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[boingball]

Investing in one-trick ponies is a sure way to loose your money.

The problem with the mobile space is not that there is not money to be made. There is plenty of money to be made. But the apps getting hot cannot be predicted and a company with a hot app will most certainly not reproduce this with their subsequent releases.

 

[Gxgear]

"Curse you Kardashians!" - King

 

[Sandfox]

Mobile gaming isn't dead, it's just going through its own version of what happened to Atari in the early 1980s. Overwhelming amounts of piss poor quality games getting overhyped and running rampant on the market.

I don't see that ever stopping unless the people in charge of the stores put their foot down and that's probably never going to happen.

 

[Ivan el Trolazo]

candy crush has to die someday, because the puzzles cant be won every time, that F2P design makes it vulnerable to people going to more rewarding games with less "why play this stage if the randomization algoritm already made me lose and top players are the one with the money"

 

[7DollarHagane]

I could care less if this company goes down. I'm sure there are some decent people working there but I view their job as only a notch or two above malware programmers.

We should lament their failure as much as we would lament the creators of video poker and slot machines for casinos.

 

[10k]

Mobile gaming isn't dead, it's just going through its own version of what happened to Atari in the early 1980s. Overwhelming amounts of piss poor quality games getting overhyped and running rampant on the market.

So what you're saying is the industry needs a Nintendo to step up and introduce a seal of quality?

App stores need to put their foot down.

 

[Usobuko]

Gungho and Supercell stay winning.

 

[LumpOfCole]

So what you're saying is the industry needs a Nintendo to step up and introduce a seal of quality?

App stores need to put their foot down.

Once Mobile Gaming gets its own 'Seal of Quality' that actually means something, then things will begin to improve.

 

[Mario]

Investing in one-trick ponies is a sure way to loose your money.

I'm not sure I'd describe King as a "one trick pony". Relative to their other titles, Candy Crush Saga as been massively successful, one of the most successful mobile game of all time to the point where it might be impossible for them to repeat that success. But outside of that context, their other games have also had huge success relative to the rest of the market.

They even warned on an over-reliance on Candy Crush Saga prior to their listing so, if anything, the market is punishing them for something they already pinged them for at the IPO and despite the 27% jump in YOY profits. Because of that, quite possible they are now undervalued depending on what they have coming down the pipe.


Now, Rovio. They might more appropriately be labeled a one trick pony. They have struggled to anything that isn't Angry Birds.

Once Mobile Gaming gets its own 'Seal of Quality' that actually means something, then things will begin to improve.

Apple is introducing permanent "Editors Choice" badges for titles on their next App Store update at least. They tend to have a pretty solid track record in terms of what they have featured that would earn that badge.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Guys...they made $611 millions in one quarter...

They aren't going anywhere, King stock is overpriced, that's all.

 

[Tempy]

"I hate mobile games that don't appeal to me so I hope these people and their company fall to financial ruin."

So you approve of their business ethics? You approve of their going litigation-crazy to control the word "Candy" and "Saga"? You approve of them suing the dev of the game they copied from?

Wow. There IS a defense force for everything.

Also: I don't think this news means impending doom for King anyway. So you can sleep happily knowing they'll go on their merry suing ways.

 

[Keasar]

"I hate mobile games that don't appeal to me so I hope these people and their company fall to financial ruin."

As others have pointed out, its not the mobile games as just King being a absolutely terrible and talentless company who's only strength lies in massive marketing to sell their games.

I have absolutely no respect for them and every time I read something bad happening to them, I get a little happier.

 

[hamchan]

"I hate mobile games that don't appeal to me so I hope these people and their company fall to financial ruin."

That's a weird strawman you created from people's one word posts.

 

[Sami+]

Fingers crossed this leads to a downward spiral. Fuck King.

 

[-Horizon-]

Paltry. Paltry. I want to earn that paltry amount.

 

[BouncyFrag]

Holy fucking christ
You could practically make two Avatar-scale movies with that kind of money

I'm thinking just one really big League of Extraordinary Gentlemen sequel. Whose with me?

 

[The Flash]

*begins playing the world's smallest violin*

 

[SwiftDeath]

Mobile doesn't seem particularly stable I guess

 

[SmokyDave]

How about know about the history of a company first then make a comment ? Google is free you know.

Indeed. That's why I'm openly (and understandably) rooting for Nintendo to go under. The way they treated third parties was rancid and their strong arm tactics to dissuade retailers from selling pre-owned games cannot be forgiven.

 

[Haunted]

I'm thinking just one really big League of Extraordinary Gentlemen sequel. Whose with me?

*tumbleweed*

 

[Mario]

Mobile doesn't seem particularly stable I guess

The company turned a hefty profit for the quarter: $188.3 million on a non-GAAP basis, up from $148.1 million for the same period a year ago. That wasn't enough to assuage investor fears, however, because revenues also missed analyst estimates: $593.5 million versus expectations of $606 million, Business Insider reports.

I'm not sure analysts being out on their quarterly estimates by ~2% is really a sign of market instability.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

I wish I could earn a paltry $611 million =\

 

[SwiftDeath]

I'm not sure analysts being out on their quarterly estimates by ~2% is really a sign of market instability.

I intended that statement more towards Candy Crush Saga weakening then analysts expectations not being met but you're correct I shouldn't try to make a statement on a market based off of that

 

[Jigorath]

They should hire Don Mattrick.

 

[Mario]

Some more commentary/info

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/2232...ain_why_the_Candy_Crush_maker_is_flagging.php

Chief operating officer Stephane Kurgan said that King has seen "a drop in monetization across the board" and "that's impacted pretty much all the games." Farm Heroes Saga, which launched on mobile in January, was supposed to be its rising star, and it has a large number of daily active users.

The problem: They aren't monetizing like King expected, Kurgan said, and he isn't sure why not. He worries that the game was too optimized by the time that it launched on mobile, thanks to the long lag between its Facebook launch and its appearance on mobile. In other words, users may be fleeing because there's not much work the company can do to appeal to them: "we realized as we added features to the game, the game was already optimized... We've been surprised by the fact that retention did not improve."

Sounds like they have good user volume, but their ability to monetize has changed and they aren't clear on why.

This was interesting. Wonder what they have up their sleeve.

As far as potential uptick for the back half of 2014, Kurgan talked up its "Saga 1.5" project, in which the company intends to add new content and an entirely new monetization mechanic (as yet unrevealed) to its Saga franchise games -- "new features and new opportunities for our players to convert and spend," he said.

 

[Tripon]

Indeed. That's why I'm openly (and understandably) rooting for Nintendo to go under. The way they treated third parties was rancid and their strong arm tactics to dissuade retailers from selling pre-owned games cannot be forgiven.

Wrong thread?

 

[Sandfox]

Some more commentary/info

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/2232...ain_why_the_Candy_Crush_maker_is_flagging.php


Sounds like they have good user volume, but their ability to monetize has changed and they aren't clear on why.

This was interesting. Wonder what they have up their sleeve.

So basically they made their excuse is that they made their game too "perfect" so people are fleeing because they don't expect much change...

Also, its kinda funny that they think adding more monetization mechanics is the solution to their problem.

Wrong thread?

No. He's comparing Nintendo to King and hoping they go under.

 

[kitchenmotors]

Wrong thread?

I think he's being sarcastic, otherwise SmokyDave is holding onto some old ass grudge.

 

[Sayah]

 

[Tizoc]

Guys...they made $611 millions in one quarter...

They aren't going anywhere, King stock is overpriced, that's all.

Jiggas be hatin' cuz they ain't makin 600 mil. in 3 months. Cuz I'd retire for life with that amount of cash...

 

[SmokyDave]

I think he's being sarcastic, otherwise SmokyDave is holding onto some old ass grudge.

Can't it be a little from Column A, and a little from Column B?

Actually, whilst I'm here I'll throw Sony under the bus for shutting down Lik-Sang too. I don't even know where to start with Microsoft.

 

[syko de4d]

What i believe what goes wrong is that they have to many games that are to similar. People dont buy lives if you can just start up the next game and after that the next game etc.

 

[Suzushiiro]

Investing in one-trick ponies is a sure way to loose your money.

The problem with the mobile space is not that there is not money to be made. There is plenty of money to be made. But the apps getting hot cannot be predicted and a company with a hot app will most certainly not reproduce this with their subsequent releases.

Pretty much- entering the mobile/f2p/casual games market is basically playing the lottery. Whether or not you make it rich has very little to do with the actual quality of your product, and you're not very likely to hit the jackpot twice.

 

[Mario]

Also, its kinda funny that they think adding more monetization mechanics is the solution to their problem.

Why is it funny? It might be a solution to their problem if new monetization methods get more users to convert or existing paying users to pay more. There are a huge number of precedents that suggest it isn't an unsound strategy.

Not to mention they explicitly say they are adding new content and features as well, so they aren't trying to solve the entirety of the issue by changing or adding monetization mechanics alone.

 

[RMI]

came here for this, was not disappointed.

 

[Ape]

Came here for this. Super disappointed that it's on the second page. Clutch GIF, Sayah.

 

[Kater]

That's a mighty fine amount of money. But if they rely on the success of just one of their titles so heavily than it will be surely declining a lot in the coming years.

That's an accurate reaction gif if I ever saw one.

 

[jman2050]

Now, Rovio. They might more appropriately be labeled a one trick pony. They have struggled to anything that isn't Angry Birds.

Rovio is more a merchandising company than anything else nowadays.

 

[Hellsing321]

only $611 million in the quarter

Is there a place we can donate to King.com to help them through this difficult time?

 

[Sandfox]

Why is it funny? It might be a solution to their problem if new monetization methods get more users to convert or existing paying users to pay more. There are a huge number of precedents that suggest it isn't an unsound strategy.

Not to mention they explicitly say they are adding new content and features as well, so they aren't trying to solve the entirety of the issue by changing or adding monetization mechanics alone.

Its not a bad idea, I just find it funny.

 

[mr. puppy]

Mobile gaming isn't dead, it's just going through its own version of what happened to Atari in the early 1980s. Overwhelming amounts of piss poor quality games getting overhyped and running rampant on the market.

Peter Molyneux's new game is hopefully the end of these terrible freemium RTS games

 

[Lernaean]

I just hope this fad is over sooner rather than later, cause it stayed too long already and it's stink passed to other gaming platforms.
Or just to gaming platforms, because you know, a phone is not a gaming platform, it's a phone.

 

[Shengar]

Gungho and Supercell stay winning.

To be fair, Japanese popular mobile game have solid gameplay, not overly rely on luck and more to the side of "novelty" purchase (unique monster) like the one we see in Valve's F2P games (cosmetic in Dota 2).

 

[kick51]

Can I have one of those 611 million? I just want one of them. that's all.

 

[Mario]

Rovio is more a merchandising company than anything else nowadays.

Yeah, I think over two thirds of their employee base in employed on the film and merchandising divisions.

I just hope this fad is over sooner rather than later, cause it stayed too long already and it's stink passed to other gaming platforms.
Or just to gaming platforms, because you know, a phone is not a gaming platform, it's a phone.

Yep. Just like PC is not a gaming platform, it's for word processing and budgeting spreadsheets.

 

[Syntsui]

These numbers are crazy.

Is it fair to say that in a few months they made more money than a lot of high pedigree publishers/devs like Capcom and Konami since they were created?

 

[Pinko Marx]

I just hope this fad is over sooner rather than later, cause it stayed too long already and it's stink passed to other gaming platforms.
Or just to gaming platforms, because you know, a phone is not a gaming platform, it's a phone.

Mobile gaming is here to stay. For as long as people are willing to download games onto their mobile devices, there will be a market. And honestly, I don't want it to go anywhere. I'd have probably died of boredom by now if it weren't for games on my phone.

 

[RadarScope1]

Gold, Jerry ... gold.

 

[legend166]

So they didn't earn $611 million? That was revenue?

 

[Dryk]

Actual footage of the mobile market

candy crush has to die someday, because the puzzles cant be won every time, that F2P design makes it vulnerable to people going to more rewarding games with less "why play this stage if the randomization algoritm already made me lose and top players are the one with the money"

Most people don't notice or care. Hell most people wouldn't notice or care if the game was using the wrong pixel mapping.

See also: The difference in popularity between 2048 and Threes