The very best Sweet Crush Saga gamers on this planet just lately converged on Los Angeles for a match.
The Sweet Crush All Stars occasion featured a $1 million prize pool, with $500,000 designated for the match winner. Ben Parker Chin, 23, from Ohio got here out with the highest honors. Parker Chin beat out greater than 15 million individuals who competed within the match.
The match introduced collectively gamers from 21 nations in the identical worldwide competitors. These gamers performed 2.2 billion ranges and so they made 47 billion strikes over two months. They collected 11.4 trillion All Stars candies, and so they exploded 304 billion colour bombs.
The ultimate 10 went to compete on stage at an in-person occasion in Los Angeles. Brie Garcia hosted the occasion and she or he topped Parker Chin because the winner. He additionally acquired a novel championship ring from Icebox, impressed by the Sweet Crush All Stars candies. Suzanne Sundström, from Stockholm, Sweden, and Verissa Thomas, from Atlanta, completed second and third out of the group of finalists, taking house $250,000 and $100,000.
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“I’m a huge fan of Candy Crush and have been playing for years, so it was an honor to be in the presence of greatness. The All Stars finalists are nothing short of athletes,” Garcia stated in an announcement. “I usually play while I’m traveling for work because it helps me relax and unwind, but the Live Final has really brought out my competitive side again. I had so much fun hosting the tournament and even learned a few tips and tricks to level up my gameplay. Maybe 2025 will be the year I take home the title myself.”
After coming into the Sweet Crush All Stars match in March, Parker Chin spent his time competing whereas recovering from surgical procedure.
“It feels epic to say that I’m the ultimate All Stars champion of 2024. I started competing in the tournament while I was recovering from surgery, that’s when I had time to think about my moves and plan my strategy” Parker Chin stated in an announcement. “It’s been an unforgettable experience to compete alongside players who all share your passion for Candy Crush, being able to bond over that has been amazing and I’ve made friends for life.”
I did an interview in regards to the match with Luken Aragon, head of promoting at 20-year-old King for Sweet Crush Saga, to speak in regards to the occasion and informal cell gaming.
Aragon famous that the Sweet Crush franchise has delivered greater than $20 billion in income so far. The franchise video games have had greater than 5 billion downloads so far, and there are nonetheless greater than 200 million month-to-month energetic customers from all all over the world enjoying King’s video games. Sweet Crush Saga itself has greater than 16,000 ranges.
Luken Aragon: I’ve been at King for 10 years subsequent week, within the client advertising group. It’s been an incredible journey with Sweet Crush. It’s an important second now for all of us this week. We’re operating the Sweet Crush All Stars remaining in L.A.
GamesBeat: Did you are available whereas Riccardo Zacconi was nonetheless there?
Aragon: Precisely, sure. I joined in 2014. Riccardo was a part of my onboarding at King. I joined up specializing in CRM again within the day, partaking with gamers and making an attempt to ensure everybody having fun with Sweet was having enjoyable. We’re right here in L.A. now to run the ultimate right now, with the finalists who managed to undergo the competitors inside the recreation. They’re competing right here to seek out the most effective Sweet Crusher. What’s fascinating, we have now a really huge prize pool this 12 months, $1 million, with $500,000 going to the winner. It’s creating loads of pleasure with our gamers. We met them yesterday. You see all of the engagement. It’s loads of enjoyable.
All Stars is a really huge occasion for Sweet Crush. It’s being performed in 21 nations, with 15 million folks taking part. We’ve got some loopy numbers. We acquired to one thing like 2 billion ranges performed, 11 trillion candies collected. We’re very proud to be in Hollywood now and having these folks competing for the primary place. On high of the prize pool, we have now a particular ring for the winner. It’s designed and created by Icebox.
GamesBeat: What are the targets of this type of match? What completely different targets do you have got in doing this?
Aragon: It began 4 years in the past with an statement and a few suggestions from our gamers. We work together loads with our gamers, making an attempt to grasp what they like, what they don’t like. We noticed that loads of gamers saying that it might be nice to play Sweet Crush in a extra aggressive means. We tried to deal with that chance. We’ve got an incredible recreation. Tens of millions of gamers play Sweet Crush every single day. We began engaged on a pilot for All Stars within the U.Ok. to see if that translated into gamers partaking.
We labored very intently with product. It was a really robust collaboration between advertising and product. We crafted a brand new expertise known as All Stars, with the target to play Sweet Crush another way. Most individuals performed Saga, the model of the sport that everyone is aware of. All Stars grew to become a severe different. After the primary 12 months we acquired a lot optimistic suggestions from gamers saying they liked it.
At the moment there was no stay remaining. It was purely rewards inside the recreation. In 12 months three, final 12 months, that was the primary time we launched the prize pool and the idea of the stay remaining. It was all about partaking and offering an alternate expertise primarily based on our gamers’ suggestions.
GamesBeat: Did you ever consider it as an esport, or do you see it another way?
Aragon: All Stars is a aggressive means of enjoying Sweet Crush. We’re studying by doing right here. We’re making an attempt to constantly hearken to the gamers’ suggestions. I don’t know if the time period “esports” applies to Sweet Crush, however we’re definitely very proud to do one thing that’s distinctive within the informal cell video games trade. We’re making an attempt to carry some esports DNA into an informal expertise. We’ll be constantly fascinated with how this will evolve. We like this type of aggressive method and we’ll proceed to work together with our gamers to see how we are able to evolve the expertise.
GamesBeat: Was it straightforward, or tougher to set this up in a means that works for King?
Aragon: Every little thing begins with our interplay with the gamers. Listening and amassing suggestions about their wants was on the root of what we needed to do. The method was to create an expertise that’s easy, that might improve engagement with our gamers. We needed everybody to have the ability to take pleasure in All Stars. Many of the effort was working with product to create an accessible solution to compete. How may we be sure most of our gamers may take pleasure in it? We didn’t need to create one thing too complicated.
Most of our gamers–a few of them might have skilled extra aggressive video games on cell and console and so forth. However I believe that the overwhelming majority have by no means engaged with an esports expertise. We tried to seek out the appropriate positioning between competitors, but additionally making it easy. We’ve been working with product on that 12 months after 12 months. After 4 years, we’ve managed to maintain the essence of what a aggressive expertise could possibly be, but additionally making it extraordinarily straightforward to play.
GamesBeat: How many individuals got here to L.A. to take part? How did you set up the in-person occasion?
Aragon: Within the client advertising group we have now folks devoted to operating the occasion. We’ve additionally partnered with specialists in managing occasions, which is one thing we’ve been creating rather a lot just lately. I don’t know should you noticed the Mighty Hoopla competition a 12 months and a half in the past, however we have now partnerships with individuals who have experience in that space to take Sweet Crush from cell into the skin world, creating a lot of these stay experiences. Shopper advertising has coordinated with specialists who know learn how to run any such present.
We’ve welcomed the finalists. We had a chat with them. It was actually refreshing to see how engaged and dedicated they’re with our product and our model. It took us fairly a number of months to construct as much as this, however finally we’re very proud of the outcomes.
What we’re making an attempt to realize right here is attain the identical stage of depth and keenness inside the occasion. What makes an esports occasion is the emotion. That’s a core a part of the DNA in esports, and it’s one thing we need to carry to Sweet Crush. It’s combining the enjoyable of the Sweet Crush world surroundings to the larger depth of competitors. We’ll get to the finals, two gamers competing for primary. We need to translate what makes an esports occasion enjoyable – that intense ardour, folks watching the occasion making an attempt to guess who’ll win – and apply that to Sweet Crush.
It’s not an occasion with 1000’s of gamers attending a stay recreation. We don’t have an viewers attending, spectators. However the expertise itself is similar to what you’d have at some other esports occasion in depth. Once more, utilized to Sweet Crush. It’s a distinct product from most of what you see in esports experiences. We simply need to carry that essence of what competitors might be to our product.
GamesBeat: It looks like the type of occasion the place loads of observers don’t understand how huge the consumer base is, what number of followers are behind it. The folks enjoying and watching wouldn’t essentially contemplate themselves esports followers.
Aragon: Precisely. Our gamers may not contemplate themselves esports followers, however they’re opponents. What we’re making an attempt to do with All Stars, and making an attempt very exhausting, is hearken to our gamers. Quite a lot of them have advised us they’re desirous about competitors. It might have been a mistake to translate what esports is on console and PC into Sweet Crush. Simply making an attempt to imitate one thing. What we’re making an attempt to do is think about what makes Sweet Crush a robust expertise after which inject that aggressive half. That’s how we created All Stars, which finally one thing very completely different from an esports occasion. But it surely retains the essence of what a aggressive occasion might be.
As you say, most of our gamers most likely by no means anticipated they might be on this room now competing for such an enormous prize pool. It’s enjoyable seeing them have this wonderful second. They’re proud to be right here, and we’re very proud to see how we’re in a position to delight our gamers. Our mission remains to be to make the world playful. All Stars is a good way for us to show that.
GamesBeat: What sort of individual do you assume is the more than likely to win?
Aragon: We’ve got some very gifted gamers. Two of them made the finals final 12 months. They’re positively extra expert than I’m at enjoying Sweet. You see the way in which they analyze the board may be very completely different. I’m very eager to see the finals and the way they play there, once they’re on the total display. Almost definitely the strikes they make are very completely different from the strikes that I might make.
If there’s 50 million folks that have entered, and two of them have made the finals two years in a row, that’s a reasonably loopy quantity to consider. The gender stability is fairly equally break up, too, between women and men. It’s fascinating to see a aggressive spirit come out in everybody.
We’re creating loads of content material with the gamers. They’re very proud to be right here. We’ll have pictures and interviews. We did that final 12 months with all of the gamers that participated, and we’ll positively replicate that content material creation. It’s among the finest methods for us to seize that keenness for our gamers.
GamesBeat: We’ve seen some multi-game esports occasions, just like the Esports World Cup that’s beginning in Saudi Arabia now. Is that type of factor fascinating to you, being half of a bigger competitors?
Aragon: Our perspective on All Stars, it’s a learn-by-doing method. It’s essential for us to hearken to our gamers and perceive what we would need to do otherwise, what we are able to do higher, what they take pleasure in. I can’t say what’s going to occur sooner or later in the way in which of esports and massive competitions. Nonetheless, my job as a advertising individual is all the time to discover alternatives that might assist us fulfill our gamers.
Is esports an choice, any such occasion? At the moment I don’t know. We’re deeply centered proper now on ensuring All Stars is a profitable occasion. However for positive, we preserve a detailed eye on how the trade is evolving and what gamers are searching for. If that’s an choice gamers are eager to see us discover, why not?
This can be a large evolution of what Sweet Crush is. We’re all the time making an attempt to ideate and create experiences that may fulfill our gamers. We’re very excited, very blissful and happy with what we’re doing right here. We’ll preserve working exhausting to create these sorts of experiences sooner or later and ship to our gamers issues they may not count on, however that we all know they’ll take pleasure in.
