Something's wrong in Finland, Rovio's post-IPO blues, and former Scopely and EA execs head up new studio
The mobile platform and Finland have arguably gone hand-in-hand over the the past 30 years.
Finnish manufacturer Nokia was an early force to be reckoned with and the country is laden with mobile games development talent, from Angry Bird pioneer Rovio to hit-maker Supercell.
However, just as Nokia's star fell, the country's mobile games development scene could be in for a similar fate. At least that's according to Kuuhubb chief strategist Tero Kuittinen, who provided us with our most read article this week.
On the topic of Finland, the second article on our Hot Five sees contributing editor and data enthusiast Jon Jordon take a look at what is going on with Rovio's shares post-IPO, having dipped in value since its flotation.
New studio, legal problems and UGC
Elsewhere, two former Scopely and EA execs have banded together to found a new narrative-focused free-to-play mobile games studio.
Also on our Hot Five is the news that free-to-play casino games landed four gaming companies with online gambling lawsuits, and Traplight Games’ creative director Sam Kalliokoski discusses why developers should consider making user-generated content-based mobile games.
#5: Why you should consider developing user-generated content-based mobile games
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Why you should consider developing user-generated content-based mobile games »After five years of creating user-generated content-focused games Traplight has become quite knowledgeable on the matter.
Happy to share that knowledge, the studio's creative director Sami Kalliokoski has defined five distinct benefits of the medium.
The first revolves around high-quality content, with the studio’s first title Big Bang Racing a good example as it boasts over 100,000 levels of what Kalliokoski deems as quality user-created content. To put things in perspective, less than 0.0002 per cent of levels are designed by Traplight.
In addition to the amount of content created, it also shows the medium to be engaging as the game stimulates the urge of players to get creative, along with providing a social aspect where people can share their levels.
Another perk is that users can help keep a game feeling fresh by nurturing an active player-base that constantly creates new content.
#4: Free-to-play casino games land four gaming companies with online gambling lawsuits
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Free-to-play casino games land four gaming companies with online gambling lawsuits »Lawsuits have been filed against four online games companies that allege their digital casino offerings constitute illegal gambling under Washington state law.
More specifically, the legal action specifically target “free-to-play” casino games from Huuuge Games, DoubleDown Interactive, High 5 Games and Playtika.
The suits allege that while the chips that are purchasable in these are not worth any money on their own, they do represent “something of value” as they are necessary to play the game.
In theory, that means the casino titles could be legally viewed as breaching a clause within Washington state law that governs gambling.
It’s not the first time this method of thought has been used in court either as a similar ruling from last month ruled that Big Fish Games’ casino games violated Washington state law in relation to online gambling.
#3: Former Scopely and EA execs head up new narrative-focused studio Ordinal Games
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Former Scopely and EA execs head up new narrative-focused studio Ordinal Games »Two former Scopely and EA execs have teamed up to create a new narrative-focused free-to-play mobile games studio.
To name some names, the new studio is called Ordinal Games and was set up by The Walking Dead: Road to Survival exec producer Chris Pasley and studio director EA’s Pogo Shanghai studio Alex Lien.
The developer said it aims to create interactive stories for players, while also providing a platform for users to create their own.
Those who create stories also stand to take a share of the revenues they generate.
#2: Rovio: What went wrong?
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Rovio: What went wrong? »Rovio is a curious tale of opposing and clashing facts of financial information.
One the one hand, it has just increased its annual sales 55 per cent and net profit by 94 per cent, so you’d be forgiven for thinking that all was well with the Angry Birds developer following its September 2017 IPO.
But things aren't that clear cut, as the company was the worst performing game stock of 2017 and that dynamic has continued into 2018.
On top of that Rovio was also the worst performing game stock of Q1 2018 and is, in total, down 59 per cent since it floated. Our man Jon Jordan analysed the situation to find out why.
#1: Something has gone terribly wrong with Finland - it has become an emblem of mobile games industry stagnation
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Something has gone terribly wrong with Finland - it has become an emblem of mobile games industry stagnation »Something has apparently gone very wrong in Finland's games development scene, according to Kuuhubb chief strategist Tero Kuittinen.
Finland's relationship to mobile phones is a close one. Nokia was an early powerhouse in the sector and the popularity of the pre-packaged game Snake seemed to lock in Finland's fate as a hotbed of games development for years to come.
Supercell and Rovio led the way with phenomenal titles such as Clash of Clans and Angry Birds, but as their popularity has wained a new trend of PC ports has taken over with PUBG Mobile and Fortnite stealing spotlight of late, amongst other titles.
With new types of games taking over that haven't been made in Finland, Kuittinen is concerned the country is now an emblem of mobile games industry stagnation.