Developer Lima Sky has done an excellent job of building a global audience for its Android and iOS single-player game, Doodle Jump. The game has been downloaded over 200 million times since it launched in 2009, it currently has 10 million monthly players, and it has its own merchandise line. Now Lima Sky has partnered with Skillz to develop a multiplayer version of the game, which will launch this fall in tandem with a competitive mobile eSports league.
To give a sense of the game’s size, Skillz has 7 million players engaged in games from 1,600 studio partners. In 2015, the company reportedly awarded $16 million in earnings to its players. The company has raised over $28 million to date.
Andrew Paradise, CEO of Skillz, explains why this is the game his company has been waiting for to make a legitimate push into eSports in this exclusive interview with [a]listdaily.
Why is Doodle Jump important for your company?
When you look at the size of Doodle Jump, it was the biggest game of the year in 2009. And even today, it has over 10 million active users, which puts it in the same category as CS:GO. It has that critical mass. For example, Dota 2 has 550,000 reviews on Steam, while Doodle Jump has 950,000 reviews on Google Play alone.
Doodle Jump has also been featured prominently in pop culture, appearing in episodes of award-winning television shows like The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
What does the single-player nature of the current game open up for multiplayer?
People are already competitive with the line in the game to challenge and beat their friends. People are competing asynchronously. Having a direct competition and multiplayer system will only further enhance that system.
What will the multiplayer experience be?
We’re working on conceptualizing the exact multiplayer format. But if you think about games like a Mario Kart, where we might be inspired by that type of racing format with power-ups, the game could be a race to scale the platforms with players competing against each other. And we may have levels instead of an endless format in the single-player game.
What does this game mean for mobile eSports?
When Riot Games announced Season One of League of Legends in 2010, it was a seminal moment for eSports. It was the moment when a hugely popular game crossed over into being a sport. That’s what we believe we can create here.
How is Skillz working with Lima Sky?
Lima Sky is working with Skillz to build the multiplayer component of the game, which we’ll launch this fall.
We do all of the live opportunities for tournaments. Part of the value proposition of working with us is that we organize, officiate and broadcast the tournaments on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook Live. Tournaments are either paid through entry fees, are brand sponsored or [using] freedancer (virtual-currency-only prizing).
How many players does Skillz currently support with multiplayer mobile games?
We’re powering multiplayer from two players to the largest tournament we’ve held so far: 7,500 people. Normally our system runs with two to ten player multiplayer.
What does Doodle Jump open up for the future of Skillz and mobile eSports?
It’s important because it already has a mass market following. You know instantly when you add in elements of competitive leagues and spectatorship, there’s already an engaged fan base. These are all very important elements to build an eSport.
What does this audience open up for physical eSports events?
We’ve done about 70 events so far in 180 countries. We’re backed by owners of the New England Patriots, Milwaukee Bucks and New York Mets that are all stadium owners, so we intend to work with our investors in terms of physical events. We’ve been waiting to have a mass market IP.
We haven’t used stadiums before because the smallest is a 20,000-seat NBA stadium and we haven’t had an IP that we thought would have the mass appeal to fill that volume. This is a seminal moment for our company.
Do you envision a league or seasons structure as we’ve seen with Hearthstone and Vainglory?
A league with structure is definitely something you’ll see for this game. It’s our first big mega game. It’s a top 100 game of all time.
The benefit of Lima Sky working with us is that they don’t have to refocus their entire business on multiplayer and eSports like Super Evil Megacorp and Riot Games have done. They can still continue to build games because we’re building out an entire eSports infrastructure.
Is this part of a push for bigger game partnerships for Skillz?
We expect to add other big IPs. We’re in talks with a lot of other top 100 games. Developers are interested in working with us because it’s a giant rat hole to build your own eSports infrastructure—which is an entire business by itself—and we can take care of that.
How are Hearthstone and Vainglory helping Skillz in mobile eSports?
I would argue that Clash Royale is the most successful of the mobile games involved in eSports. Supercell’s most recent feature was a high-end tournament where you pay money to run tournaments starting at $1,800. That’s way more expensive than anything Skillz does, which ranges from 50 cents to $20.
Clash Royale is top 10 grossing game. Many say it has over 10 million daily active users. That makes it a bigger eSport than any computer or console game.
How much can players win in Skillz tournaments?
Anywhere from $1 up to over $10,000 in single tournament. We’re more about people paying small amounts of money to compete against lots of people. Our average players are spending small amounts of money, but we have lots of people playing.
We founded our company on the premise of making mobile games meaningful. The best way to get excited about getting three gold stars in Angry Birds is by beating someone else.
How is the explosive success of Pokémon GO impacting mobile eSports?
Although the game isn’t an eSport, the primary mechanic of Pokémon GO is player-versus-player (PVP). You go to a gym and compete against other players with your Pokémon. Mobile gaming is becoming about PVP today, just like you saw with computer and console gaming. It started with the arcade single-player experience and moved to PVP. All eSports are PVP. We’re seeing the same thing happen in real-time in mobile.
