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<ul><li><keyword id="7901557" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="xpd">XP&amp;D</keyword> Be.Live is a live action to virtual experience platform for brands. </li><li>It is a collaboration between XP&amp;D, <keyword id="7990738" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Multi-TV">Multi TV</keyword> and <keyword id="2971959" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="FCB-India">FCB India</keyword>. </li></ul><br />On the heels of the India <keyword id="91743" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="lockdown">lockdown</keyword> post the Janta Curfew, XP&amp;D, Multi TV and FCB India come together to launch Be.Live, a live action to virtual experience platform. <br /><br />XP&amp;D Be.Live is a live action to virtual experience platform for brands, that is a collaboration between XP&amp;D, Multi TV and FCB India. <br /><br />XP&amp;D Be.Live will build customised offline to online OTT platforms for brands. The expertise of XP&amp;D in live experiences is combined with the tech muscle of Multi TV to create the platform. <br /><br />Speaking on the current challenge, <keyword id="268920" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rohit-Ohri">Rohit Ohri</keyword>, Group Chairman and CEO, FCB India said, “This lockdown period will change our world forever. When we emerge on the other side of this crisis, virtual experiences will be the new normal. FCB and XP&amp;D Be.Live are looking leverage technology and data to help brands connect with their customers in this new world .” <br /><br />Speaking on the occasion, Chanda Singh, Co-founder of XP&amp;D said, “We are the future of experiential - we bring together the energy and exhilaration of an event, the interactivity of many to many conversations on social and the unimaginable possibilities of the virtual world”. Her partner and co-founder Nupur Jain added “O2O2O - is our DNA - seamlessly blending offline to online to offline to the power of infinity.” <br /><br />The Be.Live streaming engine plugs into social to create many to many conversations, amplify and give instant response. With use of VR and emerging technologies the scalable content capabilities transport you into a virtual reality world where imagination is the only limit. A seamless bridge between the virtual and physical allows immersive gamification and interaction. BE.Live also fills a vital gap in live events on measurability; here big data allows us to measure instantly the return on experience. <br /><br />The platform is built on the robust Multi TV infrastructure. Vikash Samota, founder of Multi TV said, “Currently our team delivers 2.25 billion hours of yearly video viewing. Every second we process 3 TB of video data. We have 295 million + digital viewers on the platform. We work with 400+ Production studios across India and conduct 2.5 million interactive sessions annually.” <br /><br />The future is here says Abhinav Jain, CIO of Be.live said, “We integrate the passion of live, multiplied by the possibilities of artificial intelligence powered by 100,000 server computer cores across continents. Welcome to a future beyond touch, beyond boundaries and measurable return on experience!” <br /><br />As we went into lockdown, the key has been the seamless bridge between live and virtual experiences - proved with the overwhelming number of briefs that the team has been working on since the day of the launch of BE.Live.

XP&D, Multi TV and FCB India come together to launch Be.Live, a live action to virtual experience platform

New Delhi, Apr 9 () Some of the biggest names from Indian music including Asha Bhonsle, S P Balasubramaniam and K J Yesudas are joining hands for a series of virtual concerts to express their solidarity with the people working at the forefront of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.<p>The Indian Singers Rights Association (ISRA) announced that it will hold a three-day concert 'Sangeet Setu', starting from April 10 between 8 pm and 9 pm, with the aim to entertain the public and help them deal with the stress in these unprecedented times of lockdown.</p><p> "The feed for the concert, dedicated to PM CARES, will be available on OTT platforms, Television, Digital and Social channels," the ISRA said in a release.  </p><p>The concert, blessed by nightingale of bollywood Lata Mangeshkar, has an impressive  line-up of veterans Asha Bhonsle, S P Balasubramaniam, K J Yesudas, Udit Narayan, Anoop Jalota, Pankaj Udhas, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sudesh Bhosale, Suresh Wadkar, Talat Aziz, Alka Yagnik, Kumar Shanu, Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Sonu Nigam, Salim Merchant, Shaan and Kailash Kher, the ISRA said.</p><p>"ISRA decided that leading singers of the country will entertain the masses and try to lighten their stress, strain and depression in these tough times. I thank all the artists who have made themselves available for this national service," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sanjay Tandon said.</p><p>Moving Pixels Company, XP&amp;D and Be.live have partnered with the ISRA in this effort.</p><p>MPC Creative Director, Manish Baradia said, "This is not just a concert series, it is a national movement. We want to take this concert to one billion screens."</p><p>Speaking on behalf XP&amp;D and Be.Live, Sukrit Singh said "the O2O (Offline to Online) concert belongs to the nation - our feed is free for anyone who can get it to a screen. </p><p>"We appeal to every OTT, TV or digital channel to stream the content for free and show solidarity with the current battle. The feed of the virtual concerts will be available on several OTT platforms including MX Player, Hotstar, Vodafone Play, Flipkart, Jio Tv and Sony Liv," Singh said.  </p><p>Singer Sonu Nigam said said the concert was their tribute to every Indian fighting against the coronavirus. </p><p>"Every Indian be it an official, a health worker, an essential services provider or citizen at home - is contributing in this battle. Especially the mothers, home makers and sisters at home are bearing the burden and as artists we salute you through our music." </p><p>Shaan urged people to tune in and donate in the times of crisis.</p><p>"We urge everyone to stay at home. With this initiative, we will be able to come to your homes and sing for the country. I urge everyone to donate generously to the PM Cares fund, as every single rupee counts," Shaan said.</p>"On behalf of ISRA we come together as a family to sing for you all to spread positivity amongst all of us in this dark phase bringing entertainment for enlightenment and cheer," Kher added.  SKL  BKBK

COVID-19: ISRA brings together top musicians for virtual concert 'Sangeet Setu'

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Ivanka Trump's brand is fighting back against <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/JWN-Quote">Nordstrom</a> and other stores that have<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/companies-cut-ties-with-trump-2017-2"> stopped selling its products this year</a>.<p>The fashion line,&#xa0;<span>which sells women's clothing, shoes, and handbags, is o</span>pening its first brick-and-mortar store in Trump Tower in New York City, <a href="https://www.racked.com/2017/8/10/16126236/ivanka-trump-store-nyc">Racked reports</a>. Until now, the brand sold all its products through wholesale distribution to department stores and websites.&#xa0;</p><p>The new store comes six months after <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nordstrom-cuts-ties-with-ivanka-trump-2017-2">Nordstrom</a> and several other top retailers suddenly stopped carrying Ivanka Trump products.</p><p>Nordstrom said in February that it dropped the brand&#xa0;<span>because it wasn't performing well.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>But many customers saw the move instead as a political statement against President Trump and his administration.</span></p><p><span>President Trump stoked that sentiment at the time by personally responding to Nordstrom's decision by tweeting, "My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by Nordstrom. She is a great person - always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!"</span></p><p><span>Ivanka Trump&#xa0;stepped down from&#xa0;</span><span>her</span><span>&#xa0;clothing label in January and rolled her proceeds from the business into a trust overseen by&#xa0;</span><span>Joshua Kushner and Nicole Meyer, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law. </span></p><p><span>She has earned a</span><span>t least&#xa0;</span><span>$6 million from the business between the beginning of last year through May of this year,&#xa0;</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/21/business/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-ethics-filing.html">the New York Times reports</a><span>.</span></p><p>The brand confirmed the new store opening to Racked, but hasn't said whether it will open more stores in addition to the location in Trump Tower.&#xa0;</p><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-gossip-girl-cameo-2010-2017-5">Watch Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's 2010 cameo in the teen drama 'Gossip Girl'</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Ivanka Trump is opening a store in defiance of Nordstrom

New Delhi, May 1 () In one of the biggest collaborations by artistes for a noble cause, a group of 100 singers, including the legendary Asha Bhosle, Kumar Sanu and Sonu Nigam have come together to record an anthem for the frontline warriors fighting the coronavirus pandemic and in the aid of PM Cares fund.<p>The anthem 'One Nation One Voice', recorded in 14 different languages, will be dedicated to the nation by Lata Mangeshkar on behalf of Indian Singers Rights Association (ISRA) on May 3.</p><p>It will be released across over 100 digital platforms such as TV, Radio and on social media.</p><p>Commenting on the initiative, Bhosle said that singers are the artists who have always expressed the feelings of the public.</p><p>"On this occasion when all of us are fighting against the coronavirus pandemic as 'One Nation' ably led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we 100 singers of the country under ISRA decided to express our love for the nation and dedicate this song as 'One Voice'," she said.</p><p>The artists, who are a part of the anthem include Asha Bhosle, Anup Jalota, Alka Yagnik, Hariharan, Kailash Kher, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Kumar Sanu, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Mano, Pankaj Udhas, S P Balasubramanian, Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Talat Aziz, Udit Narayan,  Shankar Mahadevan,  Jasbir Jassi  among others.</p><p>Sanjay Tandon, CEO of ISRA said, "One Nation One Voice in aid of PM Cares is a dedication from ISRA where 100 artists pay tribute to all the people in the forefront of the battle against the coronavirus and all the people at home who have supported the lockdown."</p><p>"One Nation One voice is not just an anthem but it is a national movement - we have over 100 broadcast, social, amplification and tech platforms supporting the launch," said Sukrit Singh of XP&amp;D BeLive digital platform.</p><p>The anthem is the brainchild of Nigam, singer Srinivas and Tandon.</p><p>Nigham said, "It is our collective tribute to the mammoth struggle and effort our government and the entire medical and health workers are putting together in these times of global crisis. Hundred singers are coming together from different corners of India, is an unprecedented show of solidarity and love."</p><p>Srinivas said as artiste they wanted to contribute to the fight in their own way. </p><p>"ISRA being the treasure house of singers in this country, we embark on a song with 100 voices and nothing else, to stir the nation's heart and reaffirm our solidarity. A hundred voices sing in unison for the nation," he said.</p><p>Every artist has recorded the song from home.</p><p>Manish Baradia, Creative Director of Moving Pixels said: "Working with home recording of audio and video is a beautiful challenge. There is a certain sincerity and effort that comes through that no packaging can match. The end result is inspiring. The anthem is composed for the digital age and can be enjoyed on TV, Radio, Devices and Caller Ring Tones."</p>The song is available in 14 languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujrati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bhojpuri, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Rajasthani and Odiya.  CPS  BKBK

COVID-19: 100 singers unite for anthem dedicated to frontline warriors

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>There was chaos at the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/tour-de-france">Tour de France</a> on Friday's stage 19 after extreme weather forced organizers to suddenly stop the race.</li><li>Confusion reigned on the road as the riders didn't immediately know what was happening or whether they should keep racing.</li><li>Video clips posted on social media appeared to show a landslide blocking the race route just ahead of the riders.</li><li>Egan Bernal of Colombia became the new leader of the Tour after having distanced Julian Alaphilippe of France before the race was neutralized. There will be no stage winner, and Bernal will wear yellow as new race leader on Saturday's stage 20.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>There was chaos at the Tour de France on Friday as organizers suddenly stopped stage 19 because of extreme weather, which appeared to include a flash hail storm, snow blocking the roads, and a landslide all just ahead of the riders.</p><p>The Colombian rider Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) was in the lead when the stage was neutralized and became the new leader of the three-week Tour with just two stages to go to the race's finish in Paris on Sunday.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tour-de-france-bikes-ranked-2019-7">The Tour de France bikes, ranked</a></em></p><p>Before the race was halted, Bernal had distanced himself from the yellow jersey holder, Julian Alaphilippe of France, who rides on the Deceuninck-Quick-Step team.</p><p>Bernal is expected to wear the yellow jersey as the new race leader on Saturday's stage 20.</p><p>&#xa0;</p><p><span>According to the EF Education First team, there would be no stage winner.</span></p><p><span>"Official word from </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LeTour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener user" data-user-name="LeTour"><span>@</span><span>LeTour</span></a><span> organizers: no stage winner, no most aggressive on today's weather-neutralized stage. Egan Bernal (INS) is the new race leader: "For the overall classification, the times at Col d'Iseran will apply."</span></p><p lang="en">The organizers said the finish time for the riders on Friday's stage would be taken atop the Col d'Iseran.</p><p>&#xa0;</p><p><em>This story is developing. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chaos-tour-de-france-race-suddenly-stopped-landslide-roads-2019-7">Check back for updates</a>.</em></p><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div>

Chaos reigns at Tour de France as race is suddenly stopped because of extreme weather and landslide

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>On Wednesday, Microsoft <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jurc3SxztGw">held an event</a> in which it showed off a whole bunch of 3D software baked into Windows 10, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-announces-surface-studio-2016-10">a new Surface PC </a>that competes with the iMac and an interesting new device for the Surface line of PCs called the SurfaceDial.<p>This is a dial device that you use in addition to a mouse, a digital pen and a touchscreen. It lets you manipulate the images on your screen, so you can do things like bring up new color palettes, adjust volume and screen brightness, or even scroll through a big document.</p><p>Now add in Microsoft HoloLens, its augmented reality device that will cost about $300, and all the cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) services Microsoft is offering developers, and you've got a company that is truly impressing people with a new wave of innovation.</p><p>Contrast this with the company previously known as the monarch of innovation: Apple. Apple is the company that brought us the iPod, the iPhone, the tablet, the first verbal digital assistant, Siri. On Tuesday, after reporting its first decline in revenue since 2001, with shrinking shipments across all products, an analyst asked <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-q4-2016-earnings-2016-10">Tim Cook the unthinkable question:</a> Was the company now just a follower of other's innovations? (Cook was none too pleased with the question, or the implication.)</p><p>None of this was lost on people watching Microsoft's event. One thing people tweeted over and over again during the event: Microsoft is now officially more innovative than Apple.&#xa0;</p><p><div></div></p><p>&#xa0;<div></div></p><p>&#xa0;<div></div></p><p><div></div></p><p>&#xa0;<div></div></p><p>&#xa0;<div></div></p><p><div></div></p><p>And, just for kicks, here are the tweets from two former Microsoft outsiders that Microsoft bought to help spur innovation,&#xa0;Javier Soltero,&#xa0;the co-founder and CEO of Acompli now running the Outlook team.</p><p><div></div></p><p>And Nat Friedman, the co-founder of app-development platform&#xa0;Xamarin, now owned by Microsoft.</p><p><div></div></p><p>Here's Microsoft's 90-second recap of the event and all the stuff it showed off.</p><p><div></div></p><p class="tagline">Visit Markets Insider for constantly updated market quotes for individual stocks, ETFs, indices, commodities and currencies traded around the world. <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/">Go Now!</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-world-robot-conference-beijing-artificial-intelligence-human-like-2016-10">China just showcased the world's most human-like robots, and they show how close we're coming to Westworld reality</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="QyNHh4NjE6wJdeMjoxiebeI-_J_qGCV2" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

People are saying that Microsoft is now more innovative than Apple

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Jorge Masvidal easily beat Nate Diaz to be crowned the "baddest mother f-----" in the game.</li><li>Masvidal out-struck Diaz, opened up cuts, and forced a doctor's stoppage at the end of the third round.</li><li>He was awarded with <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2019/11/01/ufc-bmf-belt-ufdc-244-baddest-mother-fcker-diaz-masvidal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the $50,000 "BMF" title</a>, which was presented to him by the Hollywood hardman and former WWE superstar The Rock.</li><li>You can watch highlight clips of Masvidal's victory below.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>Jorge Masvidal opened Nate Diaz up with bloody cuts, forcing a bloody stoppage in the UFC 244 main event at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday.</p><p>The cuts were so bad it forced a referee's stoppage, anointing Masvidal as the "baddest mother f-----" in the game. He was even awarded with <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2019/11/01/ufc-bmf-belt-ufdc-244-baddest-mother-fcker-diaz-masvidal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a $50,000 "BMF" belt</a> by the Hollywood hardman and former WWE superstar The Rock.</p><p>It has been a wild year for Masvidal. He began 2019 by knocking out the English fighter Darren Till at a UFC Fight Night event in London in March. Four months later he broke the record for fastest knockout in UFC history, stopping Ben Askren with a flying knee at UFC 239.</p><p>Then, on November 2, he never looked out of his depth when he defeated Diaz with a statement-making performance.</p><p>Masvidal began the fight by charging at Diaz as if he were about to launch another flying knee, the same one he concussed Askren with. Masvidal laughed as Diaz ran away.</p><p>With quickfire slugging, head kicks, and ground-and-pound, Masvidal asserted an early authority on the fight.</p><p>Masvidal had Diaz hurt in round two, also.</p><p>By the third, it was clear Masvidal was bleeding heavily from cuts above his eye. They were so bad, the doctor intervened and said Diaz could not continue much to the chagrin of the crowd, who booed the verdict.</p><p>Masvidal was ahead on the Octagonside judges' scorecards, leading 30-26, 30-27, and 30-26 at the time of the stoppage, with two judges regarding round two as a dominant, 10-8 round for the Floridian fighter, <a href="https://twitter.com/marc_raimondi/status/1190876259657625601" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the ESPN reporter Marc Raimondi tweeted</a>.</p><p>Diaz said after the loss that, well, bleeding happens. "Blood don't hurt," he said.</p><p>And Masvidal didn't seem happy with the result, either, saying that because he did not get a chance to stop Diaz for good, he would welcome a rematch.</p><p>"I didn't get to baptize Nate, so we're going to run it back," the man dubbed <a href="https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1190861422386958338" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Street Jesus" said in the middle of the Octagon</a>.</p><p>Diaz needed multiple stitches to repair the wounds.</p><p>But as the clear winner, Masvidal was awarded the inaugural BMF belt, and he had his fellow Floridian wrap the title around his waist.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>With victory, Masvidal, whose record is 3-0 for the year, moves to 35 career wins (16 by knockout and two submissions) against 13 losses.</p><p>Diaz drops to 20 wins (four by knockout and 12 by submission) against 12 losses.</p><p><strong>Read more:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-canelo-alvarez-sent-sergey-kovalev-crashing-through-the-ropes-2019-11?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez hit Sergey Kovalev with a knockout punch so hard the Russian collapsed through the ropes</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wladimir-klitschko-plotting-boxing-comeback-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wladimir Klitschko is plotting a spectacular boxing comeback, and he wants to break an old heavyweight record</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-michael-conlan-boxing-revenge-next-fight-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ireland's next top boxer has a rare shot at retribution after losing at the Olympics because of a 'fixed' fight: 'It's personal for my career, my legacy'</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/conor-mcgregor-luke-keeler-challenges-ufc-fighter-to-stay-sober-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">An Irish boxer is challenging Conor McGregor to 'stay sober' long enough so they can end their war of words and fight for a world title</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-tyson-fury-really-like-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The real Tyson Fury is quiet, shy, and introverted, according to an Irish boxer who knows him well</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-will-conor-mcgregor-fight-in-his-comeback-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Conor McGregor is linked with comeback bouts against 4 fighters only weeks after being considered an 'irrelevant' has-been</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/carl-frampton-wants-to-be-irelands-greatest-boxer-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A second successive loss could finish Carl Frampton, but he fights to be called Ireland's greatest boxer: 'It's make or break'</a></p><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/world-famous-sports-logos-hidden-messages-2019-10">10 world-famous sports logos with hidden meanings</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Jorge Masvidal opens Nate Diaz up with bloody cuts, wins 'baddest mother f-----' title, then celebrates with The Rock

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Zaraterez / Instagram" title_caption="Candy Crush leggings." class="zoomin" href="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/51ed4d75ecad04524b000013-960/screen_shot_2013-07-22_at_11.15.57sdsdsd_am.jpeg"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><a href="http://instagram.com/p/bypAjdmkjR/#">Zaraterez / Instagram</a></p><p class="caption">Candy Crush leggings.</p></div><p></p></div>Freemium mobile gaming is a byzantine, poorly-understood vertical within the ecosystem of consumer technology. Few industry analysts or journalists possess the relevant knowledge to assess the health of companies operating under the freemium model  - not because they're incompetent, but simply because freemium gaming only really became noteworthy from the perspective of large media outlets and investor advocates in the west (which is to say, it started generating large amounts of money) with the rise of Facebook's gaming platform between 2008 and 2010. Because of this, the public consideration of freemium gaming companies tends to lean on parallels to legacy business models or historical benchmarks.</p>
<p>To complicate the issue of evaluating a freemium company's health diagnostics, very few freemium gaming companies have experienced long-term success at scale. This makes predicting failure a low-risk proposition whenever a freemium company makes a large bet, grows quickly, or opens a new product track: since most freemium gaming initiatives fail, it logically follows that any given freemium gaming company's initiative is likely to fail. Comparisons to past mis-steps can be made as quick and easily-digestible summaries of a freemium company's proposed plans.</p>
<p>For these reasons, comparisons between King, the developer behind the global gaming phenomenon <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/10338002/Candy-Crush-creator-King-files-for-IPO-in-America.html">Candy Crush Saga that recently filed an S-1 to go public</a>, and <keyword id="188699" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Zynga">Zynga</keyword>, another gaming company that launched an IPO in December 2011, are currently being made because both companies develop freemium games. And since Zynga is currently trading at around 40% of the debut price of its public shares, the temptation to predict a similar fate for King is understandably strong - but flawed.</p>
<p>To highlight just how misunderstood the freemium mobile gaming industry is, consider that, for the last few months, there seemed to be no consensus in the mainstream technology media that King was even pursuing an IPO.</p>
<p>From the ground, this uncertainty was baffling; King's most popular title, Candy Crush Saga, has remained comfortably entrenched at the head of Apple's top grossing charts for months, likely delivering <a href="http://ufert.se/user-acquisition/mobile-game-monetization/how-much-money-is-candy-crush-saga-making/">millions of dollars in gross revenue per day</a> to the company.</p>
<p>And in mid-May, King's notoriously secretive and limelight averse CEO, Riccardo Zacconi, made a rare public revelation of operational data points that was obviously intended to shore up interest in a public listing. To those familiar with King as a company, this was interpreted as a concrete admission than an IPO was imminent: King's CEO generally eschews public speaking engagements, interviews with journalists, and public disclosures of proprietary data. But to outsiders, King's very public reveal was reported upon as a mere PR stunt.</p>
<p>While it's true that Zynga's IPO poisoned the well for prospective social gaming public offerings - and equally true that large institutional investors, to whom King's banks will begin making overtures in short order, cannot possibly approach the analysis of every potential investment with the trained eye of an industry insider - comparisons between the two companies are invalid, for three reasons.<br /><strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>1) King's management team and ownership structure is completely different from Zynga's.</strong></p>
<p>In the lead-up to Zynga's IPO, the company's then-CEO, Mark Pincus, held <a href="http://www.details.com/style-advice/tech-and-design/201005/mark-pincus-facebook-mafia-wars-farmville-zynga">conspicuous ubiquity in technology press</a> - conspicuous because profiles of the veteran executive were almost universally unfavorable, highlighting his aggressive management style and willingness to engage in less than savory tactics in the pursuit of revenue.</p>
<p>Pincus had the freedom to maintain such a high profile because the lines between Zynga and its CEO were blurred: at the time of its IPO, founder and then-CEO Mark Pincus <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/01/zynga-ipo-mints-a-new-multi-billionaire-mark-pincus/">owned 18.1% of the company,</a> far more than any other individual employee (and about 50% more than the stake held by Zynga's next-largest shareholder, Kleiner Perkins).</p>
<p>While little is known about King's ownership structure (given that King filed a "confidential" S-1, as allowed by the JOBS act), the company was founded in 2003 (as Midasplayer International Holding Co.) by six former colleagues from a company called Spray that fell victim to the burst of the internet bubble in the early noughts. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323566804578553292301803254.html">Apax Partners and Index Ventures invested $50MM</a> into the company in 2005 to fund development of a web-based "skill game" platform.</p>
<p>That massive round of funding (and the investments that preceded it) as well as the size of the founding team likely means that King CEO Riccardo Zacconi's ownership stake is far smaller than Pincus' was at the time of Zynga's IPO. With a more distributed locus of managerial power, King has built a more conservative and calculated business than Zynga was in December 2011.</p>
<p>Zynga's strategic capriciousness surely contributed to the significant decline in the company's enterprise value since it went public: as its competitive advantage on Facebook dwindled, the company has endlessly explored faddish rabbit holes without seemingly committing to any on a long-term basis. Such fickleness is only possible when a company is helmed by a messianic leader with unrivaled influence, which King does not appear to be.</p>
<p><strong>2) King and Zynga employ critically opposing growth tactics.</strong></p>
<p>Until recently, but especially at around the time of its IPO, Zynga's operational strategy involved rapid headcount growth, often through acquisitions. Prior to December 2011, Zynga acquired the following companies:</p>
<ul>
<li>YoVille (2008, coincided with $29 series B investment)</li>
<li>MyMiniLife (2009)</li>
<li>Serious Business (2010)</li>
<li>XPD Media (2010, established Zynga's presence in China)</li>
<li>Challenge Games (2010, established Zynga's presence in Austin. Austin office later shuttered)</li>
<li>Conduit Labs (2010, established Zynga's presence in Boston. Boston office later shuttered)</li>
<li>Dextrose (2010, German-based HTML5 game enginge developer. Established Zynga's presence in Europe. German office later shuttered)</li>
<li>Bonfire Labs (2010, established Zynga's presence in Dallas. Dallas office later shuttered)</li>
<li>NewToy (2010, NewToy was the developer behind Words with Friends. Zynga paid $53MM for NewToy, which was based in McKinney, Texas and folded into the Dallas studio through layoffs. The Dallas studio was later shuttered)</li>
<li>Flock (2011, Flock was a "social web browser")</li>
<li>Area/Code (2011, established Zynga's presence in New York. Multiple New York were offices later consolidated through layoffs after Zynga's acquisition of OMGPOP and then closed altogether, although a small advertising and sales office remains open in New York)</li>
<li>Floodgate Entertainment (2011, folded into Zynga's Boston office, which was later shuttered)</li>
<li>JamLegend (2011, JamLegend made a free-to-play, web-based music game and was folded into Zynga's San Francisco office)</li>
<li>Wonderland Software (2011, established Zynga's presence in the UK. UK office later shuttered)</li>
<li>DNA Games (2011)</li>
<li>Sapus Media (2011, the two-man company that developed cocos2d, a 2d mobile game engine)</li>
<li>Five Mobile (2011, established Zynga's presence in Canada)</li>
<li>Astro Ape Studios (2011, folded into New York office, which was later shuttered)</li>
<li>HipLogic (2011, HipLogic was an Android development studio)</li>
</ul>
<p>Many of the studios acquired during Zynga's three-year acquisition spree were later shuttered - mostly in Zynga's recent <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/03/zynga-global-layoffs/">culling of 18% of its workforce</a>.</p>
<p>King, on the other hand, has only publicly announced one acquisition in its 10 year history: that of Fabrication Games, which was a Stockholm, Sweden-based mobile games developer with just 12 employees. As of June 2013, King employed a mere 400 people across offices in London, Stockholm, Malmö, Barcelona, Bucharest, and Tokyo (notably, not San Francisco).</p>
<p><strong>3) King's mobile launch pipeline is bolstered by a massive portfolio of existing web titles.</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2013/03/26/how-king-com-zoomed-up-the-social-gaming-charts/">King's development approach</a> - which involves vetting new titles, developed by 3-person teams, through the 10 million users of its <keyword id="1408903" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="King-com">King.com</keyword> platform before launching on mobile - allows the company to maintain a portfolio of properties without investing heavily in marketing when testing the viability of new games.</p>
<p>Additionally, without developing new IP, King could likely fill its mobile release schedule for at least the next year or two from the huge bank of approximately 150 games that are already operational on its web platform. This represents a substantial distinction between December 2011 Zynga and King: Zynga was forced to acquire teams and IP (like <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20120321/looks-like-zynga-just-bought-omgpop-for-200-million/">Zynga's acquisition in March 2012 of OMGPOP</a>, the developer behind the, at the time, fast-growing Draw Something) to keep releases regular, while King can select the best-performing titles from its existing portfolio to port to mobile platforms.</p>
<p>This presents another important difference between the two companies: rather than operating a portfolio of titles across multiple platforms, Zynga commits the bulk of its development resources to a single platform at a time. Much has been written about Zynga's dependence on Facebook and its resultant late shift to mobile, but even acknowledging the company's recent recognition of the primacy of mobile, it can be said that Zynga appears to still be too narrowly focused on a single platform (iOS). Zynga has 60 apps in the App Store compared to its 26 in Google Play.</p>
<p>While Android doesn't yet match the monetizaton of iOS, it is the key entry point into Asian markets, which Zynga doesn't appear to courting. Compare this to King, which launched Candy Crush Saga on Android earlier this year, announced a <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/13/candy-crush-saga-launches-on-hot-messaging-system-kakao-talk-in-korea/">partnership deal with KakaoTalk in South Korea</a> earlier this month, and has begun announcing new <a href="http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/15/candy-crush-dev-reveals-papa-oear-saga-for-ios-and-android/">mobile titles for multi-platform launch</a> (as opposed to iOS exclusives), and King clearly is more committed to diversifying its user base in terms of both geography and platform adoption than Zynga.</p>
<p>This diversification is a matter of strategic risk distribution: rather than bet on hits (as Zynga did with its $180MM acquisition in 2012 of OMGPOP), King manages a portfolio of titles, across an array of platforms, to diversify its revenue streams. And while it's probably true that Candy Crush Saga will represent the vast majority of King's 2013 revenue, the company was profitable before that game's release.</p>
<p>The fundamental differences between King's and Zynga's profiles don't necessarily dictate that King's fate as a public company won't mirror that of Zynga's; King's reported $5BN IPO valuation likely requires the permanent presence within its product portfolio of at least one hit within the realm of Candy Crush Saga's success, which is impossible to predict.</p>
<p>A more relevant <a href="http://ufert.se/user-acquisition/mobile-game-monetization/gunghos-stock-price-rollercoaster-and-hit-driven-valuations/">comparison to King than Zynga is GungHo</a>, which also operates a massively successful freemium mobile game, Puzzle &amp; Dragons, and which has experienced incredible share price volatility as that game's growth has slowed.</p>
<p>King's business model, ownership structure, and future product roadmap will be subject to considerable scrutiny over the next few months. Comparisons to Zynga are merely a distraction; December 2011 Zynga and King look nothing like each other, and Zynga's post-IPO performance has little in common with a potential publicly-listed King.</p>
<p><em>Eric Benjamin Seufert runs <a href="http://mobiledevmemo.com">Mobile Dev Memo</a>, a mobile development / freemium apps-oriented site that publishes original op-ed content and aggregates news from across the web.</em></p>

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