Perhaps unsurprisingly, the mobile gaming market hit record highs in 2020. While the latest generation of home consoles is taking the bulk of gaming headlines going into 2021, mobile continues to be the sector’s greatest profit driver. Throughout a year in which consumers found themselves in dire need of entertainment, gamers spent a projected $77.2 billion on mobile games. Developers and publishers are now looking to keep that momentum going into this year with new and exciting mobile titles and platforms. Mobile games can offer the best ratio of potential profit to development and marketing costs in the games industry, and publishers like BBTV (TSX:BBTV), Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:EA), and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) are seizing on the industry tailwinds by bringing their most popular brands and titles to the mobile space.
BBTV Partners With Superstar Influencers for Mobile Games
BBTV (TSX:BBTV) is a Vancouver-based digital media and technology company that has built a major network of influencers and content creators across a range of digital platforms and media. The company helps content creators large and small grow their audience through content optimization, digital rights management, and more. BBTV content received 121.2 billion views from platforms like YouTube in Q3 2020, an 18 percent increase over the same period in 2019.
As the second largest worldwide video property behind only Google, much of the attention given to BBTV centers around the company’s activity on YouTube and other video streaming platforms, but the company is also active in other digital media spaces, including working with content creators to create mobile games that leverage their online brands and audiences. The built-in audience for content creators is highly engaged, which differentiates BBTV’s ability to drive downloads for the apps they publish with minimal marketing cost.
In December, BBTV launched Dobre Duel, a new mobile experience developed in collaboration with YouTube stars The Dobre Brothers. Twin brothers Lucas and Marcus Dobre started their online career creating content on Vine and have since amassed an audience of 32.8 million YouTube subscribers, 116.8 million monthly views, 12.9 Million Instagram followers, 39.4 million TikTok followers, and 1.4 million Twitter followers. Dobre Duel is the second Dobre Brothers mobile game launched in partnership with BBTV after the success of Dobre Dunk, which was launched in October.
“This announcement is yet another shining example of BBTV’s continued momentum and success from its high margin Plus solutions, as we work with content creators to unlock significant value across a number of growing revenue streams,” BBTV Chairperson and CEO Shahrzad Rafati said in the company’s release. “We’ve worked closely with the Dobre Brothers to create a game that connects them with their fans at a deeper level, at a time of year that is popular for gaming consumption. It has all of the components to make it a great success.”
Dobre Duel sees players taking control of the Dobre Brothers as they go head to head in three challenges, all using hilarious Dobre rag-doll physics. In Pinata Panic, players need to hit a pinata to try to get more candy than the opponent. Soccer Smash is a shootout where players need to score the most goals to win, and Deadly Sea has players trying to avoid a deadly blowfish. Each challenge is designed to capture that signature style and hilarity that Dobre fans have come to love.
Publishers Leverage Top Brands in the Mobile Space
Video game publishing giant Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), best known for its massively popular Call of Duty and World of Warcraft franchises, saw a huge portion of its $1.79 billion first-quarter revenue from its mobile offerings like Candy Crush and Hearthstone. In 2021, the company plans to release mobile installments of some of its biggest titles, like Diablo, Crash Bandicoot, and Call of Duty.
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) has seen huge success from social games like FarmVille and Words with Friends, with sales hitting $403.8 million in the first half of 2020. In September, Zynga leveraged the popularity of the Harry Potter series to launch Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells on iOS and Android to positive reviews.
In 2019, Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:EA) brought in more than $1 billion in revenue from its mobile titles. The company develops and publishes the ultra-popular EA Sports series. EA has carried this success into the mobile gaming space with titles like FIFA Ultimate Team, which has made the company more than $6 billion since 2015.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been working to translate the success of some of its largest video game franchises into the mobile space as well, with mobile installments of the company’s Halo, Forza, and Minecraft properties. The company has also ported its Xbox platform over to the mobile space, allowing players to sign into Microsoft games using their Xbox gamertags on iOS and Android.
As the mobile games industry surges, companies like BBTV have opportunities to turn already popular brands and IP into revenue-driving mobile experiences.
Click here to find out more about BBTV.
Featured image: DepositPhotos © Vadymvdrobot
