PocketGamer.biz Week That Was: King delays its IPO, Angry Birds Go-es in a new direction, and Crytek embraces mobile
The past 7 days in bite-sized portions
Who can forget Ebenezer Scrooge's famous lamentation at the end of Dickens' A Christmas Carol?
'I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!'
This holiday season, we'd all do well to heed Scrooge's words and not shut out the lessons that the 'Spirits of the Three' (consoles, mobile, and handhelds) have to teach.
The PS4 and Xbox One - recently derided by many as 'irrelevant' - tore off to an impressive start around the globe, mobile game revenue is surging in almost all markets, and Nintendo's 3DS is enjoying a booming holiday season thanks to the like of Pikachu and Link.
Maybe, just maybe, there's enough to go around. 2014 will help us know for sure, but that can wait. Touch our robe and let's take a look back at the Pocket Gamer Biz Week That Was.
PG Connects- We're almost a month out from the first instalment of our conference - PG Connects, and our speaker list continues to grow. Amazon, Wooga, Nevosoft, and cool indie shops like I Fight Bears and MediaTonic have all joined the ranks of Rovio, Kakao, King, and Halfbrick. Will you be there? Click on the event page for more details - and be sure to read up on Rovio's involvement in The Very Big Indie Pitch.
- Crytek announced its collaboration with DeNA to launch its first free-to-play mobile game, The Collectables, on the Mobage platform.
- Want to become a developer? Indie game app Createrria now makes it possible for anyone to create and publish their own titles.
- And Storm8 is moving beyond 600 million downloads and 50 million MAUs from its own games to launch its own publishing arm.
- King delayed its IPO in the US out of concerns that investors might see it as a 'one hit wonder'.
- Just in time for the holidays, Amazon gave users the ability to gift its Amazon Coins virtual currency.
- Tecmo Koei announced a move to cap spending in social games for minors under 15 years of age.
- While Spaceteam developer Henry Smith reflected that he couldn't have made the game as it stands if he 'prioritised money'.
- Rovio's Jami Laes sees Angry Birds Go as the first step to take the flagship brand into new directions.
- And you can't start 'em too young - Rovio branded a new generation of Finns while they were still in the delivery room.
- ZeptoLab CEO Misha Lyalin talks Cut the Rope 2 and notes its iOS exclusivity is timed and not permanent.
- Applifier's Oscar Clark looks back at 2013 - the year of mature monetisation and 'static' app stores - and wonders what it all means for 2014.
- Keeping Korean gamers engaged isn't easy, but JOYCITY's HanSeo Jo says it's possible - if you plan 50 content updates per year.
- All eyes east - Yodo1's Henry Fong says the golden triangle (Japan, China, Korea) will be pivotal to his company's long-term success.
- And Carter Dotson from 148Apps says its time for a softer touch as he urges the 'testosterone-fueled games industry' to 'grow up'.
- While Kiwi Inc's Omar Siddiqui says its in your interests to build a community, not chase a hit.
- Video killed the banner ad star - Applifier's Everyplay video sharing platform now accounts for 7.5 percent of daily installs for games on the service.
- Our Chart of the Week looks at push notifications and why getting players to opt-in matters.
- PlayHaven and Kontagent announced plans for a merger aimed at 'transforming' the world's mobile data.
- After a particularly strong 2013, HitFox announced three new start-ups and its plans to double its staff in the year ahead.
- And PaeDae raised $11.6 million to grow its user-centric advertising.
- Meanwhile in China, publishing giant Yodo1 raised another $11 million in funding and opened up a new production studio in Seoul to make inroads into Korea.
And we leave you with a question. Who will be PocketGamer.biz's Best Dressed Man of 2013?
