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4 Awesome Tips to Improve Indie Mobile Game Development

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

Indie mobile game development can be a serious revenue source or a side hobby for many. Regardless of why we do it, we all love the taste of triumph in what we do. Here are some simple yet valuable tips that you could keep in mind when you set out to try your luck with mobile game development.

Search! Search! Search!

Before Google came, retrieving information was a lot more difficult task. You had to spend hours in libraries and skim through dozens of books to arrive at some specific information that you had been trying to find out.

Well, times have changed now. It’s a good thing that the internet came into our lives. There is lot of free information available online. From baking a cake to building a robot, no matter what you are looking for, you’ll find one or another article that deals with the subject.

A developer practising indie mobile game development, should tap the resources that one has easy access to and benefit from it. A good research is the key to problem solving most of the times. Best advice – Explore, learn, share your views and get help from communities.

Read also: 9 Mistakes Beginner Indie Mobile Game Developers Should Avoid

Only Hardwork Pays, in Mobile Game Development Atleast

Success doesn’t come overnight. And there is also no shortcut for it. Ideas are diverse, situations are diverse, and individual abilities are diverse. As a matter of fact, there is no universal formula to be victorious.

All successful devs and startups have gone through ups and downs and have faced many obstacles before making it there. Times of difficulties are common when you try to get established in every scenario. Things could go intractable and overly messed up. But that’s how you learn to solve them and take steps to prevent them. Every failure adds to your experience and knowledge.

“The way anything is developed is through practice practice practice and more practice.” – Joyce Meyer

It is worth noticing that as a general rule, we learn everything by practice. And with much practice and persistence there comes perfection. A good indie game developer should keep playing until he/she gets it right.

Beware of the Deceptions

Sadly, we all should admit that we live in a corrupt world. There are people who are trying to take advantage of you out there. Thousands of devs are being deceived every year around the globe. Being too honest to everyone whom you meet in the first place may put you and your work in great danger.

Recommended read: 5 Reasons Why Mobile Game Development Companies Fail to Win the Global Market

Always be careful when dealing with people whose whereabouts are unknown to you. Be aware of the common tactics and schemes used by crooks to trick people. Look out for any fraudulent behaviour or unusual declarations made by the other party. Do a thorough research on the identity of a stranger before you give out any critical information about your project to them.

Socialize

In businesses, interaction is very important for growth. In today’s rapidly changing development environment, social skills matter more than anything. It helps you to keep updated about what’s new and trendy in the industry. Following people with similar interest is a great way to discuss ideas, share views, stay up-to-date, and get support.

Indie game devs with smaller budgets could improve their game’s visibility by actively participating in gaming events and festivals. They can meet potential customers, publishers, other professionals and even get noticed by the media this way. Another major advantage of attending a public gathering is that you get a chance to playtest your game and collect feedback for improvement.

5 Reasons Why Mobile Game Development Companies Fail to Win the Global Market

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

With abundant growth opportunities and involvement of multinational corporations, the track for mobile game development is lighted up. Asian countries are listed as toppers when it comes to playing mobile games throughout the globe.

A lot of mobile game development companies worldwide focus on the Asia-pacific market to pluck the fruits of their labor. Unfortunately, every release wouldn’t make it right away. Here, we are discussing about the top factors that hinder a mobile game from going viral in a foreign soil.

1. Failure to Plan Ahead and Do a Market Study

Every business ‘s success is the result of devising its own unique strategic plan and the effort taken towards its proper implementation. Each market will have its own peculiarities. The possibilities in each country can be largely varied. International promotion is a lot of hard work in itself.

You should study each market that you are planning to target individually. The tradition, language, culture, social acceptability, etc. will be different from country to country.

Public preferences may depend on factors like the additional gaming peripherals, existing trend for the type of game, cost of the similar products available in the market and much more. For e.g., in some countries there could be a greater demand for single platform games and in many others the preferences may alter.

So you should thoroughly evaluate the scope for your game’s survival in the new location. Analyze whether you are aiming for an already saturated market. Get an understanding about the budget at hand and decide if simultaneous release to numerous markets is a viable and profitable option.

2. Earlier the Better

Mobile game development cost is an important factor that affects profit. The most adopted formula of maximizing profit is to think of ways to cut down cost. One way is bringing to the table a plan that could accomodate localization from the beginning stage in development. The coding can be done from inception taking steps that will reduce bug fixing and modification later.

Localization is not just about translation of the language content. Everything from costumes to food to culture should be localized as a part of adapting the game to target the customers of a particular region.

3. Teaming Up with the Local Channels

The major part of the success of your game depends on the marketing strategies that you build. The markets on the opposite corners of the world can highly contrast with each other. If you aim for a neighboring country, it might be possible to take some advantages there, as too many similarities in the distribution channels may be found.

Recommended read: Mobile Game Market – Facts

It is easier said than done to study and devise all the necessary strategies that could concord with the unknown market demands in a new place. So, most international companies partners with local residents or companies who know how to play the game well and emerge successful.

4. Pricing Your Game

Once you’ve got your game adapted for localized distribution, the next thing that comes to your mind would be “PROFIT”. The common mistake that game development companies or single developers commit is pricing the game based on their country’s standard.

When the targeted country has a lower currency rate and per capita income, what you price could be way over the top for gamers to afford. The end result would be dissatisfied users and negative ratings. So when you aim the overseas market, your monetizaton model should be a fair one.

5. Testing Challenges

Even though you have got years of experience in testing mobile games, you could just stumble when it comes to testing adapted games. The nature of different languages are different. Sometimes, mere translation of a game to any other language with a long sentence structure can badly affect the UX. So, it is necessary to test the game all over again after localization on different devices.

The games should also be tested for compatibilty with additional accessories that are foreign to you, but popular in the targeted country. But as aforementioned under the heading “earlier the better”, localization is not just about translating the contents. Conformance to content regulations and recognition to cultural differences are important aspects that should be considered for scrutiny.

Mobile Game Market – Facts [Infographics]

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

We played brick games earlier and now we love the games on our mobile phones. Currently, the total number of mobile devices worldwide are around whopping millions.

Mobile games have come a long way from the first one of its kind, Tetris aboard Hagenuk MT-2000 cellphone in 1994. The assortment of functions new gen mobile games incorporate are enormous. You will just go wow playing them!

Major speed increase and simulation of real world ecosystems are just two colors in the big picture. Hardware enhancements and improved tools of technology in mobile game development make way for exceptionally brilliant game features such as cloud gaming and virtual reality. The demarcation line between real world and virtual world games is fading nowadays.

The journey is unending and the scope for improvement is immense. Mobile game development companies are blooming up globally. There are tremendous opportunities for game developers and testers. In fact, the race is on to catch young talents.

This infographic contains a few informational facts about the mobile game market at present.

9 Mistakes Beginner Indie Mobile Game Developers Should Avoid

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

What experience does to your career is amazing. But it doesn’t come without its challenges. You fail more times than you succeed. Yet, every failure is your stepping stone to success.

Nevertheless, it will save you a good amount of time and money, if you stick by these golden advice for beginning with mobile game development as a career. Otherwise, you might learn it the hard way.

1. Don’t be Biased

We are easily motivated by success stories. It will make you optimistic. The more you hear about them, the more you want to get out there and achieve it yourself. Well, this temptation is at the same time good and bad for you.

We already saw what’s good in it. The bad thing is that you are blinded from perceiving the reality. You wouldn’t stop to analyze the failure stories or associated risks. Ultimately, things might turn out very bad for you.

For a beginner in mobile game development, the first few years are very important. It is the time to take advice, learn from own and other’s experiences, and reflect on oneself and one’s work. But most importantly, it is the time to practice patience.

2. Avoid Too Much Expectation in the Beginning

The beginners in mobile game development often only have the few basic skills that is needed for game development, combined with lack of any significant experience. They start their career with high hopes and great expectations.

Conversely, what actually happens is that soon after they start, they get defeated too easily and too frequently. This is because the awareness they have regarding the effort that is to be put behind the actual process is too little. Often, these successive failures will lead to disappointment and drain confidence.

It’s always better to start on smaller projects or concentrate on a certain division of a large project in the beginning. This way, it is easy for a beginner to tackle the problems that they come to face and progress forward.

3. Don’t Make a Simple Idea into a Complex One

The subheading speaks for itself. Never try to add inappropriate and useless content to your game. For example, do not complicate a kid’s game by adding too many buttons or violence and horror elements suitable only for the adults. The logic behind including the different components of your game should be to improve the user experience in the end.

4. Don’t Keep Prototyping Outside of Your Big List

Prototyping helps to save your valuable development time. Before starting anything, you have a complete working model on your hand.

It is a phase is where you can try out all your wild and creative ideas from your imagination and see if they fit into your game like a jigsaw puzzle. You can invite others to play your game and have their say. This feedback will be a useful resource while making improvements to your game.

5. Document Everything

Getting agreed upon an idea finally is a fairly complex task- you spend hours discussing, researching, experimenting and just in plain thought. It is not easy to remember everything that you’ve come across.

Recommended read: Mobile Game Development – It’s Past, Present & Future

Sometimes, even losing a single solution may disrupt your entire work. Also there is the risk of losing important information while the idea gets transferred from one person to another. This is where the importance of a proper documentation lie.

6. Don’t Skip Planning

Good planning is unavoidable to maintain the pace of your project’s progression. Planning allows you to allot specific time for all the things that needs to be done. You can focus on writing codes or fixing bugs at the right time.

Absence of a plan can get things messy and eventually you’ll end up taking too much time and spending too much budget on your project.

7. Market Early

Marketing should not be set aside for the last month of the release. It is never too early to start getting some good fans for your game. In fact, you can begin with basic marketing steps even before you actually develop any codes. Take the word out as early as possible, and you’ll save some bucks here.

8. Generate an Early Feedback

Most developers are of the habit of seriously thinking about play testing their game only by the end of their project. This is a very bad idea.

Show your game to people outside of your team and friends circle from the beginning itself. As soon as you build the prototype, it’s time for your game to get some attention and feedback from a large audience. You may even attend events and festivals and show your game to folks there. People can find out mistakes in your game that you can’t find for yourself. And the end result – scope for improvement and success.

9. Follow People with Similar Interests

As always, networking is an important part of the game. After all, you need your connections to get to know what’s happening in the industry. They help to know what’s trending and new, different views, ideas, and options and thereby benefits mutual growth.

Mobile Game Development – It’s Past, Present & Future

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

In the beginning, mobile phones were nothing more than simple voice communication devices. People wouldn’t have even imagined about mobile game development at that time. On 3rd April 1973, Martin Cooper of Motorola made the world’s first mobile phone call to his rival Dr. Engel of Bell labs. Those devices were bulky, large, and plain-looking. Two decades later, IBM introduced the first ever mobile app for a Smartphone.

Mobile phone industry has grown dramatically. As somebody rightly said, “A man is known by the company of the phone he keeps”, mobile phones are more or less one’s status symbol now. We admire our devices and we are very happy to own it. They are more like our companions nowadays.

Also Read:

4 Awesome Tips to Improve Indie Mobile Game Development

Age of Mobile Game Development, the beginning

Entertainment has always been an essential part of human life. So, it’s no wonder someone thought mobile game development would be a great idea.

The first ever apps included a few unadorned games, calculator, calendar, world clock and contact book that came pre-installed in the mobile devices.

The versatility of mobile phone apps is phenomenal. They range from apps for social networks, travel, health, banking, fitness, news and much more. The mobile game development industry also has its own share to offer.

The first mobile games introduced were a mobile version of Tetris on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device in 1994 and Snake on Nokia in 1997.

The scope for mobile games was very limited earlier. The very first games were basic, uncluttered and penny plain. They were characterised with poor visual quality, minimal or no effects, polygon characters, block articles, performance lag, and snail-paced movements.

Initially when mobile hardware development was still in its infancy, the mobile game development industry faced problems due to the low battery life, unavailable memory and poor graphics hardware.

Present day Games

The time when we fancied old-school games like Pac-Man, Galaga, Tetris and Snake are over. Introduction of smartphones was a predominant breakthrough in the communication field. We witnessed major achievements through extreme R&D steps and market analysis, which brought successive versions of highly advanced devices into the market. These devices featured better software and hardware functionalities with each generation.

It is seen that developers are moving away from living room consoles and towards PC and mobile game development. Mobile platforms don’t have the restrictions that come with developing for consoles. They are much cheaper and can be developed without the help of a publisher. And also with the introduction of android and iPhone, mobile game development quality started to close the gap with console games.

Popular Mobile Game Categories

Mobile games refer to video games that are played on mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and the like. Games can be downloaded from app stores such as Google play or the Apple App store or could come preloaded with the device. It is also possible to play your games from the cloud.

The generally acclaimed qualities of mobile games are the right mix of fact and fantasy, focusing on the game’s graphics, sound, story and replay value.

Some of the leading category/genres of mobile game development include:

Detective games/ Murder mystery games: These games require the player to solve a mystery and catch the criminal by following various clues.

Combat games: Combat games include fighting opponents, which can be armed or unarmed.

Survival games/ Room escape games/ Zombie games: These games include horror elements and arouse fear in the player. Themes could include death, gore, the undead and possession.

Strategy games: In this type of games, the player should make use of decision making skills to achieve victory.

Simulation games: Simulation games include games that offer realistic interpretations and operations of various machines or real life activities. They are widely used for various training purposes.

Educational games: Educational games are targeted at young audiences. These games should have some kind of educational value. They range from simple spelling games to different types of complex construction games based on the academic level of player.

Sport games/ Competitive games/ Race games: This includes playing any of the traditional sports. Archery games, football, car races etc comes under this category.

Adventure games/ Exploration games: This is a type of game where there is a considerable amount of fantasy and the game goes forward by exploration.

Puzzle solving/ mystery games: This includes the logic oriented games. The player needs to solve puzzles and mysteries to move on to the next level.

The list is only a common classification of the different types of mobile games and is not in any way exhaustive.

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Will Mobile Game Development Kill Gaming Consoles?

Game Engines

Present day mobile devices offer powerful platforms to develop stunning real life scenes and characters. Mobile game development have evolved from the first single player games to java games and multiplayer 3D games. With the help of full color visuals and realistic sound effects, mobile games can now create a whole new world of augmented reality.

A game engine is a software tool used for creating video games. Unity, CryEngine, J2me and Unreal Engine are the most popular game engines in use today. These engines are chosen based on the type of game that is about to be developed, like a shooter game or a puzzle game.

Unity 3D: The Unity 3D game engine helps you to develop awesome interactive 3D games. It allows cross platform publishing and supports imports from popular 3D applications like Maya.

CryEngine 3: CryEngine helps to create pretty and realistic game visuals with artist-level programming. It also comes with the most powerful audio tool, Fmod. It is considered as the best mobile game development tool for beginners.

Unreal Engine 4: This is the most popular mobile game development engine. Some of the most successful games were developed by using this tool which includes ARC Squadron Redux, Batman, and Blade. This tool has a lot of amazing features such as improved dynamic lighting and advanced particle system that enhances the graphics quality.

J2me Engine: This is a version of Java. The major advantages of J2me are its security features, development alternatives and omission of any licensing fee.

Features of present day Mobile Games

With powerful hardware and sophisticated tools available in the market, mobile game development has undergone an extensive facelift. More amazing features means there is more control on how much your game can stand close to reality. It also aids in faster development and release cycles.

Detailed characterisation, crystal clear visuals, audio excellence, polished animations, great looking textures, gorgeous art style, near to reality lighting, responsiveness, precision & finesse, and adherence to the fundamental laws of nature are some of attractive features that new generation games offer.

Immersive games with features described above could transform you to a virtual reality and evoke real life feelings and emotions. It could drive you crazy and leave you overwhelmed. You will crave for more gaming hours. There is a global demand for games that test your speed, knowledge, rational thought and common sense.rel=”nofollow”

Some new trends in mobile game development:

Multiplayer games: A multiplayer mobile game allows two or more players to play a single game by sharing the same game environment by using Bluetooth or similar technology. It allows interaction among players and offers real-world opponents. Multiplayer games that supports cross platform gaming are also available.

Social games: Social games are played online and it requires social network integration. It is the most popular game played in the world. These games allow gamers to stay connected with their friends. Mafia Wars and Candy Crush are two of the most successful social network games on Facebook.

Location based games: In location based games, the gameplay progresses based on the location of the player. The location information is commonly retrieved using the GPS technology.

Phone accelerometer: The accelerometer is a device that senses movement or gravity, which in turn helps it to sense the angle at which the device is being held. This has opened a new scope by introducing the technology for playing mobile games. Accelerometer sensors which functions as game controllers are placed to measure the tilt, angle and speed of player actions.

The Gamer – Age and Gender Groups

Mobile phones were considered as a luxury until not too long ago. But today, they are one among the most common commodities. They are owned by the young and the aged alike. There are more mobile devices than people in this world.

As mobile gaming technology flourished with improved hardware such as the sound cards, graphics cards and powerful & faster processors, it became increasingly easy to conceptualize and design games suitable for all age and gender groups. Quick distraction games are trend setters as they can be played in bite sized chunks when you wait in line or during lunch break. For most people, mobile games are truly entertainment in pockets.

In the US alone, there are more than 100 million mobile game players. This includes children, men, women and the old. The average age of mobile game players is 28 years. Though most of the serious gamers are supposed to be men, recent studies show that over half of the mobile gamers in the world are women. The number of women gamers in developed countries is greater than those in the developing or undeveloped countries.

Many games are now being developed focusing women audiences with apt characters and story lines. A lot of women are already in the executive job titles in the gaming industry.

The Mobile Game Market – Statistics

Mobile game development had been just a fringe activity for years, but now they have come up into the mainstream. The mobile game market is very much on the rise from the past several years.

The global mobile gaming market has been worth about $25 billion by the end of 2015. It is dominated by the US, Japan and China. The Asia Pacific countries as a whole generate about 56% of the world’s mobile gaming revenues.

93% of the d applications are games. Of these, cross-platform games are monetized 25% better. 34% of the top 100 game apps use the Freemium model.

Moving on to social network games; of the 100 million players, about 61% plays them on Facebook. More than 50% of Smartphone and tablet owners play their games every day.

Benefits of Video Gaming

The benefits of gaming goes well beyond entertainment and education. Here are some of them:

They help to overcome attention related disorders such as dyslexia.
Moderate game playing improves vision.
Brain games can boost brain activity and slow down the biological aging process.
As a post-injury prescription, it performs a great role in easing pain by diverting attention.
Multi-player games help build social connections.
Strengthens hand-eye co-ordination.
Improves decisive skills.
Reduce stress.
They help compulsive overeaters and drinkers to curb cravings.
Enhance creative thinking.

We should not forget the bad side

Serious gamers spend way too much of their daily hours in front of their gaming devices. One should be aware that, this behavior could damage one’s health. Listed below are some of the most common health hazards that excessive gaming can bring about.

Addiction
Thinning line between reality and the virtual world
Musculoskeletal injuries
Aggression
Obesity
Vision disturbances

Future of Mobile Game Development

“The future of mobile game development is bright. Venture capitalists are investing like mad right now, and start-ups are beginning to see the fruits of their labor with huge returns….…. As mobile devices become more powerful, we’ll also see more mid-core games being produced. Eventually, you’ll be able to play a game as graphically impressive and complex as Halo: Reach, on a handheld. At this point, the industry will revolutionize yet again as the pinnacle achievement is reached. “- Christopher P. Onstad(Lead 3D Modeler, Mega Pickle Entertainment)

Strictly speaking, the future of mobile gaming is unpredictable. It’s been known that built-in hardware features and peripheral accessories affect the way mobile games are played greatly.
The imminent development could be in gaming devices such as Wearables, Phablets, GameStream or VR helmet sets. Or there could be new technologies introduced in mobile gaming including head tracking, computer vision, motion sensing, color detection, sound sensing, and artificial intelligence.

Future mobile phones could be 3D enabled Smartphones like the HTC EVO 3D which enables 3D mobile gameplay.

The term in itself might envelope a whole new sense and meaning as the words of Jennifer Estaris (Designer, Total Immersion) might help convey:

“Mobile game does not mean phone or tablet. It means, ‘Oh, I wore this shirt today, which has connectivity with this bus stop, which alters the world via my sunglasses, and I control the game with my hands… or voice… or… thoughts.”

Visionaries say that there will be more cross platform access in future for the same game. When games are stored and played from the cloud, there will be multiple ways of access to your games. You can start playing your game from your TV and continue to play it on your iPad/Smartphone and then, move on to playing it from your PC.

There is also a massive scope for linking everyday activities to mobile games. Applications such as Foursquare, Wikitude, Layar etc. could be turned into actual games. What mobile game development requires is out-of-the-box thinking and fearlessness to experiment and implement new ideas.

Mobile Game Development: Your Next Big Ticket to Success

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

It was in the early 90’s that a video game managed to put its first step on a mobile device platform for the first time. Later that decade, Nokia’s Snake became the most successful mobile phone game in the planet. Still, the mobile game industry continues on its ride towards progressive development.

Read also: The Advantages of Using Corona SDK for App Development

A quick look into the essentials of a mobile game

Mobile video games range from simple puzzles to the more complex multi-player games or from 2D to 3D games. Games can simply be entertainment games or it can be of some value-oriented nature, like that in educational and advertorial games.

Features of a good mobile game includes easy control and navigation, better loading speeds, attractive GUI, new features, interesting story, ease of understanding, the rules involved and the most important thing – the ” fun factor” etc.

Why should you take up mobile game development as your career or start a mobile game development company yourself?

Times have changed, and so have our career preferences and opportunities. Traditional jobs are being lost one by one, in the influx of newer job categories created by the age of mechanization and technology. As the job market changes, we must imbibe the fact that the new world has made way for huge and exciting modifications in the job titles that we hold. Mobile game developing is a career choice that is being widely adopted by the youth, nowadays.

Wide Scope

Studies have shown that on an average, a mobile phone gamer spends at least 2 hours playing games on a daily basis. Just like any other entertainment, playing is a part of the human instincts — it is in our DNA. Game developers help fulfill these natural cravings by generating entertaining and fun-filled games for us. As the saying goes,” necessity is the mother of invention”; game creation will remain as an occupation always. Thus, for a mobile game development company everyone ranging from children to adults; men and women are their prospective customers.

Recommended read: Tips to Hire the Best Mobile App Development Company

Bright Future

Another merit of being a mobile game developer is that if you are talented enough, you can cultivate higher hopes. There is always more room for improvement career-wise and it is not the same routine tasks that you would have to deal with all year. The developing of structured games is not really easy as the popular misconception- creating the rules, design, idea etc. that are gathered together to create that surreal experience is a really demanding task. Game developers at Minecraft and Candy Crush all started small. With more than 7 billion of mobile devices and counting in the world, the need for mobile games will keep on growing.

So far, formal games education is not quite common in most countries. The industry has grown so fast that it’s hard to keep up with the rising demands. There are a lot of overseas opportunities for a mobile game development company. Likewise, in many mobile game developer recruitments, even senior positions are filled by people from overseas in many countries.

Current scenario

By the end of the year 2015, EEDAR (Electronic Entertainment Design and Research) reports that the global market for mobile gaming will be worth $25 billion. The industry is currently topped by US, Japan and China. 56 percent of the market is ruled by countries of the Asia Pacific with around 50 percent of the mobile gamers being concentrated there. This means that the growth potential for the industry will be really huge in the coming years.

Investing in mobile game development is a wise choice as it can bring in decent rewards. With new mobile markets to conquer, the future looks bright for your mobile game development company.

20.8% of Chinese Mobile Gamers Give up Mobile Games, Lag Far Behind in Cultural Industry

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Super Admin Testreveal

Market research agency iiMedia released a report on Chinese mobile games market in Q3 2014. The report disclosed major reasons why China’s mobile games user growth slows vividly.

Slowdown of smartphone shipments in China can be a factor for this issue.

It is clear from the survey that 38.6% of the mobile gamers in China give up “playing it for a long period of time”, 28.7% of people find difficulty in operating the mode of game, 26.7% give up due to the need of high payment and 22.8% due to boring content.

“Despite this dip in growth, estimates suggest that the Chinese mobile gaming industry’s revenue is set to reach $5.5 billion in 2015. This means it will overtake the US as the largest mobile gaming industry”, states a press release by Niko Partners.

The report also disclosed that market of Chinese mobile gamers grown by 52.8% in Q2 2014 become 11.7% in Q3, lower as compared to previous four partners.