Tag: game industry news

Zynga continues to struggle toward mobile games

| June 11, 2013

Mobile games transition proves turbulent for Zynga

Once-acclaimed game developer Zynga continues to work toward recovering from its recent fall from grace with consumers. The company has faced harsh criticism over the years due to its approach to gaming. Some of this criticism suggests that Zynga blatantly copied other, more popular games in order to attract consumers through confusion. After Facebook cut ties with the developer, the company has been working to reclaim its position through a strong focus on mobile games.

Zynga continues to see financial difficulty and criticism from consumers

Though Zynga believes that mobile games will lead to its eventual ascension to fame, the company is still struggling in its transition into the mobile space. Much of Zynga’s interest in mobile games comes from the success other companies have seen in this sector, such as Japan’s GungHo Online Entertainment. Even major publishers, such as Electronic Arts, have been finding success in mobile games, largely due to the simplistic nature of these games and how much they appeal to a massive number of consumers.

Mobile Games - Zynga strugglesZynga makes drastic cuts to staff

Zynga has been having trouble acclimating to the mobile space, however. The company has yet to produce a single mobile game as much of its focus is currently centered on reinventing itself. While Zynga is making progress toward embracing mobile games, the company has yet to shrug off its complications. Late last week, the company announced that it had laid off 18% of its staff throughout the U.S. This move was meant to save the company as much as $80 million annually but has done little to win the company the confidence of investors who consider Zynga’s acquisition of OMGPOP in 2012 as the mark of the company’s ultimate decline.

OMGPOP now defunct

OMGPOP is the development studio behind the acclaimed Draw Something, which is largely considered to be one of the most successful mobile games on the market. Since acquiring Zynga acquires OMGPOP in 2012 for $200 million, but has had to make several cuts to the development studio in an effort to save money. Zynga had once considered OMGPOP to be a powerful step in its journey toward mobile games, but Zynga closed the studio last week without having it produce another game.

Glu Mobile brings real money to mobile games

| June 8, 2013

Real-money mobile games could be a powerful source of revenue for publisher

Mobile games are already extremely popular with consumers throughout the U.S., but if these games offered a chance for people to win actual money they may see a significant spike in consumer activity. Glu Mobile, a publisher of mobile games in the U.S., believes that real-money games may be a part of the future of the mobile space. Mobile games that offer consumers a chance to be rewarded for their skill could be a powerful revenue source that has not yet been tapped into.

Glu Mobile teams with Skillz

Despite the popularity of mobile games, Glu Mobile has struggled to report profits since 2007. The publisher has been involved in many sectors of the gaming space, focusing primarily on mobile games, but has been unable to find a strong foothold in any of these sectors. Glu Mobile recently entered into a partnership with Skillz, a pioneer in the realm of real-money games, and believes that it has finally found a place where it can find some profit.

Money to Mobile GamesMobile games awarding real money could be a hit with consumers

Real-money games have yet to find any significant level of popularity, partly due to the misconception that these games involve gambling in some way. These games do not, in fact, involve gambling, however, as they are entirely based on skill and players do not lose anything if they do not happen to perform well in any particular task. Glu Mobile believes that these mobile games can provide a quality experience to consumers while also giving them a powerful incentive to continue playing these games for significant periods of time.

Glu Mobile to launch cash tournament for games

Glu Mobile will be making use of the Skillz platform to introduce cash tournaments to its popular hunting simulator called Deer Hunter Reloaded. Players will be able to compete in this tournament free of charge, allowing a wide range of people to compete for cash prizes. Glu Mobile currently has plans to expand this practice to other mobile games that it is responsible for in the second half of this year.