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The PocketGamer.biz week that was: Kickstarter kicks off in UK, PlayStation Mobile panned, and the death of premium games on mobile

The past 7 days in bite-sized portions

The PocketGamer.biz week that was: Kickstarter kicks off in UK, PlayStation Mobile panned, and the death of premium games on mobile
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This week, Kickstarter officially came to the UK, allowing Brits to upload projects to the crowdfunding website – without lying about their location – for the first time.

The Kickstarter model has been heralded by many as a revolution, and there's no arguing with the astonishing success of projects such as the Double Fine Adventure, Revolution's new Broken Sword game and the Ouya.

The successes are impressive, then, but the failures are many. If you thought publishers were a cold and unfeeling bunch, wait until the Kickstarter community gets a look at your project.

Rough edges will not be tolerated, and presentational fumbles will cost you dearly. For every project that raised millions, the Kickstarter archives are littered with campaigns that never even got off the ground. These projects weren't necessarily bad – they simply didn't set the collective pulse of the Kickstarter community racing.

You might receive a warm welcome if you're working with a revered property or resurrecting a beloved genre, but your average developer is likely to be given short shrift by a community that's accustomed to slick videos and honed pitches.

And there's the truth of the matter – whether you're asking a publisher or a crowdfunding community for cash, it's still a pitch. Unless you're a world-famous luminary, no-one's going to fund your project on goodwill alone, and unless you're entirely self-funding a project, the reality is that you'll always have to sell it to the money-men.

Anyway, that's quite enough natter from me for one week. Instead, let's move on to our bite-sized overview of the last seven days' worth of news.

Platform wars
  • GREE announces four new partnerships with North American indies to bolster its social gaming platform, following up the announcement by proclaiming that GREE Loves Indies.
  • Zynga's still a cash-rich company, but its stock is falling through the floor, prompting Jeff Scott to ask: Is the social giant at risk of being acquired?
  • Pocket Gamer editor-in-chief Kristan Reed ruminates on the launch of the PlayStation Mobile platform, and concludes that it's already doomed to obscurity.
  • Google unveils a Tablet App Quality Checklist to help Android developers "ensure your app meets the expectations of tablet users."
Brand extension
  • Yippee Entertainment announces that its Chillingo-published game Chimpact will soon swing onto TV screens thanks to a deal with Studio Liddell.
  • Rovio executive vice president Andrew Stalbow hints at the studio's brand extension plans for Bad Piggies and Angry Birds, explaining that Rovio hopes to "have an impact on pop culture."
  • Lima Sky announces a series of partnerships that will see a range of Doodle Jump toys and merchandise reach the market in summer 2013.
Monetisation
  • A partnership with Probability PLC will see Glu Mobile will leverage its existing IP in a suite of real money gambling games for mobile, so we catch up with Glu CEO Niccolo de Masi to find out more about the studio's gaming gamble.
  • In this week's edition of the PocketGamer.biz Charticle, we ask: Are paid games approaching the end of the line?
  • Supercell reveals that its iOS titles Clash of Clans and Hay Day are currently generating a total of more than $500,000 a day for the studio.
Industry voices
GDC Online 2012

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James Nouch
James Nouch
PocketGamer.biz's news editor 2012-2013