Glu Mobile continues to grow its stable of celebrity-based games with the release of “Kendall & Kylie.”
“Kendall & Kylie” features the voices, likenesses and exclusive video messages from Kendall and Kylie Jenner. The game has one playing as a friend of the sisters and working with them to realize their creative and career aspirations.
“Kendall & Kylie” is joining a roster of Glu games based around Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Kim Kardashian and Gordon Ramsay. Glu Mobile has been mining the celebrity mobile games since its “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood” game successfully launched in 2014 and generated $74.3 million. The company’s CEO Niccolo de Masi told Variety late last year that it is looking to implement games based on celebs with a strong social-media presence.
“Size of social following, uniqueness of genre, ability to fit the core aspiration of their fan base to the game mechanic are the things that we look for,” Masi said.
Masi also said that a number of different elements must be taken into account when developing for mobile, especially when the people playing the games may not consider themselves gamers.
“You need to have fun core gameplay, you’ve got to have IP (intellectual property) that people respond to, have heard of, can recognize, and you’ve got to figure out how to provide a great free-to-play experience,” said Masi. “Free-to-play is the 95% who never spend while also catering to the 5% who do spend as that generates the majority of the revenue.”
The “Kendall & Kylie” game allows the player to customize their look — from hair and makeup to outfit and accessories — and share the content to gain followers and start a life in fashion and media.
