Ten years of Candy Crush: How King continues to dominate mobile - GamesIndustry.biz

Ten years agone this month, a elemental match-three crippled made its debut connected iOS. The rubric had already launched connected Facebook earlier successful 2012, and had rapidly gained momentum, gathering 4 cardinal players successful a fewer weeks. On mobile, it besides didn't instrumentality agelong for the crippled to instrumentality implicit the free-to-play charts.

Fast guardant a decennary and Candy Crush Saga is 1 of the astir played games successful the world, inactive generating maturation twelvemonth aft twelvemonth aft year.

Looking astatine Activision Blizzard King's Q3 financials past week, King saw an 8% emergence successful nett bookings year-on-year, which was attributed to the continued spot of the Candy Crush IP. The magnitude of clip users spent wrong the Candy Crush IP during the 4th besides continued increasing for the 5th successive quarter. So it's just to accidental that 10 years on, Candy Crush isn't going anywhere.

"This is conscionable the archetypal 10 years," Todd Green, wide manager for Candy Crush Saga, tells GamesIndustry.biz. "We spot ourselves arsenic being very, precise acold from the extremity of this communicative and for us, it's precise breathtaking to ideate and make what comes next."

King's dedication to its prima IP was demonstrated by the day celebrations it enactment together. In summation to the wealthiness of contented updates, societal media festivities, and in-game events – and a caller soundtrack for the archetypal clip successful the game's past – the Swedish institution flew a twelve journalists to Stockholm for a fewer days to larn much astir King and the subject down Candy Crush's success.

General manager for Candy Crush Saga Todd Green

"I genuinely judge we person a truly astonishing product, and it's not lone astonishing successful the benignant of simplistic consciousness of 'it's a bully crippled to play'," Green says. "When we speech to players each day, we perceive antithetic stories astir however Candy Crush fits into their lives. Some privation to play much competitively, immoderate collaboratively, immoderate play for relaxation, immoderate play for excitement, and 1 of the large challenges for america is to effort to service each of those needs wrong the aforesaid product. I anticipation that we'll beryllium capable to supply that work to galore much millions and millions of players implicit the adjacent 10 years."

It's good established present that millions of radical turned to games successful 2020 during the tallness of the pandemic. Candy Crush was among them, but portion galore companies are present witnessing a alteration successful users arsenic radical crook backmost to different activities, the popularity of King's titles has not faltered.

"We saw an accrued involvement erstwhile the pandemic started," confirms King president Tjodolf Sommestad. "Now the pandemic has been going connected for a precise agelong play of clip – and is inactive here, though we're evolving and adapting to it – [and] we've continued to prosecute our players successful a truly bully way. It's hard for america to separate oregon spot a wide alteration successful subordinate behaviour. I bash deliberation that, broadly successful the industry, it mightiness beryllium there. But the innovation and the contented that we've been driving into our games implicit the past years is truly awesome successful my opinion.

"So if you look astatine Candy close now, it's increasing treble digit this twelvemonth and, successful a twelvemonth wherever the pandemic is astatine the extremity authorities – I deliberation that's 1 motion that it's not dramatically impacting america successful a antagonistic way. It was an accidental for america to re-engage with players and it looks similar galore of them are present to enactment present and with america for a agelong play of time. [We've seen] a renewed involvement successful playing Candy Crush Saga."

The past mates of years person seen a renewed involvement successful mobile successful general, not lone connected the user side, but successful the wider manufacture arsenic well. That involvement became precise evident erstwhile Take-Two acquired Zynga for $12.7 billion successful January, EA bought Glu Mobile for $2.1 billion and Playdemic for $1.4 billion past year, oregon Sony acquired Savage Game Studios successful August – each examples of the increasing involvement from accepted crippled companies successful the mobile space.

"The mobile marketplace is maturing and it's hard for anyone that works with games to disregard however applicable it is to person games connected mobile"Tjodolf Sommestad

"My instrumentality connected this is that the mobile marketplace is maturing and it's hard for anyone that works with games to disregard however applicable it is to person games connected mobile," Sommestad says. "Even if you person a console oregon a PC astatine home, a emblematic idiosyncratic would besides person a mobile telephone oregon a tablet. So being contiguous wherever consumers are contiguous is much and much important for companies successful the industry, and they spot players moving to mobile, oregon astatine slightest complementing [by] playing connected mobile.

"I don't enactment astatine those companies but if I conscionable look astatine the trend, I tin spot however their appetite is to get their IP and their games implicit to mobile, oregon astatine slightest travel their consumers implicit to mobile [and] astir apt get their IP connected mobile implicit time. That's what I deliberation is driving immoderate of that renewed interest, that's what we've seen precocious successful acquisitions etc."

The elephant successful the country is evidently Microsoft's projected acquisition of Activision Blizzard King earlier this year. King arguably fills a bigger spread successful Microsoft's offerings than Activision and Blizzard – large players successful the AAA PC and console abstraction – do, arsenic Microsoft doesn't truly person a large mobile beingness similar Candy Crush.

While the King execs couldn't remark connected the ongoing acquisition, we did inquire Sommestad astir King's presumption wrong the ABK group, seven years aft the mobile institution joined the firm, and whether it's evolved successful immoderate mode arsenic King's occurrence is proven clip and clip again.

King president Tjodolf Sommestad

"I'm definite it has evolved," Sommestad laughs. "I was present erstwhile we archetypal were listed and past acquired by Activision Blizzard, and it took a portion to get to cognize each different initially. And I deliberation we've proven arsenic a institution that we're truly bully astatine mobile, and we're truly bully astatine casual, and I deliberation they spot this occurrence and the momentum that we're present having with our casual business, and specifically astir the Candy Crush franchise. And from what I tin take, they're rather impressed by that, and rather pleased.

"As the manufacture has evolved to besides beryllium moving mostly a spot much towards mobile, our acquisition successful mobile puts america successful a somewhat unsocial presumption that they are much and much funny successful learning from, [in presumption of] concern models. Also different platforms are evolving to beryllium much akin to the free-to-play concern exemplary that we person been moving connected and cognize truthful overmuch about. There is simply a curiosity and an magnitude of sharing that's happened implicit the past mates years."

One of Candy Crush's halfway strengths is having managed to stay existent contempt a perpetually evolving (and growing) mobile market, and Green admits there've been a mates of challenges on the way.

"There's been an unthinkable maturation successful the fig of companies that are making mobile games," helium points retired erstwhile asked astir ways the marketplace changed. "We surely weren't the first. But since then, if you look astatine the fig of companies, this exploded. There is simply a situation [there]. The obstruction to introduction is rather debased arsenic well. So immoderate of the astir palmy games contiguous are created by precise tiny teams and abbreviated turnarounds, but if you tin find that product/market acceptable aboriginal on, you tin inactive physique a precise large game. So that's 1 portion that's truly changed a lot.

"The different portion I deliberation is the benignant of extent and sophistication that goes into the games. So if [you're] moving successful a antithetic exemplary wherever you're firing disconnected games left, close and centre, past possibly you walk little clip connected crafting the experience, and that for america is champion expressed talking astir it arsenic a product. But we deliberation astir what we're doing with Candy arsenic a service. It's a semipermanent commitment. We're trying to continually provender players with caller experiences wrong a wrapper that they're acquainted with. So that mindset displacement from firing retired a caller merchandise and past moving connected to the adjacent one, versus reasoning astir work and semipermanent narration with players implicit time, that's 1 of the different large changes."

Since Candy Crush Saga released 10 years ago, King has released antithetic titles wrong the aforesaid beingness (Candy Crush Soda, Jelly, and Friends, to sanction them) and different casual games astir antithetic IPs (Bubble Witch Saga, Pet Rescue Saga, Diamond Diaries, among others). It's besides dabbled into midcore titles specified arsenic Legend of Solgard oregon Knighthood (which was aboriginal acquired by Phoenix Games).

While King has seen continued occurrence with its casual titles, thing ever rather reached the heights of Candy Crush Saga, and its midcore games remained reasonably anonymous. We inquire Sommestad, who had hinted astatine King being "open to failure" successful his opening notes connected that day, whether the institution wants to proceed experimenting extracurricular the casual space.

"Casual is what we're truly about, and that's however the institution was calved astir 20 years ago," helium says. "The institution started with this website and was each astir these casual games, truthful that's successful our DNA, and I deliberation that's wherever we're gonna proceed to present innovation and craftsmanship. But that doesn't exclude that we're looking astatine different areas to innovate and that we're a precise funny company. We're ever keen to learn.

"Casual is what we're truly about, but that doesn't exclude that we're looking astatine different areas to innovate"Tjodolf Sommestad

"So, it's close that we've had a mates of games that are extracurricular what we would typically specify arsenic casual. We're inactive funny successful that, we person capabilities to bash thing successful that, but conscionable arsenic we're moving connected things astir casual, which is our home, truthful we'll spot what we'll bring to marketplace successful the future."

We suggest to Green that striking golden whitethorn beryllium much hard these days than it was successful the aboriginal days of Candy Crush arsenic the marketplace is much crowded now, to which helium points retired that caller games are "coming retired each twelvemonth which are reaching the apical charts, whether it's successful scope oregon revenue."

"So is it possible? Yes, absolutely. We're trying to bash that arsenic well!" helium laughs. "I'm precise focused connected King inactive launching caller games. And we're trying to replicate oregon adjacent transcend that success. But we tin enactment connected this from some sides, right? We person these precise strong, precise creative, precise ambitious teams moving connected caller games of each sorts of types, and we person precise beardown originative innovative teams moving connected our unrecorded games.

"And those are the 2 parts of the company, basically. I don't spot those arsenic being successful conflict. I deliberation the large astonishment for america has been that, successful summation to increasing the institution with caller games, you tin besides bash it by improving the unrecorded games. That's astir apt been the large astonishment to america and to galore others successful the industry. That's wherefore we're present similar 10 years aboriginal talking astir the aforesaid game!"

King's Stockholm office

Another mode King has remained connected apical of the marketplace with Candy Crush is with marque collaborations, which is simply a inclination that's taken the manufacture by tempest successful caller years, astir of them chasing the elusive 'metaverse'. While King's efforts whitethorn not person been arsenic splashy arsenic different studios, Green sees them arsenic an invaluable accidental to subdivision retired and get caller players.

"We're successful a beauteous presumption wherever determination are a batch of companies, brands, IPs, celebrities, who privation to collaborate with us," helium says, pointing to Candy Crush collaborations with the 2021 movie Space Jam: A New Legacy, the Sonic 2 Movie, and astir precocious with vocalist Meghan Trainor.

"Why bash we bash that? First is that we deliberation that we tin hopefully scope caller audiences, and springiness breathtaking worldly to existing players by partnering with brands oregon radical who person immoderate benignant of shared values with what we're trying to do.

"The game, the visuals, the sanction even, they're truthful recognisable, that 1 happening that I anticipation we tin bash is to person Candy Crush beryllium a portion of fashionable culture"Todd Green

"The different portion is that, if we speech astir Candy, I deliberation it's 1 of the precise fewer games that possibly has the anticipation to grow beyond the boundaries of the app. The game, the visuals, the sanction even, they're truthful recognisable, that 1 happening that I anticipation we tin bash is to person Candy beryllium a portion of fashionable culture, not lone wrong but besides extracurricular of games. And 1 mode for america to explicit that thought is to spouse with radical who are extracurricular the games industry."

Sommestad has been president of King since February, but has been astatine the Swedish institution for implicit a decade. Concluding our chat, we inquire him what helium thinks contributed to making Candy Crush Saga truthful iconic.

"That's the 10 cardinal dollar question," helium laughs. "There's the classical 'the timing was right'. We had a large crippled coming to marketplace erstwhile players were benignant of maturing connected Facebook, and mobile was becoming a thing. Our innovation with transverse level astatine that clip truly helped the maturation connected mobile fuelling the maturation successful Facebook, and the maturation connected Facebook fuelling maturation connected mobile. Everyone was, astatine that time, connected Facebook and sharing those experiences. And I deliberation yet it was a large game. What is rather unsocial astir it is that the players bash speech astir that infinitesimal of relaxation that we're going after. [For] immoderate of them it's astir meditation oregon a bully dainty they person connected the day, to get that infinitesimal with Candy Crush.

"And if I should springiness ourselves immoderate credit, [we were] truly bully astatine gathering connected that archetypal involvement and truly fuelling that with much innovation and much contented to players. And we've conscionable been doing much and much implicit the past 10 years and there's much to come."