For the thousands of you reading this, perhaps while just having received an extra life in Candy Crush, it may come as some surprise that the mobile/online game of the year was awarded by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to Pretty Simple’s hidden-object game Criminal Case. Whether you’re guilty of playing that clickity-clack matching game or simply see people playing all the time, you’re right to think that a travesty may have been committed.
Game of the year
Today, saw the complete Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) game of the year list released, and it went to the French indie studio Pretty Simple. The list was put together based numerous factors including: the amount of daily and monthly users, player ratings, commercial success and Facebook’s opinions.
“The game maintains the highest possible player ratings for quality,” Dan Morris, head of North American games partnerships for the social network, told CNET of Criminal Case. “It’s the hallmark of a top quality game … and [Pretty Simple] succeeded in inventing a really new experience on the platform.”
Though Criminal Case doesn’t have the nearly 500 million monthly users that Candy Crush boasts, its 100 million monthly active users combined with the aforementioned criteria, took the prize for the year.
“Pretty Simple came from out of nowhere,” Morris added.
“I don’t think anyone has any doubts or concerns about the success or importance of Candy Crush,” he said. “It truly goes without saying. But what we had hoped to do in the specific case of Pretty Simple and Criminal Case is to make sure that they’re getting some well-deserved attention.”
If you think this a tragedy, don’t shed a tear for Candy Crush its maker King. The company is debating the merits of an initial public offering next year. The exploratory committee they have formed to look into this potential windfall is almost solely rooted in the success of its match-3 game. Facebook magnanimously awarded the game honorable mention on its list of “Hall of Fame” apps.
Facebook gaming
While Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) makes the bulk of its money from advertising, actually an overwhelming amount of money from ads, games keep people coming back to the social network each month. Games themselves make Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) very little directly, but people who play games daily allow Facebook to price their advertising considerably higher.
The remainder of the list is presented in its entirety below:
Game of the Year 2013
- Criminal Case (by Pretty Simple)
Best New Games of 2013
- Bake Shop Drop (by Broken Bulb Studios)
- Farm Heroes Saga (by King)
- Heart of Vegas (by Product Madness/Aristocrat)
- Hit It Rich Casino Slots (by Zynga)
- Jelly Splash (by Wooga)
- Kitchen Scramble (by Playdom/Disney Interactive)
- Monster Legends (by Social Point)
- Smurfs & Co.: Spellbound (by Ubisoft)
- Soldiers Inc. (by Plarium)
- Solitaire Tales (by Qublix)
- Thunder Run War of Clans (by SpinPunch Games)
- Vikings Gone Wild (by EveryDayiPlay)
Staff Favorites
- DoubleU Casino (by AFewGoodSoft)
- Game of Thrones Ascent (by Disruptor Beam)
- King’s Bounty Legions (by Nival)
- Panda Jam (by SGN)
- Wartune (by Road7/Proficient City)
- War Commander (by Kixeye)
2013 Hall of Fame
- Candy Crush Saga (by King)
- FarmVille 2 (by Zynga)
- Slotomania (by Playtika/Caesar’s Interactive)
- DoubleDown Casino (by DoubleDown Interactive/IGT)
