原文作者：Jon Jordan 译者：Megan Shieh

Glu Mobile已经成立了15年之久，而且又处于急速变化的游戏行业中，因此会在业务方向上作出改变也没什么好惊讶的。

从Java和Brew到Appstore和Google Play，从付费下载到F2P，从好莱坞电影IP授权到洛杉矶明星IP授权，Glu Mobile制作的游戏类型发生了翻天覆地的变化，与此同时，该公司的研发技术以及业务模式也在跟着改变。

在此期间，该企业本身也经历了许多起起落落，但有一点是毋庸置疑的，那就是Glu Mobile目前在走上坡路。

glu mobile bookings（from pocketgamer.biz）

从Glu Mobile近几年的收入波动来看，我们可以把该公司的起伏分为三个转型阶段，而最后一次转型则是由两款特殊的游戏“无意中”导致的。

传统业务

在网页游戏时代，Glu Mobile曾被标榜为欧美地区的“3D免费手游领导者”，直至2014年，这个名号仍然当之无愧。

2010年的时候，该公司开始从付费下载全力转向F2P游戏模式，Glu Mobile此前制作的高端3D游戏主要的服务对象是青年男性，题材多为射击或者冷兵器格斗。

《Gun Bros》或许是当时最好的例子，但是除此之外，该公司还制作过许多其他的射击游戏，比如《火线指令（Frontline Commando）》系列、《杀手（Contract Killer）》系列、《永恒战士》系列、《血之荣耀》系列，以及《猎鹿人》系列游戏。

的确，这些老业务仍旧是该公司现今收入的重要组成部分，比如《Racing Rivals》以及《MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2017》仍然占据Glu Mobile年收入的三分之一。

不过到了2014年六月，《金·卡戴珊：好莱坞》的发布改变了这一切。

明星改编类游戏

其实该公司此前就已经发布过两款玩法相近的手游，分别是《Stardom：The A-List》和《Stardom：Hollywood》，虽然做的也不错，但是由于没有明星效应加持，因此玩的人并不多。

《金·卡戴珊：好莱坞》的发布带来了超过2亿美元的终身收入。尝到了甜头以后，Glu Mobile就停不下来了。该公司开始投入大量的现金签下了一堆的明星，发布了多款明星改编类游戏，可是却根本没赚到钱。

一个比较明智的投资是在2014年收购了《Diner Dash》的开发商Playfirst，当时的交易估值为1600万美元，最终为Glu Mobile带来了两款成功的游戏。分别是模拟养成类手游《Cooking Dash》和明星改编类的《Restaurant Dash：Gordon Ramsay》，两款游戏的收入总额目前超过了1亿美元。

到了这个阶段，Glu Mobile已经把焦点全面转向明星改编业务了。然而，如果整个公司仅仅依赖于这些业务的话，那么它估计就会陷入困境了。

家居生活类游戏

和许多在2000年代末成立的初创公司一样，到了2016年，总部位于旧金山的Crowdstar工作室已经消耗了大量的创业资金(4900万美元)，并且从Facebook游戏转向了的移动游戏，尽管更换了业务平台，但该公司却仍旧坚持自己最初擅长的领域——女性向游戏。

和《金·卡戴珊：好莱坞》一样，在被收购之前，Crowdstar最成功的游戏《Covet Fashion》的主要收入也是来自女性市场，这款游戏也给Crowdstar带来了4800万美元的年收入。

然而实际上该公司却不是很赚钱，在设计类游戏《Design Home》的开发即将完结的时候，Crowdstar的管理层和投资者似乎出现了分歧。

其中的细节我们不得而知。但我们知道的是，当Glu Mobile在2015年11月以超低价（4550万美元）收购了Crowdstar之后，它的首席执行官Jeff Tseng并没有随着公司加入Glu Mobile。

在收购了Crowdstar之后的12个月里，《Covet Fashion》和《Design Home》两款游戏给Glu Mobile带来了1.1亿美元的收入，后者贡献了其中的64%。但值得注意的是，该公司也为《Design Home》投入了超过3000万美元的市场营销成本。

总结

Glu Mobile如今的业务由三个主要部分组成：传统业务、明星改编类游戏、生活家居类游戏。

每个类型都有几款主要的游戏为公司带来收入，然而生活家居类手游无疑是其收入的主要贡献者，该领域是公司中增长最快，发展空间最大的业务。

抛开未来不谈，该公司在收入方面已经达到了历史高峰，并且期待在2018年实现真正盈利。但从另一方面来看，Glu Mobile似乎自2014年以后就没有真正赚过钱。

这种情况似乎有点讽刺，当Glu Mobile在做男性向射击游戏的时候，它的目标非常明确，但是却没赚多少钱。在做明星改编类游戏的时候，它的愿景发生了180度大转变，但是却可以带来增长和收益，然而却不够维持生计。

现在，该公司的主要业务又鬼使神差地发生了改变。

我们几乎都可以说Glu Mobile现在做的不是游戏，因为《Covet Fashion》、《Design Home》和《The Swift Life》实际上都算是带有IAP的社交软件，基本上处于“游戏”定义的边缘。

但是Glu Mobile目前正在经历前所未有的成功，因此是不是游戏又有多大关系？

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Given Glu Mobile has been around for more than 15 years, it’s no surprise the company has experienced some changes along the way.

From Java and Brew to App Store and Google Play, from paid to F2P, from licensing Hollywood movie IP to…. well, licensing LA celebrity IP, the types of mobile games Glu makes have changed radically, just like the technology and business models.

The company’s had plenty of corporate ups and downs too, but it’s certainly on the up now.

If you look at a graph of how its revenue has fluctuated over the years, there in a nutshell, you’ve got a story of the three stages of Glu Mobile, which has been transformed, almost accidentally, by two games.

A flower for every rifle

If you look closely at its web presence, you will still find Glu Mobile labelled as “The leader in 3D freemium mobile gaming”, and until 2014 that was a pretty good description of what the company did.

Switching aggressively from paid to F2P games from 2010, Glu made high-end 3D games for young male players that typically involved shooting guns or swinging sharp objects.

Gun Bros was perhaps the best example, but there were plenty of others: the Frontline Commando series, the Contract Killer series, theEternity Warrior series, the Blood & Glory series etc. The legacy continues in its Deer Hunters games.

Indeed, what we could now label ‘Old (Manly) Glu’ is still part of the company today, with games such as Racing Rivals and MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2017 - to be joined by a new WWE game in 2018 – accounting for around a third of annual revenues.

This all changed in June 2014, with the release ofKim Kardashian: Hollywood.

Making U a star

The first of Glu’s celebrity-licensed titles, it was technically the third release in its Stardom series of lifestyle games designed for young women. The first two - Stardom: The A-List and Stardom: Hollywood - were decent enough but without a celebrity to power them, they didn’t find any audience.

The success of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood - which has generated over $200 million in lifetime revenues – ultimately led Glu into a cul-de-sac, though. There it wasted large amounts of cash signing deals with celebrities to release branded games that didn’t make any money at all.

A much better investment was the acquisition of Diner Dash developer Playfirst, also in 2014. This deal, which was valued at $16 million, has resulted in two successful games. Combined, the Cooking Dashfranchise and celebrity spin-off Restaurant Dash: Gordon Ramsay have generated over $100 million in revenue to-date.

Yet when we combine the revenues from ‘Old Manly Glu’, which what we might label ‘Celebrity Glu’, it’s clear the company would be in big trouble if that was all it consisted of.

Instead, the catalyst for the company’s current position is – what in retrospect – looks like the deal of the century.

Seller’s remorse

As with many startups formed in the late 2000s, by 2016 San Francisco-based Crowdstar had burned through plenty of VC cash ($49 million) and pivoted from Facebook to mobile. But it had remained true to its original goal, making games for girls and women.

Indeed, like Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Crowdstar’s most successful release, Covet Fashion, had underlined the significance and value of the female market. It also generated the bulk of Crowdstar’s $48 million in annual revenue.

The company wasn’t profitable, however, and with new interior design ‘game’ Design Home due out, it appears there was a disagreement between the company’s executives and its investors.
It’s not clear what this was about, only Glu Mobile acquired Crowdstar in November 2016 for the incredibly low price of $45.5 million and that CEO Jeff Tseng didn’t transfer over.

And the rest is history. In the 12 months since Glu acquired Crowdstar, Covet Fashion and Design Home have generated over $110 million in revenue, with Design Home accounting for 64 percent, although it should be pointed out Glu has also spent over $30 million marketing Design Home.

Pulling a 180

Which brings us neatly back to the three parts of Glu’s business.

Each has its place, and each can point to a strong performance in terms of key titles. Yet what we can call ‘Lifestyle Glu’ is clearly the most important, the fastest growing, and the sector still with the highest growth potential, especially when you consider The Swift Life, Glu’s social network with Taylor Swift, is due out later in 2017.

Even ignoring the future, the company has already hit an all-time high in terms of its revenue and expects to become profitable in 2018. To put that into context, Glu hasn’t posted a profitable year since 2014, and hasn’t even posted a profitable quarter in the past two years.

And perhaps that’s the irony of the situation.

When it was making shooting games for guys, Glu had a very strong vision of what it wanted to do but couldn’t generate growth or profits. When it was making celebrity games, it had a radically different vision and could generate growth and profits, but not sustain them.

Now, the vision has changed once again, almost accidentally.

It could even be argued Glu isn’t making games anymore. CertainlyCovet Fashion, Design Home and The Swift Life - really a social network with IAPs – stretch the definition of what a game is close to breaking.

But given it’s never been more successful, frankly who cares? （pocketgamer.biz ）