How 'Heads Up!' Became a Hit With Staying Power
January 15 2016 - 5:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah E. Needleman
Two years ago, Nicole Swisher paid 99 cents to download the app
"Heads Up!" to her iPad so she could use the charades-like game in
her third-grade classroom.
Several of the Indianapolis teacher's students liked the game so
much they ended up buying it themselves, Ms. Swisher said,
including 11-year-old Ryan Ketchem. "I play with my sister and my
mom a lot," he said.
"Heads Up!" is one of the most popular paid apps, and has been
downloaded more than 22 million times world-wide since its 2013
launch. The game, featured regularly on Ellen DeGeneres's daytime
talk show, routinely has ranked among the top five paid downloads
on Apple Inc.'s U.S. App Store for more than two years, alongside
the megahit "Minecraft."
The journey from app store to Ms. Swisher's classroom to Ryan's
living room is instructive for developers hoping to create the next
viral hit--and, more important, staying power. That is crucial,
given that nearly half of people who own mobile devices use five or
fewer apps at least once a week, according to a recent survey from
Pew Research Center.
In "Heads Up!," one player holds a mobile device against her
forehead, while others act out or describe the words on the screen.
The person holding the device has to guess as many words as
possible in a minute. It is part Hedbanz, part charades and all
quite familiar.
People have snapped it up, playing more than 650 million rounds,
according to Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
division, the game's publisher.
There is a unique feature for today's selfie and
YouTube-obsessed world: The device's camera captures the antics on
video, which can be shared online. (Privacy hawks can disable the
feature.) But it is social sharing in person--as in Ms. Swisher's
case--not online, that has been a powerful marketing tool.
Unlike most mobile games, where people peck away by themselves,
"Heads Up!" requires at least two people, in person, to play. Even
multiplayer hits such as "Clash of Clans" don't require people to
share space.
Recruiting players is a barrier, but those recruits are more
likely to then get it for themselves, said Patrick Walker, an
analyst at market-research firm EEDAR. Just watching people play
could nudge them to download.
Ian Hyland, a 20-year-old college sophomore from La Quinta,
Calif., played "Heads Up!" with three friends last month while
waiting in line for about 45 minutes to ride a roller coaster at
Disneyland. "You look a little funny holding your phone to your
head," Mr. Hyland said. "People next to us in line asked what the
game was and where we got it."
The app market is competitive, with about 1.5 million available
on both Apple and Alphabet Inc.'s Google app stores. Most games are
free and monetize by selling features inside. There is a lot at
stake: Game apps alone are expected to reach $27.1 billion in
world-wide revenue this year, according to SuperData Research.
A free version of "Heads Up!" launched on Google Play last year.
Still, the vast majority of downloads were purchased for 99 cents,
Warner Bros. said. It spent little to make "Heads Up!"--the
brainchild of a Web producer for Ms. DeGeneres's show back in
2012--which Warner Bros. said is profitable.
To keep gamers hooked, Warner Bros. regularly feeds the app with
new 99-cent decks on trendy topics such as the new "Star Wars"
movie. Players have spent more than $10 million on new decks, the
company said.
"That keeps it entertaining," said Jackie Browne of St.
Catharines, Canada, who has bought about two dozen decks. The
22-year-old has four other games on her phone that recently
replaced other apps. "Heads Up!," though, has stuck around.
It doesn't hurt to have a celebrity tie-in. Ms. DeGeneres
provides a brief tutorial for beginners, and she plays several
times a month with celebrities on her show, which reaches about 15
million viewers a week.
Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 15, 2016 05:44 ET (10:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Time Warner (NYSE:TWX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Time Warner (NYSE:TWX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024