Cyprus-based mobile game publisher AppQuantum is making a name for itself. Over the past three years, it has published a series of successful idle games, including Gold & Goblins, Idle Lumber Empire, and Idle Outpost. Early in 2024, AppQuantum further expanded its portfolio by taking over the publishing of Legend of Slime from its original developer, LoadComplete (which still owns and operates the game).
One successful mobile launch in this market is already a job well done; three breakout hits is remarkable. Moreover, AppQuantum is a mobile publisher, not a developer. So when traditional mobile free-to-play wisdom says to self-publish, how are companies such as AppQuantum, SayGames, and Habby all succeeding with a co-development publisher model? Let’s unpack AppQuantum first, before examining mobile publishing in general.
AppQuantum’s Origins
Overnight success is rarely truly overnight. AppQuantum has been working with idle games since 2018 and has released more than 50 titles. The founders’ history goes back even further: Before AppQuantum, there was AdQuantum, a marketing agency founded in 2013. AdQuantum’s founders, led by Evgeny Maurus, went on to found AppQuantum in 2017. Maurus had previously founded Russian gaming site gameguru.ru in the early 2000s.
AppQuantum’s first small success came in 2018 with Idle Evil Clicker, developed by Russian studio Red Machine. Dragon Champions, a mobile RPG developed internally by AppQuantum, followed in 2019. But AppQuantum’s real breakthrough came with Gold & Goblins, an idle merge game developed by Canada-based Redcell Games. Released in 2020, the game steadily scaled up through 2021 and was followed by Idle Lumber Empire in 2021. The latter game was developed by Vietnamese studio NoPowerup, a team better known for developing hypercasual games for various publishers.
As mentioned above, in January this year, AppQuantum became the publisher of LoadComplete's idle game, Legend of Slime. By the time news of the deal hit the industry, AppQuantum was already working on its next hit, Idle Outpost by Armenian studio Rockbite Games. Rockbite’s take on eatventure-like idle games was still scaling up earlier in the summer.
Technically, some of these games were, until recently, published by fellow Cypriot company Game Veterans, which is likely a front organization for AppQuantum. Earlier this year, AppQuantum officially acquired Game Veterans and took over its portfolio, including Idle Lumber Empire and Idle Outpost.
The Fundamental Problem of Mobile Publishing
One of the core challenges in mobile game publishing — that is, companies publishing without internal development — is simply finding viable games to publish. Historically, a mobile game studio that can self-publish, should self-publish. This leaves publishers in an awkward position: The only games available are those that struggle to meet performance metrics.
Publishers in general have moved away from strictly publishing and more toward a co-development model, meaning the publisher gets involved at an earlier stage, sometimes even providing the concept and product direction. This seems to be the case with incumbent publishers such as SayGames, Habby, and Azur Games.
AppQuantum’s approach is similar. Success factors include a clear genre focus: All its recent hits are idle games. Focus is not only a good idea, it’s a necessity. Great product people are few and far between, and no one is a master in more than one or two genres. In addition, genre focus enables sharing best practices between live games on more than just the surface level.
At a glance, no singular aspect sets AppQuantum’s co-developed successes — Gold & Goblins, Idle Lumber Empire, and Idle Outpost — apart from the competition. What makes them exceptional is the high level of execution on all fronts. From the core game concept and art style to the progression systems, ad creatives, and the live event and monetization templates, every aspect has been developed with great care. You will not find crazy new game mechanics here; instead, you will find unsexy but profitable operational excellence.
Why Mobile Publishing is Making a Comeback
Publishers on mobile are becoming more and more important, and there are several reasons for this. First, it’s harder for game studios to receive venture capital funding, making self-publishing more difficult. Second, the costs of developing and operating games have significantly increased. Third, Apple’s privacy update, which resulted in developers losing access to granular targeting, significantly increased the barrier to entry for small and mid-sized developers.
All in all, the market for new games is now so brutal that new releases cannot afford any weaknesses. In the past, a slightly flawed game could find a niche audience and thrive. That world is no more.
Ultimately, there really is no secret sauce. It all comes down to great execution at every level. Success comes from great games fine-tuned into great products and marketed by great ad creatives. It’s as simple and as difficult as that.
With product launch success rates as low as they are today, every strategy to improve them matters. Exceptional and fresh gameplay ideas are often born out of the efforts of small developers. Perhaps in a perfect scenario, AppQuantum — and other specialized publishers — can help those developers strengthen the areas where their games fall short.
(Editor’s note: Naavik also supports mobile teams on game design, live ops, monetization, marketing, and more. Reach out here if you wish to explore how we can work together.)
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