Mango Games, Developing Social Games for the Global Market
Social games – The phenomenon
It is common knowledge that playing games of any sort with friends is adored and cherished by people. Technology has allowed us to employ this knowledge in the virtual world with the use of virtual games, the internet and a social media platform with your friends in it: Social games. Simple flash games have made billion dollar companies because of the facility to play with and share game related details with a friend on the social media platform.
India has been a major destination for outsourced work, especially for games. India is also known for testing games. Over the years, India has acquired sufficient knowledge in the field of game development. Though there is a fair bit of catching up to do in the field of bigger stand-alone games, there is a sufficient knowledge base in area of small flash based social game development in India. With this experience, there is an Indian company, which has entered the social gaming sphere and claims to have a global reach: Mango Games.
Mango games is an India based company which develops and publishes social games. Started in 2011, this Silicon Valley VC funded company is made up of specifically hand-picked game development talent so as to ensure top quality in the games that it publishes.
When asked about the factors that will set Mango games apart from its competitors, the CEO of the company, Mr Charandeep Hattar, said “End users are very important for a business like ours. We are happy to say that our biggest distinguisher is our knowledge of our audiences likes and dislikes. Based on this fact we are creating games which people find relevant as well as engaging. Creating localized gaming content is the need of the hour and we at Mango Games are doing just that.”
A realistic entry in the social game market
From what we could gather, Mango Games is following the industry norm and is not aiming to revolutionise the industry with innovation. Their revenue model is based on the freemium model i.e., their revenue is from sale of virtual goods and services which is what most social games follow.
Having said that, the company has enjoyed over 150,000 game installs on Facebook since its inception is quite a popular in the social gamer’s circuit and their user base is expanding rapidly.
A mobile future
We asked Mr. Charandeep Hattar about the future of the company, and his answer was exactly on the lines of the industry leaders: Mobility.
He said “The future of Gaming is Mobile and we at Mango games are incorporating this into our core gameplay offering. Smartphones, Tablets and other Android based devices are on our roadmap and we are working on developing a very strong presence across these platforms by the end of this financial year.”
All the right signs
Everything of this startup seems right. From their pragmatic strategy to their initial results to the future plans, this is a company that knows what they’re doing and what they want to be. If this becomes a successful venture as it promises to be, it will cement India’s place in the league of the world’s social gaming giants. Let’s see what future has in store for them and the gaming industry! We wish them all the very best.
Author: Raghu Mohan