"How can I be successful," cried out the masses of mobile developers, scrambling over the bodies of their fallen brothers, hoping to be the last man standing.
"Branding" replied the mobile gods, watching the swarming pile with quiet indifference.
You see, mobile game development really is a dog-eat-dog world, and, thanks to an oversaturated mobile market, it's now harder than ever to stand out from the crowd.
How then, can you do it? The answer, according to most, is to take your game, and turn it into a product. You have to create a service. You have to create a brand.
It's a tough road to take, but fear not, because Rovio, undisputed masters of the branding game, were at this year's PG Connects conference to let you in on a few secrets.
"It could be socks, it could be candy, or it could be plush toys. We've pretty much tried them all, and they're all a really cool way of extending a brand and making it available to other fans," said Marja Konttinen, marketing director at Rovio.
"Licensees very often want to work with IPs because they give them new visibility, access to an existing fan-base, and, when it comes to consumer products, access to retailers.
"[Partnerships] might be able to get you in front of a whole new set of eyes, that you might not have reached otherwise, but it could also open new doors, for example, into Japan."