Appmodo Interviews Moblyng Games, Developers of m:Mafia

As the mobile games industry continues to expand rapidly, one company continues to gain market share across multiple platforms. Established in 2007, Moblyng Games has released titles for the Apple iPhone, Google Android, Palm Pre, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Nokia mobile platforms…basically everything that exists in the mobile gaming market.

We sat down with Stewart Putney, Founder and CEO of Moblyng Games, to discuss their experiences in cross platform development, the rise in competition from BlackBerry, Android and Palm, and the future of mobile gaming.

Company Name: Moblyng Games
Name: Stewart Putney
Title: Founder & CEO
Company URL: www.moblyng.com

Q: How do you think the iPhone has revolutionized the mobile phone industry?

Overall it was really the first mobile phone that really started to replace the PC for many needs – with truly user-friendly UI, strong email support, web browsing and applications the iPhone suddenly became many people’s primary computing device. The functionality of the iPhone has since become the standard all manufacturers have to live up to.

Q: How do you think the iPhone has revolutionized the portable gaming industry with contenders such as Sony and Nintendo?

The portable gaming industry is now much more open to developers of all sizes and has opened the mobile platform to social and casual games. It has also cut prices and margins dramatically.

Q: What separates your company from your competitors with mobile phone applications?

We use proprietary technology that allows us to build apps for the web, iPhone, Android, Palm Pre and Nokia from the same code base – we get our games to market faster and on more platforms. In casual games, speed to market is key.  It keeps clones at bay and provides high rankings in app stores. We had the first 3 “x-wars”-style games (m:Mafia, m:Vampire and Dungeon Quest) on Android and they are all top 25 casual games. They are great games- but getting them out early was very important as well. Long-term, we (and our partners) can develop more games in less time and for less money.

Q: What is your company background, size (employees, developers, etc), and company inspirations?

We were founded in 2007, have 18 employees (mostly software development), and we’re venture funded. Our goal is to be a leader in cross-platform game and social media development. While we develop titles, we are starting to work with partners to help them port existing or build new titles for all mobile platforms. There is a need and we think this will be a great business.

Q: Do you outsource any projects or development, if so, how much?

On core technology, no – all in house.

Q: Advancements in graphics and animations in the mobile phone industry have astronomically grown within the past couple of years. How much time does your company devote to graphical, animation, and sound production for mobile applications? Are there areas that you focus on?

Moblyng Games focuses on social/casual games because that is our background and our technology works best on this genre. We do not focus on graphically intense 3d games. That being said we find that good art, animation and sound are required for good titles- so we do invest in that area.

Q: How many applications has your company planned, developed, or created at any given time?

Since April, we have launched 4 titles (Poker Dice, m:Mafia, Dungeon Quest, m:Vampire) on Facebook, iPhone and Android. We are also launching in the Nokia OVI store. In real terms that is over 12 “SKUs” in 3 months. In the next 2 months we will be launching a poker title across multiple platforms and our products will begin launching on the Palm Pre.

Q: What do you think of the iPhone Operating System in comparison to other mobile platforms? Are Apple’s competitors finally producing a comparable product or has the iPhone already monopolized the niche market?

The iPhone has a great OS, but we find that both Android and WebOS (Palm Pre) are very strong platforms as well. A lot of Android phones are deploying later this year and Verizon will be supporting WebOS (along with RIM), so I think there will be real competition for the iPhone.

Q: Is your company currently developing for other mobile platforms, if so, which ones and why?

We develop for the web, iPhone, Android, Nokia series phones, and WebOS now. We are adding RIM?BlackBerry and Windows Mobile this fall.

Q: Marketing an application can be a very difficult task. With so many applications being developed and released on a daily basis, capturing user attention in an App Store is challenging. What have you found to be an effective way to market your products to users?

We’ve found that the best way to market mobile apps is to get out early, with a large catalog, and cross-promote games. Cross-promotion across a large catalog is key – just waiting for a hit is not a sustainable business. We built our technology with this challenge in mind. Great user reviews are the other source of traffic – so we build good games.

Q: Following the response above, what do you think of the store review process? Is it helping or hurting your business? What are some recommendations in order to speed up this process?

The iPhone app review process would benefit from more speed and transparency –but I think it is probably a very challenging environment to manage right now. The Android process is great – very fast. Overall, delays in approval can hurt, but I also value a platform that is well-run and I think app review does help ensure quality.

Q: What do you think about other application review websites? Are they effective at providing in-depth reviews of applications and helping market your products? Or does your company experience challenges of trying to find quality application websites? What do you think of Appmodo?

I think 3^rd party review sites provide a good guide and editorial voice. Blogs do this for all kinds of tech and it will soon be the same for apps. Sites like Appmodo are great – we want people to play our games!

Q: What are your thoughts on the App Store user reviews and the ability to monitor them?

They are great, but not always timely. We would also like the ability to publicly respond to some comments (just as eBay buyers and sellers do). I think it would be useful.

Q: What is your favorite application?

Other than our own (Dungeon Quest), I love Flight Control for my iPhone – it is a simple but perfect mobile game – a truly well-designed app that really fits the iPhone.

Q: What is your most popular application? Have you received any awards or achievements for that application?

Dungeon Quest is our most popular game across all platforms, but m:Mafia for Android is one of the top all-time casual games for Android (and it is only 2 months old) – we consider that an achievement not only for the game itself, but also a real validation of our technology platform.

Thank you Stewart Putney and Moblyng Games for your time!

Please post your comments, tips, and your own reviews below in the comments area!

Related Posts

1. Appmodo Interviews Fullpower Technologies, Developers of MotionX GPS
2. Appmodo Interviews Blue Fang Games, Developers of Lion Pride
3. Appmodo Interviews Artificial Life, Inc., Developers of iSoccer Backstreet
4. Appmodo Interviews StormBASIC, Developers of ZombieHunter and Ankagua3D
5. Moblyng Games Releases m:Mafia for Google Android G1 Phone