Two former Z2 Live executive are forming a new consulting company. Kevin Flynn and Adam Flanders will team up as Mobile Game Partners (MGP) to provide developers with an alternative to traditional game publishing.
King Digital Entertainment just acquired Z2 Live for up to $150 million. But these two guys won’t be going along for that ride.
Under Mobile Game Partners’ plan, developers won’t have to share a big chunk of their revenue with their publisher. MGP said it operates under a success-based model and only receives payment when it meets the goals of the developer.
The company will represent a developer’s interests to all major platforms and handle business development and marketing. They will also help developers on user acquisition, App Store optimization, and other tasks.
The consultancy is already working with developers Ember Entertainment, Pixelberry Studios, Zhurosoft, and Uken Studios. The company said it has helped those developers reach millions of users.
Flanders formerly worked at Glu Mobile, THQ Wireless, and Z2, while Flynn worked at both Kabam and Z2 (where he was most recently senior vice president of business development and marketing). They founded the company to enable developers who don’t need a full publisher but can still benefit from custom services that are typically handled by publishers — a much lower cost.
“There are so many incredible mobile games out there in development right now that, with the right launch strategy and marketing, have an opportunity to be successful. That is what inspired us to start MGP. The best part: We get to share our industry knowledge and relationships with developers so that they can focus on making a great game and not on giant revenue splits and overhead costs,” said Kevin Flynn, cofounder of MGP, in a statement.
MGP helps launch games and enables developers to reach global audiences. In the process, the developer retains control of the intellectual property and key aspects of payments and analytics. And MGP only gets paid when the developer succeeds.
“In our experience working with developers of various sizes, we noticed that many just didn’t fit into the traditional publishing model, but at the same time, still wanted help in certain areas or didn’t want to launch a game by themselves,” MGP cofounder Adam Flanders said in a statement. “We saw an opportunity to provide developers with an option that wasn’t readily available and look forward to helping launch even more successful games.”
At Kabam, Flynn helped spearhead the mobile publishing group as it launched hits such as Kingdoms of Camelot and Dragons of Atlantis.