Behaviour goes branded mid-core, Day 7 retention drops, and Supercell making $3 billion in 2016
Supercell making money isn't exactly news, per se.
But when it's generating $250 million in one month from two of its games, suggesting a $3 billion yearly revenue if it maintains, then it's worth talking about.
And our readers agreed, catapulting the story to the number one spot of this week's Hot Five list.
Second on the list is a report from GameAnalytics showing that Day 7 retention has dropped 50% from 2014 to 2015, as well as a handful of other bleak statistics.
Surprises and focuses
Third up is Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinovic talking at Reboot Develop about the company's upcoming game and how it will likely surprise people.
And finally, Behaviour Interactive talk about why it's focusing on big brand mid-core titles for the next 3 years, and Seriously announces a new influencer campaign focused on lifestyle YouTubers.
Click the link below to find out more about the stories that caught our reader's attention last week.
#5: Seriously widens Best Fiends' UA strategy, signing up 200 lifestyle YouTubers for new influencer campaign
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Seriously widens Best Fiends' UA strategy, signing up 200 lifestyle YouTubers for new influencer campaign »Seriously absolutely love putting on influencer campaigns. And they'll get anyone involved if they can. They even roped in Ariana Grande to work with them on an Apps For Earth campaign.
Its new campaign, however, is a little different to its others - this time around, Seriously is partnering with lifestyle YouTubers, and has signed up 200 or so for a Mother's Day update campaign.
Influencers include Bratayley, a family vlog with 2.6 million subscribers, and CuteGirlsHairstyles, a hairstyle tutorial channel with 4.3 million subscribers and a host of oddly engrossing videos such as the one below.
#4: Why Behaviour Interactive is committing to big-brand midcore for the next 3 years
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Why Behaviour Interactive is committing to big-brand midcore for the next 3 years »Behaviour Interactive might be best known for classic console titles WET and Naughty Bear, but it shocked and stunned the world in 2015 when it released Fallout Shelter to an unsuspecting world.
Now it's operating two other games, Pro Feel Golf and Home: Boov Pop, but its VP of Mobile Publishing, Jimmy Gendron, says that its focus for the next three years will be on big-brand mid-core titles.
“As a studio, our passion and belief in the market now is to go after midcore - and to leverage midcore with brand universes people like,” he said.
#3: People will be surprised by our second game, says Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinovic
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People will be surprised by our second game, says Nordeus CEO Branko Milutinovic »Nordeus is best known for one thing - social soccer game Top Eleven, which has over 140 million players worldwide. But as powerful a "fuel" as it may be, it might not be enough.
Still, CEO Branko Milutinovic is optimistic for the future, one which contains the developer's second game, about which he says "people will be surprised when they see what it is."
This was all part of a discussion at Reboot Develop 2016, during which he also spoke about the company's relative lack of experience in the industry.
"The reason we haven't got another game live is complicated - we are inexperienced, we are incompetent in certain ways," he said.
"What we've been trying to do is learn, and to build the services we need."
#2: Increasing competition sees Day 7 retention for mobile F2P mobile games drop 50%
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Increasing competition sees Day 7 retention for mobile F2P mobile games drop 50% »It's basically hell trying to release a successful mobile game these days, unless you're already a giant company like Machine Zone or Supercell, who can just drop a game and make millions.
It's so bad, in fact, that GameAnalytics has shown in a recent report comparing stats between 2014 and 2015 that day 7 retention has dropped by 50%.
This isn't the only bad news - day 1 retention is down by 20%, and overall downloads have dropped as well.
"But aside from crying into your beer, what can developers do about the situation?" asks Jon, before pointing to GameAnalytic's conclusion that a good pre-launch plan, and heavy soft-launch studies, can help your game survive.
#1: Supercell on track to break $3 billion barrier in 2016
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Supercell on track to break $3 billion barrier in 2016 »Supercell are a money-making behemoth, that much is obvious. But it can be at times unclear exactly how many millions they're making.
Recent estimates put revenues for Clash Royale and Clash of Clans at a combined $251 million for March alone, which indicates that the company could be on track to make over $3 billion in 2016.
It makes sense given that this is revenue generated from just two of Supercell's library of four titles, all of which still enjoy success in the app stores.
But what's more interesting is that Clash Royale's success hasn't particularly impacted Clash of Clans revenues.
At least, according to the SuperData Research report, the games were the highest and second-highest grossing apps in March 2016 respectively.
