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The rumored bad blood between pop stars Taylor Swift and Katy Perry soon will spill over into the mobile video game arena. Mobile game publisher Glu Mobile ( GLUU ) announced late Wednesday that it has partnered with Swift to develop a smartphone game set for release in late December. The pop star, known for such hit songs as “Wildest Dreams” and “Blank Space,” will join Glu’s growing celebrity roster, which includes Perry, Kim Kardashian and others. Swift reportedly wrote her song “ Bad Blood ” about her fallout with Perry. Shares of low-priced small-cap stock Glu were up 31%, near 2.60, in early afternoon trading on the stock market today . Glu announced its deal with Tay-Tay at the same time it posted Q4 earnings that beat analyst expectations . San Francisco-based Glu earned 2 cents a share excluding items on sales of $57.9 million in the December quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected Glu to lose 3 cents a share on sales of $50.5 million. On a year-over-year basis, earnings per share tumbled 82% and sales fell 24%. Glu Mobile CEO Niccolo de Masi attributed the Q4 outperformance to continued strong results from its top games – “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood,” “Cooking Dash 2016,” “Racing Rivals” and “Deer Hunter 2016.” Meanwhile, “Katy Perry Pop,” launched Dec. 17, was widely seen as a flop, blamed on poor game design. Other upcoming celebrity video games from Glu will feature pop singers Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj, reality TV stars Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and chef Gordon Ramsay. By signing Swift, Glu has effectively locked up the market for games featuring high-profile female celebrities, Cowen analyst Doug Creutz said in a research report Thursday. “At the very least, we believe Glu has eliminated any possibility of real competition in the genre for the next several years,” Creutz said. Last month, Glu agreed to take a minority stake in Plain Vanilla Corp. , based in Reykjavik, Iceland. Plain Vanilla is the developer behind the globally popular game “QuizUp.” Glu also has an option to acquire the company at a pre-agreed price. The competitive landscape in mobile gaming is beginning to shake out, de Masi said on a conference call with analysts. “New company formation has slowed dramatically as venture capital has dried up,” he said. “Over the next 24 months, I anticipate significant consolidation and the emergence of fewer, bigger, stronger global firms.” In November, Activision Blizzard ( ATVI ) agreed to buy “Candy Crush” mobile game maker King Digital Entertainment ( KING ) for $5.9 billion. Other major players in the mobile game market include Supercell, Machine Zone, Rovio, Electronic Arts ( EA ) and Zynga ( ZNGA ). Image provided by Shutterstock . Scalper1 News
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