King, the maker of the popular mobile game Candy Crush, has seen it shares drop 15% below its IPO price on the first day trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Despite an overall rise in the market, King opened at $20.50 a share, below the company’s IPO price of $22.50. The firm had raised […]
King, the maker of the popular mobile game Candy Crush, has seen it shares drop 15% below its IPO price on the first day trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Despite an overall rise in the market, King opened at $20.50 a share, below the company’s IPO price of $22.50.
The firm had raised $500m (£300m) after it priced its shares at the mid-point of the range it had initially indicated, valuing the company at more than $7bn.
King’s flagship game Candy Crush was the most downloaded free app of 2013 and has boosted the firm’s revenue.
Established in 2002, King’s business has soared in the last two years thanks to the spectacular popularity of Candy Crush Saga, which boasts some 97 million players worldwide.
King makes money from players buying hints and other help to aid their climb through some 500 levels of the Tetris-like game.
But some analysts have questioned King’s staying power on the back of a game whose popularity could wane over time as users tire of it.
The company’s follow-up games have not attained the same level of popularity. Its top three games – Candy Crush Saga, Pet Rescue Saga and Farm Heroes Saga – accounted for 95% of its total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2013.
‘The only way to find a hit is to launch many games,’ King Digital chief executive Riccardo Zacconi told CNBC, explaining the company’s strategy. ‘It’s a question of time,’ he added.
