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Candy Crush maker King developing Call of Duty mobile game

Casual game publisher's Stockholm studio takes the reigns

Candy Crush maker King developing Call of Duty mobile game

King’s Sweden studio is working on a new Call of Dutymobile game.

It’s not the first time Activision has published a mobile game in its famous muilti-billion dollar Call of Duty series – but it’ll be the first developed by King.

The announcement comes just over a year after Activision Blizzard completed the deal to acquire the Candy Crush Saga maker.

The Stockholm office had begun hiring for a midcore shooter in January 2017, but no details were forthcoming on the mystery project at the time.

It’s not known exactly what form the IP will take with this new title but King promises a “fresh, social and highly accessible” game that offers an “authentic experience”.

Thinking "outside the box"

“This is a rare and exciting opportunity. Our challenge as a team is to create a Call of Duty experience on mobile that will strive to transform the best console experience fans know and love, while also breaking new ground for mobile and redefining the genre,” read a statement on the website.

“Our approach and ambition is to be fresh, social, and highly accessible, while providing a very authentic game experience. The team will prototype extensively, have the freedom to think outside the box, and be encouraged to stretch their expertise in ways to create surprising results.”

The news comes after Activision partnered with China-based developer Elex to working on a future mobile game in the Call of Duty franchise.

Given the new announcement, it’s not clear whether that’s the same King title, or if Elex is creating another entirely new Call of Duty game especially for the Chinese market.

Update: A King spokesperson has told PocketGamer.biz that the game is "some way off a potential launch", but the studio has started recruiting a prototyping team for the project..

“At King, we’re always exploring new game concepts for mobile platforms," the spokesperson said.

"Since King became part of the Activision Blizzard family, we’ve been looking at ways to work together to create even more great gaming experiences for our enormous player network.

“Together, we have started to explore new ways of extending the Call of Duty franchise to mobile. We’re some way off a potential launch, but as a first step, we have started recruiting a prototyping team to work on the project at King.”


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Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.