NEW YORK –
“Kim Kardashian: Hollywood,” the once wildly popular mobile game that helped catapult her to stardom and wealth, is shutting down after nearly a decade.
The game let players mirror Kardashian’s life by creating an avatar that works to achieve virtual A-list status by climbing the social ladder. Free to download, the real revenue came from in-app purchases, such as buying virtual clothes and accessories for the avatar, which helped it generate US$700,000 a day shortly after its June 2014 launch.
“I’m so grateful from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has loved and played ‘Kim Kardashian: Hollywood’ in the past 10 years,” Kardashian said in a statement. “This journey has meant so much to me but I’ve realized that it’s time to focus that energy into other passions.”
The game was a massive success for its developer, Glu Mobile, which previously said it was downloaded at least 145 million times and generated US$160 million in revenue in the first two years of business.
Glu rode that success and created other mobile games based off other celebrities, like Britney Spears and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. The company was eventually bought by Electronics Arts in 2021 for US$2 billion.
Kardashian thanked Glu and the “many people behind the scenes who have worked diligently on making it a success” in her statement. “I will be forever inspired by this community that we built together.”
It’s not like Kardashian needs the game anymore, anyway. In the past decade, she’s become a business mogul. Arguably her most successful venture has been creating underwear and apparel brand Skims, which recently expanded into selling clothes for men. It’s seen as a possible prelude to an initial public offering for the company.
She also has a private equity firm she cofounded last year called SKYY Partners. Its first investment was in Truff, a trendy condiment company that makes truffle-infused sauces.
