The DeanBeat: Will Hollywood brands bring salvation from the rising cost of acquiring mobile gamers?

Mobile games based on movies, TV shows, and other brands are hot in the world of mobile games. Those licensed properties can help lift a mobile game out of a sea of titles in the app stores. They can also reduce the cost of user acquisition, since the brands are recognizable and can spread in a viral way, rather than through paid acquisition. Or so the thinking goes.

So many of these licensed games are coming out that it feels like movie and TV games are where social casino games were more than a year ago: the overhyped category of the moment. In just the last few weeks, we’ve seen mobile games based on Night at the Museum, Astro Boy, and Game of Thrones. Reliance Games and Kabam are specializing in making movie-based games, and a lot of other game companies are going Hollywood. And if they’re not going Hollywood, they’re chasing after brands like Garfield, sports teams, and toys.