As if we needed one, right? But she’s gone and done it, and it’s brought her home an extra $74.3 million in that big ole’ bank account. Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, the sexier birth-child of the not-so-successful Stardom: Hollywood was a smart move by the gaming mogul behind Glu Mobile, and continues to rake in the praises of celebrities and the public alike.
Since it tapped into the life of almost every person in the world, ever, the game in itself has become less of a game and more of just another way to follow the movements of Mrs Kardashian-West around the globe. Sort of like a cartoon GPS tracker, if you will. So if you think about this in terms of the power of her influence, this is pretty phenomenal.
According to Glu’s CEO Niccolo de Masi, the game was actually only created as a way to re-popularise its predecessor, Stardom, and generate a bit of buzz. Kim was initially just a feature in an otherwise user-centred experience of “starring in photo shoots and appearing at high-profile events,” but now, it seems to be something a bit more specific-person centred…
Oh yeah, that’s right. It’s back to being about Kim (something we hear quite often from the other Kardashian sister’s on their hugely successful reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians). I’m seeing a recurring theme here, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m the only one noticing it. The whole mobile endeavour of KK: Hollywood is now literally another way to see exactly what Kim’s been up to.
“I’d say that almost everything in this has a parallel with her life,” said de Masi. “Whether it’s exactly contemporaneous or whether it’s something that’s occurred already, it rhymes with reality.” The mimicking of Kim K’s adventures around the globe can be best seen in the way that features in the app correlate almost directly with the updates in the game.
As an example, various airports and destinations are added almost as soon as she lands in them in real-time and outfits that she dons to red carpet events tend to make an appearance in virtual form, usually on the same day. Even more terrifying, you can purchase them for your avatar to wear as well, so basically you can pixelate yourself to be Kim and carry her around with you in miniature form wherever you go. That’s a scary thought.
And according to de Masi, it’s only going to get more personal, with the mogul hoping to completely transform the game into the “go-to venue” for Kim to share everything about her life with her fan-base, ranging from what she’s wearing to what she had for breakfast that morning: “my goal is very much how do you turn the game into a next-generation platform for her to be able to communicate to her fans in a way where she builds brand equity for herself.”
