Candy Crush maker shows how to hook gamers, make them pay

Candy Crush maker shows how to hook gamers, make them pay

STOCKHOLM — With 100 million people logging on every day for a fix of its games like Candy Crush Saga, global game maker King is showing rivals not just how to hook players but how to get them to pay.

REUTERS 4 HOURS 33 MIN AGO

STOCKHOLM — With 100 million people logging on every day for a fix of its games like Candy Crush Saga, global game maker King is showing rivals not just how to hook players but how to get them to pay. King is the latest among European tech firms like Rovio, creator of mega-hit Angry Birds, to make it big on the global gaming scene. But its stunning profitability in an industry littered with firms who failed to make money has made it a totem for others seeking to emulate its success.King’s focus on the multi-billion-dollar mobile game market — creating short, addictive puzzles for the fastest-growing part of the gaming industry — has helped it reap profits rare in its field. Though the company does not publish numbers, industry experts have estimated its revenues at US$1 million to US$3 million a day (S$1.25 million to S$3.75 million). Media reports now talk about an initial public offering valuation of US$5 billion after a source recently said the company had filed to go public in the United States.

King was set up in Sweden a decade ago by friends working at the same tech start-up and got €34 million (S$57.6 million) in funding from investment firms Apax Partners and Index Ventures in 2005. It has been profitable since, a fact that analysts put down to its ability to persuade players to pay several times over to continue the same game.

Its “free-mium model”, in which games are free but players can pay for add-ons or extra lives, has been particularly effective because of the success of Candy Crush, which has turned into a global phenomenon.

“Candy Crush is one of the biggest mass-market consumer games in years,” said Mr Adam Krejcik at Eilers Research. “They have been profitable for a while. This game has certainly brought them into a new category.”

The game, in which players line up gleaming 3-D sweets to knock out jelly, chocolate and liquorice, is available online, on smartphones and Facebook. It has held the No 1 spot for apps on Facebook for nine months and is Apple’s top-grossing US app, more popular than Spotify and TripAdvisor.

Globally, mobile game revenues generated through Apple iOS and Google Playstore are expected to exceed US$10 billion this year, according to Mr Krejcik. Roughly half of those are revenues generated by seven publishers including King, DeNa, GungHo Online and Electronic Arts.

According to King’s Chief Creative Officer Sebastian Knutsson, Candy Crush is addictive because it’s equal parts pain and fun, and it fits consumers’ short attention span.

“We talk internally about bite-sized entertainment, and we think that fits the mobile generation of today … short game rounds as opposed to having a super deep, long game,” he said.

Mr Knutsson is part of the team that came up with Candy Crush. He said: “Candies felt like something that everybody would have a positive feeling about. And I wanted something that could have shine and glossiness without being something unattainable.”

Players lured by Candy Crush’s appealing graphics can pay for more lives or must wait for 30 minutes before they may start again. The game’s appeal was broadened by its social aspect: Players can share their progress on Facebook, swapping lives and tips on how to crack the various levels. Others share their pain: “Die Candy Crush. Die.” writes one player, stuck at level 60, on King’s Facebook page.

King says its decision last year to shift its focus to its mobile platform was pivotal because that market was booming and the game suited it well. The candies worked well on mobile screens, Mr Knutsson said. “We knew it would be big on Facebook, but I think the mobile success is what really took us by surprise,” he said.