Kabam drops web games, PlayRaven has $7M to reimagine F2P, and Clash of Clans will do $1.8B in 2014
We're coming to the end of 2014, and at PocketGamer.biz, our thoughts are turning to analysis of the year's events, the best games, and future trends.
But we're not there quite yet.
This week saw video gameplay sharing platform Kamcord raising $15 million from GungHo Online, Finnish developer PlayRaven raised $4.125 million, while Qualcomm invested into Chinese outfir Chukong.
Aside from cash, we considered the power of CCGs in the Chinese market, looked back at the making of Stoic's The Banner Saga and in the week Kabam sold off the majority of its web games to focus purely on mobile, we spoke to Kabam about its new game Marvel: Contest of Champions
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2015
- Edge Case Games' James Brooksby reckons VR is a stepping stone to AR.
- Industry veteran Matt Spall argued smartwatches are more likely to succeed than overt wearables.
Industry voices
- Our Indie Mavens discussed 2014: The year of Threes, 80 Days, GamerGate and the promise of VR to come.
- We spoke to Kabam Vancouver's Cuz Parry on the fun at the core of its skill-based F2P brawler Marvel: Contest of Champions.
- Facebook is the place for casual and core games to conquer the world, said its EMEA games man Bob Slinn.
- US studio Stoic spoke about 'biting off as much as it could chew' in our The making of The Banner Saga.
- UK indie Lucky Frame announced it was switching from making games to running experimental game events.
- Kuju founders Ian Baverstock and Jonathan Newth rebooted to ride the second age of indie gaming as Chilled Mouse.
User acquisition, retention, and discovery
- Kabam ditched web games to focus on mobile, including the $4 billion Chinese market.
- Storm8 partnered with Hasbro for Monopoly Bingo! social casino game.
- Five years since the original game's release, Rovio celebrated 600 billion slingshotted Angry Birds.
- Tencent is finally bringing Puzzle & Dragons to China.
- With Khloe and Kourtney announced as holiday season updates, Glu hoped to prove you can never have too many Kardashians in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.
- Superdata estimated Clash of Clans would generate $1.8 billion in 2014.
- SimilarWeb spoke about on moving from comparative UA and app store data to providing app engagement analysis.
- We learned CCGs are ruling and saturating the Chinese mobile market.
Tools & platforms
- Samsung announced Gear VR was available in the US for $200.
Funding, acquisitions, personnel and shuttering
- GungHo led $15 million funding round for Kamcord.
- Promising to shake up F2P grossing stasis, PlayRaven raised another $4 million.
- Alibaba invested in Chinese mobile social platform KTplay to build out its gaming network.
- Qualcomm invested in Chukong as part of its strategic Chinese fund.
- Off the back of its $1.8 million Indiegogo tablet campaign, Jolla's total funding reached $42 million.
Jobs
- Following its $15 million investment, Kamcord is hiring hard in San Francisco.
- Flaregames (Karlsrule, Germany) is looking for a QA Compliance Specialist.
- Hamburg-based Goodgames is hiring a Senior 3D Character Artist.
