GameDuell pivots, our April Fool's, and the top 50 mobile developers of 2015
It's the dawn of a new month, and with it comes our yearly Top 50 Developer list, an always-popular roundup of the biggest movers and shakers in the mobile development world.
And it's still something that our readers are rather interested in, evidenced by the fact it's taken the top spot of our Hot Five this week.
Coming in second is an entirely fake story about Go computer AlphaGo blowing off some steam by becoming the world's greatest Clash Royale player, which would be poor journalism if it wasn't an April Fool's joke.
Third is the news that Berlin-based developer GameDuell has pivoted, changing focus from casual games to just community card and board games.
And finally, Goodgame has hit a milestone of 300 million registered users, and VR fishing game Bait! has been downloaded 150,000 in its first 5 days of release.
Have a look through and see why these stories caught our reader's attention.
#5: Gear VR fishing game Bait! catches 150,000 downloads in first five days of release
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Gear VR fishing game Bait! catches 150,000 downloads in first five days of release »VR games are finally hitting their stride now that hardware is finally hitting the market, and that means we can start getting some real usage data and find out just how many people are taking the plunge.
First off the bat is Bait!, the fishing game for Gear VR, which has reportedly had around 150,000 downloads in its first five days of release.
“It is amazing to see how widespread and global the interest is and with so many fish already caught it’s apparent the game is luring in players for longer play sessions,” said Tommy Palm, CEO and co-founder of developer Resolution Games.
#4: Goodgame Studios hits 300 million players across PC and mobile
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Goodgame Studios hits 300 million players across PC and mobile »It's Germany's biggest games developer, making games for both PC and mobile, so it's no surprise that Goodgame is doing rather well for itself.
So well, in fact, that it's now hit a milestone of 300 million registered users, with 50 million new users having joined in 2015.
Its most popular game, Goodgame Empire on PC, has over 80 million registered users, while its biggest mobile game, Goodgame: Four Kingdoms, has over 60 million users.
"We're pleased that our existing titles stand out from the crowd with their especially long lifespans and continue to display such strong growth in new registrations," said COO Christian Wawrzinek.
#3: GameDuell switches focus from casual to cross-platform card and board games
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GameDuell switches focus from casual to cross-platform card and board games »The world of mobile games is incredibly competitive, and as such developers often have to find their niche and stick with it to generate success, rather than casting their nets too widely.
As such, Berlin-based GameDuell has decided to pivot away from casual games, and focus instead on cross-platform community card and board games.
The games will be released on web, Facebook, and mobile, with the shift in focus most likely coming off the back of the success of Grand Gin Rummy and the comapnies Belote.com website.
"We feel that we can achieve more for our community of players by focusing on the areas, where we are one of the market leaders," said Kai Bolik, the company's CEO.
#2: Go computer AlphaGo relaxes by becoming the #1 Clash Royale player in the world
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Go computer AlphaGo relaxes by becoming the #1 Clash Royale player in the world »It can be a hard life being a super-intelligent AI designed to be good at one specific game. How does one unwind after a hard days work of running billions of simulations?
By becoming the best at another game, of course.
And that's probably why AlphaGo decided to raid its creators wallet, pay its way to the top, and become the world's best Clash Royale player.
It's definitely a true story that definitely wasn't made up by Jon and definitely actually happened, except of course it didn't - it was an April Fool's joke.
Our sister video site AppSpy had its own Clash Royale themed April Fool too, which you can check out below.
#1: Top 50 Mobile Game Developers of 2016
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Top 50 Mobile Game Developers of 2016 »For the past six years, we've collated a list of the top 50 developers in a bid to highlight the big names in the industry, and see how everyone else is doing in comparison.
And this year is no different, as our seventh top 50 developers list lands, with companies from across the world making games for different platforms and focuses in the mobile world.
It's not based purely on which is grossing best - such a list would see very little variation over the years - but also how the company is performing regionally and globally, and if its games are actually any good.
Be sure to have a look through and see if you agree - the number one spot may be a particularly controversial choice.
