London: Candy Crush Saga, the addictive video game, is played by about 500 million people, mostly on their smartphones.
The world’s most popular game is just one of thousands available on mobile devices and as phones become increasingly sophisticated, the games do too.
Parents and partners may despair at how much time family members spend gaming, but Keywords Studios is thriving on the back of this £60 billion (R1.2 trillion) industry.
The company started out translating games played on the Xbox and PlayStation into different languages, but as the gaming market has expanded, so has Keywords. As well as working on Candy Crush, it translates games into more than 50 languages, tests them for defects, provides voice-overs in a variety of tongues, creates artwork for popular games such as Halo and provides customer support for gamers.
Tipped by Midas last April at 153 pence, the stock has sprinted through the past 12 months and is now 50 percent up.
The company delivered strong results last week, with 2015 revenues up 55 percent to £47 million and pre-tax profits 50 percent ahead at £4.08m.
Brokers expect further growth this year and next, as the market continues to expand. – Mail on Sunday