Gumi closes western studios, Clash Royale's tournament success, and getting a job at A Thinking Ape
In an interesting, coincidental twist, the first and third stories in our Hot Five list this week almost complement one another, as while one studio in Vancouver is closing, another is looking to take on more staff.
The latter studio is A Thinking Ape, and our interview with its People Team Leader, Alysia MacInnes, on how to get a job at the company takes the top spot in our list.
Second is the news that Clash Royale's first tournament was a resounding success, with millions of viewers tuning in to watch the world's top 200 players battle it out.
Stop, start
Third is the aforementioned closure of Gumi's Vancouver studio, which eventually spiralled into a story on multiple closures of the Japanese publisher's studios across the western world.
And finally, Finnish developer Armada Interactive set up shop in Helsinki with $3 million in funding, and regular columnist Torulf Jenström gave us some information on the power of A/B testing.
Click through to find out more about the stories that caught our reader's attention during the past week.
#5: The surprising results of A/B testing Benji Bananas' gameplay as Jetpack Joyride vs Tiny Wings
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The surprising results of A/B testing Benji Bananas' gameplay as Jetpack Joyride vs Tiny Wings »That Torulf Jernström's been round again with his fascinating insights and thoughts on the mobile world, and this time around he's been writing about A/B testing and how you can use it best.
For those who don't know, it's a form of testing where you show one group of players one thing, and another group a different thing, and compare how the two groups interact with the game.
Jernström goes into far more detail than that, and uses a case study of how he used Tiny Wings and Jetpack Joyride in a similar fashion to help on the development of Benji Bananas.
#4: Armada Interactive raises $3 million to give core mobile gaming a hard push
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Armada Interactive raises $3 million to give core mobile gaming a hard push »As if there wasn't enough Finnish developers based in Helsinki, new company Aramada Interactive has set up shop there too, with $3 million in funding raised to get it started.
It's already staffed up to a twenty person team, and has three industry veterans in its team, with talent from Remedy, BioWare, and Crytek.
The developer is working on an "epic" game which will apparently "re-define core mobile gaming with synchronous PvP, 3D console graphics, eSports potential, innovative UI" and so on.
It sounds ambitious, and it certainly was enough to get plenty of investors involved, including Initial Capital, Index Ventures, and fellow developer Next Games.
#3: Updated: Gumi shutters studios in Canada, Sweden, Germany, Austin and Hong Kong
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Updated: Gumi shutters studios in Canada, Sweden, Germany, Austin and Hong Kong »Bad news only seems to worsen, and a story that started out as just one studio closure for Japanese publisher Gumi spiralled into further closures shortly thereafter.
It started with the shuttering of its Vancouver studio, which had been opened to much fanfare around 18 months ago.
But shortly after we reported this, it was revealed that Gumi would no longer be operating out of Canada, Germany, or Sweden, and that studios in Austin and Hong Kong were also being shut down.
The reasons for the closures aren't clear as yet, but it could have something to do with Gumi rebooting itself with a $50 million fund for investing in VR.
#2: Inaugural Clash Royale eSports tournament draws audience of millions online
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Inaugural Clash Royale eSports tournament draws audience of millions online »Clash Royale divided the editorial staff here at PocketGamer.biz when it first launched, with one of us believing that it wouldn't ignite the mobile eSports scene, while another thought it would take off after all.
And it would seem after the inaugral Clash Royale tournament drew in a crowd of millions across its broadcast that the latter of the opinions was right all along.
200 of the world's leading Clash Royale players came together in Helsinki to battle it out for the top prize of $15,000, which was eventually taken home by local player Jason.
Jason wasn't the only Finnish player to do well, as the semi-finals ended up entirely made up of local players battling it out amongst themselves.
#1: How to get a job at Vancouver developer A Thinking Ape
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How to get a job at Vancouver developer A Thinking Ape »Vancouver-based developer A Thinking Ape needs no introduction to our regular readers, especially those who had an education on the company thanks to a guest article its Product Lead, Will Luton, wrote on who the company is.
If you've read that and thought, gee, wouldn't it be swell to work with these chaps, then you're in for a treat, as A Thinking Ape are hiring and we've asked its People Team Lead, Alysia MacInnes, how to get a job there.
Speaking on what type of person they're looking to hire, MacInnes said, "we don’t look for a specific background or experience with a particular coding language, we look for great thinkers, who can analyse a problem and find creative ways to solve it."
