Looking in from the outside, it may seem like a simple and logical move for developers to make the transition from a social gaming platform to a mobile gaming platform. While this is true, it can often be a task that is easier said than done, with many companies failing in the past and others having many unsuccessful attempts before making the transition. Wooga is now a name that many users and mobile gaming industry professionals would be familiar with; however, that was not always the case.
Source: http://www.wooga.com/2013/07/publishing-new-games/
In a recent interview, Jens Begemann from Wooga revealed the stories behind their failed attempts and, more importantly, what they learnt from them, in order to succeed in the mobile gaming world. In social gaming, Wooga was well-known for Diamond Dash, Monster World and Bubble Island on Facebook. Jelly Splash was the company’s first real mark on the mobile gaming world, proving to be a huge success after its release in 2013, along with Pearl’s Peril, which has also helped Wooga to really take a stand across both iOS and Android platforms. A recent look into the company’s financials showed that mobile gaming revenue now makes up a whopping 70% of their total profits, doubling the figures from 2013.
So what’s the key to making the transition from social to mobile gaming? According to Jens Begemann, the team at Wooga believe that producing consecutive hits will enable them to maintain their success across the mobile gaming platform, with the hopes of creating two massive hits per year. Begemann also said that changing the way they create games has made a huge difference to making the transition a successful one. The team now creates an average of 40 games per year, however, through their harsh but necessary filtering process, only a handful of games will go through to the production stage, from the many prototypes.
Source: http://blog.games.com/2011/05/31/diamond-dash-wooga-24m-appatyze-rockyou/
If you are considering making the switch from social to mobile gaming, remember to re-evaluate your creation process at every step to ensure that your game is compatible for your new platform. If the team at Wooga have taught us anything, it’s that victory doesn’t come cheap and you’ll never succeed if you let a few setbacks stop you from achieving your dreams.
After 5+ years in development, we're excited ... 
