Mobile ad firm Chartboost has a new a blog post up this week with some analysis of what sorts of mobile games seem to get the most press, based on data (excerpted below) culled from market intelligence agency Ico Partners.
If you're making mobile games, this is probably worth a read because it efficiently breaks down six general categories of games that seem to engender significant attention (read: articles) from traditional media outlets.
There are some no-brainers on the list (number one with a bullet are "games with a built-in audience", as exemplified by the success of Bethesda's 2015 hit Fallout Shelter) but there are also some surprises, including the suggestion that traditional media loves "games with dev community cred" (citing the success of veteran developer Spry Fox's Alpha Bear) and "games that are weird" -- i.e., Goat Simulator.
While the amount of press attention your game gets doesn't necessarily translate to financial success, visibility seems more important than ever in light of the fact that in 2014 roughly 500 games were launched per day on Apple's App Store, while the Google Play games market saw an influx of roughly half that.
For more media analysis, check out the Gamasutra blog of Ico Partners CEO Thomas Bidaux, who was also quoted in the above-mentioned Chartboost blog.
