Games firm Glu Mobile is delaying its official Taylor Swift mobile game to early 2017, having planned to launch it this side of Christmas.
The delay may be partly down to the success (or rather lack of it) for Glu’s Britney Spears: American Dream game, which launched in May. In the company’s financial earnings call this week, Glu CFO Eric Ludwig told analysts that the Britney game’s performance had been “muted” on the app stores. Glu’s investor presentation revealed that the game made just $1.1m in Q2 this year. (Context: Pokémon Go is currently making more than $1m a DAY.) Glu’s next celebrity game will focus on another musician, though. Nicki Minaj: The Empire will launch later this year. “In an isometric, rather than a 2D game environment, players will enjoy multiple gameplay modes; experience the authentic world of a hip-hop artist; build out your crib; write new rap verses and take on other contenders in the street in rap battles,” is how CEO Niccolo de Masi pitched it to analysts. But with the company’s games for Katy Perry and now Britney Spears having flopped, it’s questionable whether a formula that worked so well for its Kim Kardashian: Hollywood game translates to even the most popular musicians.
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