In the “that didn’t even last 6 months” department, Krafton will be terminating the service for Mini Life on December 12th (this social mobile title was launched in September of this year).  The actual in-game announcement was made around the 3 month mark back in November (which meant that even before the 3rd month, their revenue goals were probably way off the mark where they had to have internal discussions in order to make a decision to announce the closure of the service).

The notice also includes procedures for requesting refunds of in-app purchases from Apple (it may look like it is a goodwill gesture but it is probably also in conjunction with the limited revenues they achieved from this “experiment” where it didn’t make sense to keep them on the books).  Not sure if the Google Play version has the same refund instructions.

This is just a quick example of how brutal the mobile market can be even though it can also be lucrative if the right mix occurs.   The failure of Mini Life might explain why Project BB still hasn’t been released (it was shown off at G-STAR 2018 and at the time, was mentioned as one of the 5 projects they were working on that was furthest along) since that was also going to be a title with more social play aspects based around the family (the BB is a word play on baby).

Krafton’s other recently released game MISTOVER, likewise has seen lackluster interest (the all time peak was back on launch day at 2.2K players) at least on Steam (it’s a single player game so that number represents the time on launch day when players were running the game).  I myself decided against buying it because of my growing negativity with Krafton in general (since it should be clear based on my recent postings regarding TERA PC, that I am not pleased with recent updates).  My basic feeling is that this company is rudderless; relying on but also squandering PUBG and trying to milk what they can from TERA (which is mostly exhibited in the various mobile versions).  The company is also having issues getting Ascent: Infinite Realm out the door (Kakao Games took applications for the KR beta back in late May and early June and then, silence).  But that really is a topic all of its own (and something I don’t want to get into until news comes out from Kakao and Krafton regarding the delay in the KR beta).

If I hadn’t read Inven Global (where the official PR was posted), I wouldn’t have known about its launch (Krafton really needs to hire better marketing since even MISTOVER is flying way under the radar).

Mini Life is a completely non-violent game world where players actively participate to make a name for themselves by becoming the coolest person on the block. With over a billion ways to customize their avatars and over 3,000 fashion items to take it to the next level, players will be able to find endless reasons to join the fun every day. Taking the incredible customization one step further, players will be able to create their own unique mansions and gardens that will be sure to impress the neighbors.

It’s like a less complex (and mobile) version of The Sims where it is mostly about playing “dress up avatar” since yes, one of the big money makers in many games are cosmetics and vanity pixels.  It remains to be seen if the artstyle in this game catches on (TBH, it’s not unique enough).

The other mobile project that Krafton has been working on is Project BB.  Some of these games that the KRAFTON GAME UNION are coming out with are an attempt to appeal to different audiences and find the next big thing that has no ties to PUBG or TERA.  Ascent: Infinite Realm (has no official launch date – they held an application round for the second Korean beta test but have not announced the actual date either) likewise follows a similar theme (though datamining shows there are crossover cosmetic assets from PUBG and mostly TERA) where its theme (Steampunk influence), visuals and combat has its own style.