Last week I wrote an article about Mobile Games - Using brands that aren’t brands. The article had quite a few reactions, and there was more then that to write about - so I decided to write another article. This time not about using brands that aren’t brands, but getting close to them. This means you make something really close to the original brand that people can associate with the actual game.

Getting close to the brand means, that a person enters thin ice, and either he is smart enough to move quick, or he falls in and the game dies.

Games that are live - got around

  • “Carjack City” to be released, by Tag Games, trying to get close to GTA
  • “SturmTrupp Mars” from Handy-Games, trying to get to Star Wars, even the sound = love it
  • “Thursday the 12th” Herocraft, trying to copy Friday the 13th brand
  • “Californian Chainsaw Massacre” Herocraft, trying to copy the Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Games that are not - too close to brand

  • “B-Man” from Tracebit
  • “Guitar Rock Tour” from Gameloft, trying to get close to Guitar Hero (mobile from Handson), renamed to “Guitar Legends”, and is probably continuing sales

Yes, some developers just get too close, and they are usually noticed on the market. Also, getting too close might mean an operator won’t launch the mobile games.

Getting close sometimes doesn’t have to mean getting close to an original, but can be using other ideas from the outside world proved to be successful. There are several games of that example:

  • Solitaire, which nobody has to luckily pay royalties to Microsoft, is still one of the nicer games
  • Sudoku, which is being promoted by many newspapers and magazines, is still one of the favorite games

Brands in PC games win, games like GTA, NHL, NBA, FIFA. On mobile, there is still space for others like Townsmen, Playman, and more to come.

Mobile games are a playground, and they have still not gone out to everyone. Still less then 10% of people worldwide use mobile internet (WAP), and that is the primary carrier of mobile games, leaving potential for huge growth - specifically 90% of people, of which a part might potentially be interested in mobile gaming.

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