Candy Cash

Last week, lockdown legislation and Black Friday's hypnotic "I must spend money" vibe combined to take their toll on the wallets of UK mobile owners. Mobile game spending reached a record high, with almost £5 million GBP, (approx. $6.5 million U?SD), raked in by a selection of titles on November 27.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz - and confirmed by the number-crunchers over at Sensor Tower - the UK spent the staggering seven-figure sum on popular titles including Roblox, King's Candy Crush, and Moon Active's ironically titled Coin Master, (the latter of which is the UK's highest-gro??ssing mobile title). In addition, 2.2 million games were newly downloaded onto iOS and Android devices.

The spending spree represents an increase of 16% on Black Friday 2019, with the UK's current lockdown legislation keeping many in their homes and away from the workplace. Notably, sales of physical games were actually down w??hen compared to the same time?? period last year, no doubt due to the current shutdown status of the UK high street.

But with multi-millions raised by a single territory in a single day, it??'s no wonder why developers and publishers continue to clamber atop of one another while grasping for a piece of the mobil??e gaming pie.

UK mobile game spending ?reaches new record on Black Friday [GamesIndustry.biz]

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Addiction is a scary thing

I've played Candy Crush Saga and m??y share of match-three games as a mobile game fanatic, but to date I've not spent a dime on any of the free-to-play giants??. I can understand wanting to spend a dollar or two here and there for some power-ups, but never the exorbitant amounts some players spend.

An "adult" woman in Harwich, Essex took buying some additional items so ridiculously far that I'm honestly shocked. After being appointed caretaker of her mother, Sally-Anne Turner racked up £1,000 in charges from Mom's bank account in Candy Crush Saga and other online games.

Turner's mother became increasingly suspicious as she noted that a large sum of money had been taken from her account between February 2012 and January 2014, and when the truth came out in Chelmsford Crown Court, Turner was sentenced to 12 weeks of ??jail, a year's worth of suspension, and a three-month curfew between 8 PM and 6 AM.

While it appears Turner's lawyer says the woman is "remorseful" for what she did, I can't help but think she's only sorry because she got caught -- or perhaps she couldn't help herself. Addiction is scary, so I'm trying to reserve judgment on this woman, but I can't imagine pocketing that much money from my loved ones on something so silly as Candy Crush Saga and other free-to-play v??ices. It's a weird world.

Woman stole &po??und;1,000 f??rom disabled mother to feed Candy Crush addiction [The Telegraph]

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They might look a little something like this

Ever wonder what Flappy Bird or Angry Birds would have looked like in a different, much simpler time? A time like the early '80s and '90s? Dorkly has made it poss??ible with t??hese absolutely ridiculous vintage covers.

You've got Candy Crush Saga (dat bulge), 2048, and Temple Run as well, each with gleefully retro covers. I especially like the Temple Run cover's faux shrinkwrap. Also, the sheer anguish on poor Flappy's face properly mirrors how we all ??feel about that game, I believe.

If Mobile Games Had Vintage Covers [Dorkly]

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I'm not quite sure what they're saying, but it has nothing to do with candy

Candy Crush Saga is coming to Japan in a big way, as developer King has prepared a slew of rather bizarre com??mercials for its freakishly addictive mobile puzzler. With King having opened an office in Japan, it's no wonder a nationwide ad campaign was the first move to establish a presence for the brand, but these ads aren't exactly what I'd call accessible.

I mean, I suppose they're accessible in a bizarre, Lynchian sort of way, like if you took bits of Inland Empire and sprinkled candy on the film. Celebrities Junichi Okada and Kinichi Endo look positively terrifying as they exchange ideas about "conflicting world views" (via Re/code) until there's a prompt to download Candy Crush Saga. I don't know if this the right approach for King's Japanese audiences, bu?t hey, I'm not Japanese. I just write about Japanese media a lot.

Oh, you crazy Japanese commercials, we love you.

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Yay!

Oh hey good news! King stopped being idiots and settled the trademark disputes they had over the word "saga" and "candy" with a couple of small studios. Stoic Studios, developers of The Banner Saga, released a statement last month saying they "have come to an agreement with King regarding Stoic’s The Banner Saga trademark, which enables both parties to protect their respective?? trademarks now and in the futur?e."

Meanwhile the maker of CandySwipe released a similar statement:

"I am happy to announce that I have amicably resolved my dispute with King over my CandySwipe trademark and that I am withdrawing my op?position to their mark and they are withdrawing their counterclaim against mine. I have learned that they picked the CANDY CRUSH name before I released my game and that they were never trying to take my game away. Both our games can ?continue to coexist without confusing players."

King's trademark dispute with CandySwipe dev h??as been resolved [Eurogamer]

The post King settles The Banner Saga and? CandySwipe trademark disputes appeared first on Destructoid.

More like Serf.com, right?

King.com, the developer behind the bafflingly popular match-three puzzler Candy Crush Saga, went public on the stock exchange yes?terday, and it did not perform as well as the casual game behemoth had hoped. Starting at $22.50 per share, it dropped 15.56% to $19.00 by the end of the day yesterday.

The poor start could be attributed to the volatility of the casual game market, where success and failure is often due to luck more than anything else. While this news certainly hurts King.com, I know you all are experiencing a bit of schadenfreude, especially considering the recent shenanigans with attempting to trademark the word "candy."

Sour Candy: Weak King.Co?m IPO Robs Chairman And CEO Of Billionaire Status [Forbes]
No Sugar High For W?all Stree?t: Candy Crush Maker's IPO Disappoints [NPR]

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Candy drama ain't so sweet

CandySwipe, a match-three mobile game based around confectioneries, looks a lot like Candy Crush Saga. The premise, assets, and name are all wildly similar. That's not much of a surprise though; the mobile market is full of similar examp??les.

The remarkable thing here, though, is that CandySwipe released and was trademarked two years before the insanely popular Candy Crush Saga did. Now, because of King's trademark trolling, that independent developer has to relinquish the trademark to his game. Worsening the situation is the fact that CandySwipe meant something ve?ry personal to the creator.

In an open letter to King, Albert Ransom tells how he made CandySwipe in memory of his mother after she passed away after a battle with leukemia. He tells how the game's success has been vital toward providing for his family. And, he points out the hypocricy in King's defense of i??ts intellectual property argume??nt. Read it; it's worth your time.

This story's a couple days old at this point, but it's important enough to give as?? much exposure as possible. These shameless trademark tactics affect a wide breadth of people??, some more unfairly than others. Shame on you, King.

Open ?letter to King.com who wants to cancel the registration of the CandySwipe trademar??k [CandySwipe]

The post CandySwipe developer writes sad open letter to K??ing appeared first on Destructoid.

King Candy hindering Banner Saga sequel with opposition

Candy Crush Saga developer King is playing hardball. Early this week we learned King successfully trademarked the word "Candy" in the US as it pertains to videogames (and clothing!). It already owns the "Candy" trademark in Europe. It proceeded to strong arm ??developers with "C??andy" in their app name to change titles.

Now it is going after games that use the word "Saga," including the lovely, recently released The Banner Saga, Venture Beat reports. When independent Banner Saga developer Stoic went to file a trademark for its game, King filed an opposition.

Ki??ng's response, below, was to basically admit the opposition makes no sense,?? instead looking to future boogeymen.

King has not and is not trying to stop Banner Saga from using its name. We do not have any concerns that Banner Saga is trying build on our brand or our content. However, like any prudent company, we need to take all appropriate steps?? to protect our IP, both now and in the future.

In this case, that means preserving our abi?lity to enforce our rights in cases where other developers ma??y try to use the Saga mark in a way which infringes our IP rights and causes player confusion. If we had not opposed Banner Saga’s trade mark application, it would be much easier for real copy cats to argue that their use of ‘Saga’ was legitimate.

This is an important issue for King because we already have a series of games where ‘Saga’ is key to the brand which our players associate with a King game; Candy Crush Saga, Bubble Witch Saga, Pet Rescue Saga, Farm Heroes Saga and so on. All of these titl??es have already faced substantive trademark and copyright issues with clones.

King admits it doesn't "have any concerns" about brand confusion in this statement, but is opposing -- and screwing over a small, indie team -- Banner Saga merely to set precedent. Of course?, the legal opposition filing says otherwise, hilariously stating, "The Banner Saga mark is confusingly and deceptively similar to Opposer’s previously used Saga Marks," and "is likely to cause confusion or to cause mistake or deception in the trade, and among purchasers and potential purchasers."

Because someone searching for Candy Crush Saga might mistake a Disney-looking viking strategy RPG for a game about crushing candies. Given the use of the fairly extensive use of the word "Saga" as it relates to videogames, this makes even ?less sense than King's "Candy" dominion, and strains credulity in the "just protecting their trademark as US laws dictate" argument.

St?oic co-founder Alex Thomas responded in a statement:

Two years ago, the three of us at Stoic set out to make an epic viking game: The Banner Saga. We did, and people loved it, so we’re making another one. We won’t make a viking saga without the word Saga, and we don’t appreciate anyone telling us we can’t. King.com claims they’re not attempting to prevent us from using The Banner Saga, and yet their legal opposition to our trademark filing remains. We’re humbled by the outpouring of support and honored to have o?thers stand with us for the right to their own Saga. We just want to make great games.

In Stoic inde??ed doesn't go forward with the series because of this, that would be a huge bummer.

The Banner Saga developer res?ponds to Candy Crush Saga studio’s att?empt to block its trademark [Venture Beat]

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Candymon

Candy Crush developer King has trademarked the word "Candy." Snicker all you want, it happened. King filed the trademark for "Candy" as it relates to games (and clothing!) almost a year ago and, as Gamezebo has found, the trademark was successful

Developers are already feeling the crunch and getting rolled over. Emails are coming in asking owners of apps with "Candy" in the title to remove them from the store. That, or lawyer up and prove your game doesn't infringe or that you came up with the name independently. All Candy Casino Slots developer Benjamin Hsu got such a notice. "Myself and other indie developers don't have the money or resources to? fight back," Hsu explained. "I plan on changing th??e name if that is what I must do." 

"Candy" joins the word "Memory," which is also trademarked on the App Store. Good thing no one has been able to patent gameplay mechanics yet, allowing King to make an empire out of a match-three game. I think I'll go play Tetris Attack.

King has trademarked? the word CANDY (and you're probably infringing) [Gamezebo]

Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy. Candy.

The post King Candy: Candy Crush dev trademarks word ‘candy’ appeared first on Destructoid.

I bet your mom's one of them

Have you heard about this tiny, up-and-coming indie game called Candy Crush Saga? ??If you haven't, welcome to the Internet, and I'm flattered that this is the first thing you chose to read. If you have, don't feel special; it looks like everyone else has too.

King, the company responsible for the worldwide phenomenon, has announced that Candy Crush Saga has been installed 500 million times throughout the course of its lifespan. That number reflects downloads across Facebook, and iOS? and Android devices. Equally impressive is that 1 in 23 Facebook users have installed the game.

Well, here's confirmation that an alarming percentage of the human population has played this game. I'm doing my part to combat it by staying strong in my resolve to never give anyone Candy Crush Saga lives, whatever that means.

Candy Crush Saga Celebrates One Year Anniversary and Half ??a Billion Downloads [PR Newswire via The Verge]

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