Candy Crush Saga, Facebook Favorite, Heads to the iPhone

King.com has been producing nothing but hits on Facebook since it launched its first game on the platform in April. So much so that it’s now the #2 creator of social games on the social network, second to only Zynga.

Now it is releasing one of its most popular games to date, Candy Crush Saga, on iOS. It’s available for iPad, iPad mini, iPhone and iPod touch in November.

The Bejeweled-like game currently has an astounding 5 million daily active players on Facebook, making it the 4th most popular game and largest casual social game on the social network. The mobile version of Candy Crush Saga will offer a similar gameplay experience to the Facebook version and will keep track of player’s leaderboards, progress, and virtual goods purchased across both platforms.

“One game after another is a hit, because we take games that are hit before [Facebook],” Riccardo Zacconi, CEO and co-founder of King.com told Mashable.

The company first releases all of its games on King.com in the form of a single level timed game you play along with your friends, trying to achieve the highest score in the allotted time.

When a game is successful in that form, King them turn it into a saga franchise and releases it on Facebook, and later mobile.





Candy Crush Saga is following in the footsteps of King’s Bubble Witch Saga that the company launched on Facebook earlier this year and on mobile in August.

Zacconi says that players that started playing Bubble Witch on Facebook often play on mobile, but return to the Facebook game as well.

“This is increasing gameplay by 50% on top incrementally,” he says.

There’s no denying Bubble Witch Saga’s popularity. The game is currently the 10th most popular iPad app in the United States, and the 4th most popular iPad game in the App Store.

Gaming on Facebook as a whole is growing, and growing fast. The social network recently revealed that 251 million people played games on Facebook in September 2012, up from 226 million in September of 2011. Right now gaming on the social network is anyone’s game, and it looks like King is up to the challenge.

“We have a very simple strategy: to launch good games and the best games everywhere,” says Zacconi. “For me this is the most important launch this year.”

Candy Crush Saga will be available for iOS in November and later for Android.

source: mashable.com

Amazon gets into online social games

SAN FRANCISCO — Online retail colossus Amazon has launched its first online social game in a challenge to Zynga.

The “Living Classics” title was tailored for play at leading social network Facebook, where Zynga rose to stardom.

“Why is Amazon making social games?, you ask. Good question!” the Seattle-based company’s newly announced Game Studios team said in a blog post.

“We know that many Amazon customers enjoy playing games, including free-to-play social games,” the message continued.

“We believe we can deliver a great, accessible gaming experience that gamers and our customers can play any time.”

Amazon’s inaugural game paid tribute to the Seattle-based company’s roots as a seller of digital books.

“Living Classics” challenges players to reunite a family of animated foxes ranging about settings from literary works such as Alice in Wonderland, King Arthur, and The Wizard of Oz.

“Players help to reunite the foxes by exploring beautifully illustrated scenes and spotting moving objects,” the blog said.

Facebook friends are encouraged to collaborate to succeed and share in rewards. The game was available for play at facebook.com/LivingClassics.

“Amazon has the kind of fire power that allows it to dominate a market quickly,” Douglas McIntyre of investment website 247Wallst.com said of the news.

“Zynga has reason to be worried about Amazon Game Studios, but so does an entire industry that is still in its infancy,” he continued.

Amazon has the capital and the online clout to “disrupt” the social games industry from small startups to established titans such as Electronic Arts, according to McIntyre.

source: japantoday.com