Taylor Swift and Glu Mobile partner up for new game

Buoyed by the success of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, mobile developer Glu has agreed to make Taylor Swift the star of a new mobile game, which should launch at the end of the year.  

Released back in 2014, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood turned around the studio’s fortunes, with the game securing a place in the top grossing mobile charts and leading Glu to a record quarter. 

That success eventually convinced video game juggernaut Tencent to buy a stake in Glu for a cool $126 million, allowing the mobile dev to expand its presence in the Chinese market. 

Although Swift is first and foremost an award-winning singer-songwriter, like Kardashian, it’s her 227 million social media followers that make her the ideal candidate for another one of Glu’s celebrity projects. 

"One of the reasons we like the celebrity partnerships is that we get, effectively, a permanent marketing asset," said Glu CEO Niccolo de Masi, speaking to Gamesindustry.biz last October. 

"Unlike a movie IP, where there isn't really much social following, if you partner with someone who has 100 million social followers you have effectively in-built promotion."

Glu’s growing celebrity roster also includes household names such as Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Gordon Ramsay, Jason Statham, and Nicki Minaj.