'All the pressure is on the new games and there's no guarantee they will be sustainably successful.' 'But if you are looking at the glass half empty, you'd say their core flagship is declining really fast,' Bhatia said.

if you are looking at it glass half full,' he said. The stock has not approached its IPO price of $22.50 since it began trading in March.Īrvind Bhatia, an analyst with Sterne Agee, said Candy Crush was fading sooner than expected. King's shares dropped to $16.25 in late afternoon trading. On a call with analysts, executives said the company incurred expenses in marketing its new 'Farm Heroes Saga' game in the first quarter. Moreover, King's net profit of $127 million, was up from $53 million a year ago, but slipped 20 percent from $159 million in the previous quarter. And though revenue from in-game purchases was up, monthly unique payers - gamers who actually spend money in King's titles - dropped to 11.9 million from 12.2 million in the previous quarter. Two good 'what's it all mean' items out today: New York Times, and Los Angeles Times.Total gross bookings rose just 1 percent from the fourth quarter 2013. And it says something about where gaming's going. King has been pretty much a one-hit wonder. Freemium is where an app such as Candy Crush is free to play on a basic, limited level, but for extra content or sparkly game-bling you gotta pay.Īctivision Blizzard has a long strong of game hits behind them, but not in made-for-mobile. Yes, even Kanye West hates it, but that doesn't stop the model from being very profitable for developers. They're known for titles like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft today, and their subsidiaries created many classic games that were likely around when you, Boing Boing reader, or your parents, were kids.Ĭandy Crush, for better or worse, represents the future of gaming: mobile and freemium. It's quite a dollar amount, but it's significant for other reasons, too.Īctivision Blizzard is one of the most hallowed names in video games, and has been for a long time. It's the third-largest video game industry deal ever. Activision Blizzard announced Monday evening that it plans to buy King Digital Entertainment, the maker of Candy Crush Saga, for about $5.9 billion.

Candy crush maker