XDS - The Best Way to Keep Current

Even though we always find reasons to hang out with our clients, External Developer Summit (XDS) is the most relevant gathering for service providers. There is no better place to get up to speed with industry trends. They even publish annual report on this topic. We broke down the latest one here and will update this article as soon as the new one is out.

XDS show floor with its many faces

This year, our Head of Asia Operations, Jenny Chen, and Director of Business Development, Davis Kurzenski, proudly represented CAH, a bronze sponsor of the event. One thing we can say for sure is that the service providing landscape is changing. Developers seem to gravitate towards outsourcing technical solutions more than ever before. Art studios are slowly consolidating and forming bigger entities, so we see much wider scope than we used to.

However, it seems that despite changes, CAH has found a winning formula. These traits is what separates the industry leaders and Concept Art House has been nurturing them for years:

• Extensive experience in the industry

• Wide network of industry professionals

• Seamless communication and constant availability

• Providing high level art direction in addition to resources

• Taking into account each client’s unique context - no such thing as one size fits all

• High expertise in a variety of art styles

• Presence in Asia and North America

Even though we always kept these as our core values, after XDS 2018, we can say it with confidence that CAH has what it takes to stay at the top.

As promised, we will revisit this article with data based insights as soon as the new report is published. In the meantime, feel free to stay up to date with what CAH is up to on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and ArtStation.

CAH is Sponsoring XDS 2018

CAH will be showing some of the best pieces we've been working on since the last XDS

CAH is proud to announce our Bronze Sponsorship of the External Development Summit (XDS). This will be our third year in a row sponsoring this event and we are eager to catch up with everyone yet again.

Our representatives this year will be Davis Kurzenski, Director of Business Development, and Jenny Chen, President of Asia Operations. 

Coming to Vancouver any time between September 5th and 7th? Don't be a stranger!

The Boomsday Project: Second Hearthstone Expansion This Year

The ever so successful card collecting game just added 135 new cards for PC and mobile gamers to get their hands on. This time around, the set includes Legendary Spells, the first of this kind with the highest rarity and power.

Legendary Spells card designed by CAH

Concept Art House has been creating Hearthstone cards for years now and we're proud to have our work in every new batch. These are also a part of the Boomsday Project:

So what do you think of the new expansion? A lot of our artists are passionate players of the game so this has been a hot topic lately.

If you're curious what else we have going on these days you can check the news on the latest additions to our studio (puppies included) or you can peek behind the scenes of King's latest title we proudly worked on.

If you want to keep up with everything we're up to, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and ArtStation.

Behind the Curtains: Festivities and New Members of the Team

We would like to share with you some fun news and some recent additions to the CAH family.

Our China team just celebrated the 39th Annual Dragon Boat Festival, an occasion that includes activities like dragon boat racing, a personal passtime of our teammates and James, our CEO.  Some of them made sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves, toasted over rice wines and deadly “bai jio”. Our team in Shanghai took this time to go out, take part in festivities and enjoy one another’s company.

Team building pool and drinks!

And on the US side, our San Francisco office have been busy adding to our team with a few remarkable people:

Sophia is one of those superheros that no company can go without. She makes sure our staff is paid and the team is always taken care. Thank you, Sophia, for ensuring this place always ticks perfectly!  She comes to us after 9 years of working at a prestigious law firm. She is a 5th Dan blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do and also coaches the Cal TKD team!

Meet Na, our new fearless 3D artist, who helps us deliver top notch quality like a true pro! She’s working and learning alongside world class artists and we’re always proud to be able to pass the knowledge to young, gifted people, such as Na.

Marissa is our Project Management Summer Intern, who took on some of our most challenging projects. She continues to bring immense value to our team day after day. It sure promises to be a great summer!

Well, Sean is by no means new to our team, but he just made a big transition to becoming the lead artist of our 3D team! He truly is someone who goes above and beyond for each of our clients and we’re looking forward to many years of working together.

And finally - world, this is Summit. A bernedoodle who also just joined us on a full time basis. Perhaps the most energetic team member, she makes sure we get all the puppy love we need.  She’s 9 weeks old and growing a pound a week! Level up, Summit!

There we have it.  Fun nights and puppies are encouraging our batteries to recharge and helps us recommit to delivering world class art for our partners and clients.

If you wish to stay in touch, connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and ArtStation.

To catch up with the latest news, check out this article.

King and Playstudios Join Forces To Bring Royal Charm Slots

Royal Charm Slots hit the App Store and Google Play Store a few days ago. King and Playstudios got together to bring along a social casino game for those who love winning. You can read King’s full press release here.

We are very excited to see this game go live since both King and Playstudios are our long time friends and partners. So far we worked with Playstudios on POP! Slots and My Vegas while King came to us when they needed help on Pyramid Solitaire Saga.

Playstudios’ widely successful casino games - POP! Slots and MyVegas Slots have reached impressive ranks on app stores. POP! Slots is in the top 10 grossing casino games, while My Vegas Slots was #1 most downloaded casino game.

Royal Charm Slots is already off to a great start in this respect. The game is featured on the AppStore in Casino Games.

Royal Charm Slots takes the prominent position on the App Store

Concept Art House is very proud to have contributed to this fun project. Here are just a few of many assets we created for Royal Charm Slots.

Characters, gems, maps and more - a small sample of the work CAH did for Playstudios

The game is true to King’s signature colorful style which their 285 million daily active users love and Playstudios is the perfect partner for diving into into social casino genre. We wish them all the best with the new title and can’t wait to see what the future brings for this game!

If you like what you see, go ahead and download the game now:

Here you can read more about other projects we worked on such as MAG Interactive’s Word Domination and Linekong’s Supercharged: World Cup.

If you want to keep up with everything we're up to, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and ArtStation.

E3 2018: Here’s What Made It Special

Another E3 is behind us. Naturally, we have more thoughts and impressions than we can count, but here are some of the most notable moments from Los Angeles.

• Fortnite Extravaganza

Fortnite was everywhere you looked! The Fortnite party rocked. The booth was massive complete with its own Battle bus. There were big tournaments on the big screen at Nintendo. Swag bags and T-shirts everywhere. Epic Games definitely made sure they stood out.

Weapon and character concepts CAH designed for Epic Games

One of the most fun events for Fortnite fans was Celebrity PRO AM where 50 celebrities and 50 Fortnite pros competed for 3 million dollars in charity prize money and, obviously, ultimate bragging rights.

Fortnite booth at E3 2018

• Arena of Valor Tournament

When Honor of Kings made its way over to the US under the name Arena of Valor a few months ago, everyone involved in the game (CAH included) knew it will be one of the biggest titles to date. This made the perfect occasion for Tencent to dive in E3 head first. E3 ESL Arena was the venue of choice for qualifications for the Arena of Valor World Cup. After 2 days of amazing battles it was decided that Allegiance Team will represent North America while For the Dream will play for Europe this July.

One of many splash screens CAH did for Tencent's hit game

• Bethesda gave us a lot to look forward to

Bethesda had one of the most packed press conferences at E3.  Upcoming releases and new games include: Skyrim, Doom, Rage 2, Fallout 79, VR endeavours, brand new IP named Starfield and the game we worked on: The Elder Scrolls VI. We still don’t know when it will be launched or even on which platforms, but that wasn’t in the way of people getting beyond excited. Additionally, mobile gamers will get to experience the famous franchise on their smartphones as Bethseda also announced The Elder Scroll Blades - a mobile game that will provide a pure Elder Scrolls experience.

Davis Kurzenski, our Director of Business Development

• Catching up

That’s what we all love about any conference - thought provoking conversations, meeting inspiring people and catching up with friends we haven’t seen in too long. We went to parties,  visited some amazing studios, walked the show floor, had intriguing conversations over food and drinks, and one epic night with 200+ friends in Koreatown eating Korean BBQ.

•  Let’s play

This year’s E3 had almost 70,000 attendees!  Even though it takes hours to get a chance to check out the hottest titles, there are few things that get a true gamer as excited. The options are abundant - from immersive VR experiences and exciting IPs to promising indie titles and games that are yet to dominate their genres.

Our CEO and Director of Business Development taking it away at E3

Now all that’s left is to wait for the announced titles to hit the market so we can tackle them hands on. We hope you enjoyed all the content from last week and here’s to another amazing E3!

If you want to keep up with everything we're up to, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and ArtStation.

Here's our previous article where we spoke more about an up and coming game from MAG Interactive - Word Domination

Word Games: It Just Got Even More Fun

     "Unrivaled quality and easy communication is what made Concept Art House an obvious choice for us. The cards have a very unique art style and their artist were able to nail it every time."  - Felix, Game Artist

MAG Interactive put its name on the map when they published world’s most played word game Ruzzle that now has over 70 million downloads. It has been enjoyed by just about everyone - from Hollywood celebrities to senators. And it’s just one of their many games that earned App Stores’ awards and recognitions.

Continuing to excel in this genre, MAG Interactive recently published Word Domination, a game that cleverly combines card collecting with word forming. Following the steps of MAG Interactive's previous games, it got featured in Top Free Games on Google Play store as well as the App Store's "New Games We Love".

#2 in App Store's New Games We Love

And not only that, it took only a few weeks for this app to end up being "Game of The Day" on the App Store. This really goes to tell you how engaging the game is. No doubt it'll continue to be a favorite for a long time to come.

Word Domination featured as Game of the Day on App Store

Concept Art House designed many of these boosters (seen below) which introduce tactical element to the casual gameplay. Players can challenge their friends in timed rounds, combining strengths of their vocabulary with strategy.

The game is available in 6 languages and has already shown impressive results in test markets which is why we believe there are many great things awaiting MAG Interactive. You can download this game on both iOS and Android devices:

If you would like to keep up with everything we're working on make sure to follow us on Artstation, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

take the World Cup into your hands

"Concept Art House helped us ship multiple games, and this time they created amazing in-game assets we are so proud to have in our game. World class art and seamless collaboration is why we keep coming back to CAH." - Superpower CEO

Europeans say that soccer is the most important unimportant thing in the world. True or not, it certainly gets a lot of people excited. Now, what if instead of athletes, there were nitro-fueled cars kicking the ball across the court? It may sound a bit over the top, but it actually works.

App icon for Supercharged: World Cup. Image is courtesy of Superpower Entertainment LLC.

Superpower and Linekong just released Supercharged: World Cup, a mobile free-to-play game that encourages competitive gaming. In short 3v3 games players get to challenge each other on the court, but also develop communities. There are already a ton of interesting conversations happening on Discord.

Collecting and upgrading cars is one of the key features of the game and Concept Art House created some of these futuristic looking vehicles.

3D vehicles CAH designed for this game

In addition to real time competing, there will be constant adding of new cars and equipment. We’re looking forward to seeing this fun fusion of soccer and racing find its way to millions of players. You can download this game on Android devices for now (we'll update this post as soon as it hits App Store) :

If you would like to keep up with everything we're working on make sure to follow us on Artstation, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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!