Wooga on live ops and soft launch, King goes social casino, and why is Jon still playing Galaxy of Heroes?
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is a fine game, and it's little wonder that it still reels in plenty of revenue for EA 21 months after it first launched.
But that does raise the question of who is still playing the game after all this time? And the answer, it appears, is Jon Jordan, who wrote down his thoughts on why he still loves it in our most read article of last week.
Second on our Hot Five is the story that King has officially entered the social casino space, with a slot machine game called Royal House Slots, in partnership with PlayStudios.
Live ops, eSports, and acquisitions
Third up is our interview with Wooga CEO Jens Begemann, in which he talks about the studio's current business focus, and why it's spending so long in soft launch with its current games.
And finally, Wargaming explains why its doubling down on eSports for its mobile game World of Tanks Blitz, and we ask the question on everyone's lips: is Plarium really worth $500 million?
Click the link below to find out more about the stories that caught our reader's attention over the last week.
#5: Is Plarium worth $500 million?
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Is Plarium worth $500 million? »Australian casino outfit Aristocrat recently paid $500 million to acquire Israeli mobile game developer Plarium.
This isn't the coin-op machine manufacturer's first foray into the mobile space, having picked up social casino developer Product Madness back in 2012. But that move from physical casino games to virtual ones was not altogether surprising.
This deal, which establishes the firm as a direct competitor to Machine Zone with 4X strategy games like Vikings: War of Clans, is rather more so.
So what did Aristocrat see in Plarium that made it worth splashing out $500 million on, in the process straying significantly from its established business?
#4: Why Wargaming is doubling down on mobile eSports with World of Tanks Blitz
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Why Wargaming is doubling down on mobile eSports with World of Tanks Blitz »Wargaming may have always been a PC-focused company, but recently its started focusing in on its mobile efforts a lot more.
One way its doing this is to double down on the eSports potential of its game World of Tanks Blitz, with new tournament systems in place and a $30,000 prize on offer for its next main competition.
“Can you imagine that all you need to become a part of the competitive scene and a team is just a mobile device, which is in your pocket?” posed Daria Klimchuk, Head of World of Tanks Blitz eSports.
“People can play and train with their team anywhere, anytime and spend as much time as they want. Many players who hear 'cybersport' are used to associating it with special training rooms, PCs, and a lot of time spent training."
#3: Live ops and long soft-launches: Wooga's CEO Jens Begemann on its renewed focus for 2017
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Live ops and long soft-launches: Wooga's CEO Jens Begemann on its renewed focus for 2017 »2016 was a difficult year for Wooga, but 2017 seems to off to a much better start - its CEO Jens Begemann seems pretty happy, anyway.
Begemann took some time out at Gamescom for a quick chat with us about the studio's current business focus, and why its spending so long in soft launch with its current titles.
One example of this new strategy is its hidden-object game June's Journey, a game that has been in soft launch for over six months at this point.
"You need that to be able to think about what direction the story will develop in, you want to be able to re-evaluate that and potentially rewrite it, set the characters, set the scenes and produce everything to a very high quality," said Begemann on why they're taking so long and preparing for live ops.
#2: King enters social casino space with soft-launched game Royal House Slots
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King enters social casino space with soft-launched game Royal House Slots »Acitivison Blizzard had quietly announced that King was going to be doing some social casino games, but now we have concrete proof that the company wasn't kidding.
King has soft-launched its first social casino title, Royal House Slots, in a partnership with established social casino developer PlayStudios.
Players can try their luck on a variety of bright and colourful slot machines, using money they earn in-game or buy from IAPs.
And if that's not enough for them, players can also pick up collectibles as they play, and deploy boosters when they feel their cash reserves are looking a little slim and they need a push.
#1: 21 months later, why I'm still playing Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
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21 months later, why I'm still playing Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes »Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is a really, really good game, and one that you could suggest kicked off the rise of the "battler" genre in the West.
It's so good that Jon Jordan hasn't stopped playing it since launch, and that's got him wondering why he's stuck with it for so long.
The main draw for him is the guild system - added a few months after the game's launch, it introduces new raids to embark on with friends and online strangers.
And EA has made sure to expand on this aspect of the game too, adding a Territory Battles mode earlier in 2017 that has really sunk its claws into poor Jon.