The Inside Network Job Board: AdTheorent, InAppFuel, LIN Mobile, and more

This sponsored post includes companies who have paid to have their job listings advertised on our job board The Inside Network Job Board, powered by Mediabistro, is dedicated to providing you with the best social media job opportunities across social and mobile application platforms. Here are this week’s highlights from the Inside Network Job Board, including positions at:  Machine Zone, Appboy, Brightroll and more. Post a job on Inside Network’s Job Board.

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Facebook to start testing ads in mobile apps

Facebook will start testing the delivery of ads in select mobile apps, the company announced Wednesday. As more users turn to mobile, Facebook advertisers have been looking for ways to reach these people.

Facebook notes that the goal of this test is to demonstrate that Facebook can drive results both on and off the site.

When asked which apps would be a part of the test, a Facebook spokesperson noted that the company has nothing else to share at this time.

Here’s the announcement on the Facebook for Business blog:

To improve the relevancy of the ads people see, provide even greater reach for Facebook advertisers and help mobile developers better monetize their apps, we’re running a small test to show Facebook ads in mobile apps. Our aim is to demonstrate even greater reach with the same power of Facebook targeting for advertisers both on and off Facebook.

While we have run similar tests in the past, this current test is more like a mobile ad network in that we are working directly with a small number of advertisers and publishers rather than an outside ad-serving platform.

The current test is limited to a few advertisers and partners, and we will share more details over the coming months.

Readers: What do you think of this?

Photo courtesy of Tanjala Gica / Shutterstock.com.

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The Inside Network Job Board: AdTheorent, InAppFuel, LIN Mobile, and more

This sponsored post includes companies who have paid to have their job listings advertised on our job board The Inside Network Job Board, powered by Mediabistro, is dedicated to providing you with the best social media job opportunities across social and mobile application platforms. Here are this week’s highlights from the Inside Network Job Board, including positions at:  Machine Zone, Appboy, Brightroll and more. Post a job on Inside Network’s Job Board.

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Take your social media to the next level in our upcoming boot camp, Social Media 201. Each week you’ll hear from industry experts on topics ranging from online branding to managing multiple accounts. Session speakers include social strategist Lauren Dugan, and Geoffrey Colon, the Group Marketing Manager, Social Media, for Microsoft/Bing Ads, among others. Register Now.

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Kixeye talks Backyard Monsters Unleashed, mobile strategy

Image via Kixeye

With Backyard Monsters Unleashed launching on mobile next week, Kixeye’s CMO, Brandon Barber, sat down with Inside Mobile Apps to talk about the new game in an exclusive interview.

Check out what Barber had to say as he talks Monsters and mobile in the site’s latest Insider Q&A.

Brandon Barber Interview

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Facebook platform news: PMD Adquant offers support for newest mobile ad units

Facebook recently announced mobile engagement ads, video app install ads and the ability to bid on ads using cost per action. Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer Adquant (formerly Adotomi) is staying right with the social network, announcing support for these new ad units.

Adquant updated their mobile advertising offerings to make sure clients have all they need to succeed with these new advertising options. The new ad units debuted by Facebook allow developers to showcase their app through a video, as well as prompt users who already have the app downloaded to return.

Adquant CEO Joe McCormack announced this update in a press release:

We originally built Adquant to serve our internal needs as a game and mobile advertising agency.  We know how important these improvements are to our customers, which is why we worked around the clock to support them as quickly as possible.

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Disney announces 8-bit mobile game Star Wars: Tiny Death Star

While the Disney takeover of Lucasfilm, Lucasarts and their total body of work hasn't been the smoothest of transitions or one that pleased every fan out there, you can't deny there's a certain bit of charm with this upcoming mobile title from Disney Interactive and NimbleBit, called: Tiny Death Star.

Coming from the people that made Tiny Tower and using the nostalgic and beautiful 8bit pixel art style, the Tiny Death Star has you joining the Dark Side and helping Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vadar build an all new Death Star. To do so though, you'll need money, which (of course) requires running intergalactic businesses in order to attract iconic characters from the series and other customers.

There's no word on the specifics of the game as of yet, beyond the above paraphrased synopsis, but the title screen art has some real class to it, which makes me a least a little intrigued by what Tiny Death Star might hold.

Being a mobile title from Nimblebit, we know the sort of game it's likely to be, but building up a giant space station, designed to dominate entire civilizations at a time, is a little more of an exciting setting than building a hotel or managing a fleet of airplanes.

While this isn't going to be a Star Wars 1313 replacement, it's got to be better than the Star Wars Holiday Special, even if it that isn't saying much.

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How often do Facebook mobile gamers make an in-game purchase?

Not long after Facebook launched mobile app action ads, reminding users to engage with apps they’ve already downloaded, a new study by game developer Arkadium shows that nearly 40 percent of gamers polled have made an in-game purchase on mobile.

These new ad units could definitely boost that number, as it would remind users to play with games or interact with apps they may have forgotten about.

Arkadium polled 1,500 adult players, asking about their gaming habits. The survey showed that 38 percent have made a mobile in-game purchase within a Facebook game. 43 percent have made mobile in-game purchases overall. Additionally, 56 percent of gamers polled play more than 3 Facebook games per week (48 percent said they play more than 3 mobile games per week).

This survey shows that the new ads, which place a premium on getting users from the mobile News Feed into a game (or other app) through commands such as “play game” or “open link.”

eMarketer commented on the study:

The stickiness of social and mobile gaming is considerable. A survey from game development studio Arkadium in Q2 2013 found that more than half of adult US gamers played more than three Facebook games per week, and just fewer than half played at least that many mobile games. Given that eMarketer estimates there will be 80.3 million social network users playing games at least once per month in 2013, and 125.9 million mobile phone gamers doing the same—with significant crossover between the two groups—that is a lot of people devoting significant time to gaming.

Readers: How often do you make some kind of purchase on mobile?

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Facebook launches new mobile ad unit, prompting users to engage with apps

Facebook’s mobile app install ads have been beneficial for both sides, in terms of app discovery, but the company announced a new line of mobile ads to help boost engagement, once a user has already downloaded the app.

This could be huge for both Facebook and app developers, as these new mobile ads will prompt users to play, listen or shop (among other actions) through an app they currently have on their phone. Tapping the prompt button takes them right to the app or game.

Facebook commented on this new ad tactic in the Facebook for Business blog:

To help drive engagement and conversions, we’ve added new features to mobile app ads that are designed to help businesses reach people that have already downloaded their apps and direct them back into specific features, content or products within the app.

Businesses can now choose from seven different calls to action within mobile app ads. These include universal actions like ‘Open Link’ or ‘Use App,’ along with more vertical-specific calls to action: ‘Shop Now,’ ‘Play Game,’ ‘Book Now,’ ‘Listen Now,’ or ‘Watch Video.’ From these calls to action, businesses with deep links can send their existing customers directly into customized, specific locations within their apps, such as new content, sales or product promotions.

App developers can either create these ads with Power Editor or work with a Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer. According to Facebook, this is rolling out to 10 percent of mobile advertisers today, with the rest having this capability on Oct. 8.

Facebook’s mobile app install ads have been a major reason for the company’s success with mobile advertising, but this move could enhance Facebook’s bottom line even further. The company noted that so far in 2013, thousands of companies have used mobile install ads to drive more than 145 million installs.

Facebook wants to solve the problem, as noted in a Developers Blog post, where 66 percent of mobile app users only open an app between 1 and 10 times. Through this new program, app developers could choose between 7 calls to action when building the ad:

More calls to action might be added in the future, as different types of app developers take to the platform. These calls to action can send the user to a specific part of the app, such as the screen for booking a local hotel or listening to a certain artist.

Advertisers could target a wider audience (many mobile app install ads are targeted toward those currently on Wi-Fi, so as not to eat data with an install) and point a user back to an app. This could also remind users to engage with an app they haven’t opened in a while, and do so with a better success rate than notifications (which many app developers have tried to game). There wouldn’t be the barrier of having to install the app, so users would probably be more likely to tap through.

Just like with other types of mobile ads, advertisers can select which OS to target, as well as specific devices.

HotelTonight, a popular app for last-minute hotel bookings, has already been using this feature in a testing phase. Kevin Kwon, the company’s marketing manager, discussed in the Facebook for Business post how successful it has been:

The ability to engage people on mobile by deep linking them into our app from Facebook is very powerful. We’re excited to be working with Facebook on this new feature; it has significant potential to drive bookings in our app.

Readers: How do you feel about this new ad product?

For a complete guide to setting up a mobile ad, click here.

Images and video courtesy of Facebook.

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Customize, target, analyze: A Facebook mobile app install ad guide

With the third quarter coming to a close for 2013, there’s little doubt that Facebook will announce yet another increase in advertising revenue from their mobile advertising sales. In the second quarter of this year, Facebook reported that 41 percent of its ad revenue came from mobile, an 11 percent increase from the year’s first quarter.

Along with the rollout of new Facebook mobile app updates and their reported increases of mobile users (819 million mobile monthly active users as of June 30, 2013), Facebook’s mobile advertising is, and will become an even more, important channel for online marketers.

Just under a year ago, mobile app install ads were introduced and since then they have undergone some critical changes that have made it a prominent channel for app developers to market their apps and increase app discovery outside of the ill-equipped app stores for Android and iOS.

While a manual could be written on the topic, I would like to focus on two key components for effectively creating and targeting mobile app install ads.

Optimizing Custom CreativesSetting Up Campaigns, Ads, and Audience Targeting.

Ad Parlor, One of Facebook’s Preferred Marketing Developers, has published a case study on a mobile app install ad campaign that they did for Ultra Interactive’s mobile app, Martini. A key take-away from their study showed that displaying an image of the targeted device in the creative custom was effective in conveying to mobile users the purpose of the ad and the incentive to download the app.

Image source: Ad Parlor’s Mobile Case Study: Ultra Interactive – Martini App.

Along with the device, the custom creative should include an image that is properly targeted for your audience and app’s purpose. If your app is a game, then a game-play screen shot or promo image of your game would be best. If your app is for e-commerce, then an image of a recognizable product would most certainly attract users to install and download.

Your text copy should also attract mobile users to download your app, be sure to include a strong call to action within the first 90 characters of the text and provide a clear, and brief, explanation of what your app is for.

Setting up campaigns and ads properly can be a little tricky. First let’s look at the basic components of campaigns and ads.

For a single campaign, you are able to add multiple ads. At the campaign level, you can set your budget and schedules that will apply to all ads. At the ad level, you can set your custom creative, ad copy, placements, targeting, and audience. Since Facebook’s ad system optimizes bids and budgets for ad delivery across an entire campaign, it is recommended that when you’re starting out with new ads to include only a single ad per campaign. This will ensure maximum delivery for all your ads and provide a fruitful set of data insights for the performance of each ad.

You should set up ads based upon device. This means that your ad copy and creative customs should be suited for the targeted device. Facebook’s relatively new targeting options are also important for reaching the most suitable audience for your app. By specifying the particular OS versions and users who are using Wi-Fi, you will display your ad to a narrowed audience of users who are capable of downloading the app to their mobile devices.

Audience targeting includes the basic choices of location, age and gender. Where it becomes interesting, and grounds for testing out different audiences, is when you tap into interests, pages, apps that users have already liked or enabled through their Facebook accounts. This allows targeting to users who have already liked your app page, or who have liked pages similar to yours (i.e. your competitors), or niche interests that are associated with your app content.

To granulate audiences even further Facebook’s custom targeting feature allows you to seek your brand audience on Facebook with your own customer data. Using an email, phone number, or Facebook User ID will allow you to target an audience in which you’ve had a previous interaction with already. This is an ideal tool for re-marketing to users who have previously made a purchase, signed up for an email subscription, or had any other type of interaction that provides you a unique piece of information to target. Therefore, you can be visible to those who are already aware of the brand, and target ads directly towards them.

If there is a simpler way of explaining all of these steps, it would come down to this circular process: customize, target, and analyze. Take advantage of Facebook App Insights to measure the success of your ad campaigns. Adjust your campaigns, ads, and audiences based upon which custom creative, devices, demographics, and niche interest groups are downloading your app.

Andrew Stager is an SEO and Social Media analyst at iProspect, a leading provider of SEO services.  When he’s not slugging away in the SEO trenches, Andrew doesn’t mind reading a good book or two.

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Facebook to test autoplay videos in mobile News Feed

Facebook announced Thursday that within the coming weeks, the company is testing autoplay videos within the mobile News Feed for a small group of U.S. users. When a mobile user swipes through their News Feed and comes across a video from an individual or a page of a musician or band, it will automatically play. Sound will only turn on after a user taps on the video.

A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to Inside Facebook that these videos cannot be boosted or advertised at all beyond organic.

According to Facebook, only videos posted by individual Facebook users or verified pages (such as celebrities) will play automatically within mobile. Videos will play silently until a user taps to hear sound. When the video stops playing, the user will be taken back to News Feed. Only videos uploaded directly to Facebook (or Instagram) will play automatically — not YouTube or Vimeo or other platform apps which post to Facebook.

This capability is not yet available for pages.

Facebook’s Kelly Mayes introduced this new capability in a blog post:

Today we’re starting to test an easier way to watch videos on Facebook. Now when you see a video in News Feed, it comes to life and starts playing. Videos initially play silently, and if you want you can tap to play with sound in full screen. Scroll past if you don’t want to watch.

Mayes also addressed the issue of videos coming from advertisers, confirming that those videos will not automatically play:

At first, this feature will be limited to videos posted by individuals, musicians, and bands. We’re doing this to make sure we create the best possible experience. Over time, we’ll continue to explore how to bring this to marketers in the future.

While this is not the introduction to Facebook autoplay video ads that many people fear, this looks like Facebook’s way to test the capability of video automatically playing. Facebook traditionally rolls out products, works out functionality, then finds the best way to add targeted and relevant advertising on top. Users might be slightly more receptive on mobile to this capability than desktop, at least that’s what Facebook is guessing.

Video ads on Facebook can be big business for the company, but latest reports suggest that Facebook has pushed back the rumored controversial autoplay video ads indefinitely.

It is important to note that this is a test and not a rollout.

Readers: How do you feel about this test?

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Zynga announces CastleVille Legends, coming soon to mobile

Image via Zynga

Zynga has announced CastleVille Legends, a sequel of sorts to Zynga’s popular Facebook game CastleVille, which launched in the fall of 2011. The Facebook game gives players a chance to build a medieval inspired kingdom, complete with magical creatures, spells and monsters to battle and defeat along the way.

CastleVille Legends is already available on mobile in “select markets,” including on iOS in Canada. The game is a brand new experience for phones and tablets that introduces a brand new kingdom to create, as players rescue characters from the Facebook game from crystal prisons. These characters include Yvette and Raphael, two of the main heroes from the Facebook experience.

The original CastleVille on Facebook skyrocketed to over 38 million monthly active players just weeks after its launch in 2011, but that number has steadily declined since. A few peaks in traffic in September 2012 and January 2013 helped slow the decline, but the game has now fallen to just under 4 million monthly active players, and 473,000 daily active players, according to our app tracking service AppData.

The worldwide release date for Castleville Legends hasn’t been revealed, but interested players with access to a Canadian iTunes account can now download the game for free.

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Facebook reportedly testing mobile payment platform

In what AllThingsD calls a potential PayPal competitor, the site reported that Facebook is testing a mobile payment platform that would allow users to make purchases on mobile apps, using Facebook as their login mechanism.

If you’ve already provided Facebook with your credit card information, such as through a Facebook Gifts purchase or games payment, that would be stored and used during a purchase on a separate mobile app. Facebook confirmed the test to AllThingsD, noting that it should arrive in the next month or so.

Doing this would allow for a seamless purchase experience, where the user does not have to enter credit card information. As Facebook is the dominant social login utility, this would definitely be a competitor for PayPal on mobile. For many apps, when you make a purchase for the first time, the customer has to take out their credit card and enter in the numbers — adding complication and a potential roadblock.

According to AllThingsD, JackThreads (a shopping site aimed at young men) is the pilot partner for this mobile payment platform. The site points out that JackThreads already has a great relationship with Facebook and sees a significant portion of revenue coming from mobile.

In a statement provided to AllThingsD, Facebook said that this test is simply aimed at making it easier for app partners to facilitate conversions:

We continue to have a great relationship with PayPal, and this product is simply to test how we can help our app partners provide a simpler commerce experience. This test does not involve moving the payment processing away from an app’s current provider.

Readers: How do you feel about using Facebook as the login mechanism for mobile payments?

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EA announces free-to-play mobile game, Heroes of Dragon Age

by Matt Liebl, GameZone, Posted Aug 19th 2013 2:00PM

Electronic Arts has announced a free-to-play mobile spin-off of its popular Dragon Age franchise, titled Heroes of Dragon Age.

Developed by EA Capital Games, Heroes of Dragon Agehas you build a party of heroes and monsters, presumably from random and paid-for packs, that "span Dragon Age lore." It will have combat-focused gameplay set in the world of BioWare's RPG series, according to Eurogamer.

Heroes of Dragon Age is a cross-platform title, though release date and specific launch platforms have yet to be announced. iPhone and Android are usually a safe bet, though. We'll be sure to keep you updated when we find out more.

To read more about Electronic Arts, go to GameZone> Tags: best free games, best games, best mobile games, dragon age, dragon age 2, dragon age legends, EA, ea announcements, EA announces free-to-play mobile game, ea games, ea games lineup, ea games sci-fi, ea games xbox games, electronic arts, Electronic-Arts, electronic-arts-games, eletronic arts, eletronic arts games, free games, free mobile games, free to play, free to play games, Heroes of Dragon Age, mobile game, Mobile Games, mobile gaming, new free games, new games, new games 2013, new mobile games, top mobile games

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What does Facebook’s potential mobile payment platform mean for businesses & consumers?

Ever see your friends’ birthdays appear in your Facebook notifications … and then see an offer to buy a Starbucks card as a gift?

You know how simple that is to do, right?  Just select the gift, choose the amount, and send it off.  Voila … instant transaction (even if you’re on a mobile phone) … and the payment was accomplished by one click.  No need to enter in your credit card info again, as Facebook already has that on record.

Facebook may be offering you the same easy ability to purchase goods via your wireless device.

Here’s how this idea works.  Think about buying something now from your mobile phone.  Often, you would have to type in your credit card number on your phone (something that discourages instant gratification due to the tiny numbers and extra effort).

What Facebook will potentially offer is a button that lets you tell Facebook to input the billing information that you already gave Facebook from buying gifts or paying games.

Your payment will be processed via the original payment processor the application originally used.

Facebook merely filled in the information and made it possible for a one-click purchase.

Talk about a time-saver!

But let’s take that a step further.

Think about Facebook’s stake in mobile advertising.  Let’s say that it currently charges an advertiser 14 cents per click … but that click leads to a $37 purchase online.

Facebook can now tell the advertiser that their investment is delivering profit to them. Profit – it’s what every business wants!

One thing to keep in mind – it was earlier reported that Facebook was looking to compete with PayPal. Not so! Why bother compete when you can maximize the benefits of each service instead?

So what does that mean for you as a consumer or you as a business?

The more data Facebook can gather from online transactions…the more data they can provide advertisers that their expenditures are making them money in the long run.

And customers get the benefit from a 1 click simplicity that allows them to buy even more.

Truly a win win for all involved – Facebook, businesses that advertise, and consumers.

Yet again, it’s more privacy that goes bye-bye into the distance, waving forlornly back.

I’d bet the majority of consumers would be quite willing to buy into it, how about you?

Barbara Ling is a 17-plus year veteran marketing entrepreneur, currently specializing in teaching others how to build a viral fanbase/community online using Facebook, Pinterest, blogging, coffee (lots of coffee, or maybe tea if that’s your preference) and more! See her Google Profile here!

Image courtesy of Shutterstock. 

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Facebook acquires startup Mobile Technologies, maker of mobile translation app Jibbigo

Facebook’s mobile push is getting stronger, as the company acquired Mobile Technologies, the team behind mobile (iOS and Android) voice translation app Jibbigo. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

According to AppData, Jibbigo is the No. 28 highest-grossing iOS travel app.

Facebook will take most of Mobile Technologies’ team and have them work in the Menlo Park, Calif. campus, according to Jibbigo.

Facebook Director of Product Management Tom Stocky confirmed the acquisition in a post:

It has always been our mission to make the world more open and connected. Although more than a billion people around the world already use Facebook every month, we are always looking for ways to help connect the rest of the world as well. Voice technology has become an increasingly important way for people to navigate mobile devices and the web, and this technology will help us evolve our products to match that evolution. We believe this acquisition is an investment in our long-term product roadmap as we continue towards our company’s mission.

Jibbigo also posted about the acquisition on its website:

Mobile Technologies was founded in 2001 with the goal of breaking through language barriers to open up communication between the people of the world. With 6,000 languages in the world, the language divide presents the greatest human communication challenge. Mobile Technologies has developed a number of cross-lingual communication tools: Jibbigo, the world’s first speech-to-speech translator on a phone that runs online and even off-line, independent from the Internet. Travelers around the world use Jibbigo to communicate in foreign countries and health-care workers overcome the language challenge in humanitarian missions. Mobile Technologies also developed and deployed the first automatic, simultaneous interpretation service for lectures and deployed it in educational settings, so that ideas can transcend nations and cultures.

Facebook, with its mission to make the world more open and connected, provides the perfect platform to apply our technology at a truly global scale. We look forward to continuing to develop our technology at Facebook and finding new and interesting ways to apply it to Facebook’s long-term product roadmap.

Readers: What do you think Facebook can do with Jibbigo’s technology?

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Facebook mobile update: table reservations, movie and TV showtimes, hashtags on iOS

Planning a dinner and a movie date night? Facebook can help.

The company announced Monday two upgrades to its mobile pages product: the ability to book a table on a restaurant’s Facebook page, and view showtimes on movie and TV show pages. While the table reservation feature is available for Android and iOS users, only those on Apple devices will be able to check showtimes for TV shows and movies from their phone.

Facebook partnered with popular reservation platform OpenTable to strengthen its mobile pages product, a Facebook spokesperson noted:

OpenTable is working with Facebook to allow individuals to book a table via a restaurant’s Page on mobile. From discovery to booking (whether it’s with Nearby or going directly to a restaurant’s Page), everything is within the native Facebook app – no need to visit a mobile site or open OpenTable’s app. This feature is available on Pages of restaurants that support OpenTable in the U.S.(~20K restaurants). This integration will open up OpenTable to more people on Facebook, as you don’t need to be an OpenTable member to book a table on mobile Pages.

Another major mobile update: hashtags are now live on the iOS native app.

Facebook announced that with the latest iOS update, Facebook users can engage with hashtags the way that they do in desktop. Users will be able to search hashtags or tap them in posts, to discover discussion around a topic by friends and others within the Facebook ecosystem.

Facebook also made the app load faster on iPads, also including a cleaner design for timelines. Facebook fixed a bug on iOS, causing people to see a red notification badge when there weren’t any notifications.

The update is now available in the App Store.

Here’s a look at the hashtag search result page on iOS:

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King to bring Papa Pear Saga to mobile this fall

Image via King

Candy Crush Saga developer King has today announced plans to bring Papa Pear Saga to mobile later this fall. The game was originally released on Facebook in March 2013, and has climbed to over 18.9 million monthly active users, according to our app tracking service AppData.

This news is joined by a company milestone, as King’s entire portfolio of games on mobile, Facebook and King.com have crossed one billion daily plays.

Papa Pear Saga (our review) is a physics puzzle game that contains similarities to PopCap’s Peggle. Players are challenged with shooting Papa Pear out of a cannon at the top of the screen so that he hits all of the targets (acorns, carrots, etc.) on the way down the screen. The game currently has over 3.7 million daily active users on Facebook.

The mobile version of Papa Pear Saga will launch with over 120 levels, and will contain cross-platform play. Facebook gamers will be able to jump into the iOS or Android experience with their leaderboards, progress and previous high scores intact, and will carry on right where they left off.

“Papa Pear Saga is different to any of our other games. It still possesses that core King puzzle quality, but it will be our first mobile Saga game to have a physics element which we think will translate very well to mobile and tablet game play,” said Riccardo Zacconi, CEO and co-founder of King, via a company release. “It’s also astonishing to see game plays grow to over 1 billion a day. This is a tenfold increase since our first Saga game launch on mobile this time last year.”

As spotted by Gamezebo, Papa Pear Saga is already available in the Canadian iTunes store, meaning the worldwide launch on iOS and Google Play for Android can’t be far off.

Sponsored Post Brand new companies and start-ups face innumerable challenges, but one of the most significant ones, according to Rich Gorman, is brand-building. While companies like Apple and Amazon.com have much stored-up goodwill and prestige to use in their favor, a brand new company has no such luxury. As such, it is imperative for start-ups to think critically.
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GREE, Marvel partner to bring X-Men: Battle of the Atom to mobile [Interview]

Image via Marvel, GREE

GREE and Marvel Entertainment have announced a partnership resulting in a new card battle game, X-Men: Battle of the Atom, on iOS and Android. The upcoming mobile game is being developed to tie-in with the narrative in the Battle of the Atom comic book event, with both celebrating the 50-year anniversary of X-Men Comics.

X-Men: Battle of the Atom will see players recruiting teams of mutants throughout a time-twisting tale, giving users the chance to battle against classic enemies from the X-Men lore, as well as never-before-seen enemies from the future. As players collect cards and upgrade their characters, they can form alliances with friends and complete events that will be added to the game on a regular basis after launch.

We had a chance to chat with Chris Baker, Marvel’s Interactive Manager, to learn more about the game, and what makes it stand out from the other card battle games already available on mobile.

Inside Social Games: How will X-Men: Battle of the Atom differ from the wide variety of other mobile card battle games on iOS and Android?

Chris Baker: There are a lot of great card battle games out there, sure, but there are a few things that really stand out to me with Battle of the Atom.

First, as with many competitive products, we’re based around pure fan service regarding one particular intellectual property – but I’d challenge you to find another that goes as far with that fan service as Battle of the Atom will. The objective here was to celebrate 50 years of X-Men, and we’re doing it right, both in terms of characters and popular story arcs. You should see the list of characters we have planned to come out eventually – it’s HUGE. And not only that, we’re also including multiple iterations of many characters throughout the “true” history of X-Men comics as well as alternate timelines. So, in addition to today’s almost fatherly Wolverine who runs the Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters, you’ll probably eventually have – maybe several – from his more berserker days, as well as versions from possible futures like Days of Future Past or Old Man Logan.

Sometimes character depictions will be held back from release because we’ve got big plans to adapt popular story arcs, which is another thing I don’t think you’ll find in many competitive titles. We’re actually starting things in the modern X-Men era, with adaptations of big events like 2011’s Schism and the current Hellfire Academy storyline – and of course, the game gets its name from this September’s event in the comic books, which we’ll get to within a few months of launch. We have an actual Marvel X-Men writer named James Asmus who’s working with the developer to plan out and execute everything story related – which is a LOT!

The team is so passionate about X-Men, there are even buffs for individual character relationships: Put Cyclops and Jean Grey together, you’ll get something speaking to their romantic relationship. At the same time, Wolverine with Jubilee will provide a buff based on their friendship. The developers even have these lined up for the most obscure characters, like for the strong friendship between Anole and Rockslide. (It’s okay if you’re never heard of them – I won’t judge you.)

Finally, from a pure gameplay perspective, the 20-on-20 Guild-vs.-Guild battles are also something you won’t find in a lot of other games. And, to the last point, there’s actual story linked to these – you can do a lot when you have the Danger Room at your disposal.

ISG: How are GREE / Marvel prepared to attract players that may appreciate card-battle games, but aren’t huge existing fans of the X-Men comics series?

CB: At Marvel, we have a philosophy with our comics that every comic book is someone’s first comic book. With that in mind, we do everything we can to ease readers into the source material, whether this is their first comic ever or their thousandth. We’re working with GREE with a similar philosophy regarding this game. The key is combining great gameplay with beautiful visuals – which we have, thanks to some awesome art – and also cluing people in to who these characters are and what they’re all about. You’ll get a good taste of that from the story, but at a more individual level, we’ll have brief bios for every character, and in many cases, we’ll actually suggest good reading material for you to check out if you see something that really catches your eye, via the Marvel Digital Comics app.

On a personal level, my love of X-Men actually got rolling with Konami’s 1992 arcade game. Before that, I had heard of them and I knew there was a Wolverine guy with sharp claws, but that was about it. So, I guess I’m saying that I fully expect someone whose primary exposure is through this game to eventually wind up with my job in 20 years…

Image via Marvel, GREE

ISG: How did the team narrow down the past 50 years of X-Men history into the events featured in the game?

CB: The glory of being part of a live service is that you don’t have to do everything in one shot – we’ve got, well, ideally forever to accomplish all this. It’s going to start off with modern X-Men stories, then thanks to the work James Asmus, transition its way to adapt classic stories dating back to the ‘60s.

Of course, we’re not going to adapt every single X-Men story ever told here…but within the next few years, you’ll definitely see most of the biggest events at least represented in some way, if not full-on adapted as part of the story mode. You’ll even eventually start getting cards based on more obscure things like single issues of What If? and Exiles, which often have really creative alternate-universe takes on characters. We likely won’t dwell on those from a story perspective, but as with the more mainstream elements of the game, we aim to provide the information for you to check them out via the Marvel Digital Comics app, assuming the source material is available there.

ISG: Can you speak more about the game’s Alliances feature? For example, will all cooperative multiplayer features be asynchronous?

CB: We’re not getting into the specifics of the Alliance feature right now, so stay tuned for more details. But for now, we can say that players will be able to form alliances and partake in 20-on-20 team battles to shape the past, present and future of the X-Men universe.

ISG: What’s the timeline for updates? Will these updates be timed events, or will they be evergreen updates that any future players will be able to experience?

CB: We’re not prepared to announce the actual cadence of updates yet, but rest assured, there will be many. Some will be big events, some will be simple new additions of cards, but the current plan has a lot in store.

ISG: Will X-Men: Battle of the Atom support cross-platform multiplayer battles between players on iOS and Android?

CB: Yes, players will be able to play together across platforms.

X-Men: Battle of the Atom is expected to launch this fall on iOS and Android.

Mediabistro Event

Don’t miss the chance to hear from the three men who started the 3D printing boom at the Inside 3D Printing Conference & Expo, September 17-18 in San Jose, California. Chuck Hull, Carl Deckard, and Scott Crump will explore their early challenges and what it took to make 3D printing a successful business. Learn more.

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Facebook Director of Product Management Doug Purdy discusses Parse, Mobile App Install Ads

In his fireside chat at Inside Social Apps today, Facebook Director of Product Management Doug Purdy discussed about mobile app discovery difficulties faced by developers. He discussed how developers can use the platform to drive app installations through mobile app install ads.

Since first launching last October, mobile app install ads have started to be used by more than 3,800 developers. Since sharing this number earlier last month, Purdy today stated that 4,000  developers have started using the ads which have driven over 25 million app installs. He added that one app developer has earned over three times its average ROI from the ads.

Purdy explained that Facebook’s goal is to build its products to complement existing app stores and help developers drive more users toward their applications. He suggests that developers look beyond the install and create a goal for users to engage deeper with their applications. This is done by planning around having users take a specific action after installing the app. He added that with Facebook’s robust targeting options, it is the best way to target and identify which users will take the appropriate action.

He also brought up Parse, a cloud-based platform which provides mobile app developers with tools to seamlessly integrate their apps across multiple platforms, which Facebook acquired last April. Purdy explained that the acquisition was based on Facebook’s goal of helping developers integrate faster and easier.

Mediabistro Event

Get personalized advice from industry insiders at Facebook, Deloitte, Chartboost, Tango, and more at Inside Social Apps, this Thursday and Friday in San Francisco. Newly added speakers include Val Bauduin of Deloitte & Touche, LLP and Doug Purdy, Director of Developer Products at Facebook, so don’t miss the chance to add these valuable contacts to your network. Tickets are available onsite.

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Forecasting Cross-platform Networks and Mobile Games

Editor’s note: During the upcoming Inside Social Games Conference on June 6-7, Bret Terrill, the Founder of 12gigs.com, will be moderating two panels on the future of social apps, “Gambling Games: The Promise of Real Money,” and “Platform Opportunities for Social Apps.” InsideSocialGames.com had the opportunity to ask Bret two important questions on the future of social and mobile games.

InsideSocialGames: Is it possible to build a cross-platform gaming network? Is this something the world wants?

Bret Terrill: A cross-platform gaming network is something that a lot of people were chasing last year as the next big thing. The idea was: Similar to Facebook owning the social graph, a company could own the “gamer graph”, connecting people who liked certain genres across platforms and games. As it stands today, Facebook is really the only company that has been successful in creating a cross-platform (PC and multiple mobile environments) gaming network , one that has largely fed off their immense social network.

Other large games companies, such as DeNA and Gree, have had success in the Japanese market, but they have moved toward a publisher model in the last year. It is an open question on whether Clash of Clans players care about what other games the people they “friend” within the game are playing. I suspect the gameing industry itself cares much more than the players, who are more interested to see what is in the top charts of their phone’s App Store.

What are the upcoming tech challenges in mobile?

The problem with mobile is that, upfront, small developers have to make a rather large bet. To increase versatility, they have to develop across platforms. But to deliver the best possible experience, companies have to go native: For iOS that means writing code in Objective C, for Android apps that means using Java.

More recently some companies are opting for tech solutions such as Unity, which is expensive if you want to use the Pro version, or HTML5, which promises the ability to “write once, use anywhere,” only it does not really work that way. While HTML5 works great in a web browser, it is difficult to create a high-quality game that stacks up against most native apps (unless you are using the latest iPad).

If developers want to create social, HTML5-based experiences, such as the Bingo game we built at 12gigs, they will have to cut many corners to make it run on older mobile devices. That really hurts the player experience.

Another huge pain point for mobile developers is third-party SDK integration. Each one of our apps has at least ten SDKs built in. In many cases, developers find their game crashes because of a bug in one of these SDKs. Fixing the issue requires close collaboration with development partners. If you are used to developing for the web, it can be a very unpleasant, unplanned surprise.

Is building a game for cross-platform worth the effort then?

It certainly is not necessary. Clash of Clans, one of the top grossing games is only available on iOS. Its maker, Supercell, did not need to develop an Android version to become one of the most successful mobile gaming companies of all time. The fact that they have not developed an Android version, even though that is a huge untapped market, highlights the technical challenges of porting natively developed games across platforms.

Having said that, if you want to create social, turn-based games, such as Words With Friends, you definitely want to go cross-platform. Games that require interaction grow much faster if they are available on all the devices that your friends are using. Fortunately for developers, you can hit 90 percent of the smartphone market by targeting just iOS and Android.

As for building games for mobile and web, most companies are moving toward mobile-only development. Here is why: If you believe industry experts, including Mary Meeker, mobile is already surpassing the web in terms of user base. Also, Richard Firminger, the Managing Director of Flurry, says that 80 percent of mobile usage is not through the browser, but through apps. The point is: the world is moving away from the PC and connecting with phones instead.

Considering that Zynga just laid-off 18 percent of their employees because the revenue from their web games declined much faster then predicted, mobile-only seems like the smart play. It is where the momentum is headed.

To hear more from Bret Terrill and the future of social and mobile gaming, attend our Inside Social Games conference on June 6-7 in San Francisco.

Mediabistro Event

Get personalized advice from industry insiders at Facebook, Deloitte, Chartboost, Tango, and more at Inside Social Apps, this Thursday and Friday in San Francisco. Newly added speakers include Val Bauduin of Deloitte & Touche, LLP and Doug Purdy, Director of Developer Products at Facebook, so don’t miss the chance to add these valuable contacts to your network. Tickets are available onsite.

View the original article here