GroupMagma
03-28-11, 12:10 PM
TeamLava is excited to announce its next game, coming soon to the App Store: Fashion Story!
http://www.insidemobileapps.com/2011/03/28/teamlava-fashion-story/
http://www.insidemobileapps.com/wp-content/uploads/Picture-322-500x160.png
http://www.insidemobileapps.com/wp-content/uploads/Picture-311.png
Fresh off launching musically-themed iOS game Nightclub Story, Redwood Shores-based TeamLava is close to shipping another female-focused game with a sartorial theme: Fashion Story.
Owned by leading RPG developer Storm8, TeamLava is devoted to casual titles that skew toward a female audience. Fashion Story is no exception. In the game, players manage a fashion boutique and need to stock trendy items that virtual clients adore. They can dress up and customize their avatar in addition to the layout and inventory of their own store. Players pick outfits to hang on their racks and earn in-game currency through sales. A familiar time-based mechanic is used when gamers order dresses or shirts to be made. It can take 24 hours to make a dress, for example. But if a player spends the paid currency, they can have the clothes immediately.
In previous reviews, we?ve critiqued TeamLava for copying the mechanics and look and feel of other casual sim titles or for reusing the same concepts over and over. But to be fair, Teamlava has outmaneuvered many would-be competitors in terms of monetization. Competitors grounded in the social gaming world have not seen the same kind of success on iOS; Booyah?s Nightclub City DJ Rivals, to which TeamLava?s Nightclub Story is very similar, peaked at #13 on the overall list before tumbling back down below #1000 while Crowdstar?s fashion-focused It Girl hasn?t cracked the top 700.
In contrast, Storm8 has four of the top 50 highest grossing iOS games between its two studios: TeamLava?s Restaurant Story and Bakery story and Storm8′s World War and iMobsters. It?s too early to tell how sticky Nightclub Story is, but it?s currently #55 on the iOS free games list.
So while TeamLava?s titles may not be the most original, the company has nailed the free-to-play model on mobile, underscoring an industrywide shift away from paid apps.
?The key is to actively support our customers with new content updates,? said Johnny Coghlan, who manages business development for the company. ?We handle everything on the server side. All updates are released through there, not through downloaded updates of the game.?
The company has also innovated by layering its own proprietary Storm8 ID system and social features into its games instead of relying on GameCenter or Openfeint like many other competitors do. In Nightclub Story for example, players can leave tips on other friends? dance floors and gain experience points. By visiting other players? boutiques in Fashion Story, you can ?like? in-store items to leave them virtual gifts.
Storm8 is one of the few big mobile developers that hasn?t announced venture funding so far. With close to 50 people, the company has been bootstrapped and was co-founded by Facebook alumni including Perry Tam and Chak Ming Li.
More info about this game is coming soon. Let us know what you think!
http://www.insidemobileapps.com/2011/03/28/teamlava-fashion-story/
http://www.insidemobileapps.com/wp-content/uploads/Picture-322-500x160.png
http://www.insidemobileapps.com/wp-content/uploads/Picture-311.png
Fresh off launching musically-themed iOS game Nightclub Story, Redwood Shores-based TeamLava is close to shipping another female-focused game with a sartorial theme: Fashion Story.
Owned by leading RPG developer Storm8, TeamLava is devoted to casual titles that skew toward a female audience. Fashion Story is no exception. In the game, players manage a fashion boutique and need to stock trendy items that virtual clients adore. They can dress up and customize their avatar in addition to the layout and inventory of their own store. Players pick outfits to hang on their racks and earn in-game currency through sales. A familiar time-based mechanic is used when gamers order dresses or shirts to be made. It can take 24 hours to make a dress, for example. But if a player spends the paid currency, they can have the clothes immediately.
In previous reviews, we?ve critiqued TeamLava for copying the mechanics and look and feel of other casual sim titles or for reusing the same concepts over and over. But to be fair, Teamlava has outmaneuvered many would-be competitors in terms of monetization. Competitors grounded in the social gaming world have not seen the same kind of success on iOS; Booyah?s Nightclub City DJ Rivals, to which TeamLava?s Nightclub Story is very similar, peaked at #13 on the overall list before tumbling back down below #1000 while Crowdstar?s fashion-focused It Girl hasn?t cracked the top 700.
In contrast, Storm8 has four of the top 50 highest grossing iOS games between its two studios: TeamLava?s Restaurant Story and Bakery story and Storm8′s World War and iMobsters. It?s too early to tell how sticky Nightclub Story is, but it?s currently #55 on the iOS free games list.
So while TeamLava?s titles may not be the most original, the company has nailed the free-to-play model on mobile, underscoring an industrywide shift away from paid apps.
?The key is to actively support our customers with new content updates,? said Johnny Coghlan, who manages business development for the company. ?We handle everything on the server side. All updates are released through there, not through downloaded updates of the game.?
The company has also innovated by layering its own proprietary Storm8 ID system and social features into its games instead of relying on GameCenter or Openfeint like many other competitors do. In Nightclub Story for example, players can leave tips on other friends? dance floors and gain experience points. By visiting other players? boutiques in Fashion Story, you can ?like? in-store items to leave them virtual gifts.
Storm8 is one of the few big mobile developers that hasn?t announced venture funding so far. With close to 50 people, the company has been bootstrapped and was co-founded by Facebook alumni including Perry Tam and Chak Ming Li.
More info about this game is coming soon. Let us know what you think!