THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 41 FEBRUA RY 12, 2020
swath of games and demand from
other demographics.What lessons did you learn from
Myspace that you now apply?
The main thing you learn is that
everything is always in a con-
stant state of flux, and every time
you think you are beating your
competitors, things can change
overnight. It’s one of those things
that I admire about some compa-
nies like Facebook; they always
seem to be focused on what their
competitors are doing in a lot of
ways. With games, it’s the same
thing. There’s 500,000 game
developers out there and many,
many millions of games. You
always have to be thinking about
getting a deeper understanding
into what consumer motivations
are and why they are playing
Harry Potter instead of spending
time on Instagram or Netflix.What are your thoughts on how
social media has evolved?
The really tough thing about
social media is that people are so
finicky. If you don’t make multiple
acquisitions, it’s very tough to
be relevant. We all know there’s
been massive amounts of positive
effects, but there’s also the other
side we have to deal with, when
anyone can upload anything.
As the government gets more
involved, it’s going to take a bigger
and bigger social media company
to deal with regulations.How does Jam City’s collaboration
with Disney work?
We have licensed multiple games
from them, and one of the larg-
est studios that created severalof the Disney games [Rainbow
Road] ended up becoming a Jam
City studio. They now work on
our Disney license games [2019’s
Frozen Adventures]. We work with
a lot of IP owners. Before we even
start a game, we’ll have a story-
book and character guidelines
that everyone has to adhere to.
We have a good understanding
of how important staying close
to the canon is. It takes a special
collaborative relationship, which
we think we have a pretty unique
ability to manage because we
have an amazing studio where the
majority of the people worked on
Disney IP for many, many years.In January, Scopely bought Fox’s
game studio from Disney. Did you
bid on it?
We did not. There are a lot of fac-
tors that go into which companies
you bid on and which ones you
don’t. At the end of the day, there
are lots of opportunities, and you
can’t do every single one.How do you make games stand out
in such a crowded marketplace,
particularly when there are multiple
titles for popular franchises like
Harry Potter?
Ours was the first major Harry
Potter mobile game, so it was a
little bit easier for us in that it hadmassive pent-up appeal. We had a
very specific conceit for that game
that allowed people to experience
the world of Hogwarts and attend
the school. We hit the widest
swath of Harry Potter mega-fans
because it’s truly an immersive
storytelling experience with a
deep narrative, and that’s what
people really like.Do you consider social media com-
panies or gaming companies your
biggest competitors?
It’s definitely social media, but
games are becoming more social
themselves. Almost all our new
games have an element of com-
petition, whether it’s friendly
competition or it’s collabora-
tion. It’s just a lot more fun when
you’re doing something in a group
environment. That competes a
little bit with the time that you
may be spending on Instagram or
Snapchat or Facebook.Where is the mobile gaming indus-
try headed in 2020?
Right now, it’s really easy to take a
game that’s out there, add a little
bit to it, then release your own
game. We don’t think that’s going
to work anymore. We believe in
innovation, and you get that by
taking some chances, including
taking different game mechanics
and mashing them together in
the right way. Games are getting
more complex.Are you still friends with Tom
from Myspace?
Yeah, but he’s gone [from L.A.]
a lot. I think he’s doing some
real estate here and there, he’s
enjoying himself. He’s always
wanted to travel. I ran into him
on Sawtelle [a street in L.A.’s
Japantown] maybe six months
ago, and we had a nice catch-up.Interview edited for length
and clarity.RÉSUMÉ
CURRENT TITLE
Co-founder and CEO,
Jam City
PREVIOUS JOB
Co-founder and CEO,
Myspace
BIG HIT
Jam City’s Harry Potter:
Hogwarts Mystery
hit No. 1 on the Apple app
chart in more than 40
countries when it debuted
in April 2018.Toronto, Buenos Aires and
Bogota, and raised $145 million
in 2019 from investors including
JPMorgan, Silicon Valley Bank
and SunTrust. In addition to
releasing popular titles Cookie
Jam and Panda Pop, Jam City has
made strong ties with Holly wood
studios — including an ongoing
collaboration with Disney — that
have led to its development of
free-to-play mobile titles for such
marquee properties as Harry
Potter and Frozen.
Ahead of the Feb. 20 launch of
ambitious action shooter Worl d
War Doh, the engaged father of
two daughters invited THR to Jam
City’s Culver City office to discuss
staying ahead in the hyper-com-
petitive mobile gaming market,
how social media has changed
since the Myspace days and his
enduring friendship with Tom.
Why did you transition from social
media to gaming?
The decision matrix came down
to, should it be music? We had just
gotten done doing all these deals
with music companies, and it was
heavy brain damage because that
industry was changing in a big
way. It just didn’t seem like a lot
of fun to me. The video space was
pretty locked up with YouTube.
But the gaming space was chang-
ing so rapidly. Twenty years ago,
the majority of games were more
hard-core, built for younger men
and played on a console or PC. It
was very clear that this was all
going to migrate to mobile. The
first iPhone was just coming out.
So, instead of just making games
like Madden and Grand Theft Auto,
there would be a much wider
DeWolfe
purchased these
skulls in Mexico
while making a game
tied to the 2014
Guillermo del Toro-
produced film
The Book of Life.A former
board member at
LACMA, DeWolfe
received this print
as a gift for
his work.To commemorate
the 2019 launch
of Vineyard Valley,
a Jam City colleague
gifted DeWolfe three
branded bottles
from the game.