Kim Kardashian: Hollywood has an unlikely, lasting place in gaming history

Looking back on Kim Kardashian’s video game legacy

KimKim Kardashian was already more than a household name in 2013. The Kardashian name (hers, specifically) was equivalent with “celebrity” — or “notoriety,” depending on who was saying it. But there was one more step toward international fame that she wasn’t so sure about: whether she wanted to become a video game character.

Niccolo de Masi, the CEO of Glu Mobile at the time, first approached Kardashian in early 2013 with the idea of starring in a video game. Kardashian took several months to think through the idea. In their second meeting, de Masi showed Kardashian the game’s art — and that was it.

“Nothing grabbed or hooked her as much as seeing what she would look like as a real-life video game” character, he said. The concept he pitched was a good fit, too. The game that would become Kim Kardashian: Hollywood was all about giving players a chance to literally mimic Kardashian’s ascent to mega-fame. And it probably didn’t hurt that her new husband seemed just as fascinated by the idea. “As Kanye used to say to me, ‘Niccolo, my wife is a real-life video game character,’” de Masi said.

Given the Kardashian notoriety, KKH was immediately thrust into the spotlight when it was released in June 2014. Mere months before its debut, Kardashian surpassed 20 million followers on Twitter. Her tweets about KKH meant an instant rush of downloads, so much so that the game would suddenly go down for a few hours, according to Chris Akhavan, Glu Mobile’s chief revenue officer at the time. “It was the worst feeling, because you have this megahit and it literally just stops working,” he said. “The amount of stress that was created for the team was tremendous.”

That stress led to huge success. In its first two years, KKH generated $160 million in revenue for Glu Mobile. The game continued to receive updates over the years — all the way until April 8, 2024, when Glu Mobile took it offline for good. It’s now hidden away on some Electronic Arts server, unavailable to the public.