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Supercell is bigger than EA in terms of monthly iOS revenue

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Re: Supercell is bigger than EA in terms of monthly iOS revenue

#11

Post by emcl »

Tichy wrote: post #5

"efficiently monetizing their userbase." Is this newspeech for ripping off their customers? I don't know their games, but I wouldn't be surprised if their clients are mostly teens maxing out their parents credit cards. Yeah sorry, I am a bit in a cynical mood I suppose.

Are candy/confectionery manufacturers supposed to feel guilty that they make stuff kids like and nag their parents to spend money on their products? Supercell has carefully designed the game to encourage impulsive purchases but that doesn't mean that the players are not deriving any pleasure out of it. And teens maxing out credit cards is something that can be easily stopped.

Re: Supercell is bigger than EA in terms of monthly iOS revenue

#12

Post by gluegeorge »

zurn wrote: post #2

I wonder if Supercell's widely advetised cells structure explains their success (and could be learned from?) or if it's just a "secret sauce" myth they cultivate to add flair to a well-run and/or lucky company.

All the teams are definitely pretty independent and each person is responsible for a lot. There's lots of swapping around between the teams depending on where the talent is needed too. (source: I worked for them over the summer)

Re: Supercell is bigger than EA in terms of monthly iOS revenue

#13

Post by gluegeorge »

Tichy wrote: post #5

"efficiently monetizing their userbase." Is this newspeech for ripping off their customers? I don't know their games, but I wouldn't be surprised if their clients are mostly teens maxing out their parents credit cards. Yeah sorry, I am a bit in a cynical mood I suppose.

How can you rip people off who want to pay and know what they're getting? I guess I'd call it good design and user acquisition.

Re: Supercell is bigger than EA in terms of monthly iOS revenue

#14

Post by throwaway64 »

emcl wrote: post #11
Tichy wrote: post #5

"efficiently monetizing their userbase." Is this newspeech for ripping off their customers? I don't know their games, but I wouldn't be surprised if their clients are mostly teens maxing out their parents credit cards. Yeah sorry, I am a bit in a cynical mood I suppose.

Are candy/confectionery manufacturers supposed to feel guilty that they make stuff kids like and nag their parents to spend money on their products? Supercell has carefully designed the game to encourage impulsive purchases but that doesn't mean that the players are not deriving any pleasure out of it. And teens maxing out credit cards is something that can be easily stopped.

I belive there is a real moral hazard to selling addicting/impulsive products, especially to children. After all this is part of the reason why zynga has such a bad reputation.

Re: Supercell is bigger than EA in terms of monthly iOS revenue

#15

Post by Tichy »

emcl wrote: post #11
Tichy wrote: post #5

"efficiently monetizing their userbase." Is this newspeech for ripping off their customers? I don't know their games, but I wouldn't be surprised if their clients are mostly teens maxing out their parents credit cards. Yeah sorry, I am a bit in a cynical mood I suppose.

Are candy/confectionery manufacturers supposed to feel guilty that they make stuff kids like and nag their parents to spend money on their products? Supercell has carefully designed the game to encourage impulsive purchases but that doesn't mean that the players are not deriving any pleasure out of it. And teens maxing out credit cards is something that can be easily stopped.

I don't know, are tobacco manufacturers supposed to feel guilty for selling addictive cigarettes that kill?

Is anything that makes money automatically good? After all, somebody is willing to pay for it?

As for chocolate, we still have adverts praising health effects of some chocolate for children (in Germany). I think eventually they might get sued, as happened to the cigarette industry.

Re: Supercell is bigger than EA in terms of monthly iOS revenue

#16

Post by Tichy »

gluegeorge wrote: post #13
Tichy wrote: post #5

"efficiently monetizing their userbase." Is this newspeech for ripping off their customers? I don't know their games, but I wouldn't be surprised if their clients are mostly teens maxing out their parents credit cards. Yeah sorry, I am a bit in a cynical mood I suppose.

How can you rip people off who want to pay and know what they're getting? I guess I'd call it good design and user acquisition.

The question is, are their users children or adults? I have seen it a lot of times that children are being ripped off with mobile games. They don't really know how much they are spending.

Re: Supercell is bigger than EA in terms of monthly iOS revenue

#17

Post by _b8r0 »

I think this is an unfair comparison. I mean, I could claim that Mandalorian is bigger than EA in terms of monthly penetration testing revenue and be right, but it doesn't really mean much.

Having said that, Supercell have a good product and are shifting volume, so more power to them.

Re: Supercell is bigger than EA in terms of monthly iOS revenue

#18

Post by JanneVee »

There is an explanation for why also. I recently downloaded Simpsons: tapped out. The "game" wouldn't start for two days because it couldn't connect to the Orion servers. I'm not going to spend real money on in-game donuts if it refuses to start. I found out on the forums that it was a common problem. People aren't going to spend real money on something that isn't reliable.

(NOTE: actually I wasn't going to spend the money anyway. It isn't a game. It is a Skinner Box).

Re: Supercell is bigger than EA in terms of monthly iOS revenue

#19

Post by hfz »

zurn wrote: post #2

I wonder if Supercell's widely advetised cells structure explains their success (and could be learned from?) or if it's just a "secret sauce" myth they cultivate to add flair to a well-run and/or lucky company.

Can you link to an article that explains this structure? Googling fails me, returning articles about thunderstorms instead.

Re: Supercell is bigger than EA in terms of monthly iOS revenue

#20

Post by sublimit »

Tichy wrote: post #5

"efficiently monetizing their userbase." Is this newspeech for ripping off their customers? I don't know their games, but I wouldn't be surprised if their clients are mostly teens maxing out their parents credit cards. Yeah sorry, I am a bit in a cynical mood I suppose.

I'm not a fan of free-to-play games myself because of this reason. The game mechanics are so clearly calculated based on the revenue they'll bring in. I feel like I'm always just a walking micro-transaction to the developers, even after I pay for something (actually even more so at that point). And one can't truly succeed in the game without paying, so it lacks the healthy competitiveness non-casuals want from their games.

It's good business, but not good gaming.

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