Ubisoft Buys 2048 Creator Ketchapp Expanding Mobile Market Presence

I’thousand more than interested in how it fits into the current share buyback and other moves Ubisoft has been making to defend itself from what looks similar an intended hostile takeover by Vivendi, following on from the like acquisition of Gameloft.

Seems to have all gone a chip
Game of Thrones
over the aqueduct!

I don’t call up information technology has much to practice with fending off the hostile takeover. I don’t think it’due south that level of magnitude considering the size of Ubisoft itself.

Surprised? Yes, quite.

My two cents: it’s an conquering of large data capabilities and cross promotion network (tech and users, with emphasis on tech).

That’s also what it tells us about Ubisoft’due south mobile strategy; the power of the mobile audience.

I’k a big fan of what Ubisoft does on consoles, so information technology’due south really exicting to see them acquiring Ketchapp, an “A-list” publisher of mobile coincidental games.

My best guess on the motives behind the aquisition is, of course, a strategy to counter Vivendi’s takeover.

It has been suggested that Vivendi aquired Gameloft in bang-up office for their growing advertising-based monetisation business concern.

Past acquiring Ketchapp, Ubisoft are essentially telling their shareholders that they at present own a major histrion in that area, and thus don’t need Gameloft’south expertise.

It’s no surprise that the deal was appear ii days before the major shareholder meeting where Vivendi is expected to asking a seat on Ubisoft’s lath of directors.

Ubisoft’s mobile strategy has never been very clear. They’ve typically struggled on mobile due to three factors, in my opinion:

• Their model of distributed evolution with games being produced in up to 5 different locations doesn’t lend itself very well to the specifics of mobile game development: smaller dev team + post launch live ops + integration with marketing;
• Focusing on game brands such as
  Assassinator’s Creed
  orRaving Rabbids
  is extremely tricky as fans of a franchise expect a certain type of gameplay that can’t piece of work well on mobile. Some games have found success by extracting the cadre emotions and Dna of a franchise and edifice a different game around that (hello,
  Pokemon Get), but information technology is typically hard to attain.
• Most of their mobile games then far have focused on monetising through in-game items, which typically yield lower ARPU than time-skippers or gachas.

The few mobile successes that Ubisoft take had have been with either companies they’ve acquired (Hungry Shark
past FGOL,
Trials
by Redlynx) or titles developed externally (Rayman Jungle Run
by Pastagames).

Also, those games are all low ARPU/highDAU games. From that perspective, the Ketchapp acquisition is in line with what has worked then far for Ubisoft.

Note that Ketchapp is a publisher, then the acquisition will as well requite Ubisoft expertise in mobile publishing and cross-promotion.

+1 with Nicolas on his analysis.

Ubisoft has been struggling with its hardcore titles such as
Assassinator’due south Creed
or
Driver
on mobile and seems to be shifting more towards a casual gaming approach where they are successful.

From this point of view, the conquering of Ketchapp is a great mode to access a peachy inventory of users to promote their upcoming titles.

I think everything that’s been said, about Ubisoft needing a stiff presence in casual mobile games, is spot-on correct.

The other side of this is that I believe all triple-A games volition somewhen transition to costless-to-play models, when digital distribution becomes the norm.

As with Activision’s acquisition of Male monarch, Ketchapp gives Ubisoft valuable skills in moving to this model.

Aye, I was surprised.

Ketchapp’s extremely outgoing games drive huge downloads. They are (manifestly) monetised through ads, but can also be seen every bit a nifty UA channel for Ubisoft’s other, better monetising games.

At present all they need is a bunch of well-monetising mobile F2P games to drive that traffic to… which is not all that easy to get.

Ketchapp are clearly a highly constructive team and seem to me to do a swell chore at delivering traffic and revenues. Congratulations to them!

Still, as I’ve said before, it’southward hard for me to recollect of Ubisoft without thinking of Gameloft and AMA and how they historically worked with their sister companies before taking mobile ‘in-house’.

Despite titles like
Rayman,
Trials Borderland,
Assassins Creed Pirates
and the first-class
Hungry Shark Development
(from FGOL) they don’t seem to me to have matched the potential shown by their triple-A business.

The question for me is ‘was that considering of the power to be discovered or monetise?’ I suspect not. I experience that it’s more than about the mindset behind the blueprint and perhaps fifty-fifty a need for focus on mobile.

Mayhap the Ketchapp team will bring that. Indeed, maybe they can bring some of the lessons of mobile to the wider company

I’m with William in that I believe complimentary-to-play volition effect every game model (although I’ve largely stopped saying that I recollect premium is expressionless now).

Merely can they practise that whilst under the threat of a hostile takeover? I recall the jury is still out.

Personally, I was non surprised.

They purchased Futurity Games of London a couple years back and put out
Hungry Shark Development
and
World, which are both mobile-merely content. It’s been a fruitful human relationship.

It seems at that place is a disconnect between console/PC titles and mobile titles in the players’ minds. People seem to want new IP on mobile.

Ketchapp can continue that thought.