Tag: mobile gaming market

Next Games acquires Helsinki GameWorks.

Finland seems to be making a lot of mobile gaming news these days and the most recent is the creator behind the upcoming game The Walking Dead and other high-profile mobile games, Next Games, has recently acquired Helsinki GameWorks, a fellow Finish mobile games studio.

Next Games is excited about the deal as its new games will be launched soon.

The company’s CEO, Teemu Huuhtanen, said in a statement that he is very pleased to welcome employees from Helsinkin Game Works into their “family”. He added that “At Next Games we’ve focused on two key areas from the very beginning: building a robust portfolio and rock solid roadmap of games as well as ensuring we have an experienced team working on it. Joining forces is a logical move.”

The CEO of Helsinki GameWorks, Kalle Kaivola also stated that they are thrilled to be joining Next Games and said that being able to work with a talented team “on some of the most exciting IP in the world” is an opportunity that comes around once in a lifetime.

Kaivola has been appointed by Next Games as Head of Licensed Games and he will oversee the production of the upcoming game based on the popular AMC television series The Walking Dead. The game is called – The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land.

Helsinki is known for its mobile gaming talent.

The capital and largest city of Finland is home to Angry Birds creator, Rovio and Supercell, the studio behind Clash of Clans. Both companies have obtained huge success with their popular mobile game hits. Next Games wants to join these companies and become the next developer with the hit title.

However, the firm has no plans to wait until the launch of its first big mobile game. Its new acquirement will see the firm make a new product roadmap and add an expert group of game developers to its team, bringing its total staff to 45 from 33. The company intends to create a diverse portfolio of internally and externally developed games

Founded in 2013 by veterans from Supercell, Rovio, and Disney, Next Games raised $6 million earlier in 2014 from investors that include Jari Ovaskainen, Lowercase Capital, and IDG Ventures. It hopes to make a huge hit in the mobile gaming sector, a market which is anticipated to grow to $20 billion or possibly higher by the end of this year.

Global spending on smartphone apps is about to increase more than it has before.

According to analysts at SuperData Research, by the end of this year, mobile gaming revenues will reach $21.1 billion, which means that compared to 2013’s $17.7 billion mobile games revenue, this will work out to a 19% increase since last year.

Asia mobile users are the major reason behind the growth in this market.

The lead researcher and SuperData founder, Joost van Dreunen, said in the report that “Much of this growth is due to Asia.” Van Dreunen added that Asia “accounts for over half of the worldwide mobile market and its booming smartphone industry as devices become more affordable and ubiquitous in the region.” What has been discovered is that while Western consumers tend to focus on mobile games spending on a per-player basis, the contribution Asian nations like China, South Korea and Japan are making are far bigger.

Based on what was found by SuperData, by the end of the year, Asia’s revenue for mobile gaming will climb to $11.3 billion. This amount includes revenue that results from in-game ads and in-app purchases. Furthermore, the intelligence firm anticipates that by 2016 the global gaming revenue will be at $28.2 billion once more smartphone consumers come online in Russia, India and china.

In the West, mobile gaming spending is growing, but slower than the global average.

The report noted that although spending is increasing in the west, as it is estimated to grow by 16% from last year to 2014, it is growing at a rate that is slower compared to the average worldwide.

That said, Western gamers do spend a lot of money on mobile games. The research from SuperData has shown that the average mobile player who pays for games in the US and the UK, spends much more than other mobile gamers in just about everywhere else in the world. However, the reason why this is believed to be the case is that both the UK and US mobile technology markets are well established and consumers have had a long time to become accustomed to how mobile games operate.

Nevertheless, in every region the mobile games market is growing. Therefore, if in the next few years, revenue does reach almost $30 billion, the companies who establish a presence in the mobile gaming space now are likely to be glad that they did.