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Articles by Will Luton
Why Does Everyone Hate Mobile Games?
“If you were my son, I’d recommend you don’t get into mobile”. I got this advice from a senior exec at SEGA in 2009. Back then, mobile was considered the poo diving of the games industry: yes, it was well paid, but you were still swimming in shit. This unsolicited advisor never offered me a “real job”, so I ignored his warning and pencil-dived, mouth agape, into that golden effluvia. My career has since seen me write “the book” on F2P mobile game design.
Mobile Mavens: The Unity aftermath… Can they reignite the faith or are doubts only growing?
In September last year, the popular game development platform Unity announced that it intended to start charging an installation fee to its users. The runtime fee was received extremely negatively by developers, who accused the company of breaking their trust and were angered by the incoming changes that didn’t seem thoroughly thought out or explained. Unity took steps to clarify and revise some aspects of the runtime fee in response to the initial backlash.
“The shame for Finland is it isn’t Rovio buying Sega…" Six ex-Rovio staff give their take on the big deal
With Sega set to acquire Rovio for $775 million it’s the deal of the year (so far) and as such one with multiple angles to view and stories to tell. Both parties are extremely well known for their flagship IPs and with Rovio’s experience in live service Sega just got the power to massively expand into the mobile market. And on the flip side, Sega can support Rovio cross-platform and give those Angry Birds new wings.
Mobile Mavens: industry reactions to Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard
Last week, Take-Two’s acquisition of Zynga was the largest announced acquisition in the video games industry. This week, Microsoft has eclipsed this with a near-$70 billion all-cash acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The ramifications are extensive: Microsoft has plentiful reasons to celebrate bringing in some of the most popular global IP and new mobile expertise through King. It also faces an extensive PR battle against Activision Blizzard’s culture of sexual abuse and harassment.
Building Successful Games: 6 Key Lessons from Arcades
The idea that developers and publishers of contemporary games can take meaningful, monetising lessons from the heritage of arcade gaming might sound counterintuitive. Arcade gaming today is often thought of as a dwindling niche where a handful of players remain devotedly committed to punishingly difficult games that ostracise larger audiences.That model appears to have very little to teach today’s developers and publishers about mass market success.
How can we tackle the games industry's crunch problem?
The issue of crunch and poor working conditions in the games industry isn't new - it's a long-running topic. But it's once again stirred a lot of debate recently through inside stories at Telltale Games and recent comments surrounding 100-hour work weeks at Rockstar. There are also in-depth reports, such as this one from Kotaku, with numerous members of Rockstar staff about how they feel working on the biggest games under pressure.
Is Telltale's closure part of a wider industry trend or a cautionary tale?
The closure of Telltale Games was a shock to many in and out of the games industry. How could a studio so often praised for its pioneering work in the narrative games space, able to take on hot licenses like The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and Batman, find itself suddenly laying off most of its talented 250 staff and be set to shut down completely?
Mobile Mavens: Is it time for the App Store and Google Play to ditch the 70/30 r
Since the dawn of the App Store, Apple and Google have adopted the 70/30 revenue share, with 70 per cent of sales going to developers and the rest going into the platform holders' coffers. More recently, Facebook Instant Games on Android adopts the same revenue share after Google Play's, leaving developers with a minority share in revenue (49 per cent). Google and Apple have meanwhile already cut their revenue share for subscriptions after one year to 85/15.
What will iOS 11 dropping App Store top grossing charts mean for developers?
Apple has spruced up the App Store for iOS 11. Interesting features in the new-look App Store include a games-specific section and a curated 'Today' tab, which features a more in-depth look at specific apps and games in the form of interviews and other written content. The theme running across these changes is that the App Store Editors are playing a bigger role in not only curation of apps and games, but also in actively producing content to go alongside them.
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