The Mafia Wants A Cut of Pokémon Go

With the wild success of Pokémon GO, it was only a matter of time until the Mafia got involved, Mafia III: Rivals comes to iOS and Android on October 7th.

[monsoon_moon]

I really don't see what this, other than being a mobile app, has to do with pokémon go.

[Smitty2020]

I totally agree with u

[monsoon_moon]

Put in there for clicks only it seems.

[BlotGamingCEO]

I'll state it again here for good measure, so I'm totally clear.

Mafia is a game that doesn't suit mobile, period. Though prior generations probably would have said a similar thing about a number of games. It's a game that shouldn't have- and definitely shouldn't be converting itself to mobile. However, -everyone- is trying to cash in on the Pokemon Go Pie. It was one of the fastest earning apps for a sizeable amount of time. A lot of developers saw this and went "Oh cash grab, yes!"

Come on guys, it's easy to call Click Bait but when there's an actual link and discussion- it's not bait at all. It's a discussion.

[monsoon_moon]

Look at my reply to your other comment.

Pokémon DOES suit mobile and the game is nothing like how Mafia 3 is described.

Also, this is more in line with the hundreds of other mobile games released alongside a video game. Are we to assume that Deus Ex, AC, Tomb Raider, Hitman, GTA among others are all trying to cash in on Pokémon GO's success, despite coming out, in some cases, years before?

There are so many other games that the Mafia 3 mobile game is like, and you chose Pokémon GO, which it isn't particularily like, because it is popular, so I don't think anyone is unjustified in saying that you did this for clicks.

[BlotGamingCEO]

Monsoon, you'll note the author, Austin, didn't say Mafia was like Pokemon- in fact that's his point. The game is nothing like Pokemon and doesn't suit the mobile platform in the slightest. Yet all these developers are getting the bright idea after Pokemon Go to make the shift.

[monsoon_moon]

And there you've missed my point again, a tonne of these types of games, that are similar to this existed BEFORE Pokèmon GO. It isn't copying Pokémon and it isn't comparable to it. Developers aren't copying Pokémon go.

In fact, this isn't the first mobile game Take Two have made;
Borderlands Legends - 2012
My NBA 2K15, 2K16 - 2014 and 2015
GTA iFruit - 2013
WWE 2K16 Creation Studio -2015

All made before Pokémon go and not including the re release of older games on mobile devices.

I mean nothing personal against you or the author, but my point is, Take Two can't be copying Pokémon GO when they have been doing mobile games before it was around and the new Mafia III app, which you also stated isn't comparable to Pokémon GO either. I'm not even saying 2K/Take-Two haven't copied others, just that they aren't copying Pokémon GO, so other than Pokémon GO being popular and generating more clicks, there was no reason to mention it.

[argetlampuppeh]

Hi there, the author here to make the connection clear.

Would Mafia III be getting a tie in game for mobile devices without Pokemon GO? It's entirely possible. Has Pokemon GO made it clear to -every- developer in the world that if you can make a game people will use, it can be more lucrative than the costs? Yes.

Other games, such as Candy Crush and Angry Birds have made that clear to the savvy consumer and keen-eyed developers and publishers, but now it is an indisputable fact.

As has been pointed out, other games have taken up this idea, both before and after Pokemon GO. In the case of the former, they were taking a risk or making an educated decision.

In the case of the latter, we're seeing attempts, sometimes disorganized and floundering, other times less poorly executed, to achieve the same kind of success, often by copy-cating some element of Pokemon GO. This is where the Mafia tie in comes to the fore. You see, it is those differences, the very fact that Mafia III seems to be trying to differentiate itself, that makes it a compelling connection. As in the prohibition era in the states, there is/was a paradigm shift, amateurs attempt(ed) to take advantage of it, and then the organized crime syndicates stepped in. They changed the rules, they were professional, and they weren't just looking to make a quick buck. Right now, Pokemon GO is the most dominant mobile game, bar none, so the pie is theirs. However, the Mafia is coming to town, and they're looking to make the owner of that pie change hands, and they aren't about to play fair to make it happen.

[monsoon_moon]

I appreciate, what you're saying, and as I've said to the other dude, I mean nothing personal against either of you, it's still a civil conversation.

BUT, if Take Two hadn't made mobile games to coincide with the release of their games before, I could understand what you were saying more and probably wouldn't be discussing it, but they have been creating mobile games to councide with the release of their games for years.

To help put my point into perspective, did people put GTA V in the title of all their articles about other games being released because it was dominating the market when it was released and others wanted a slice of the pie?

[argetlampuppeh]

I can't speak to GTA V "copycat" claims as accurately, as I didn't follow the pre/post release hype. However, we need only turn our gaze to the likes of Saint's Row to see that, at the time, it was compared. Similarly, we could point to WoW vs just about any major MMO. There are two important and interlocked differences, however.

1. The games in question were similar in terms of mechanics AND theme, by and large.
2. In none of the above cases were the games so dominant in their market, even if they were the largest thing in their market. GTA didn't cause the stocks of a specific car brand to rise by a ludicrous percentage over an incredibly short period of time, motivated purely by the fact that the car appeared in the game. Pokemon GO did that for Nintendo.

When it comes to video games, it's tough to say there's been a singular entity so dominant in the field. One might be able to point to something like the original DooM as an example, but with only a few possible exceptions, Pokemon GO is unique in the scale of its dominance, rendering comparisons to other situations non-applicable.

At the end of the day, any game which tries to turn a major profit in the same market as Pokemon GO is trying to cut into Pokemon GO, because there are only so many hours in the day, and only so much of it spent playing games. For a vaguely similar comparison: How many people do you know who play a dozen MMOs every month? Let's even call it four hours a week, four times a month. It's an extreme example, but given Pokemon GO's demands to be open on the user's phone in order for things like egg hatching, there's a very real limit on how much time a person can devote, of the time they'd be playing games on their phone, to any given game. It is possible to find times where you couldn't play one and so play the other, preventing overlap, but for the majority of users, there is a choice to be made at a certain point. Pokemon GO, or this other app/game?

[BlotGamingCEO]

Pokemon Go, successful. Other developers follow suit to hit up the mass mobile market pie.

Thought the connection was pretty obvious, apologies. It's a cash in attempt.

[monsoon_moon]

It's not like other video games haven't had mobile games prior to Pokémon Go though, developers have been doing it for years. Hell it's not even the first 'Go', Hitman Go was before and maybe there were others before that, I'm not sure.

But you're right, it is a cash in attempt.

[TheEvilResident1997]

Mobile games are cash grab garbage.

[BlotGamingCEO]

And thus the connection has been made ;)

[Gecksta]

Click bait "The Mafia" game.

[argetlampuppeh]

Author here:

I'll grant you the possibility of confusion, but as with "'Sisters reunited after twenty years in checkout queue" some degree of common sense is to be applied. As interesting a story as the Mafia as a criminal organization getting in on Niantic's game would be, it's incredibly unlikely it would appear here. Breaking news from the industry is one thing, but substantiated claims involving members of a criminal organization known for killing people who do such things? That's the kind of story one throws to CNN or other major, world recognized news sources.