer secures €2.8 million funding as Peter Vesterbacka joins studio »It's not often we talk about educational games, but then again, it's not often that one of the biggest names in mobile games jumps on board with an educational game developer.
So it's no surprise that the news of Rovio's ex-Mighty Eagle Peter Vesterbacka arrival at Lightneer as its new "brand breaker" and company evangelist caught the eye of the mobile gaming industry.
The developer also closed a $3.16 million funding round and brought in a new advisory board as it steps up development on its first game.
Big Band Legends, as the game is known, will teach kids all about the periodic table, by playing an RPG puzzler, by all accounts.
#1: Hong Kong is a whale market for mobile gaming
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Hong Kong is a whale market for mobile gaming »Everyone knows that the US, UK, Japan, and China are the big markets that you want to get into when you launch your game, while Australia and Canada are the big soft launch markets.
But Jennifer Chan, Business Development Manager for Google Play Apps & Games at Google, thinks that Hong Kong is where you should be looking next.
As she puts it, it's a market of heavy spenders who are looking for games in all different genres, mostly RPGs as in most Asian markets, but also soccer titles and board games.
What they have in common is excellent live ops, gacha monetisation, and localised marketing, says Chan, as she outlines what else developers need to do to make it in Hong Kong.
