Wer einige Hintergrundinfos lesen mag (das Spiel ist ja eh noch in Englisch, daher sollte der Text keine Probleme machen) :D. Schon interessant zu lesen, dass SC nach der Übernahme jetzt um die 3 Mrd. $ wert ist!
Finnish mobile game maker Supercell Oy has begun testing with customers a new game called “Boom Beach” in an attempt to launch a third title at a time when many of its peers have dozens.
Supercell hit gold last year with “Hay Day” and “Clash of Clans,” luring millions to download the games for free. A portion of those users pay for in-game upgrades, such as gems that help speed up the gameplay. This formula has made three-year-old Supercell a fast-growing success, generating a profit of $40 million on revenue of $106 million last year.
But Supercell hasn’t released a game in more than a year. The company is more hesitant to launch new titles than many app makers, killing projects with bad prospects early on.
“Boom Beach,” a military strategy game set in a fantasy tropical archipelago, represents a critical test for Supercell and its biggest investor, SoftBank Corp.
Last month, SoftBank agreed to buy 51% of Supercell in a deal that values the game maker at $3 billion. Softbank, aiming to be a major player in the fast-growing mobile game market, is banking on Supercell’s relatively slow and meticulous development process to create titles with global appeal.
Supercell began offering the new military strategy game to Canadian customers of Apple'sAAPL +0.55% App Store on Friday, and on Monday it was No. 29 in the store’s revenue rankings for iPad apps. A trailer for “Boom Beach” shows the game has close ties “Clash of Clans,” which simulates combat.
Supercell now employs about 130 people who are working to refresh existing games or create new ones. Softbank, which also controls GungHo Online Entertainment3765.TO +3.02%, Japan’s creator of the hit game “Puzzle & Dragons,” invested in Supercell in order to use mobile gaming as a key building block in its plan to become the world’s No.1 mobile Internet company.
Combining forces with Softbank improves the odds for Supercell to remain at the top of its industry, says Brian Blau, an analyst with Gartner Inc. “The two companies will have now more strength in distribution and advertising placement,” he says.
Ultimately, however, what matters is the quality of game developer’s new products. “No matter how big a company is, if that company doesn’t make great games and if it doesn’t make more of them over long time, it will suffer the fate of becoming less important,” Mr. Blau says.
