“With 100 million people logging on every day for a fix of its games like Candy Crush Saga, global gamemaker King is showing rivals not just how to hook players, but how to get them to pay,” Mia Shanley reports for Reuters.
“King is the latest among European tech firms like Rovio, creator of mega-hit Angry Birds, and Mojang, behind Minecraft, to make it big on the global gaming scene,” Shanley reports. “But its stunning profitability in an industry littered with firms who failed to make money from popular games has made it a totem for others seeking to emulate its success.”
Shanley reports, “King’s focus on the multi-billion dollar mobile games 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 $1 million-$3 million a day. Media reports now talk about an IPO valuation of $5 billion after a source recently said the company had filed to go public in the United States.”
“Players lured by the appealing graphics of Candy Crush can pay for more lives, or must wait for 30 minutes before they may start again – though some cheat and move the clocks on their smartphones ahead so they can continue,” Shanley reports. “The game’s appeal was broadened by its social aspect: Players can share their progress on Facebook, swapping lives as well as 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.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related article:
Maker of ‘Candy Crush Saga’ King.com said to file for U.S. IPO – October 2, 2013
I like candy crush, it’s a good game. I’m up to level 186 without spending a cent and I won’t spend a cent as I don’t like and won’t support this pathetic freemium model . If it cost $1.99 without IAP and delays I’d buy it but I won’t buy any in game upgrades
Same here. (but not as high as you are)
My niece gave me her iPhone one day mad at this game, asked me to beat the level. I did after a few tries.. and now I had to download it and play lol.
*almost* deleted it when i came across the first “pay to unlock the next set of levels” until I realized I could just play the 3 mystery levels..
Pretty good time waster, will never spend a penny on it though.
When I started playing I purchased a few tickets to move on. This was mostly due to my impatience. If you don’t want to ask friends put your device in airplane mode and start CC. You will be presented another option at locked level to do a quest. This requires completing 3 previous levels with different goals.
The article mentions moving you clock setting forward. This is NOT correct. With your lives full adjust your time back (days). As you need more lives add 2 hours. I have done this when traveling internationally (10+ hour flights). If you adjust time as the article states then set back to normal your lives will not replenish until you reach that time in the future when you stopped playing.
I have been playing for many, many months and now on level 411 doing the quest to move onto the currently last stage. Level 410 was very hard and I refuse to ever purchase lives or the upgrades.
@ Geoadm
I’m with you there.
I usually avoid freemium games. And most if the time they are asking for INSANE amounts of money for upgrades. You can easily spend much more to buy some stupid coins in game than you would on GTA5 and BF4 combined. That’s INSANE! You have to pay more for stupid coins than for a game that cost 10s of mlion of dollars to make… How can Apple even allow such obvious scam attempts into the store? I know you are responsible for what you pay for but no one in their right mind would bat that amount so these prices are just for the idiots and people that click the wrong button…
The problem with these freemium models is that they’re so expensive. Look at Real Racing, to play that and buy everything you’d spend thousands. If it was a genuine microtransaction and you were spending pennies I wouldn’t think twice and wouldn’t mind paying £10, £20 or something across the life of a game, because that’s what you might pay to buy a game normally. On a lot of these games that sort of money gets you minutes of extra gameplay.
I found the game a little too addictive and frustrating. I’m sure the ‘frustration’ factor is intentionally built into the game in an ongoing attempt to get you to spend. Seemed to me the frustration smothered the enjoyment. Why play a game that I find so frustrating? (and being stuck on a level for a week IS frustrating!) I deleted the game and moved on.
Dream dream dream .
Absolutely mindless stupid game. Get a life people.
Sounds like someone got stuck on the Tutorial 😉
Now I gotta go play Candy Crush! This game is evil!!!
The US is in crisis but the nation is playing Candy Crush and oblivious to their peril. But how they will scream when the wheels fall off and they look for someone else to blame.
Keep your eyes on the road people.
Yea I’m at level $150. In the month of august I admit I purchased upgrades or extra lives here and there or so I thought. My one receipt app which tracks all my iTunes purchases, said New York iTunes total for the month was $185.00. I was like whoa wtf. The game definitely draws you in and your spending all type of money and not even realizing it. My spending had increased 200% from month prior. The game is no longer played on my phone lol
Never played it. Why is it fun?