I can't help but feel sad about the fact that Apple is reporting, as part of the celebration of their 1bil Apps milestone, that Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D published by now defunct Vivendi Games Mobile, is their all-time top paid App. Vivendi Games Mobile (VGM) was a publisher with a great team (led by mobile games vet Paul Maglione) and great potential (with innovative studios like Centerscore)...that was just beginning to hit stride when corporate parent Vivendi decided to merge their interactive games business (including trophy studio Blizzard) with Activision, to create ~$3bil 2008 Rev gaming giant Activision Blizzard (ATVI). The merger put Activision leadership in top company positions and it became clear pretty quickly that they weren't very interested in mobile games development and publishing...and, rather, looked at it as a licensing opportunity with VGM's competitor Glu Mobile. Activision Blizzard began dismantling the mobile businesses in US and Europe at the end of last Summer. This always felt like a short-sighted move to me...but, then again, short-sightedness is more contagious than Swine Flu in the mobile entertainment space these days. The good news is that the core US team has re-emerged at NY-based Sonic Boom...from which we are bound to see great things. In the meantime, the Crash/Apple announcement will serve as a reminder of what might have been... Congratulations?
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VGM was a good run - with Apple were able to hit $2M/month in NA - not bad for less than 2 years in the biz.
ReplyDeletethanks Jeremy. it was a good ride and we certainly accomplished a great deal in those 2 years. Would have been even better if we'd been able to work with you on S2!
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