Gameloft’s Success Journey: An In-Depth Case Analysis
About Company
Gameloft SE is a France-based video game releaser headquartered in Paris. The firm came into existence in 1999 December. The founder of the gaming company is Michel Guillemot, the co-founder of Ubisoft.
Gameloft runs eighteen development studios globally, and it launches games with a particular emphasis on the smartphone gaming marketplace. Earlier, Gameloft operated as a publicly-traded firm on the Paris Bourse. However, Vivendi, a media corporation took it over in 2016. In 2017, revenue earned by the company stood at €258,000,000.
What type of company is Gameloft?
Gameloft is a subsidiary company.
To which industry does Gameloft belong?
Gameloft belongs to the video gaming industry.
When did the company come into existence?
The company commenced operations on December 14, 1999; twenty-three years back.
Who is the originator of the gaming firm?
The originator of the gaming firm is Michel Guillemot.
Where is the central office of Gameloft located?
The central office of the company is situated in Paris, France. The address is 14 rue Auber, 9th arrondissement of Paris.
Which area does Gameloft serve?
The company has a global subscriber base.
Who are the key individuals of the company?
The key people running this gaming organization are
- Alexandre de Rochefort (Chief Financial Officer)
- Stéphane Roussel (Chairman, Chief Executive Officer)
How many employees work for Gameloft?
As of 2021, the gaming behemoth had 3,600 employees.
Which company is the holding company of Gameloft?
Since 2016 till present, Vivendi is the holding company of Gameloft.
Gameloft Chronology
Foundation and Early years
Michel Guillemot established Gameloft on December 14, 1999. He was one of the five originators of Ubisoft. By 2009 February, the company had dispatched more than two hundred million re-creations of the games after the Initial Public Offering, together with two million downloads per day of its games through the iOS App Store. Alexandre de Rochefort, the chief financial officer (CFO) of Gameloft, observed that the games of the firm produced around 400 times higher income on iOS in comparison to Android. This happened partly due to the non-development of Google of the Google Play storefront for persuading subscribers to essentially purchase goods. As a consequence of this, Gameloft profoundly diminished its investiture in developing Android games in 2009 November.
In 2010 July, Gameloft tried to market Android games straightaway via its site as an alternative, averting the application of Google Play.
Alexandre de Rochefort, in his 2011 May crucial speech, mentioned that he wished to stay away from shifting the organization to the NASDAQ stock exchange. He opined that the US gaming marketplace seemed to be nothing above a massive economic cycle, particularly while viewing the US $10 billion overall stock worth of Zynga.
Gameloft Studios
Gameloft runs seventeen studios for video game development globally. In 2011 July, the lead programmer of the Auckland branch of Gameloft, Glenn Watson, mentioned that its administrative body generated an “invariable feeling of necessity” at all its studios, with workers constantly working 12 to 14 hours a day.
In New Orleans, a new studio came up in 2011 August, capitalizing on tax benefits allowed by the Louisiana administration in 2009 July to launch 150 fresh openings. On January 29, 2013, the India studio of Gameloft in Hyderabad got shut halfway through the working day. As a result, 250 workers lost their jobs.
Between June 2015 and August 2015, the Tokyo site of Gameloft attained around 80 workers, almost on the verge of being shut down. Furthermore, on July 8, 2015, all business activities at the New York City bureau of Gameloft came to a pause, and at least one hundred workers got the pink slip.
Soon after, in 2015 September, the Seattle studio of Gameloft ceased operations and its fifteen workers were released. The Seattle studio came into existence only a year before its shutdown. Overall 7 studios ceased operations in 2015. Michel mentioned that these measures were necessary to adapt its “challenging cost-cutting plan”, observed once the firm witnessed a €16.6 million net loss in the financial year ending on June 30, 2015.
In 2016 January, Gameloft unveiled a marketing bureau in Nigeria for territorial growth. In the same year, it closed its studio in Auckland, dismissing around 160 workers.
At that point, Gameloft Auckland ranked as the biggest video game studio in New Zealand. In 2016 April, the Valencia-based site of the company in Spain closed operations.
In 2017 July, John-Paul Burke got the position of the country manager of the company for its subsidiary wings in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Gameloft UK subsequently stopped working in 2019 December.
List of Gameloft Studios
Services provided by Gameloft
In 2019 October, Gameloft declared a joint venture with Telecom Italia, a leading smartphone operator to launch TIM I Love Games. It is a gaming subscription facility for iOS and Android, limited to TIM Italy and Italy subscribers.
Controversies
The games of Gameloft have frequently been subject to allegations related to being replicas of other attributes. While facing queries regarding this at the Consumer Electronics Show held in 2011 November, Michel Guillemot, the chief executive officer (CEO) said that the videogame business has constantly worked with a restricted variety of ideas. There might be one novel concept every year. In reply to various subscribers remarking on Michel’s comments, vindication came from IGN’s Levi Buchanan, who mentioned that its games were generally well-refined, as opposed to the archetypal idea’s games.
By 2014 July, Gameloft declared that it would concentrate more robustly on quality rather than quantity. Earlier, this was the situation happening in the organization.
In 2013 April, Lodsys, a Texas-based firm initiated legal proceedings versus Gameloft. It did it among other smartphone game developers for violating its copyright on in-app buys. Apple Inc. mediated in related proceedings earlier and avers to have certified the expertise from Lodsys for application in its app store.
In 2012 February and 2016 February, Gameloft inked launching pacts with GungHo Online Entertainment and GREE, Inc., correspondingly, to boost its footprints in the Asian marketplaces.
Vivendi subsidiary
In 2015 October, Vivendi, a France-based media corporation declared that they took over a 6.2% shareholding in the stocks of Gameloft. This promptly went up to 10.2% one or two days after. By 2016 February, Vivendi had taken over a 30% stake in the firm and initiated a hostile acquisition offer. In line with French regulations, Vivendi began a tender bid for buying additional shares.
After the declaration, the company’s board of directors vehemently warned shareowners against trading stocks to Vivendi for shunning the hostile acquisition. Nevertheless, by 2016 May, Vivendi had convinced most of the shareowners, allowing them to proceed with the acquisition.
The takeover concluded on June 1, 2016, with Vivendi having bought 56%, an out-and-out majority over the proprietorship of Gameloft. The workers of the company received a proclamation greeting them to the new holding company’s folks.
Forecasters assumed that the acquisition was only the initial stride towards buying Ubisoft as well, one more video game startup established by Michel and his brothers. However, Vivendi just obtained a 17.7% minority stake in that firm at that moment. In reply to Vivendi’s proceedings, Michel declared that he would quit his firm and team up with Yves Guillemot, his brother at Ubisoft. The goal was to stop it from being acquired as well. Afterward, Guillemot elucidated that his quitting would become effective on June 29.
On June 8, there was a declaration from the Guillemot brothers that they were disappointedly merchandising their proprietorship in Gameloft to Vivendi. The deal granted Vivendi an additional 21.7% in the capital of Gameloft. Once Guillemot quit Gameloft on June 29, Vivendi formed a fresh board of directors for the organization. Stéphane Roussel, the current COO (chief operating officer) of Vivendi, won the berths of CEO and chairman of Gameloft. Besides, de Rochefort, the erstwhile CFO of Gameloft, additionally assumed responsibilities for the supervision of the thirty-nine subsidiary wings of the organization. At that juncture, Vivendi possessed 95.94% of the share capital of Gameloft.
What are the top Gameloft games?
The most popular games of the company are listed below. The platforms on which they run are also listed.
- Dragon Mania Legends (iOS, Microsoft Windows, Android)
- Dungeon Hunter 5 (PS Vita, Windows Phone, Android, iOS, Windows 10, PlayStation 4, or PS4)
- Disney Magic Kingdoms (iOS, Microsoft Windows, Android, and keypad-oriented mobile phones)
- Sonic Runners Adventure (iOS, Android)
- Marvel Spider-Man Unlimited (Android and iOS)
- Gangstar New Orleans (Android, Microsoft Windows, and iOS)
- Castle of Magic (KaiOS, keypad-oriented mobile phones)
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell (keypad-oriented mobile phones)
- Shrek Forever After (iOS, keypad-oriented mobile phones)
- Lumines (keypad-oriented mobile phones)
- Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour (keypad-oriented mobile phones, Android, Windows Phone 8, iOS)
- The Dark Knight Rises (Android, keypad-oriented mobile phones, iOS, Windows Phone)
- Asphalt: Urban GT (N-Gage, keypad-oriented mobile phones, Nintendo DS or NDS)
- Disney Dreamlight Valley (Steam, macOS, iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S)
- Driver (iOS)
- Soul of Darkness (keypad-oriented mobile phones, DSi, Android)
- James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game (keypad-oriented mobile phones, iOS, Android, Palm Pre)
- Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X (keypad-oriented mobile phones, Android, Symbian, Palm Pre, iOS)
- Asphalt 6: Adrenaline (Android, keypad-oriented mobile phones, OS X, iOS, webOS, Symbian^3, Bada, BlackBerry Tablet OS, Series 30+)
- Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Mac OS X, Windows, iOS, Arcade, BlackBerry, Android, Java ME)
About Author
