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Supercell revenues nears $2bn for 2014

ninjabat

Member
Hot damn! Played the game for a couple weeks, never spent a cent, but I enjoyed it. This revenue is crazy. Hope these guys are smart enough to sell of the company while its still a hot property.
 

Longsword

Member
Hot damn! Played the game for a couple weeks, never spent a cent, but I enjoyed it. This revenue is crazy. Hope these guys are smart enough to sell of the company while its still a hot property.


They already did, for 1,51 billion for 51% of the shares to Softbank and GungHo. That was a steal as this revenue shows.
 

Ocho

Member
Quality isn't the deciding factor for monetization success; addiction is. CoC is rivaling GTA revenue... Are you saying the games are similar in quality?

It's all about accessibility and addiction.

Scope is certainly different, can't argue with that, but quality wise? Sure. Both games have great presentation and gameplay mechanics.

I agree mobile gaming is all about accessibility. It's the reason why I like CoC, I don't need to constantly play the game to have fun. Short bursts at a time. Perfect for mobile.

Addiction is a complicated term, to be honest. When do we cross the line from having fun with a game to being addicted? I wouldn't say I'm addicted to CoC. I spend more hours per week on LoL, yet am I addicted to CoC inherently because of how the game is designed, even if I play it less than other games?
 

groshkar

Member
And Square Enix.
And Sega.

and so on and so forth.

CoC might be a good game, but the success is only going to force companies to make rash decisions like abandoning consoles for mobile or at the minimum focusing hard on mobile when the money might not be there.

I think that would be a bad lesson that could ruin some companies. Its hard to have a smash hit game like CoC, and it proving to be extremely hard to replicate. One only has to look at the history of companies that have reigned on top of the mobile app list to see a pattern emerging.
 

Nightbird

Member
I still fall for it.
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this supercell is the shit though
 

Longsword

Member
I think that would be a bad lesson that could ruin some companies. Its hard to have a smash hit game like CoC, and it proving to be extremely hard to replicate. One only has to look at the history of companies that have reigned on top of the mobile app list to see a pattern emerging.

King, Supercell, Machine Zone and EA are the most prominent, and they seem to be doing incredibly well from year to year. Agree it is very hard to make string of hits, that's why Supercell is such a rare company. 3 back-to-back blockbuster game hits is tough to replicate.

Japan App Store is far more lucrative however, and both Sega and SquareEnix are doing very well there. Of course there will be a point where the growth will slow down, and we will see some shake-ups. Still does not fix my main concern for console gaming, which is the skyrocketing dev costs and treating of the dev staff like disposable diapers.
 

Anfony O

Member
Clash of clans is the epitome of everything wrong with the gaming industry. It is the harbinger of it's doom.

Remember all the shit people gave Dungeon Keeper on iOS last year? It was just a Clash of Clans clone, every offense that game committed CoC does 10 fold. It's a nightmare made manifest, evil incarnate. It's grotesque and offensive and represents all the darkest elements of the hobby we love.

Yes. I'm serious.

Saddest part is this is true. Well at least to me. This whole shift in the industry to F2P and micro transactions has led to major issues. Worst part is the newer generation is becoming obsessed with it. Few months ago I offered to buy my cousin a 3DS with Mario Land, he told me he would prefer an iTunes card to buy gems in clash of clans. How sad is that?
 

Vomiaouaf

Member
Clash of Clans in a nutshell.

And the gems are, of course, incredibly difficult to accumulate unless you spend real cash. It's the oldest trick in the book as far as "Free to Wait" games go.

The game is designed to be played very differently than console games. Mobile users check their phones fifty times a day, play Clash for 5 minutes, close the app and move on with their lives. Waiting is barely an inconvenience for most, because by the time they open up the game again, most of it has been 'recharged'. You can attack other players again, you can collect your resources again, play for 5 minutes, and close the app again.

The gems are easy enough to accumulate to get three builders without ever paying for anything, meaning you can build three things at the same time at any time. Which is enough for most players to enjoy the game. That's just the way the game is structured. That's the way mobile gaming works for the most part. 99% of free-to-play users never pay for anything and keep playing for months regardless.

South Park is right on many levels when it comes to free to play and the cynicism that comes with that business model, but the blanket demonization of it all (not necessarily by you directly, but in this topic overall), as if people were forced to pay for games they barely enjoy, is just silly.
 

Longsword

Member
Thats good. Hopefully they get into console/pc gaming someday with that cash. Much safer.

Everything is possible, but I doubt it. Consoles games now cost 100 million+ per pop to make, and offer razor-thing margins. Since these guys have made repeated mobile blockbuster hits, it would not make much sense for them to move away to compete with Activision on their home turf.

Supercell will have seen all of those console devs closing, and probably don't want to share their fate. PC is a possibility, to take on, say, World of Tanks.
 

Longsword

Member
how long until the crowd moves on to the next game and they go the way of zynga/rovio

Zynga has never been successful on mobile, so they don't really count. Rovio's game side actually grew this year, it is their liscensing business that is hurting. They do need another blockbuster hit game though. Still a 200 million a year company with 10M profit is not the end of the world.
 
Nice. That's fucking gross.

I bet that's from a tutorial screen where you're given a gem specifically to see how it works. Not that the business model is any different, but I suspect you don't normally see the large arrow or the chick telling you not to be stingy.
You are given 250 gems fromt he get go IIRC.
Clash of Clans in a nutshell.

And the gems are, of course, incredibly difficult to accumulate unless you spend real cash. It's the oldest trick in the book as far as "Free to Wait" games go.
Not true. Gems can be accumulated through achievements, cleaning trees and bushes, and gem boxes. Every gem box has 25 gems it. Some trees give you 6 gems. Although upgrading fast without getting loot is expensive. I only spent $15 in a year and a half and my base is great. One does not need to spend money to enjoy the game.
 
Not true. Gems can be accumulated through achievements, cleaning trees and bushes, and gem boxes. Every gem box has 25 gems it. Some trees give you 6 gems. Although upgrading fast without getting loot is expensive. I only spent $15 in a year and a half and my base is great. One does not need to spend money to enjoy the game.

It requires huge amounts of resources (and therefore time) to do those things, though. Even just clearing out trees is ridiculously expensive.
 
Two fun games, haven't played the third. Great for someone with no time to devote to more complicated time intensive games. If you ignore the lack of story, the gameplay is more advanced and complicated or at least on the same level as most menu driven jrpgs I've played.
 

Ocho

Member
It requires huge amounts of resources (and therefore time) to do those things, though. Even just clearing out trees is ridiculously expensive.

So you want a game where you get everything without having to put some effort to it? By the way, clearing trees beyond the early levels is basically spare change.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
So you want a game where you get everything without having to put some effort to it? By the way, clearing trees beyond the early levels is basically spare change.

Man you tapped once on that bush! Such effort! You're a champion!
 

MoxManiac

Member
CoC isn't going anywhere. It's addictive. But more importantly than that, it is a really well-designed game. The units are well-balanced and varied, as well as their counterpart, the village defenses. Even with long upgrades, there is usually always something to do, such as raiding for more resources, or participating in clan wars (best part of the game). And both take a lot of strategy; whether it's getting that 3 star in war, or raiding a village with the cheapest army possible.

My main complaint with the game is it isn't really all that interesting until Town Hall 7. Once you reach 7 and beyond, the offensive and defensive options branch out a LOT. And of course, microtransactions are the evil part of free to play games. But you don't need to gem anything unless you are impatient. I never understood the accusation that CoC is pay to win since no matter where you are in the game, you are always playing against people your level.
 

Mandoric

Banned
This game was boring as shit when I last tried it ( ~6 months ago)

What the hell is the appeal? I just cannot stand the wait unless you pay mechanic. Feel like I am missing something that everyone else must see.

Wait-unless-you-pay is miserable for people gaming to Check All The Boxes And Fill All The Bars.

It's unnoticable for people gaming to kill 15 or 30 minutes, or for people into several games with the mechanic gaming to kill longer periods.

It's meh but not amazingly bad for people gaming because they like the game; remember, this is an industry built on "pay $1 to play the FIRST time" so "pay $1 to play a fifth time in a row" isn't too outlandish.
 

Dargor

Member
I play CoC, fun game. Never bought gems. Never saw the need to.

Thats a good way to may F2P games in my book. If you want to pay you can, but you don't have to.
 

Brashnir

Member
they aren't meant to be "played" in long bursts, you just open up the App when you're taking a dump, or waiting for the bus, or in the elevator.

Click on a few things to progress your game, or atleast the game is well made enough that you "feel" like you're making progress towards something.

Then don't do anything until you have another 30 seconds of waiting somewhere in your life to click on another few things.

The style of these games is not comparable to any other classic games beyond Email-Chess or something.


I play the Square-Enix version of this that's a combination of Pokemon and Hearthstone called Deadman's Cross. You just collect cards and build a deck to fight other players in a totally meaningless arena automatically. It just requires a few taps every 2 hours beyond a hunting minigame.

Of it course it makes you feel like you're making progress toward something. That's literally the entire design philosophy of F2P - To make you feel like you're gaining something, while in reality they're taking something* from you.



*your time, your money, and your dignity.
 
Wrong. A good player can get more resources than a bad player in the same timeframe. Gathering resources goes beyond clicking harvesters, you know.

What separates good players from bad ones, though? Isn't it just tapping on the screen to deploy troops? I played the game for several days and based on what I learned, you can't even directly control or micromanage your troops once they've been deployed. To me, it just seems like the skill ceiling is incredibly low. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I see little to no headroom for there to exist truly great players (skill-wise) who are way above the rest. And even the best players still have to wait for long periods of time before large armies are created--unless, of course, they spend tons of gems.
 

MoxManiac

Member
What separates good players from bad ones, though? Isn't it just tapping on the screen to deploy troops? I played the game for several days and based on what I learned, you can't even directly control or micromanage your troops once they've been deployed. To me, it just seems like the skill ceiling is incredibly low. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I see little to no headroom for there to exist truly great players who are head and toe above the rest. And even the best players still have to wait for long periods of time before large armies are created--unless, of course, they spend tons of gems.

The skill ceiling is plenty high; I belong to a clan that wins wars about 99% of the time due to our attacks being coordinated and executed better then our opponents.

Knowing unit behavior, their strengths and weaknesses, evalulating and properly attacking a base, and properly using spells are all critical. Not to mention how important army composition is.

Like I said, the game isn't terribly interesting until Town Hall 7, and I feel Supercell should really address this.
 

Vomiaouaf

Member
What separates good players from bad ones, though? Isn't it just tapping on the screen to deploy troops? As far as I can tell, you can't even directly control or micromanage your troops once they've been deployed. To me, it just seems like the skill ceiling is incredibly low. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I see little to no headroom for there to exist truly great players who are head and toe above the rest. And even the best players still have to wait for long periods of time before large armies are created--unless, of course, they spend tons of gems.

What's tricky to understand about this though? Not every game is Bloodborne. Not every game requires a tremendous amount of skill to enjoy. You can - literally - play 95% of the top grossing mobile games with one finger (or your penis, if you're skilled) and still be 'good' at it. Mobile players are vastly different from the gamer profile we're used to. That's a big reason why traditional publishers haven't been able to nail the market because they haven't adapted their business model to how radically different gamers enjoy their mobile devices and how they see gaming fit as part of their routine. If people still consider these games entertaining and a good use of their time because it's fun to create your base, layout, upgrade buildings, think about how to spawn your units to approach a base; then dismissing their free will in what they pick to play is condescending at best.
 

murgo

Member
Good for them. I've been addicted to CoC since last November and can't stop playing. I usually hate F2P games with microtransactions, but CoC is very fair in that regard. Attacking other people to gather resources and competing in clan wars is a lot of fun. Especially when you play in a good clan with proper coordination/communication.
 

Alchemy

Member
I think that would be a bad lesson that could ruin some companies. Its hard to have a smash hit game like CoC, and it proving to be extremely hard to replicate. One only has to look at the history of companies that have reigned on top of the mobile app list to see a pattern emerging.

It is also hard to have a hit AAA game. The difference is mobile games like Clash of Clans have a much higher return on investment because the development is so cheap in comparison. One attempt at a AAA game is dozens of very high production value mobile games, probably even more. For investors, the ROI just makes mobile super appealing which is why you're seeing so many people jump into the market.
 

Ocho

Member
What separates good players from bad ones, though? Isn't it just tapping on the screen to deploy troops? I played the game for several days and based on what I learned, you can't even directly control or micromanage your troops once they've been deployed. To me, it just seems like the skill ceiling is incredibly low. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I see little to no headroom for there to exist truly great players (skill-wise) who are way above the rest. And even the best players still have to wait for long periods of time before large armies are created--unless, of course, they spend tons of gems.

One of the common misconceptions of CoC, unfortunately. That simplistic gameplay you found turns to a pretty complex and strategic one once you unlock some of the later troops. A good player will raid better and steal more resources than an average player. A good player will win their clan more wars, thus gain more resources as well. You can find countless strategic videos in YouTube where they analyse attacks and bases, how to defend, how to attack, etc.

I won't even get into the several known strategies and their variations since it would be pointless in this conversation. But believe me, and I'm not the first one to say so in this very thread, the game is complex beyond tapping to deploy troops.

It's true that you may need to wait to cook some of the stronger units in the game (although there are 20 min tops full army composition useful for raiding). I have no issue with waiting, however, since I play this game a couple of mins at a time (before joining a queue in LoL, or during work some times). People need to understand the design is different from a stand alone console game where you are expected to spend more time at a time.
 

elty

Member
If you prefer to play for hours continuously without break, this game sucks unless you pay.

If you only check in once every few hours 5 minutes each then it is pretty fun.

I usually just checked in 2-3 times a day and spent 10 minutes max.
 

danmaku

Member
Scope is certainly different, can't argue with that, but quality wise? Sure. Both games have great presentation and gameplay mechanics.

I agree mobile gaming is all about accessibility. It's the reason why I like CoC, I don't need to constantly play the game to have fun. Short bursts at a time. Perfect for mobile.

Addiction is a complicated term, to be honest. When do we cross the line from having fun with a game to being addicted? I wouldn't say I'm addicted to CoC. I spend more hours per week on LoL, yet am I addicted to CoC inherently because of how the game is designed, even if I play it less than other games?

Good question. I'd say the key is how much of the game is designed to create addiction. The unlock progression in cod games is there to keep the player going even if the game itself is not that fun anymore. You have a new toy to try, so you keep playing. What does CoC do to feed the addiction?
 
What's tricky to understand about this though? Not every game is Bloodborne. Not every game requires a tremendous amount of skill to enjoy.

That's something of a strawman. I'm not saying I want every game to be as difficult as Bloodborne or to require crazy amounts of skill, but based on my experience, Clash of Clans requires almost no skill at all. I do see where MoxManiac explained above that the game doesn't really open up until your Town Hall reaches level 7, but I can tell you for a fact that to reach that point would require many hours (or rather days) of "play" because unfortunately even at low levels, the costs for upgrading the Town Hall are astronomical!
 

kaching

"GAF's biggest wanker"
The acceptance of this formula, in this forum of all places, is pretty shocking to me. Obviously the income numbers meant the mainstream audience has bought into it, but if the frequenters of this forum, who usually stand for a much more varied and niche segment of gaming, is all about this game, I truly fear for the future of gaming.
I like how you try to shame the CoC players on this forum by using the word "varied" while preferring that they basically partake in less variety by not playing this game.

I play CoC and it's done nothing to dull my interest in more "varied and niche" games, so you can put that strawman away. CoC will probably be the game I'm playing while waiting for Bloodborne to load, later on tonight.

Everything locked behind timewalls... microtransactions in everything. I'm thankful it failed with Dead Space 3, but with this kind of sentiment here, I'm positive it'll contaminate so much more of the industry.
Every game is locked behind a timewall - they all require a not insignificant amount of time to complete, to achieve specific goals/achievements, to top the leaderboards, etc. At least in a game like CoC, progress can still occur when you're not playing, no money required.

Some of you are so caught up by microtransaction aspect of these games that you're overlooking the basic fact that every game can be a colossal timesink and most don't really offer a way to keep making progress without active binging of playtime to do it. For a lot of people who love to game, oftentimes the need to drop an hour or two into a open-world game just to make some notable progress, or to schedule regular sessions to stay competitive in an online MP game are, in and of themselves, "timewalls" that get between the gamer and the games they may want to play.
 

Ninja Dom

Member
I'm a Boom Beach player and have played that game on iOS for an entire year. And not spent a penny on it.

The game is so incredibly well made and absolutely made perfect for 5 - 10 minute blasts of play at numerous times during the day.

And the game doesn't flash adverts in your face or persist you to pay for awards and upgrades.

Superb!!
 
I'm a Boom Beach player and have played that game on iOS for an entire year. And not spent a penny on it.

The game is so incredibly well made and absolutely made perfect for 5 - 10 minute blasts of play at numerous times during the day.

And the game doesn't flash adverts in your face or persist you to pay for awards and upgrades.

Superb!!

How does Boom Beach compare to Clash of Clans? Does it take less time for things to get interesting, or is it about the same in your experience? (That is if you've played both of 'em.)
 
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