Germany’s Handy Games chief dives into wearable game design

Above: Chris Kassulke, CEO of Handy Games, holds a Google Cardboard device.

Image Credit: Dean Taakahshi

GamesBeat: What’s your view of the top-grossing games right now, like Clash of Clans or Candy Crush Saga?

Kassulke: I respect them. Most of those guys are good friends of ours. We know them from the past. I’ve known Ilkka for 12 years, I think. But it won’t be good for us to keep seeing the same charts for two or three years. Consumers want to see some change. It’s like seeing the same Madonna single at the top of the charts week after week. It’s boring.

People are going to have to find other ways of promoting their games. That’s what we’re seeing at the moment. Everyone’s trying to figure out new ways of getting downloads.

GamesBeat: There isn’t really enough reward for innovation if the same companies dominate the charts.

Kassulke: Innovation needs time, and more important, it needs money. If the money is only going to two or three companies, that can be dangerous. But that’s what happened in the PC and console markets. For us, we always have big opportunities in niche markets. Those niche markets could be the big markets of the near future. It’s always about innovation. We’ve seen a lot of companies come and go over the last 15 years. You need to have sustainability in the market and learn from your experience.

Above: Three of Handy Games’ biggest mobile game hits.

Image Credit: Handy Games

GamesBeat: What do you think you’ve learned in those 15 years that somebody just coming over to mobile from console games hasn’t learned yet?

Kassulke: A lot? Quality is still the same issue. If you don’t provide a quality game on mobile, it won’t work here either. But business models are a big challenge for everyone coming from PC and console. They’re still in the paid market, thinking about traditional box-office numbers. We’re doing games as a service.

Also, on the innovation side, you have to be open-minded to every new platform that comes up. That’s different from what you’ve learned on console, where you know it’s coming two years in advance and you develop on that platform for five more years after. In the mobile space, every year something really disruptive comes along. You need to be on that. You need to be thinking about smart wearables somehow. VR is the next big topic, and mobile is part of that.

GamesBeat: What are the next few things you have on your road map?

Kassulke: Last week we shipped three new titles for smart watches. We’re coming up with a lot of new titles for the older mobile platforms. We have a sequel to Clouds & Sheep, one of our best-selling titles. That’s what I think will make more sense moving into VR or smart watches, combining those new platforms with spin-offs from successful titles. We also have a lot of new experiments in new genres.

GamesBeat: How many people do you have now?

Kassulke: We have 65, all based in Germany. We’re still completely privately financed. That’s a key reason we’re still here. 15 years with an investor, that would be a hell of a ride.