Hot Five

Hot Five: Fishlabs sells up, Apple and Google not to blame for poor app discovery, and Clash of Clans faces the China question

Last week's top five stories

Hot Five: Fishlabs sells up, Apple and Google not to blame for poor app discovery, and Clash of Clans faces the China question

Welcome to PocketGamer.biz's weekly rundown of the stories clocking up the hits, picking up the click-throughs and generally keeping the advertisers happy by serving up page views.

Or, if you'd prefer, the top five stories currently dominating our readers' attention.

Each week, we'll be counting down the biggest news from the previous seven days, giving just a glimpse of the industry's big issues, from five to one.

Stateside: It's time to stop blaming Apple and Google for poor app discovery

Not a week goes by on PocketGamer.biz when the issue of how developers can get their apps spotted in amongst an ever-growing mass of titles hits our pages in some form or other.

Last week 148Apps' Carter Dotson, however, argued that developers need to stop waiting for Apple and Google to solve the discovery problem and set about finding a solution for themselves instead.

"The hard truth, however, is that both iOS and Android are doing fine without Apple and Google making the effort to ensure that relevant and quality content is pushed out to consumers – consumers are downloading more and more apps anyway," detailed Dotson.

"So, it's time for developers to stop moaning about app discovery. Apple and Google don't owe you anything – it was your choice to support their platforms, and so it's your job to make sure that decision was a worthwhile one."


Where Clash of Clans is going wrong in China

Supercell's Clash of Clans may be an unstoppable force in the west, but success in China has not been so easy to come by.

As detailed by editor-at-large Jon Jordan, the game has amassed 600,000 downloads in the region to date – nothing to be sniffed at – but is yet to generate any revenue of note.

"This is because the only billing system currently in-place is via Google Play; not a platform that any Chinese consumers have access to," detailed Jordan.

"In contrast, Wandoujia - an Android app store with 250 million users - has worked closely with developer Locojoy to ensure the game I'm MT includes Wandoujia's supported billing options such as AliPay, debit/card cards or phone cards.

"The result, it claims, was the game received over 260,000 downloads during its first week of availability on Wandoujia.

"And more significantly, it generated RMB 102 (around $16.50) in average revenue per paying user."


Fishlabs sells up, co-founders Schade and Lohr to depart

The end of last week saw PocketGamer.biz get tipped off that German developer Fishlabs is to sell up to an unnamed buyer.

The news came courtesy of co-founder Michael Schade who, along with fellow co-founder Christian Lohr, will depart as a result.

The good news, however, is that there will be no job losses as a result of the sale, with Schade telling us that it is an "asset deal", which means that, under German labour law, "all employees will be transferred to the buyer automatically."

"The entity Fishlabs Entertainment GmbH will be terminated," he added.

Nicholas Lovell: Free-to-play gamers are tired of Skinner Boxes, and that's a good thing

Making a return to the top five last week was our interview with Nicholas Lovell from GDC Next in Los Angeles.

Lovell discussed the changing nature of F2P gamers, and where some developers are getting things drastically wrong as a result.

"Honestly, I'm delighted that the audience is saying 'we're bored, give us something new'," detailed Lovell, in reference to the fact that consumers are moving on from games that act as Skinner Boxes, coaxing players into parting with their cash after being treated to enticing rewards.

"That's a good thing. I don't think Skinner Boxes drive heavy spenders. My view of heavy spenders, or 'superfans', is that you've got to allow those people who love what you do to spend lots of money on things that they really value.

"So, what are the alternatives to operant conditioning? Make people love your game."


Applifier: Spending $100,000 a day to hit the top 10 is pointless

Top of the bill last week was a quote taken from one of PocketGamer.biz's very own Mobile Mixer in San Francisco – the assertion by Applifier's VP of business development Mickey Maher that "the days of buying your way to the top of the charts is over."

"You can spend $100,000 a day to get into the top ten but it's not likely you're going to stay there," he added.

"Choose between the top 15-20 leading networks out there to test driving in the highest quality and most relevant users for your game."

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With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.