Hollywood studios invest in Hong Kong developer of smartphone games
Local platform Fifth Journey has the skills and know-how to get big-name titles into the right hands in China – and the studios are giving his team inside access to the creators of upcoming releases
Fifth Journey has a co-working space at Blue Print in Taikoo Shing, but the company will have to find a bigger space to accommodate more people because the plan hatched by chief executive and founder Eric Tan Xuen Da is fast becoming a reality.
The company, founded last March, announced recently that three Hollywood studios – MGM, Lionsgate and Universal Pictures – have taken a minority stake in Fifth Journey. It is, according to the local game developer, the first time Hollywood has invested in an Asian mobile entertainment company.
Tan would not divulge how big the stake was, but added even “Hollywood celebrities”have expressed interest in investing in the company too.
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Fifth Journey is touted as a one-stop shop that doesn’t only offer free downloads of games and movie trailers but also allows users to buy merchandise and movie tickets through its mobile phone app. But most of all, it could become a profitable tool for film studios to recoup some of their production costs.
Mobile gaming can be hit or miss. There are thousands of games out there for smartphone users but only one in 10,000 makes it big, says Tan. But if it’s a hit, it’s like winning the jackpot. Candy Crush Saga developed by King.com, for instance, makes US$500-$800 million a year, says Tan, while Supercell’s Clash of Clans makes between US$2-$3 million a day.
Fifth Journey increases its chance of success by featuring characters from Hollywood blockbusters in its titles, which it sells to one of the biggest game markets in the world: China.
While there is a quota imposed on the number of Hollywood productions that can be screened on the mainland (34 titles a year), there is no such restriction for mobile games.