Chris DeWolfe, the former CEO of MySpace, has found new success in mobile gaming.
Over the course of their careers, digital pioneers have a habit of creating wildly different projects, often at the expense of persistent success. Despite having one of the most varied resumés in entertainment, Chris DeWolfe has consistently triumphed.
Best known for co-founding MySpace–during which time, as its CEO, he was named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in the world–the native of Portland, Oregon now finds himself at the forefront of the ever-expanding world of mobile gaming, heading up the Los Angeles-based mobile games developer Jam City.
DeWolfe co-founded this current venture alongside two MySpace alumni: Jam City president Josh Yguado, part of the acquisition team at Fox that bought MySpace; and Aber Whitcomb, MySpace’s former CTO. Together, they headed up the company’s during its breakthrough in 2014 with Cookie Jam, before creating numerous high-profile games for well-known franchises including Family Guy, Futurama, and, most notably, Harry Potter.
Yet DeWolfe’s move into the world of mobile gaming happened by chance; in the months before MySpace would see its first real competition from Facebook, he’d set his targets on the huge, untapped potential with mobile gaming–and huge, under-served gaming demographic.
Jam City's gaming IPs include Disney, Family Guy, Peanuts and its own creations.
From MySpace to mobile gaming
Even when things are going great, DeWolfe always has an eye for new opportunities. “When developing new companies,” he explains, “I like to think about pop culture and the macrotrends that create them.” One such opportunity came in 2007, during his later years at MySpace, when DeWolfe spent time in Tokyo through MySpace’s Japanese partnership with Softbank.
There, he found himself surrounded by the country’s rich digital entertainment heritage: most Japanese consumers were already accessing music, games and social networks through their phones. For DeWolfe, it was a wake-up call; a “peek around the corner and at the future of Western entertainment.”
“It seemed like it was going to be a democratizing moment for the entire gaming industry,” he explains. “Everyone could have a ‘console in their pocket’ through their mobile device. If someone could make game content for those that had been ignored for so many years–primarily, female casual game players–we could tap into a market that was ready to explode.”
Fast-forward eight years to 2015, and mobile gaming had become bigger than any other entertainment medium. Meanwhile, the creativity of DeWolfe’s Social Gaming Network (SGN), as it was known at the time, saw him win the coveted Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Since then, the mobile games developer has rebranded to Jam City, doubled its employees, and now holds offices in nine locations across five countries, including the U.S., Canada and Germany. There’s no sign of slowing down, even during these uncertain times; Jam City currently lists over 50 career openings across the globe, each with a range of impressive benefits.
Bogota, Colombia, hosts one of Jam City's many studios.
While not a gamer in the traditional sense, DeWolfe’s across-the-board love of entertainment helped him understand the potential of the market. Having headed up the largest social network of its time, running a music label that signed platinum artists, and creating the biggest online music and video platforms of their era, it was perhaps only a matter of time before he made his mark on yet another medium. For DeWolfe, gaming held–and still holds–promise like nothing else.
“What I really love about the gaming business is the fact it can quickly scale to millions of people,” he says. “When we started Jam City, mobile gaming was in infant stages of growth, with pent-up demand and new platforms around the corner. Now, it’s more exciting than it ever has been.”
Making Jam City better than the rest
Fast-forward again to 2020, and Jam City is one of nearly half a million mobile game developers in the world–but the company, following DeWolfe’s ethos, “takes games every bit as seriously as Hollywood takes their movies.” Proud of its “culture of collaboration”, the company operates its seven studios as a single entity using a central tech platform, sharing its data and learnings on a daily basis.
DeWolfe says it means his business can take informed risks that its competitors have never considered, “making big bold bets and bigger financial investments than ever before.” Up to now, it’s absolutely paid off; just last year, following the runaway success of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Jam City raised $145 million in funding from some of the world’s largest banks to invest in its talent.
Jam City prides itself on employing experts across all facets of the business, not only to enhance its strengths but to anticipate the future of the industry. DeWolfe continues: “We have Emmy award-winning storytellers, classically trained artists, mathematicians, PHDs in data science, and senior leaders who worked their way all the way up from QA.
“You also need to have a deep data science infrastructure that allows you to monitor data in real time, creating player experiences tailored to their needs. We can literally change an experience mid-game based on users’ playing styles. And if you can customize the gameplay for each individual user, they’ll have much more fun.”
In order to create new experiences, but also connect with existing audiences, Jam City diversifies its offering with a “nice mix of third-party IP-based games and Jam City-created games.” DeWolfe emphasizes how they have one huge thing in common: “At heart, you have to have story-telling chops to be successful at either.”
While established IPs like Harry Potter games are successful because of well-documented characters and stories, the pressure to deliver against high fan expectations puts great weight on Jam City’s shoulders, simply because of how captivating these interactive experiences can be. “Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery, in particular, isn’t just a game,” DeWolfe says. “It’s an ever-changing world to explore. Fans experience the Wizarding World in a more immersive way than any other medium.”
Although it’s understandable that Jam City finds success with established universes from Warner Brothers, Disney and popular TV shows, he hopes the company can reverse this creative process. He explains: “Eventually, we think there’s a world where an IP we create will live in other entertainment verticals like television, film or books.”
What does the future hold for mobile gaming?
DeWolfe’s visions of the industry’s future are influenced by those finding success right now–notably, those gaming companies that “completely broke the playbook.” He points to Niantic Games’ “simple but brilliant” mobile augmented reality, which led to Pokémon Go and made the technology available through any mobile device–not a wearable device, as everyone once thought. He also congratulates Epic Games, which has “not only created possibly the biggest game in the world with Fortnite, but also developed a successful game development platform and store.”
DeWolfe cites 'Pokémon Go' as a game that "broke the playbook".
For developers like Jam City, its future lies in the habits of players themselves. “The average gamer has so many different places to spend their time: mobile games; console games; Netflix; other streaming services,” DeWolfe continues. “Gamers will expect higher quality from their ‘go-to’ games. They’ll look for a customizable experience they can share socially. Generally, mobile games have not tackled social as well as they could; I think we’ll see a huge wave of social games in the coming years.”
However, mobile game developers have hurdles they’ll need to overcome to find real success. DeWolfe believes that mergers will create even bigger gaming companies, not least because of the financial resources needed to successfully develop and market releases–and provide the infrastructure required to maintain them.
That’s not to say that smaller players will be edged out. “There’s always a place for smaller gaming companies to generate a breakthrough concept,” DeWolfe says. “Often, these smaller outfits maintain a complete focus on one game, creating an environment of passion and winning. We’ve seen some very large acquisitions happen to companies that didn’t even exist five years ago.”
Whatever the future holds, DeWolfe couldn’t be prouder of what he’s doing; in fact, it’s the simple things he finds most fulfilling. “Nothing is more rewarding than randomly sitting next to someone who is playing one of our games,” he concludes. “I’m having fun. I’m happy. We’re growing. That’s enough for me!”
The conversation has been edited for clarity.
