Candy Crush Creator King Entertainment Goes Public, Has Rough First Day

Candy Crush Creator Goes Public Today, Has a So-So First Day

If you're tired of dumping your money into King Digital Entertainment's Candy Crush Saga for extra lives and lollipop hammers, you'll soon be able to drop some cash on actually becoming a part of the phenomenon. 

Candy Crush has been the mobile gaming champion for quite some time now, and now King is trying its luck as a publicly traded company.

The Verge reports that King had a rough first day as a publicly-traded company, with opening costs at $20.50 per share, lower than the projected $22.50 and falling still lower.

The low opening price probably had something to with investors being wary of Candy Crush being a one-hit wonder, much like the eventual fall of Zynga's smash-hit Facebook game Farmville crippled that company when it went public.

"The promise and peril of King's business is a common phenomenon in the gaming industry," The Verge reports. "Zynga, which built its fortunes around Facebook gaming and its infamous title, Farmville, has struggled to find another big hit and lost more than half its value since going public. 

"Zynga tried to replicate lightning in a bottle by buying up other breakout games, spending around $200 million for the viral sensation Draw Something. But that title's momentum atop the charts faded quickly, and sequels never measured up."

With a fairly large catalog of games in its catalog including Pet Rescue Saga, Bubble Witch Saga, Papa Pear Saga, Farm Heroes Saga and quite a few other sagas, King will likely be able to produce another hit and keep its investors happy.

King made $568 million in profit from its games last year, and The Verge reports that the company's profits are likely to start hitting the billions with the move to go public.

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