Tag: console games

Activision Blizzard acquires the mobile games firm behind Candy Crush

| November 9, 2015

Reports have stated that the purchase of the app developer has now been made for $5.9 billion.

The tremendously popular mobile games developer behind Candy Crush Saga, King Digital, has now been acquired for a reported $5.9 billion by another developer, Activision Blizzard.

Activision Blizzard is the developer of popular video games such as Destiny and Call of Duty.

By way of this purchase, Activision Blizzard will be obtaining all the outstanding shares of King Digital for $18.00 per share, in cash. This is a premium of 20 percent over the closing price of King on October 30, the day the deal actually went through. Once this deal officially closes, it will mean that two of the top 5 top grossing mobile games in the United States (Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush Soda Saga) will be brought together with the leading console video game franchise (Call of Duty), as well as the largest franchise in PC games (World of Warcraft).

This mobile games developer acquisition has the potential to be a highly powerful one, heading forward.

Mobile Games - Activision Blizzard Aqauires King DigitalOn the first trading day after the acquisition, the shares of King Digital spiked by 15 percent in pre-trading, while the shares of Activision slumped slightly by 2.6 percent. In terms of the revenues of the companies, during the 12 months that ended with the close of September, King had brought in $2.1 billion while Activision Blizzard took in $4.7 billion.

According to the CEO of Activision Blizzard, Robert Kotick, when discussing King, “They built an incredible business.” He explained that “When we think about people who create compelling content and satisfy large audiences, they’ve been brilliant at it. We thought it would make a great opportunity for us to enter a new market.”

The team of CEO of King, Riccardo Zacconi, COO Stephane Kurgan and CCO Sebastian Knuttsson will be continuing their operations of King as an independent unit of operations. Zacconi said that they will be pooling their expertise in free to play mobile games with the world-class brands at Activision Blizzard, a company that already has a solid history of building and sustaining some of the top video gaming franchises.

Mobile gaming apps are still performing better than consoles

| October 12, 2015

Games applications are growing in popularity among players with both tablets and smartphones.

When it comes to video games, the mobile gaming apps sector appears to be continuing its path toward a powerful and growing lead over its competition, which has traditionally been from the console category.

Analysts are now predicting that mobile games will surpass consoles before the end of this year.

In fact, recent data has indicate that mobile gaming apps have already become an industry that is worth a tremendous $25 billion. Analysts see this revenue climbing to $40 billion by 2018. As the expectations of gamers for mobile gaming apps continue to rise, companies are often letting some of their older titles drop so that they will be able to focus their attention on new and cutting edge innovations in game applications.

There are certain companies that have been quite successful in their own mobile gaming apps.

Mobile Gaming AppsThose for which gamers currently have the highest expectations include Electronic Arts (EA), Tapinator, Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive Software and Glu Mobile, among others. These mobile app developers have not only already put out some highly popular titles, but they also have some very promising titles in the pipes that will be released over future months and years.

This is causing a fascinating shift in the key companies within the video game industry and it is showing that many players are looking for a different experience from that of a console. After all, they are playing on their smartphones and tablets, which are devices that they already have, instead of having to purchase a console for hundreds of dollars. Moreover, they are purchasing games for a few dollars, or are playing them for free on their smartphones and tablets, whereas console games are notoriously expensive – particularly when it comes to the popular ones.

While console games are far from being irrelevant, the market for mobile gaming apps is ever expanding as smartphone penetration becomes ever greater in virtually every market around the world. The very nature of these applications has offered them a considerably greater reach among consumers across the globe.