New 'Game of Thrones' mobile game seeks to satiate fan appetites

Brief:

"Game of Thrones: Conquest," a massively multiplayer strategy game based on HBO's series that recently finished its seventh season, will be released on Oct. 19. The mobile game was developed under a license from HBO to sister company Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Variety reported.
The game will be free to download via Apple's App Store and Google Play and offers in-app purchases to gain objects like gold, weapons, training gear and speed-ups. Players are in command of one of the multiple governing Houses from the TV series that vie for power by forming alliances, gathering armies for battle or sabotaging rivals in the fictional land of Westeros.
Players who pre-register for the game will win a bundle of in-app goods valued at $50 during the first week of launch, Variety said.

Insight:

"Game of Thrones" fans had to wait more than a year for season seven, giving them plenty of time to forget storylines and plot points in the show's notoriously intricate web of alliances, betrayals and struggles among dozens of characters. HBO's new mobile game is one way to extend the brand and keep fans engaged as they await the next season, which is set to premiere in late 2018 or early 2019. If fans become hooked on "Conquest," they might stick around after the show's concluded as well.

HBO has seen subscriber numbers for its HBO Now mobile app rise and fall each time "Game of Thrones" starts and ends a new season. Revenue from the app fell 7% in September, the first billing cycle after season seven concluded in the prior month, according to SensorTower data cited by Variety. That decline is smaller than drops seen in prior years, suggesting the app has developed a more stable audience that wants to revisit past episodes or stick around to view other series on the mobile streaming platform.

"Game of Thrones" is the latest entertainment property to ride the mobile game wave. Last year, mobile game revenue outpaced revenue from console and PC games for the first time, according to a Newzoo study. This year, mobile gaming authorities predict the rush of marketers into the trend will swell as they use them as a way to build awareness, favorability, engagement and recall around TV shows, particularly between seasons.

HBO's decision to roll out its own game was perhaps driven by a potentially lucrative bet that fans of "Game of Thrones" are eager to get more products and roleplay as figures from the show.