Why Glu Mobile Celebrity Apps for Katy Perry and Taylor Swift will Fandom Fail

Glu’s most successful game ever is Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.

It was launched in 2014 with many doubting its success as reported in my blog article entitled “Glu Mobile's Kim Kardashian Hollywood App and How an A-List Celebrity boosts In-App Purchases”.

It then went on to make nearly US$541 million in four months as noted in my blog article “US$51 million in Four Months for Kim Kardashian Hollywood” and the money train has not stepped rolling in for Glu Mobile.

Until now.....and it’s due to the price of celebrity fame that has not matured.

Glu Mobile goes celebrity crazy - Katy Perry Pop fails to ignite twitter fandom

Glu Mobile, eager to cash in on the success of their previous games, decided to sign more celebrities of all stripes to make mobile games based on their professions.

They signed deals with the following celebrities in 2015 and 2016:

1.      Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay

2.      Jason Statham

3.      Nicki Minaj

4.      Britney Spears

5.      Katy Perry

6.      Kendall & Kylie (Jenner)

Since then their other celebrity games have flopped and they remain a loss-making entity, with the trend expected to continue in Q3 and Q4 of 2017. This includes the once highly vaulted Katy Perry Pop by Glu Mobile CEO Niccolo de Masi.

Already they've shuttered Katy Perry Pop, removing it from the Google App Store completely as noted in “Glu Mobile seemingly shuts down ailing celebrity-focused game Katy Perry Pop”, published November 25th, 2016 By Ric Cowley, PocketGamer.

No surprise here; the buzz on social media indicated that this was destined to be a flop since 2015 when it was first announced as noted in “Social Data Pointed To Glu Mobile's Katy Perry Flop” published December 2015, Seeking Alpha.

On a good note, Twitter and other social media and could be used as a future bellweather to detect if any of Glu Mobile's other play are destined for the same fate.

Glu Mobile Celebrity App flop - Fanbase are Fandom obsessed but Credit Card challenger

So far only Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is making money for Glu Mobile, with US$200 million lifetime revenue barrier by the end of 2017 as analyzed in the article “Taylor Swift Vs. Price Of Fame: Glu Mobile's Royalty Drag” published August 28 2017 by Jonathan Jordan, Seeking Alpha.

The only wise decisions that Glu mobile has made aside from Kim Kardashian's Game has been celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. To date, Glu mobile is set to make some US$30 and Kendall & Kylie app are set to pull in US$20 million.

So why is this happening?

Glu Mobile Celebrity App flop - Fanbase are Fandom obsessed but Credit Card challenger

The reason is simple; the fanbase for Kim Kardashian and Gordon Ramsay are older Americans (age 28 to 35 +) who have credit cards and money to spend on their favourite television celebrity.

Most of Glu Mobile apps have a lot of content that you have to purchase with your credit card........which can be a problem if you don't have one or you are trying to avoid maxing out your credit limit, even if you are a loyal fan.

The fanbase of Jason Statham, Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears and Katy Perry are much younger (age 18 to 27) and are of the generation that likes Freemium apps where they play for fun such as Rovio Juice Cubes as noted in my blog article entitled “Rovio Juice Cubes is a Freemium In-App Purchase Gold Bar Mine - To get to Level 200, you have to become Goldfinger”.

Granted in that particular app, you have to spend money to reach higher levels, as those juice cubes are mighty tasty. But the challenge of doing so WITHOUT purchasing anything is what make the game a engaging.

Add to that the fact that hacks are available for games such a Rovio Juice Cubes and other similar games means player play longer in a game that is high paced. Games like Rovio Juice Cubes are focused on quick action and compelling and challenging game play and are not feeding on the fandom obsession of young girls.

So they might wanna think twice about that Taylor Swift ...and instead go for older celebrities with a older credit-card wielding fanbase.