Candy Crush, available on most mobile platforms. dolphfyn / Shutterstock.com
King Digital Entertainment, the makers of dozens of games available on smart phone models, is essentially only supported financially by one game, Candy Crush. The massively popular app has been criticized for being a knockoff of Bejeweled, and King has been heavily condemned for going on a binge of suing those who develop games with the words “candy” and “saga”, even attempting to sue a Viking game named The Banner Saga. They even directly sued the maker of the game the majority of folks say they copied.
The first on the market (undeniably still a knockoff of Bejeweled) named CandySwipe, has been embroiled in a legal battle with King, only recently ended when the creator (who, by the way, released the games two years before King’s Candy Crush was announced) conceded with an open letter to King.
“Congratulations!,” the letter opens. “Good for you, you win. I hope you’re happy taking the food out of my family’s mouth when CandySwipe clearly existed well before Candy Crush Saga.”
While this letter and news broke in February, the latest news of King’s troubles as of this publication is its IPO shares, falling 11% in its first day of trading.
Debuting on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol KING, landed on $22.50 a share, falling in the midpoint of its expected range. But experts are warning the price might be too high, as King is heavily dependent on one game it its arsenal. While Candy Crush is extremely popular, the company even releasing board games and actual edible candy treats, investors might fear the longevity in something many are calling a novelty. While many apps attractive attention through consumer word of mouth, the track record is only a few months of major activity before the next shiny new app hits the market and consumer attention shifts.
