That's true. I definitely think the next big step for mobile is for one of these companies to become durable and prove they can put out successive hits reliably.
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Supercell (Clash of Clans) now valued at $5.5 Billion
- Thread starter Guevara
- Start date
That's true. I definitely think the next big step for mobile is for one of these companies to become durable and prove they can put out successive hits reliably.
There's a definite bubble in mobile gaming in terms of valuation.
Most of these companies end up being one trick ponies with only one hit game.
They aren't a one hit wonder the have 3 games in the top 15 grossing(COC, Hay Day, Boom Beach) and have been there for years like COC. Their new game Smash Land that's out in Canada also seems to be very popular.
Supercell only has three published games total. Every one of them is extremely successful.
It shouldn't be shocking that eventually some developers will start to understand the mobile market well enough to make multiple hit games and build a sustainable business. It's not a kind of game design I personally enjoy, but there are definitely ways to do it well, or do it poorly, and at this point people have experienced the market enough that they're starting to get savvier.
Supercell have some really talented people and they do what they do extremely well.
I don't mind them at all them making more money than tired, overhyped AAA console games. Those games barely ever live up to their hype and review scores.. i.e everything by Rockstar or Naughty Dog ever.
Witcher 3 is probably the only non-Nintendo AAA I've even enjoyed in years.
There's lots of derivative and low quality crap in the mobile market but there's also a lot of gems and a lot more room for creativity than in the console market with it's overinflated budgets and super safe games. It's the indies where its at nowadays for me.. On the PC side mostly but mobiles are getting there.
I don't mind them at all them making more money than tired, overhyped AAA console games. Those games barely ever live up to their hype and review scores.. i.e everything by Rockstar or Naughty Dog ever.
Witcher 3 is probably the only non-Nintendo AAA I've even enjoyed in years.
There's lots of derivative and low quality crap in the mobile market but there's also a lot of gems and a lot more room for creativity than in the console market with it's overinflated budgets and super safe games. It's the indies where its at nowadays for me.. On the PC side mostly but mobiles are getting there.
Feels like SuperCell is the F2P mobile company who understands their games and the market the best. They don't pump out a ton of games and hope for one winner, and their games are usually pretty generous with time/currency. I think all three of their games have stuck relatively well. CoC has been #1 on at least the U.S. App Store for what must be years now.
Good on 'em. They clearly do what they do very well.
Zynga aren't / weren't really a mobile dev. They made it big with Facebook games on desktop PCs.
lordfuzzybutt
Member
My friend plays Hay Day, the game seems to reward the users quite generously, plus new contents and stuff makes it seem less of a cash grab than other mobile games.
CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls
Banned
Give it a couple of years. Just like Zynga, the bubble will burst. I expect Supercell to get bought out first before the crash.
Broken Joystick
At least you can talk. Who are you?
Good for them. Insane amount of money.
Aren't they already kind of bought out? Softbank already owned like 50% of the company and now bought another 22%.
CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls
Banned
Hmm, I guess they are then. I was more referring to one of the big parties to buy them out and control development. Some type of mobile publisher.
Aces&Eights
Member
Children being diagnosed with cancer is unfair. That man who had his whole family killed by two psychos a few years ago is unfair. Losing to a mobile game in sales is supply and demand.
OT: Not a fan of mobile games but that is more due to my hbogo addiction. When I have 20 free minutes during the day in watching game of thrones or John Oliver reruns.
OT: Not a fan of mobile games but that is more due to my hbogo addiction. When I have 20 free minutes during the day in watching game of thrones or John Oliver reruns.
stuminus3
Member
Meanwhile the developer of the best game on mobile is flat broke because he refused to conform with the scummy business practices required to be a success on mobile and eventually just gave his game away for free.
Not sure if Minter is a great example to use. Obviously you can't use stuff like Oceanhorn, 80 Days, Monument Valley, DEVICE 6, or any of the other successful non F2P games. Minter though is an odd one. His games have niche appeal, they're often ports or re-imaginings of very old and prolifically released titles and many of his iOS efforts were impenetrable to those without an iCade or mFI controller.
Gridrunner (DX or + or whatever was appended on there) was great though. All of his iOS games will live on my iPad forevermore.
maquiladora
Member
Exact same issue with the film and music industries. Nothing unique about games here.
Clash of clans has a AAA console game budget. too. It's just mostly spent on marketing.
That being said, I'm not really fond of how AAA games have been turning out either.
vagabondarts
Member
Good for them. I've tried Clash of Clans because everyone I know plays it and always asks me about it.
It is most definitely not for me.
It is most definitely not for me.
Canis lupus
Member
The value of mobile companies is so volatile. Zynga was valued $7 billion in 2011 just before the collapse, Rovio basically vanished and out of the top mobile earners lists. I foresee a similar fate for Supercell once the CoC hype is over and people move over to the next big thing. Getting success from 1 or 2 games/IP is what they all have in common.
stuminus3
Member
Yeah, I know. I just like to take every chance I can get to flog Gridunner.
shinra-bansho
Member
There's nothing unfair about a company making a product people desire and earning from it.
The mobile market, like any market really, is not a cakewalk to win, nor keep. If it were a matter of simply dumb luck and plenty of advertising it wouldn't have taken and be taking so long for the traditional publishers to play catch up in this space.
Supercell's success can be traced to marketing, but not the incredibly limited understanding of what marketing means that seems pervasive. Marketing is about understanding consumer needs and from that formulating and executing a marketing mix that outperforms competitors in meeting those needs. And Supercell seemingly understand this market better than most.
They've wide released three games, and they've all been sustained successes.
And if they're dethroned it will be because someone else has met those needs even better.
The mobile market, like any market really, is not a cakewalk to win, nor keep. If it were a matter of simply dumb luck and plenty of advertising it wouldn't have taken and be taking so long for the traditional publishers to play catch up in this space.
Supercell's success can be traced to marketing, but not the incredibly limited understanding of what marketing means that seems pervasive. Marketing is about understanding consumer needs and from that formulating and executing a marketing mix that outperforms competitors in meeting those needs. And Supercell seemingly understand this market better than most.
They've wide released three games, and they've all been sustained successes.
And if they're dethroned it will be because someone else has met those needs even better.
Yeah, I think their experience with mobile games is one of the main factor why they are doing marketing (in it's full meaning; developing the right product to the right product and communicating it in the right way) so well. Their staff has been making mobile and board games since the early 2000s so it's not too surprising that they are well ahead of most studios when it comes to creating the true hits (though they have cancelled 4 games). While there will be plenty of others successes in the mobile gaming, I'd wager that Supercell will be the one standing around longest and creating hits the most reliably.
Triggerhappytel
Member
I've no interest in their games, but good for them. Judging from other similar companies their success will not last indefinitely, but they seem to be doing a better job of launching alternate products than Zynga et al.
Is Clash of Clans the game with the advert starring Kate Upton
?
Is Clash of Clans the game with the advert starring Kate Upton
's tits
No, that's Game of War, pretty much a worse Clash of Clans clone.
That's just shilling. For a fantastic game that people really ought to download (especially as it appears to be free now) that has full iCade support and will basically enrich your entire life.Yeah, I know. I just like to take every chance I can get to flog Gridunner.
Yup. Way too much money for being good at taking advantage of a fad.
There aren't a lot of choices for strategy games on mobile devices. I haven't found one that plays better than Boom Beach.
These are games I'm playing when I'm waiting in line to order some food, or taking a shit. They don't have to be Starcraft. They just have to be something I can tap at for 30 seconds and then put back in my pocket.
HoodWinked
Member
i only really play coc but yah they need to be a certain way so that they're not impenetrable when you first start off. so that part of the game is still enjoyable for a couple days, but once you get to a point a couple weeks in the game does take a shift once you join a clan the game becomes much more competitive with its fairly robust system for clan wars and at that point attack and base defense strategy does become pretty involved and rewarding.
there's a reason certain games do get popular. on the surface level the game looks like something fairly simple but there is quite a bit of depth to the game.
Chairman Yang
if he talks about books, you better damn well listen
Out of Supercell's three hit games, two are from 2012 (Clash of Clans and Hay Day) and the more recent one, Boom Beach, is extremely similar to Clash of Clans. I'm very skeptical that this success is fundamentally different than Rovio's, or Zynga's, or King's, or that it's due to some special marketing genius on Supercell's part. I give them credit for staying small, and their tendency to cancel failing games quickly has yielded some advantages.
If Supercell is dethroned it'll be for the same fundamental reason other mobile giants have fallen--no company truly understands the mobile market, and almost all of them (DeNA excepted) are incapable of diversifying their output. They're good at flogging existing hits (and permutations of those hits), and spectacularly bad at developing new ones.
Besthelboy
Banned
Hmm is boombeach really not that aggressive with the IAPs? I'll give it a shot.
Miles Quaritch
Member
Clash of Clan is the game with the Kate Upton ass right?
Those ass are everywhere.
Those ass are everywhere.
test_account
XP-39C²
That was Game of War.
HoodWinked
Member
I don't know. Supercell isn't from Scandinavia.
Finland, no?
Finland isn't really considered part of Scandinavia.