Project Spotlight: India Exclusive Version of Jetpack Joyride

Just a few of many character designs CAH helped bring to life

An industry worth just under a billion dollars with about 500 million mobile gamers is patiently waiting for its next big hit. Yes, we’re talking about India. It comes in second place in the number of downloaded apps, just after China.  However, the Indian market doesn’t yet monetize well. Why?  Arpita Kapoor, CEO of Mech Mocha, says:  “The main reason being the consumption patterns of Indian gamers: byte-sized payments through sachet pricing of goods instead of large investments”  

India is a massive opportunity for game developers. Our Bengaluru based client, Mech Mocha believes that a proven games with the right IP is what’s needed to win in this unique and under-tapped market. Mech Mocha partnered with Halfbrick to bring their game of 2 million daily active users and half a billion downloads, Jetpack Joyride, and made an Indian exclusive version. The game has been out for just a few days, but it already has half a million downloads and broke into top 5 games on all stores. It looks like great things await this game.

Concept Art House is very proud to have been chosen to develop many assets that now define the look and feel of the game. We are incredibly excited to see this game continue to top charts and win hearts of millions of Indian players!

Mech Mocha is set to make big things. They have been helping other studios localize games, but they still call themselves developers and publishers at heart. With a talented team and inspiring leadership, they have all necessary ingredients to leave a mark in this promising market. We are incredibly excited to see this game continue to top charts and hope to remain a part of that journey.

Industry in Numbers - Yearly Report by XDS

External Development Summit or XDS is one the biggest gaming conferences that focuses exclusively on service providers in the fields of art, engineering, sound, animation, QA and localization. Year after year, they put together a report on industry trends based on data from about 180 professionals. We decided to take a look at some of the most interesting results from this year's report.

September 5-7, 2018. Save the date!

The information comes straight from industry veterans (85% of professionals who participated have been in the industry for over 10 years). The same percentage of people foresees a growth in the following years in the demand for external help. Additionally, ¾ of all external services are art focused, so it doesn’t surprise that most of the attendees come from this space.

Some of trends are just a continuation of what we’ve been seeing for years, such as the rise of mobile gaming. The games we’re seeing on the small screens are looking better than ever. We at CAH have worked on quite a few AAA mobile titles such as Arena of Valor, Marvel: Contest of Champions, Injustice 2 and such. It’s safe to say the difference in quality between different platforms is narrowing down to nothing.

Splash screen CAH did for Tencent's Arena of Valor

One of the opening splash screens for Contest of Champions

Another interesting shift is doing more and more work for enterprise (non-game) businesses. In 2017, these types of clients made up less than 1% of the clientele, while in 2018 the number is 9%, which is higher than MOBA titles, Facebook/Social games and Casino games. This seems to be a space to look out for in the future years.

Lastly, we were happy to see that 86% of developers/publishers who participated in the survey are seeing higher demand for service providers in their company. There is an optimistic feeling about this growth happening in art in particular, which leaves as excited to see how the rest of this eventful year will play out for our industry.

You can read about the full report here.

CAH will be sending our delegates to XDS again this year at the Parq Vancouver. Thanks to Chris Wren, Jason Harris, Alex Stein, Kassi O'Conor and many others for putting this wonderful conference together for all of us service providers.  See you in September!

GamesBeat Summit 2018 Here We Come

We’ve hardly had time to catch a breath after GDC and we’re already getting ready for the next big gathering - GamesBeat Summit 2018. As a part of the gaming community, our appreciation for VentureBeat’s contribution to the knowledge base is great. It is the place where a vast part of the industry catches up on the most relevant news in gaming and we at CAH are no different. This year’s theme “Better games. Better business.” promises to spark relevant conversations and provide insights in major industry trends.

Having our founder and CEO, James Zhang, as an advisory board member and a frequent speaker on this conference means it has a very special place in our yearly calendars.

If you plan on visiting Mill Valley during the conference, make sure to drop us a line. James will be more than happy to have a chat and answer any questions.

GDC 2018 - You've Been Great

GDC - a single week in March that reminds us how fortunate we are to be in this industry. Impressions might be countless, but here’s a list of our top 5 moments that made GDC 2018 a memorable one.

1. Creating meaningful connections

Every year we look forward to the opportunity to deepen our relationship with clients and friends. We hosted over 50 meetings at our office, attended dozens of talks, shared numerous meals and drinks with industry professionals. Being able to show off our latest work to our clients and see their reactions is endlessly rewarding.

2. Parties and happy hours

When it comes to GDC evening hours, it is all fun and games… literally. We had a pleasure of hosting a party for over 200 friends and colleagues at a beautiful downtown venue. The food was plentiful and drinks were flowing as we chatted away with some of the most creative minds in the industry.

There are more parties than one could count, but this year we visited our friends from Scopely, Fig, Microsoft, Ringling College of Art and Design, Unity, Pocket Gems, Zynga, Vector Unit, and more. Yes, it took some extra hydrating over the weekend, but we wouldn’t change a thing.

3. Latest and greatest in gaming

In the domain of visual arts, the most notable novelties come from Unreal engine that demonstrated jaw dropping ray tracing technology. Epic games also demonstrated real time digital human that is set to be a precedent in computer graphics.

Oculus made quite a statement coming out with their wireless headset affordable to many enthusiasts, Ubisoft announced further expansion, and the number of new games ready to hit the market is seemingly infinite. We’re beyond excited to see it all unfold.

4. Conversation sparked and lessons learned

This year we were made sure that VR is still doing well, with a lot of people working on new content and technology. It transitioned from a novelty to a standalone pillar.

Blockchain has stepped into gaming in a big way. A lot was said about introducing blockchain based assets to players. Another widely discussed topic was potential organizing of US based gaming professionals into unions. Both of these subjects are extremely current and relevant with high potential impact on our community.

5.And of course… The show floor!

At the end of the day, this is what it’s all about. Epic Games and Unreal engine made a big statement with a giant booth with people tirelessly playing Fortnite (while others were riding mechanical bulls mere feet away) which was streamed all around. It was quite a spectacle.

Another highlight was a VR game Creed: Ride to the Glory that had a full on boxing ring on the expo floor where visitors could see how they would do as Rocky Balboa’s trainer Adonis Creed. The line to try the game was long, but well worth the wait.

And there we have it. We at CAH are looking forward to all the projects and collaborations that sparked during the busy conference days. If you haven’t had a chance to say hi last week feel free to send us an email, we are more than happy to answer any questions.

Another Freakin’ Great Game by Jam City

“CAH team helped us tremendously in nailing the distinct humor and look of Family Guy: Another Freakin' Mobile Game. Their ability to follow directions while consistently meeting deadlines and delivering top notch work is why we continue to work together year after year.” - M.P., Lead Artist, Jam City

Shortly after its release, Family Guy: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game managed to get on the top 100 grossing list in 11 countries. The fourth installment from Jam City is so much more than just another match 3 game, perhaps because the narrative is created while closely working with the writers on the Family Guy production team. That keeps the humor recognizable and edgy, just the way fans like it.

We at CAH have had the pleasure to work on this project. Our artists helped create dozens of world maps as well as screen backgrounds and icons.

Background and world maps CAH did for Jam City

Alongside these, Concept Art House was tasked with creating the 3D gems which are the main focus of the gameplay.

3D gems created by Concept Art House

Many of these were directly inspired by scenes from the show, so true fans will easily recognize them. The game has 4.5/5 star rating on both App Store and Google Play where a lot of people emphasize just how engaging the game is.

• “Play at your own risk. This game is highly addictive.”

• “This game is quite the wild ride as far as match 3 games go.”

Jam City has firmly established itself in casual mobile gaming especially after introducing more IPs to their work such as Futurama, Snoopy and Avengers.

So, if you want to join the ride, make sure to download the game:

CAH Joins the Black Panther Euphoria

Opening splash screen by Concept Art House

Marvel Studios continues to get the world pumped and we are enjoying the ride!  By now you should have already seen the movie Black Panther, so let’s sum up the impressions and choose sides.

Concept Art House was proud to get involved in the Marvel magic through working with Kabam on their game Marvel: Contest of Champions. They have just introduced a new villain to the Battlerealm - none other than Killmonger, just one day before Black Panther hit the big screens.

Killmonger teaser by Concept Art House

Catch some Killmonger tips and tricks in an interview that Marvel published just last week. Here the artists behind the game share exclusive tidbits about the game and its connection to the Black Panther movie.

Even though this is the latest bit of marketing art we did for Contest of Champions, it is just a part of what we did for Kabam and Marvel. So keep an eye out for more!

We are very proud to have our art as the first images the player sees when launching the game.  It’s an exciting time for Black Panther fans, and we had a blast working on it.

Wallpaper Art by Concept Art House

Play Marvel: Contest of Champions!  It’s available on both iOS and Android.

Project Spotlight: Choices

“CAH’s artists continue to bring our characters to life with their incredible art talents and understanding of our game. We’re pleased with their exceptional art deliverables across all our genres – from romance to fantasy.”  - S.L. Art Producer, Pixelberry

One of our favorite projects to work on over the past 2+ years has been Choices: Stories You Play, by Pixelberry, a game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The company was founded by former EA engineers and recently acquired by Nexon.  (Congrats, guys!) 

Pixelberry’s first hit game was High School Story, which not only became the industry inspiration for the story/RPG genre, but also went on to make a huge impact on tackling an important social issue - bullying among teenagers.

Images from Appstore

In early summer 2016, Pixelberry published Choices: Stories You Play - a highly engaging visual novel that became a standard in its category.  Choices is consistenly ranked top 25 grossing in both Apple and Google appstores and has been featured as Editors’ Choice games on both platforms.

Art and character designs by Concept Art House

Since then, Concept Art House has been delivering character designs, illustrations, and marketing art to Choices: Stories You Play.  Under Pixelberry’s art direction, our artists were tasked to design and illustrate believable and memorable characters to make each story immersive and enjoyable.

You can download Choices: Stories You Play on Apple or Android devices and share your thoughts with us on Twitter.

Happy New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai!

It might just be the biggest annual party in the world—the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year. Today, over 1.5 billion Chinese, Vietnamese, and Koreans around the world are celebrating the arrival of their New Year according to the traditional lunar calendar.

2018 is the Year of the Dog and its characteristic word is Action! Chinese astrologers predict that 2018 will be a year of hope, filled with dialogue that helps cultures achieve solidarity and reject indifference, which feels highly relevant in our current political and social climate. 

In games, Blizzard took center stage as Overwatch adds a new map and six new legendary skins in Celebration of the Year of the Dog.

The most famous dog in video games is still up to some debate.  Our vote is this guy:  “Quack Quack.  Heh heh heh…”

Our Shanghai team celebrated over food, drinks, and winning cash prizes!  However you plan to celebrate the New Year, be sure to enjoy some dumplings, tangerines (aka “Good Fortune Fruit”) and long noodles—those looking to live long, healthy lives should aim to eat at least one noodle whole. Don’t break it!

Team Shanghai celebrating the New Year by winning red envelopes! 

This is a wall of red envelopes.  Red envelope = MONEY!

KICKING OFF THE NEW YEAR WITH CASUAL CONNECT 2018!

We are excited to kick off the New Year at Casual Connect at Disneyland Hotel!  James, Davis, David, and Tu-Anh will be there from January 16th-18th.  If you’re also attending, please let us know.  We’d love to meet up.

ARENA OF VALOR ARRIVES IN THE WEST

And in case you missed it, Tencent’s flagship game “Arena of Valor” launched on iOS and Android App Stores in North and South America on December 19th.  The MOBA game has been the top grossing and most popular game over the past two years in China.

Concept Art House has been working with Tencent’s art and localization team based in Shen Zhen for all of 2017.  We’re super excited to finally be able to share some of our hard work.  Our world class artists provided concept art, splash paintings, and marketing illustrations.  You can see our work on the loading title page itself as well as the game’s website: https://www.arenaofvalor.com/

Read about the games’ launch here:

http://toucharcade.com/2017/12/19/arena-of-valor-launch-day-review/

Concept Art House 2017: It’s a Wrap!

And what a rush! Seems like yesterday we were meeting all of our friends, fans and partners at the annual CAH GDC 2017 Party in San Francisco. Since then, we’ve been keeping the fun and games rolling through another amazing year of activity:

• 2017 Total Games worked on: 75+
• 2017 Games Launched across all platforms: 18+    
• 2017 iOS Editor Choice Games: 7
• 2017 Top 100 iOS Grossing Games: 14

But with all the work we did together, our team definitely found time to play together:

Concept Art House Team chasing the clouds away at Shanghai Disneyland

C – A – H!

2017 was also the year when we’re proud to have helped out partners with a few of their “Firsts.”

CAH helps GUMI create their First Facebook Instant Messenger Game

http://www.conceptarthouse.com/news/2017/11/27/cah-charmed-to-be-chosen-for-magical-match-gumis-new-instant-game-for-facebook-messenger

CAH illustrates Paladins’ First Community-Voted Skin Contest

http://www.conceptarthouse.com/news/2017/10/2/paladins-cah-demonic-seris-and-a-first-of-its-kind-contest

CAH designs box art for Skyrocket Toys’ First AR-Equipped Laser Tag Game. (Artwork found within the XDS article)

http://www.conceptarthouse.com/news/2017/9/18/a-few-stand-out-takeaways-from-xds-2017

And, at last, as 2017 comes to a close, our entire Concept Art House family –- everyone from Shanghai to San Francisco –- wishes all of our friends around the world a Joyful and Prosperous 2018!