Tactile Entertainment wants to join Supercell, Rovio, and King as a Nordic mobile-gaming wonder (interview)

Above: Airheads Jump

Image Credit: Tactile Entertainment

GamesBeat: It looks like an endless jumper, a crowded category. Why is this particular game different?

Soendergaard: When competing in an established genre like jumping games, you need to bring something new to the table in order to stand out from the crowd. I believe that Airheads Jump does just that, both with our awesome visuals and by taking the gameplay to a new level. Our level-based approach allows us to offer a much more customized gameplay experience, something you don’t get from classics like Doodle Jump.

GamesBeat: How do you plan to market Airheads differently so that it might get noticed and succeed?

Soendergaard: The first step in any successful marketing plan is to have a great product. How it’s going to be received when it actually hits the market is always difficult to predict, but Crazy Labs’ help with various marketing and PR strategies on the publishing side will help us grow the initial loyal user base that is needed to launch with success.

GamesBeat: What is it about Crazy Labs that drew you to their publishing business? What makes them different from other publishers?

Soendergaard: The primary thing for us when deciding to work with Crazy Labs was that they understand and invest in the idea that the only way you can be successful in the current market is to make very high quality products that stand out both in terms of gameplay and visuals. I believe that Airheads Jump does exactly that. We have taken some well know gameplay elements and added our own secret sauce, while at the same time applying a very high degree of visual polish to the product.

GamesBeat: So what did you need from Crazy Labs? Financial or publishing support? Both?

Soendergaard: For a small team like ours, the primary motivation when going into a publishing relationship is getting the resources to give the proper attention to all the little things that are needed — besides producing the actual game itself. Considering the whole process of launching the game, Crazy Labs has been and will be a very valuable partner.

GamesBeat: Are you happy with the way business is going, or are there certain things you wish would improve, and how?

Soendergaard:From our perspective things are going very well. It is of course a crowded market, but in the end I think that high quality always win, and we have consistently delivered that. Sometimes you can get a little annoyed when you see yet another Flappy Bird clone in the top rankings, but I also have a strong belief that this will pass, and in the end high quality products will stand out and allow real businesses to thrive.

GamesBeat: What’s your view on the state of the industry?

Soendergaard: Looking at the mobile/tablet gaming scene over the last 12 months, it is becoming even more evident that revenue distribution is becoming increasingly skewed, with fewer games taking a larger chunk of the overall business. Nothing comes easily now, you need to have all the bases covered when it comes to both production and marketing. Although the approach from a process point of view is completely different from console games, the scope of mobile games will only continue to grow in the future.

GamesBeat: What are the hot trends in mobile games?

Soendergaard: I would love to be able to tell you the next big trend! In many ways I think that the mobile platform is beginning to be so mature now that we are seeing a more stable market in terms of new content. With so many games out there, many gameplay concepts have been tried already in the mobile marketplace, and we’re starting to see production quality and marketing muscle become the dominant factors for success. So we will see much less innovation in the gameplay itself. I think this is very similar to the creative content cycle any gaming platform has gone through in the past. The major difference between the current situation with mobile and other gaming platforms in the past is the scale and potential that mobile has in reaching such a massive audience.