Taylor Swift has decided making millions of dollars from her music is no longer enough and she wants to diversify her income by collecting the tears of “real gamerz”. For surely they are warmer, more satisfying, and in greater supply than all the cold hard cash in the world. And I hope she makes lots of them.
Moving from the music chart to the app chart, Taylor is releasing a mobile game as part of a multi-year partnership with Glu Mobile, the publishing company behind Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. Itās not entirely clear what kind of gameplay Taylorās game will involve, but Glu are promising “never before seen gameplay elements that utilize Taylorās unique creativity” and committing themselves to spending “the required development time to ensure this innovation is achieved.ā And they really will have to. As mobile gaming grows in popularity, players are becoming more savvy when it comes to spotting a poorly developed title, created to generate revenue rather than consumer entertainment.
Considering sheās coming into this partnership with Glu with over 220 million social media followers, itās safe to say that Taylor could prove to be a very lucrative partner for the company and thereās little doubt her game will be successful. Kim Kardashian: Hollywood has already generated nearly $127 million dollars since its summer 2014 release, which, though not near the earnings level of mobile games like Candy Crush, isnāt a sum Glu are likely to turn down the chance of making again.
Taylor Swift fans seem to love her lifestyle and her positive messages as much as her music so Glu should really integrate things like this into gameplay to genuinely appeal. The Taylor Swift Game will be released in December 2016 for smartphones and tablets.
Personally, Iām pretty excited to see what theyāre going to do with the game. Itād be pretty easy for Glu to create an incredibly addictive musical rhythm game out of a partnership with Taylor Swift; that way we can turn it up to drown out the whines of the “real” fans of music and gaming.