When big acquisitions fail, the resurgence of card games, and Niantic’s wildfire relief donations | Week in Views

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The games industry moves quickly and while stories may come and go there are some that we just can’t let go of…

So, to give those particularly thorny topics a further going over we’ve created a weekly digest where the members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming in the past week.

Jam City agrees deal to sell Ludia

It’s been a week of enormous news, and my pile of potential and in-progress analyses and opinion keeps growing by the day.

One of the biggest stories of the week (we’ll put aside the reported Scopely acquisition of Pokémon Go for $3.5 billion to one side for now) was the news that Jam City has agreed a deal to sell Ludia, pending approval.

It’s been three and a half years since the developer behind Jurassic World: The Game, Jurassic World Alive and Ninja Turtles: Legends was purchased for $165m. Since then, it hasn’t really made any major moves.

The entire deal was supposed to be Jam City’s path to finally achieve its ultimate ambition of going public, but the publisher now seems further away than ever from its goal.

Such is Ludia’s status at Jam City, a spokesperson said its sale is “not expected to have a significant impact” on its overall business. Ouch.

The news comes as casino firm Aristocrat Leisure announced plans to restructure Big Fish Games, which it acquired for $990 million in 2018.

The company appeared up for sale last year, except for its social casino portfolio, but it seems a buyer couldn’t be found for a once leading developer. It’s worth noting that Big Fish’s two most lucrative games are social casino titles, according to AppMagic estimates.

Meanwhile, Raid: Shadow Legends maker Plarium was sold off to MTG for $620m.

Big Fish will cease work on new games, will now focus solely on its live games and Aristocrat Leisure said it would “significantly reduce investments” in the developer’s portfolio.

It’s a reminder that through all the M&A activity that goes on in the games industry, these enormous deals don’t always work out. Just ask Embracer.

A bad fit, poor management and integration, market conditions, changes in company strategy, new games performing below expectations – there are a whole host of reasons deals can ultimately fail.

Balatro wins Mobile Game of the Year at DICE Awards

Balatro has secured another award win, walking away with mobile game of the year at the DICE awards. This is just the latest in a stream of milestones for the game, which so far has been a great success story.

We recently reported how the game exceeded five million copies sold across platforms, which is an incredible achievement for a game from a solo developer. 

I’ve spoken before about why it’s clear to see how Balatro is popular with its addictively satisfying gameplay loop and how it takes something familiar but adds a twist to it. It just works.

There’s also been massive power in word-of-mouth. It’s one of those games that has got people talking, which then makes others download it, and the decision to bring the title to mobile seems like an obvious choice because it makes it even easier to have more play sessions in your spare time.

What I also find interesting is what seems like the resurgence of card-based games, don’t get me wrong the popularity of classic card games has always been there, but we’ve seen other successes in recent years such as Marvel Snap, which show an affinity for an easy to play game on the go that has deeper levels of strategy once you’re invested.

It makes me think about the recent launch of Candy Crush Solitiaire, King’s first global launch in five years. They have decided to step away from the formula that has worked so well for them in the past with match-3 and chose to go with a card game.

Whether or not the chance pays off for them is yet to be seen, but to me, it shows studios may be taking more of an interest in bringing more card games into the fold. 

The Pokémon Company and Niantic pledge $1m in support of LA wildfire recovery efforts

While there are certainly a number of bigger news stories flying around this week – Jam City’s selling Ludia and Scopely may be buying Pokémon Go, to name a few – I’ve decided to bring attention to a smaller announcement readers might not have seen plastered everywhere by now.

That announcement is The Pokémon Company and Niantic’s combined $1 million donation to wildfire relief efforts in LA, California.

Having pledged $500,000 each, the two companies are funding support of GlobalGiving’s California Wildfire Relief Fund, the California Community Foundation, the Latino Community Foundation, the Pasadena Community Foundation and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

It’s always uplifting to see the good that video games can bring to charity, and is a reminder that this industry can and does influence the real world around us.

As an international company, it’s also good to see The Pokémon Company supporting people worldwide – whether that’s through the Noto Peninsula Earthquake last year in its home country Japan, or these recent wildfires in the States.

Niantic has also offered refunds to players affected by the fires who already purchased tickets to the next in-person Pokémon Go event this weekend. It’s a nice touch, on top of the charity donation.