Mind Candy CEO Michael Acton Smith reveals troubled 18 months

Mind Candy founder and CEO Michael Acton Smith, a member of the Young Guns alumni, yesterday stated that company revenues were “not good for 2013” and said the last two years had been “really tough”  at the inaugural TechCrunch Disrupt London event.

Famous for having created Moshi Monsters, a free online game where children adopt a monster, Acton Smith addressed questions posed by TechCrunch editor at-large Mike Butcher on the company’s struggle to translate its desktop game onto mobile, declining traffic figures and plans to renew business growth.

Acton Smith explained  that its “mobile games hadn’t been as commercially successful […] but it was “trying to crack it” splitting its efforts into three areas – Moshi Monsters, PopJam and latest venture World of Warriors.

Described as a “PG Game of Thrones” by Acton Smith, the entrepreneur has high hopes for the new game so much so that “the whole company [is riding on it]”, with the intention that it will appeal to all the family, adults included – “like a Pixar movie”.

Despite optimism for the future, Acton Smith did appear to have some regrets on not selling up when the business was at its peak: “Honestly I do sometimes wake up at 4am and think about waking up on an island with a fleet of yachts and a cocktail. But it would have been pretty boring.”

Yet the entrepreneur hasn’t ruled out an exit:

“If the chance to sell the business arrives in the future we’ll sit down and have a chat about it.”

When pushed by Butcher on when we can expect to see him step down from his post as CEO on the back of his recent announcement, Acton Smith replied:

“I’m stepping sideways, I’m currently still CEO […but] we are looking for a new CEO.”

Read the full interview where Acton Smith speaks out on facing tough times at Mind Candy here.