Using candy as bait is a tried-and-true trick to get people to do things. Like trading a Snickers bar to your little brother so he’ll promise not to tell your parents what time you really came home from that party junior year, candy has a way of persuading people. Heck, Candy Crush Saga doesn’t even reward people players with real candy and yet it’s so popular, the company that makes it is banking on its draw when it goes public.

A source close to King.com, a British mobile gaming company that has been riding high on the popularity of its Candy Crush Saga, has filed confidentially for an initial public offer in the United States, Reuters reports.

Although Candy Crush is so addictive it can cause even your very best friends to ignore you during dinner while trying to get past just one more level (you know who you are), this isn’t a sure thing for King. You might remember a little company called Zynga that relied on its cash cow game FarmVille to make the big bucks, and we all know that $1 billion IPO went downhill fast.

But then there’s Twitter, which also joined the IPO party last month in a the confidential filing and its social network rival Facebook. If those two crazy online kids can make it, why not incredibly successful games based on the greed for virtual candy?

King says it has more than 1 billion gameplays per day, after all, but it remains to be seen if those blinking lights and flashing sweets will translate into a hot stock with staying power. Maybe if the company offers a free candy bar with each share?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/30/net-us-king-ipo-idUSBRE98T02D20130930
Mobile gaming firm King.com sets sights on U.S. IPO: source

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