Tag: game industry

Mobile games off to a rocky start at Zynga

| April 5, 2013

Zynga mobile gamesZynga has some trouble getting traction in mobile games

Zynga had once been a formidable force in the social games sector. The company is responsible for some of the most popular social games in the history of gaming, with much of its success coming from a close-knit relationship with Facebook. Over the past two years, however, Zynga has experienced a proverbial fall from grace among consumers, largely due to allegations regarding copying certain features of other very popular games. Zynga has since been struggling to restructure itself in order to reclaim its throne, adopting a strong focus on mobile games.

Mobile may be the future, but it is not without challenges

Zynga believes that mobile games, especially those designed for tablet devices, could help it reassert its dominance in the game industry. Mobile games have certainly been very successful for a variety of other development studios and continue to be well loved by consumers, but Zynga has had trouble finding the traction it needs to be successful. Last year, Zynga purchased mobile games startup OMGPOP, which is responsible for the highly popular “Draw Something” game. Since the acquisition, however, Zynga has seen lackluster performance in the market.

Dan Porter bows out of Zynga

This week, Zynga has announced that Dan Porter, former CEO of OMGPOP and the head of Zynga, has left the company. Porter is well known as a colorful and outspoken individual in the game industry, two traits that have made his integration into Zynga somewhat difficult. Last month, Porter was quoted as claiming that Zynga deliberately copies the games produced by its competitors, a comment that he later apologized for. Porter’s tenure with Zynga is marked with turbulence, mostly represented by the poor performance of the company’s mobile games.

Sean Kelly to take the helm

Porter did help draw attention to Zynga’s new focus on mobile games, helping generate hype behind the shift away from social gaming. The former executive will be replaced by Sean Kelly, who was formerlly the head of one of Zynga’s most popular games “CityVille.” Kelly is expected to keep Zynga focused on the development of mobile games while also helping the company recover from some of the damage that has been done to its stocks over the past year.

Mobile games help UK industry find success

| April 4, 2013

Mobile Games UK ReportReport highlights importance of mobile games in UK game industry

The United Kingdom may soon serve as a strong example of what the future of the game industry will look like in the coming years. TIGA, a UK trade association representing the game industry, has released a new report highlighting the various aspects of the UK game sector. The report shows that much of the market is comprised of independent developers that have a strong focus on mobile games rather than traditional console games. Many of these developers believe that mobile games are undoubtedly the future of gaming.

A focus on mobile helps several studios find success

The report, which is titled “Making Games in the UK Today: A Census of the UK Developer and Digital Publishing Sector,” shows that more than half of the development studios in the country were founded only four years ago. Despite the relative youth that these companies have when compared to others in the game industry, they now account for 60% of the UK market. These independent studios account for 83% of the independent games that were released in the UK between 2011 and 2012, many of which were mobile games.

Mobile games are gaining traction throughout the market

The report shows that approximately 37% of all studios in the United Kingdom are making mobile games currently, this is up from the 19% that were focused on mobile development in 2010. Several of these development studios are focused exclusively on mobile games, forsaking console games entirely. This may be due to the fact that mobile games are typically less expensive to develop than their console counterparts. Mobile games also offer promising profit opportunities for developers that are not generally seen on other platforms.

Independent developers still face significant challenges

TIGA notes that the UK game sector is young, independent, and highly focused on the mobile space. Strong smartphone and tablet sales have helped encourage developers to focus more heavily on mobile games. Despite the strong performance these studios have seen over the years, TIGA notes that many face significant financial challenges. The report shows that approximately 21% of the studios that were founded between 2010 and 2012 have closed their doors due to lack of finances.