First Twitter, now Candy Crush King. So who ISN'T 'filing a secret IPO'? King.com, the Brit mobile gaming firm behind the smash-hit amusement Candy Crush Saga, has reportedly filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US. A well-placed source told Reuters that the company responsible for the sweetie swap-and-match distraction has submitted to watchdogs its confidential paperwork to go public …
Not really. It's transparently luck-based after about level 80, and the more luck-based the level the more King charge for additional moves. Most levels are 69p, but the ones where you have to get super-lucky are £1.49.
King have also tried deceiving players into thinking they have to pay or ask friends to access levels past 35 by hiding the daily quests when you're logged into Facebook, and tricked them into using boosters that cost money by automatically turning them on so they get wasted on trivial early levels. A militantly dishonest company.
There's a difference between offering micro-transactions for things that make the game easier and deliberately deceiving your customers into thinking they have to pay to play. The Facebook log-out option that you need to even know the Mystery Quests exist has been hidden behind two levels of menus then tucked away offscreen at the bottom of a list.
Also, Angry Birds and countless other games let you play for free or pay for an ad-free version. Rovio aren't losing money.
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