MD Paul Farley explains why Tag Apps won't eat into Tag Games.
Earlier today, UK mobile games developer Tag Games announced a new Tag Apps division, to focus on non-game apps for clients like Channel 4.
ME caught up with MD Paul Farley to find out what the move means for Tag's core games business, including the self-publishing seen in iPhone games like Car Jack Streets and Astro Ranch.
Rest assured, the launch of Tag Apps isn't a sign that games are performing badly for the company.
"Our games business has grown almost 100% year-on-year in revenue terms for the past two years and will remain the main focus of the studio," says Farley.
It's true that Tag has been quiet on the self-publishing front since the launch of Astro Ranch - its ambitious blend of FarmVille and Animal Crossing for iPhone.
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Farley says that the main reason is "as the App Store consolidated and Android emerged, and others experimented with different business models, we wanted to step back and wait to see which were successful."
Farley says that despite a big uptick in work-for-hire projects, self-publishing still accounts for more than a third of Tag's revenues.
"Astro Ranch in particular was tough learning as we switched from a paid download model to free to play in a live market situation, but the data we have now is informing self-publishing strategy for 2011," he says.
"We are in the process of ramping up self-publishing again and 2011 will see a sequel to Car Jack Streets, Astro Ranch on new platforms plus some new IP."
In other words, Tag Apps is very much a "complementary extension" to that business, rather than a replacement for it.
"We are very interested in the space where social mobile gaming meets console sensibilities and it’s fair to say that’s where most of our output will be aligned next year," says Farley.
