Look at Gaming #271 | Thursday August 10th 2023
GM! It's Thursday.
I got some China-related news for you. First, the government is expanding its game licensing system to apply to ALL applications. That's right, now any mobile application that wants to launch in China would have to go through review by the government. Recall that earlier this year, China instituted a blanket pause on all mobile game applications — imagine that your mobile app is fully ready to launch then Beijing just rugs you.
In other news, ChinaJoy is one of the largest gaming conventions. It's been running for 20 years and the good folks over at Niko Partners, who actually attended the inaugural event in 2003, gave us a debrief on the happenings. Three major trends were Gen AI, Expanding Overseas, and Government Support.
Read more about this in the Spotlight section.
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• China’s game licensing system to be extended to all mobile applications | PGBiz
🌊 MARKET 📞
• Celebrating 20 years of ChinaJoy -- Our 2023 Experience | Niko Partners
• Apple Can Keep App Store Rules for Now as Court Rejects Epic | Bloomberg
• Roblox stock drops 21% after missed expectations and rising costs | GamesBeat
• China’s game licencing system to be extended to all mobile applications | PGBiz
• Krafton's H1 2023 sees a 2% sales dip | GamesIndustry.biz
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
• The EU’s Post-Advertising Internet | MobileDevMemo
• What are the most important games on PlayStation? | GameDiscoverCo
💲 Fundraising 🤑
• Monetizr raises $4M to replace intrusive game ads with engaging brand experiences | GamesBeat
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
• As Royal Match blazes past $1bn, can Dream Games repeat the trick with Royal Kingdom? | MobileGamer.biz
———
Drop a gg
GM! It's Thursday.
I got some China-related news for you. First, the government is expanding its game licensing system to apply to ALL applications. That's right, now any mobile application that wants to launch in China would have to go through review by the government. Recall that earlier this year, China instituted a blanket pause on all mobile game applications — imagine that your mobile app is fully ready to launch then Beijing just rugs you.
In other news, ChinaJoy is one of the largest gaming conventions. It's been running for 20 years and the good folks over at Niko Partners, who actually attended the inaugural event in 2003, gave us a debrief on the happenings. Three major trends were Gen AI, Expanding Overseas, and Government Support.
Read more about this in the Spotlight section.
———
• China’s game licensing system to be extended to all mobile applications | PGBiz
• Celebrating 20 years of ChinaJoy -- Our 2023 Experience | Niko Partners
• Apple Can Keep App Store Rules for Now as Court Rejects Epic | Bloomberg
• Roblox stock drops 21% after missed expectations and rising costs | GamesBeat
• China’s game licencing system to be extended to all mobile applications | PGBiz
• Krafton's H1 2023 sees a 2% sales dip | GamesIndustry.biz
• The EU’s Post-Advertising Internet | MobileDevMemo
• What are the most important games on PlayStation? | GameDiscoverCo
• Monetizr raises $4M to replace intrusive game ads with engaging brand experiences | GamesBeat
• As Royal Match blazes past $1bn, can Dream Games repeat the trick with Royal Kingdom? | MobileGamer.biz
———
Drop a gg
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www.pocketgamer.biz
China’s game licencing system to be extended to all mobile applications
China’s controversial game licensing system, requiring approval from the government and working with publishers or establishing branches in China, is n...
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Look at Gaming #271 | Friday August 11th 2023
GM! It's Friday.
Enjoy some light reading to take you into the weekend.
Hope you guys have a great one!
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Ampere Analysis: The Console gaming market in June 2023 | GameDevReports
🌊 MARKET 📞
Ampere Analysis: The Console gaming market in June 2023 | GameDevReports
Crypto Gaming Investments Surged in July as Metaverse NFTs Fizzled Out | Decrypt
Nexon Q2 revenue grew by 12% | GamesIndustry.biz
NCSoft financials show almost 75% drop in profit year-on-year | PGBiz
Research indicates China's playtime limitations are "ineffective" | GameDeveloper
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Layoffs for what | SuperJoost Playlist
Capcom's recipe for success is simple: stay the course, ignore the bandwagons | GamesIndustry.biz
Hidden forces and sliding screens trick the senses to make VR feel more real | TechCrunch
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Roblox makes an in-Roblox career center that’s all about Roblox | The Verge
🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Why VTubers might be key influencers for marketing your next game | GameDeveloper
💲 Fundraising 🤑
Futureverse and Outlier Ventures launch Base Camp Accelerator for metaverse startups | GamesBeat
Illuminati Capital raises $50M for Web3 investments including games | GamesBeat
———
Drop a gg
GM! It's Friday.
Enjoy some light reading to take you into the weekend.
Hope you guys have a great one!
———
Ampere Analysis: The Console gaming market in June 2023 | GameDevReports
Ampere Analysis: The Console gaming market in June 2023 | GameDevReports
Crypto Gaming Investments Surged in July as Metaverse NFTs Fizzled Out | Decrypt
Nexon Q2 revenue grew by 12% | GamesIndustry.biz
NCSoft financials show almost 75% drop in profit year-on-year | PGBiz
Research indicates China's playtime limitations are "ineffective" | GameDeveloper
Layoffs for what | SuperJoost Playlist
Capcom's recipe for success is simple: stay the course, ignore the bandwagons | GamesIndustry.biz
Hidden forces and sliding screens trick the senses to make VR feel more real | TechCrunch
Roblox makes an in-Roblox career center that’s all about Roblox | The Verge
Why VTubers might be key influencers for marketing your next game | GameDeveloper
Futureverse and Outlier Ventures launch Base Camp Accelerator for metaverse startups | GamesBeat
Illuminati Capital raises $50M for Web3 investments including games | GamesBeat
———
Drop a gg
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GameDev Reports - sponsored by Hometopia
Ampere Analysis: The Console gaming market in June 2023
Fortnite is leading the charts. Diablo IV and Final Fantasy XVI are showing decent performance.
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Your weekly digest is here.
Check out In The Loop w/ Kapital_K (Week 32 of 2023)
Top Headlines
• Netflix's bold(?) steps in the gaming realm 📺
• Valve's surprising request to Dota 2 players ☠️
• Epic Games vs. Apple: Legal saga continues 🍏
• Rockstar Taking Over GTA RP Servers 🔫
• Nintendo $1.5B succes in Mobile (or not) 🎈
———
🧵Threads
• @0xAikoDai // China vs. Japan Perspective on Gacha — link
📝 Blogs
• Newzoo // Global Games Market Report — link
🎙Pods
• UNBOXING // Why Wall Street Doesn’t Love Roblox But Is Smitten With Take-Two — link
🧧 Raises
• $106MM in funding this week. Though there were two $50M raises for funds: Illuminati Capital and Born Ready
———
Head over to our substack to read the full scoop.
Check out In The Loop w/ Kapital_K (Week 32 of 2023)
Top Headlines
• Netflix's bold(?) steps in the gaming realm 📺
• Valve's surprising request to Dota 2 players ☠️
• Epic Games vs. Apple: Legal saga continues 🍏
• Rockstar Taking Over GTA RP Servers 🔫
• Nintendo $1.5B succes in Mobile (or not) 🎈
———
🧵Threads
• @0xAikoDai // China vs. Japan Perspective on Gacha — link
📝 Blogs
• Newzoo // Global Games Market Report — link
🎙Pods
• UNBOXING // Why Wall Street Doesn’t Love Roblox But Is Smitten With Take-Two — link
🧧 Raises
• $106MM in funding this week. Though there were two $50M raises for funds: Illuminati Capital and Born Ready
———
Head over to our substack to read the full scoop.
thecoreloop’s Substack
IN THE LOOP with kapital k // W32 of 2023
The only gaming newsletter you need. I curate and aggregate content from across web2 & web3 to deliver it straight to your inbox.
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Look at Gaming #272 | Monday August 14th 2023
GM! It's Monday.
Movies about video games are great. I like them. Mortal Kombat in '95, Tom Raider in '03, Warcraft in '16, and the latest Mario earlier this year!
Gran Turismo movie was released with box office numbers of $15-20M for opening weekend — for context Barbie did $155M on its opening weekend. Movies about video games always get a bad wrap and critic score but in terms of box office gross, they do well.
The average box office for video game movies is $213M versus movies based on books garnered $160M.
Though both types of movies suffer from a long right tail. There are banner movies like Harry Potter and Mario that rakes in $1.34B and $1.35B, respectively, that offsets the hundreds of films that never broke the $100M mark.
Last week Take-Two CEO even said that he doesn't believe video game-based movies are economical. Maybe he's right?
But I still like them. :)
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Gran Turismo film delves into whether video game car racers are real racers | GamesBeat
🌊 MARKET 📞
The wait between major video game sequels is getting longer | Axios
Intel regains some lost market share in Q2 as PC market recovers | Mercury Research
THQ Nordic reveals South Park, TMNT, Titan Quest II and more | GamesBeat
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
More or Less: Gaming Podcasts & Blogs | Naavik
Influencer-led Publishing | Konvoy Ventures
A better way to grow? | GamesIndustry.biz
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Nintendo applies for patents around Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | GamesIndustry.biz
✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Why the MET Is Expanding Into the Metaverse With Roblox | Decrypt
Meetkai creates a digital twin of sprawling $2B Silicon Box chip packaging factory | GamesBeat
Mona unveils 3D world-building event Mona Shorts Fest | GamesBeat
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
Is this the PS5 Slim? | The Verge
Nearly 400 sickos have beaten Baldur’s Gate 3 already | The Verge
Gran Turismo film delves into whether video game car racers are real racers | GamesBeat
Circana: On August 6th, Baldur’s Gate III accounted for 27.5% of the total gameplay time on Steam in the US | GameDevReports
———
Drop a gg! What was your favorite video game movie?
GM! It's Monday.
Movies about video games are great. I like them. Mortal Kombat in '95, Tom Raider in '03, Warcraft in '16, and the latest Mario earlier this year!
Gran Turismo movie was released with box office numbers of $15-20M for opening weekend — for context Barbie did $155M on its opening weekend. Movies about video games always get a bad wrap and critic score but in terms of box office gross, they do well.
The average box office for video game movies is $213M versus movies based on books garnered $160M.
Though both types of movies suffer from a long right tail. There are banner movies like Harry Potter and Mario that rakes in $1.34B and $1.35B, respectively, that offsets the hundreds of films that never broke the $100M mark.
Last week Take-Two CEO even said that he doesn't believe video game-based movies are economical. Maybe he's right?
But I still like them. :)
———
Gran Turismo film delves into whether video game car racers are real racers | GamesBeat
The wait between major video game sequels is getting longer | Axios
Intel regains some lost market share in Q2 as PC market recovers | Mercury Research
THQ Nordic reveals South Park, TMNT, Titan Quest II and more | GamesBeat
More or Less: Gaming Podcasts & Blogs | Naavik
Influencer-led Publishing | Konvoy Ventures
A better way to grow? | GamesIndustry.biz
Nintendo applies for patents around Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | GamesIndustry.biz
Why the MET Is Expanding Into the Metaverse With Roblox | Decrypt
Meetkai creates a digital twin of sprawling $2B Silicon Box chip packaging factory | GamesBeat
Mona unveils 3D world-building event Mona Shorts Fest | GamesBeat
Is this the PS5 Slim? | The Verge
Nearly 400 sickos have beaten Baldur’s Gate 3 already | The Verge
Gran Turismo film delves into whether video game car racers are real racers | GamesBeat
Circana: On August 6th, Baldur’s Gate III accounted for 27.5% of the total gameplay time on Steam in the US | GameDevReports
———
Drop a gg! What was your favorite video game movie?
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VentureBeat
Gran Turismo film delves into whether video game car racers are real racers | The DeanBeat
To some, the premise of the Gran Turismo film is either the dumbest or best idea ever. Can a racing gamer become a pro race car driver?
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Look at Gaming #273 | Tuesday August 15th 2023
GM! It's Tuesday.
Recall last week that Netflix released an iOS app for a virtual game controller. Now here's another clue for us.
Netflix is a content-streaming company. We know they have movies, shows, docuseries, but Netflix started experimenting with streaming GAMES.
Every single Smart TV I've ever owned, has a Netflix app. Some of my TV controllers even have a physical Netflix button!
If half the battle is to get your game downloaded, then Netflix is fully loaded and ready to fight for your attention on your big screen.
You can read more about their testing in the Spotlight section.
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Netflix begins testing its games on TVs and computers in Canada and U.K. | TechCrunch
🌊 MARKET 📞
Scoop: Saudi-funded Savvy Games was the mystery partner in collapsed $2B Embracer deal | Axios
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
The Gaming Industry’s Data Nightmare | Naavik
Miss, miss, hit: why three Steam launches had different trajectories | GamesDiscoverCo
A merger that’s good for workers and consumers | TechCrunch
Brutally Honest #73 | Matej Lancaric
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Samsung, Google, Supercell launch open bracket, creator-led tournament | GamesBeat
Netflix begins testing its games on TVs and computers in Canada and U.K. | TechCrunch
✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Zynga says debut web3 title Sugartown prioritizes "trust, transparency, and accessibility" | GameDeveloper
Web3 gaming adoption is skewing toward Asia, and the rest of the world may have to play catch-up | TechCrunch
🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
How to write a Game Design Document | GameDeveloper
Unveiling The Art of Narrative Game Design: A Comprehensive Guide | Kevuru Games
💲 Fundraising 🤑
Zepeto, Jump Crypto Joint Venture ZTX Raises $13M for Metaverse Platform on Arbitrum | Decrypt
Haveli Investments acquires minority share in Match Masters developer Candivore | PGBiz
Play Ventures raised at least $78M for third gaming venture fund | GamesBeat
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
Making Doom and building the FPS industry at 100 miles per hour | John Romero interview | GamesBeat
———
Drop a gg! Name 3 Netflix IP that you like!
GM! It's Tuesday.
Recall last week that Netflix released an iOS app for a virtual game controller. Now here's another clue for us.
Netflix is a content-streaming company. We know they have movies, shows, docuseries, but Netflix started experimenting with streaming GAMES.
Every single Smart TV I've ever owned, has a Netflix app. Some of my TV controllers even have a physical Netflix button!
If half the battle is to get your game downloaded, then Netflix is fully loaded and ready to fight for your attention on your big screen.
You can read more about their testing in the Spotlight section.
———
Netflix begins testing its games on TVs and computers in Canada and U.K. | TechCrunch
Scoop: Saudi-funded Savvy Games was the mystery partner in collapsed $2B Embracer deal | Axios
The Gaming Industry’s Data Nightmare | Naavik
Miss, miss, hit: why three Steam launches had different trajectories | GamesDiscoverCo
A merger that’s good for workers and consumers | TechCrunch
Brutally Honest #73 | Matej Lancaric
Samsung, Google, Supercell launch open bracket, creator-led tournament | GamesBeat
Netflix begins testing its games on TVs and computers in Canada and U.K. | TechCrunch
Zynga says debut web3 title Sugartown prioritizes "trust, transparency, and accessibility" | GameDeveloper
Web3 gaming adoption is skewing toward Asia, and the rest of the world may have to play catch-up | TechCrunch
How to write a Game Design Document | GameDeveloper
Unveiling The Art of Narrative Game Design: A Comprehensive Guide | Kevuru Games
Zepeto, Jump Crypto Joint Venture ZTX Raises $13M for Metaverse Platform on Arbitrum | Decrypt
Haveli Investments acquires minority share in Match Masters developer Candivore | PGBiz
Play Ventures raised at least $78M for third gaming venture fund | GamesBeat
Making Doom and building the FPS industry at 100 miles per hour | John Romero interview | GamesBeat
———
Drop a gg! Name 3 Netflix IP that you like!
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TechCrunch
Netflix begins testing its games on TVs and computers in Canada and UK
Netflix announced today it will begin testing its games across more devices, including TVs and computers, in addition to mobile phones, where its games already run today. The tests will begin today in Canada and the U.K. with a “limited number” of Netflix…
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Look at Gaming #274 | Wednesday August 17th 2023
GM! It's Wednesday.
You've been bad. Very bad. And Xbox is finally going to do something about it.
Today Xbox implemented a new strike-based enforcement program — 8 strikes and you're banned for a year. No voice chat. No multiplayer.
Some examples include using profanity (+1 Strike), Sexually Inappropriate (+2 Strike), and Hate Speech (+3 Strike). Each strike will earn you a suspension ranging from 1 day to 365 days.
I'm curious how policing would work, perhaps using voice AI to monitor and flag then a hoooman to review the actions then render a verdict. Either way, I think this is a transparent method to ensure a safe environment.
But let's see how this backfires ;)
You can read more about it in the Spotlight section
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Xbox introduces new strike system to curtail bad behavior | The Verge
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Twitter’s Top Downloaded chart decline | MobileDevMemo
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Tweaks to Steam minimum price thresholds could impact some developers | GameDeveloper
Xbox introduces new strike system to curtail bad behavior | The Verge
✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
The Open Problems of Onchain Games | Paradigm
💲 Fundraising 🤑
ZTX raises $13M for Web3 virtual world and creator platform | VentureBeat
GM! It's Wednesday.
You've been bad. Very bad. And Xbox is finally going to do something about it.
Today Xbox implemented a new strike-based enforcement program — 8 strikes and you're banned for a year. No voice chat. No multiplayer.
Some examples include using profanity (+1 Strike), Sexually Inappropriate (+2 Strike), and Hate Speech (+3 Strike). Each strike will earn you a suspension ranging from 1 day to 365 days.
I'm curious how policing would work, perhaps using voice AI to monitor and flag then a hoooman to review the actions then render a verdict. Either way, I think this is a transparent method to ensure a safe environment.
But let's see how this backfires ;)
You can read more about it in the Spotlight section
———
Xbox introduces new strike system to curtail bad behavior | The Verge
Twitter’s Top Downloaded chart decline | MobileDevMemo
Tweaks to Steam minimum price thresholds could impact some developers | GameDeveloper
Xbox introduces new strike system to curtail bad behavior | The Verge
The Open Problems of Onchain Games | Paradigm
ZTX raises $13M for Web3 virtual world and creator platform | VentureBeat
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The Verge
Xbox introduces new strike system to curtail bad behavior
Strikes can be appealed and decay after six months.
Look at Gaming #275 | Thursday August 17th 2023
GM! It's Thursday.
Steam is the largest PC launcher accounting for up to 75% of all PC downloads. So it's a reasonable proxy to use to gauge player behavior.
The top 50 games are played by 70% of the 9M concurrent users. The top 10 games snatch nearly 50%. So the playtime and play preference is definitely skewed.
More interestingly, 70% of the top 10 games are F2P so they make money via live ops, which is great since they have a ton of users.
Unsurprisingly, it is the same for the console market. The top 50 console games are played by 70% of gamers on Xbox and 75% on PS5.
You can read more in the Spotlight section.
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
How 'top-heavy' is the PC/console player-base in 2023? | GameDiscoverCo
🌊 MARKET 📞
Netmarble financials sees 49% slump in earnings and 8% drop in sales | PGBiz
Lightspeed and GamesBeat launch Game Changers top game startup list | GamesBeat
Facing the Wall of Debt | Games and Games Industry
OpenAI Just Bought a Game Studio—But Why? | Decrypt
Chinese Gamers' Reactions To Overwatch 2 On Steam | Niko Partners
Skich, a discovery app for mobile games, now lets you launch and manage downloads | TechCrunch
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
How 'top-heavy' is the PC/console player-base in 2023? | GameDiscoverCo
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Roblox adds avatar bodies and heads to UGC marketplace | GamesBeat
NCSoft reveals VARCO AI language models | GamesBeat
Epic Games adds free cross-play overlay tool to consoles | GameDeveloper
Microsoft Teams is now part of the Xbox Game Bar so you can stream gameplay to friends | The Verge
✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Blockchain infrastructure service Stardust launches wallets-as-a-service | PGBiz
🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Iterative prototyping with Charlie Cleveland - GD Podcast episode 33 | GameDeveloper
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
Leaked images reveal Lenovo’s Steam Deck competitor with a hint of the Switch | The Verge
———
Drop a gg!
GM! It's Thursday.
Steam is the largest PC launcher accounting for up to 75% of all PC downloads. So it's a reasonable proxy to use to gauge player behavior.
The top 50 games are played by 70% of the 9M concurrent users. The top 10 games snatch nearly 50%. So the playtime and play preference is definitely skewed.
More interestingly, 70% of the top 10 games are F2P so they make money via live ops, which is great since they have a ton of users.
Unsurprisingly, it is the same for the console market. The top 50 console games are played by 70% of gamers on Xbox and 75% on PS5.
You can read more in the Spotlight section.
———
How 'top-heavy' is the PC/console player-base in 2023? | GameDiscoverCo
Netmarble financials sees 49% slump in earnings and 8% drop in sales | PGBiz
Lightspeed and GamesBeat launch Game Changers top game startup list | GamesBeat
Facing the Wall of Debt | Games and Games Industry
OpenAI Just Bought a Game Studio—But Why? | Decrypt
Chinese Gamers' Reactions To Overwatch 2 On Steam | Niko Partners
Skich, a discovery app for mobile games, now lets you launch and manage downloads | TechCrunch
How 'top-heavy' is the PC/console player-base in 2023? | GameDiscoverCo
Roblox adds avatar bodies and heads to UGC marketplace | GamesBeat
NCSoft reveals VARCO AI language models | GamesBeat
Epic Games adds free cross-play overlay tool to consoles | GameDeveloper
Microsoft Teams is now part of the Xbox Game Bar so you can stream gameplay to friends | The Verge
Blockchain infrastructure service Stardust launches wallets-as-a-service | PGBiz
Iterative prototyping with Charlie Cleveland - GD Podcast episode 33 | GameDeveloper
Leaked images reveal Lenovo’s Steam Deck competitor with a hint of the Switch | The Verge
———
Drop a gg!
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Look at Gaming #276 | Friday August 18th 2023
GM! It's Friday.
TONS of news today so I have to speedrun it for you.
Top of the list is Samsung launching its Game Launcher natively on Samsung phones (150M MAU!!!). You can play top-tier mobile games like Playrix's House of Fun and Homescapes without ever downloading the app, registering, or even having to log in. A truly seamlessly frictionless user experience.
Take-Two closed down an AI GTA mod the same week it bought CFX.re, one of the best RP server and modder.
Byte Dance's in-house game was in the Top 10 mobile games for July in China. Imagine being able to build quality mobile games with an inherent and massive distribution platform all within the same company. OP.
There's a studio out there trying to clone voice actors' voices with AI.
CoD MW III trailer dropped. Get ready to spend another $70.
Read more in these headlines below. It's a good day!
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Samsung Game Launcher lets you play mobile games over cloud without downloads | GamesBeat
🌊 MARKET 📞
Tencent generated $20.6 billion in the second quarter of 2023 | PGBiz
Hi-Rez Studios is allegedly cloning actors' voices with AI | GameDeveloper
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Chrome Valley Customs - Can a Male Audience and a Puzzle Game Be a Match? | Deconstructor of Fun
Can Xbox strike the right balance with its new enforcement system? | Microcast GamesIndustry.biz
Sugarcoating crypto gaming | SuperJoost Playlist | SuperJoost Playlist
Is any progress being made against online anti-social behaviour? | Opinion | GamesIndustry.biz
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Samsung Game Launcher lets you play mobile games over cloud without downloads | GamesBeat
Samsung unveils The Freestyle Gen 2 so you can play games anywhere | GamesBeat
Take-Two shuts down AI GTA 5 mod | GamesIndustry.biz
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
Crystal of Atlan is ByteDance’s first homegrown success story | PGBiz
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III revealed with first trailer | The Verge
———
Drop a gg! What are we playing this weekend?
GM! It's Friday.
TONS of news today so I have to speedrun it for you.
Top of the list is Samsung launching its Game Launcher natively on Samsung phones (150M MAU!!!). You can play top-tier mobile games like Playrix's House of Fun and Homescapes without ever downloading the app, registering, or even having to log in. A truly seamlessly frictionless user experience.
Take-Two closed down an AI GTA mod the same week it bought CFX.re, one of the best RP server and modder.
Byte Dance's in-house game was in the Top 10 mobile games for July in China. Imagine being able to build quality mobile games with an inherent and massive distribution platform all within the same company. OP.
There's a studio out there trying to clone voice actors' voices with AI.
CoD MW III trailer dropped. Get ready to spend another $70.
Read more in these headlines below. It's a good day!
———
Samsung Game Launcher lets you play mobile games over cloud without downloads | GamesBeat
Tencent generated $20.6 billion in the second quarter of 2023 | PGBiz
Hi-Rez Studios is allegedly cloning actors' voices with AI | GameDeveloper
Chrome Valley Customs - Can a Male Audience and a Puzzle Game Be a Match? | Deconstructor of Fun
Can Xbox strike the right balance with its new enforcement system? | Microcast GamesIndustry.biz
Sugarcoating crypto gaming | SuperJoost Playlist | SuperJoost Playlist
Is any progress being made against online anti-social behaviour? | Opinion | GamesIndustry.biz
Samsung Game Launcher lets you play mobile games over cloud without downloads | GamesBeat
Samsung unveils The Freestyle Gen 2 so you can play games anywhere | GamesBeat
Take-Two shuts down AI GTA 5 mod | GamesIndustry.biz
Crystal of Atlan is ByteDance’s first homegrown success story | PGBiz
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III revealed with first trailer | The Verge
———
Drop a gg! What are we playing this weekend?
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VentureBeat
Samsung Game Launcher lets you play mobile games over cloud without downloads
The Samsung Game Launcher lets you play mobile games on Samsung devices using Samsung's mobile cloud gaming service.
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Check out In The Loop w/ Kapital_K (Week 32 of 2023)
Top Headlines
———
thecoreloop's picks
• Paradigms // The Open Problems of Onchain Games — link
• GameDeveloper // Marketing your Indie Game — link
• $191MM deal activity this week. $100M from one PE transaction, $78M to Play Venture's next fund, $13M to ZTX's new sandbox platform.
———
Head over to our substack to read the full scoop.
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thecoreloop’s Substack
IN THE LOOP with kapital k // W33 of 2023
The only gaming newsletter you need. I curate and aggregate content from across web2 & web3 to deliver it straight to your inbox.
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Look at Gaming #277 | Monday August 21st 2023
GM! It's Monday.
DDM released a report on gaming industry investments and M&A activity. It's bad.
The first half of 2023 we saw the lowest activity since 2016 — dollar amount down 34% to $676M and deal count dropped 14% to 127. Web3 games were hit the hardest down 38% from Q1 2023.
We should see a stronger numbers by the end of the year with the closing of Savvy-Scopely for $4.9B and perhaps even Microsoft-Activision for $69B.
In our weekly digest: In The Loop, I've noticed an uptick in deals these past 1.5 months. Could this be a bottoming process?
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
DDM: First half gaming investments weakest since 2016 | GamesIndustry.biz
🌊 MARKET 📞
Sega has completed its acquisition of mobile developer Rovio | GameDeveloper
Embracer Group net sales rise by 47% in Q1 | GamesIndustry.biz
DDM: First half gaming investments weakest since 2016 | GamesIndustry.biz
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Netflix’s games strategy takes shape | MobileDevMemo
How 100 Thieves is Building Beyond Esports | Naavik
AI Non-Player Characters | Konvoy Ventures
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Super Evil Megacorp is doing Super Good | PGBiz
Roblox Enables 'Illicit Gambling' for Kids, Lawsuit Alleges | Decrypt
———
Drop a gg
GM! It's Monday.
DDM released a report on gaming industry investments and M&A activity. It's bad.
The first half of 2023 we saw the lowest activity since 2016 — dollar amount down 34% to $676M and deal count dropped 14% to 127. Web3 games were hit the hardest down 38% from Q1 2023.
We should see a stronger numbers by the end of the year with the closing of Savvy-Scopely for $4.9B and perhaps even Microsoft-Activision for $69B.
In our weekly digest: In The Loop, I've noticed an uptick in deals these past 1.5 months. Could this be a bottoming process?
———
DDM: First half gaming investments weakest since 2016 | GamesIndustry.biz
Sega has completed its acquisition of mobile developer Rovio | GameDeveloper
Embracer Group net sales rise by 47% in Q1 | GamesIndustry.biz
DDM: First half gaming investments weakest since 2016 | GamesIndustry.biz
Netflix’s games strategy takes shape | MobileDevMemo
How 100 Thieves is Building Beyond Esports | Naavik
AI Non-Player Characters | Konvoy Ventures
Super Evil Megacorp is doing Super Good | PGBiz
Roblox Enables 'Illicit Gambling' for Kids, Lawsuit Alleges | Decrypt
———
Drop a gg
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GamesIndustry.biz
DDM: First half gaming investments weakest since 2016
Digital Development Management (DDM) released its regular report on games industry investments, mergers, and acquisitio…
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Look at Gaming #278 | Tuesday August 22nd 2023
GM! It's Tuesday.
It's a big one today. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulatory body in the UK blocked the MSFT-ATVI acquisition. Big F in the chat.
Note that this was an appeal hearing so the original deal is dead. Now, Microsoft has to restructure the deal in a meaningful way if there were any hope to get a new deal through. And they did. Activision will divest the cloud streaming rights to all current and future Activision games for the next FIFTEEN YEARS to Ubisoft prior to the sale.
Two interesting points about the CMA. First, the crux of the deal for the UK regulator was around cloud gaming, whereas almost for every other jurisdiction it was about CoD and Sony. Second, the CMA is ruling in this manner despite its contemporaries in the EU approved the sale in May and the US' FTC stopped blocking the deal last month.
Some good news for Microsoft is that their new proposal seems to be making a good impression to the CMA.
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
UK’s CMA confirms decision to block Microsoft-Activision but opens fresh probe of restructured deal proposal | TechCrunch
🌊 MARKET 📞
UK’s CMA confirms decision to block Microsoft-Activision but opens fresh probe of restructured deal proposal | TechCrunch
Report: Console gaming more popular among Japanese youth than mobile | GamesIndustry.biz
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
“Hypercasual is very much alive”, says Supersonic as the hits keep coming | MobileGamer.biz
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Samsung has sold over one billion more smartphones than Apple in the past 10 years | PGBiz
K-Pop Titans Blackpink Launch Roblox Metaverse Experience | Decrypt
✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Gaming Influencers FaZe Banks, Nadeshot Among Friend.tech's Top Earners | Decrypt
Crypto and NFT Games Are Still Launching on Steam Despite Ongoing Ban | Decrypt
Azra’s Mark Otero foresees 4th generation of mobile RPGs with 3D worlds | GamesBeat
🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Netspeak Games: Turning cozy consumers into co-creators | GamesIndustry.biz
Adapting your game's vision to benefit your players | GamesIndustry.biz
💲 Fundraising 🤑
Made on Earth Games raises $3.2m in seed funding round | GamesIndustry.biz
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
Marvel Snap is about to break $100m in earnings for developer Second Dinner | MobileGamer.Biz
Sandbox VR’s Deadwood Valley surpasses $23M in a year at physical venues | GamesBeat
———
Drop a gg!
GM! It's Tuesday.
It's a big one today. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulatory body in the UK blocked the MSFT-ATVI acquisition. Big F in the chat.
Note that this was an appeal hearing so the original deal is dead. Now, Microsoft has to restructure the deal in a meaningful way if there were any hope to get a new deal through. And they did. Activision will divest the cloud streaming rights to all current and future Activision games for the next FIFTEEN YEARS to Ubisoft prior to the sale.
Two interesting points about the CMA. First, the crux of the deal for the UK regulator was around cloud gaming, whereas almost for every other jurisdiction it was about CoD and Sony. Second, the CMA is ruling in this manner despite its contemporaries in the EU approved the sale in May and the US' FTC stopped blocking the deal last month.
Some good news for Microsoft is that their new proposal seems to be making a good impression to the CMA.
———
UK’s CMA confirms decision to block Microsoft-Activision but opens fresh probe of restructured deal proposal | TechCrunch
UK’s CMA confirms decision to block Microsoft-Activision but opens fresh probe of restructured deal proposal | TechCrunch
Report: Console gaming more popular among Japanese youth than mobile | GamesIndustry.biz
“Hypercasual is very much alive”, says Supersonic as the hits keep coming | MobileGamer.biz
Samsung has sold over one billion more smartphones than Apple in the past 10 years | PGBiz
K-Pop Titans Blackpink Launch Roblox Metaverse Experience | Decrypt
Gaming Influencers FaZe Banks, Nadeshot Among Friend.tech's Top Earners | Decrypt
Crypto and NFT Games Are Still Launching on Steam Despite Ongoing Ban | Decrypt
Azra’s Mark Otero foresees 4th generation of mobile RPGs with 3D worlds | GamesBeat
Netspeak Games: Turning cozy consumers into co-creators | GamesIndustry.biz
Adapting your game's vision to benefit your players | GamesIndustry.biz
Made on Earth Games raises $3.2m in seed funding round | GamesIndustry.biz
Marvel Snap is about to break $100m in earnings for developer Second Dinner | MobileGamer.Biz
Sandbox VR’s Deadwood Valley surpasses $23M in a year at physical venues | GamesBeat
———
Drop a gg!
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TechCrunch
UK’s CMA confirms decision to block Microsoft-Activision but opens fresh probe of restructured deal proposal
The UK’s antitrust regulator has confirmed its April decision to block the $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision gaming mega-merger — rejecting arguments by Microsoft that it should overturn its original prohibition because of developments since the original…
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AW & On-Chain Games are gaining traction but the information is fragmented thus difficult to find.
In light of this, we're releasing the On-Chain Space Station‼️
On-Chain Space Station is the definitive hub for all things On-Chain Gaming — whether you're a player, builder, investor or just interested to learn more about the space, there's something for you.
————
If we've missed you or your project, please DM me and we'll add your profile to the page!
Stoked for this alpha but it's only the beginning!
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Look at Gaming #279 | Wednesday August 23rd 2023
GM! It's Wednesday.
We released our On-Chain Space Station (aka OCSS) yesterday so head over to thecoreloop.gg/onchain and check it out!
In other news, our friends over at Mobile Dev Memo released a breakdown of Apple's privacy-centric changes — particularly the intention, the enforcement, and the potential consequences.
Apple made it abundantly and explicitly clear that fingerprinting is a no no. Not only are the developers not allowed to do it but also all of their ad tech partners. That means the developers are now held liable and responsible for the types of SDKs they use.
Previously, the app developers adopted a veil of plausible deniability by ignoring or rather purposefully overlook how their ad tech partners' SDK utilized user data. But now app developers are held accountable.
In other words, UA and ads are increasingly more challenging. Read more in the Spotlight section!
(Caveat it is behind a paywall but MDM is worth it.)
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Privacy manifests, fingerprinting, and Apple’s intentions | MobileDevMemo
🌊 MARKET 📞
Skillz announces $65 million share repurchase program | PGBiz
The movers and the shakers of the last 12 months | PGBiz
Omniheroes shows yet again, gacha-boobs sell! | The GameMakers
Starfield leads Gamescom Opening Night Live | GamesIndustry.biz|
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Brutally Honest #74 by Matej Lancaric | Brutally Honest
A Little To The Left: how DLC boosted the stealth hit! | GameDiscoverCo
The end of cheap money for games | GameStuff
Can Ubisoft save the Microsoft-Activision acquisition? | Microcast | GamesIndustry.biz
Privacy manifests, fingerprinting, and Apple’s intentions | MobileDevMemo
Super Evil Megacorp is making a Netflix-exclusive Rebel Moon game | MobileGamer.biz
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Google's inconsistent app-store gambling regulations come under fire | PGBiz
Netflix is launching a new series of story games, starting with Love is Blind | The Verge
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
Tekken 8 reveals new single player Arcade Quest story mode | GamesBeat
Black Myth: Wukong Gets New Gameplay Trailer Showcasing Its Action RPG Combat | GameInformer
———
Drop a gg
GM! It's Wednesday.
We released our On-Chain Space Station (aka OCSS) yesterday so head over to thecoreloop.gg/onchain and check it out!
In other news, our friends over at Mobile Dev Memo released a breakdown of Apple's privacy-centric changes — particularly the intention, the enforcement, and the potential consequences.
Apple made it abundantly and explicitly clear that fingerprinting is a no no. Not only are the developers not allowed to do it but also all of their ad tech partners. That means the developers are now held liable and responsible for the types of SDKs they use.
Previously, the app developers adopted a veil of plausible deniability by ignoring or rather purposefully overlook how their ad tech partners' SDK utilized user data. But now app developers are held accountable.
In other words, UA and ads are increasingly more challenging. Read more in the Spotlight section!
(Caveat it is behind a paywall but MDM is worth it.)
———
Privacy manifests, fingerprinting, and Apple’s intentions | MobileDevMemo
Skillz announces $65 million share repurchase program | PGBiz
The movers and the shakers of the last 12 months | PGBiz
Omniheroes shows yet again, gacha-boobs sell! | The GameMakers
Starfield leads Gamescom Opening Night Live | GamesIndustry.biz|
Brutally Honest #74 by Matej Lancaric | Brutally Honest
A Little To The Left: how DLC boosted the stealth hit! | GameDiscoverCo
The end of cheap money for games | GameStuff
Can Ubisoft save the Microsoft-Activision acquisition? | Microcast | GamesIndustry.biz
Privacy manifests, fingerprinting, and Apple’s intentions | MobileDevMemo
Super Evil Megacorp is making a Netflix-exclusive Rebel Moon game | MobileGamer.biz
Google's inconsistent app-store gambling regulations come under fire | PGBiz
Netflix is launching a new series of story games, starting with Love is Blind | The Verge
Tekken 8 reveals new single player Arcade Quest story mode | GamesBeat
Black Myth: Wukong Gets New Gameplay Trailer Showcasing Its Action RPG Combat | GameInformer
———
Drop a gg
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Look at Gaming #280 | Thursday August 24th 2023
GM! It's Thursday.
This is our lucky day — so much news to cover.
Up until 2019, I didn't realize that Mobile OEM like Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung, and many more have their own app stores. Although these devices run AndroidOS and have access to the Play Store, most developers prefer launching apps on the Mobile OEM-specific app stores since its natively integrated into the phone's OS — easier to build, more tools, more standardized to the device.
But now imagine as a studio having to manage across all these different app stores for UA. It's a massive headache. A solution, however, recently launched. You can read more about it in the Spotlight section.
Gamescom is well under way so everyone feel the FOMO and go read the update from PGBiz below.
Lastly, I want to talk about the crazy number of handheld devices that are released/to be released. PlayStation handheld. Xbox handheld. Steamdeck. Qualcomm handheld. New Switch device. Razer handheld.
The last time I saw this much competition in the handheld space was with the PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo DS.
Why is everyone making a handheld? Is it cloud-streaming fever mixed with how gamers have been conditioned to play on mobile for the past decade?
———
🔦 Spotlight 🌟
Avow Intelligence simplifies media buying for mobile OEM marketers | GamesBeat
🌊 MARKET ☎️
Gamescom Highlights: Crunchyroll goes big with One Punch Man World | PGBiz
Avow Intelligence simplifies media buying for mobile OEM marketers | GamesBeat
How Chinese apps are thriving in the global market | PGBiz
European market report: Growing revenues, growing workforce and older gamers | GamesIndustry.biz
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Revise and resubmit | SuperJoost Playlist
🌈 Platforms 🏔
Samsung’s 2020 smart TVs are getting cloud gaming apps soon | The Verge
Phil Spencer: Xbox needs mobile to thrive - and that includes streaming Starfield | GamesIndustry.biz
Amazon Luna app launches on LG smart TVs | TechCrunch
Epic’s First Run offers 100% revenue share to game devs in exchange for exclusivity | TechCrunch
Sony’s Latest PlayStation Handheld Launching for $200 This Year | Decrypt
Somebody already unboxed the Quest 3 | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/23/23842962/meta-quest-3-leak-unboxing-vr
This batarang houses Qualcomm’s next big bet on gaming | The Verge
✨ Web 3️⃣ + Meta 🌎
Social Poker App PokerGO Play Lands on Gala Games | Decrypt
Mobile RPG Champions Arena Launches on Gala Games | Decrypt
🧠 Knowledge Hub 📚
Is the Mobile Shooter Market Saturated? Top Tips on How to Innovate in a Crowded Genre | GameRefinery
———
Drop a gg! Let us know what research topic you want us to dive deeper into.
GM! It's Thursday.
This is our lucky day — so much news to cover.
Up until 2019, I didn't realize that Mobile OEM like Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung, and many more have their own app stores. Although these devices run AndroidOS and have access to the Play Store, most developers prefer launching apps on the Mobile OEM-specific app stores since its natively integrated into the phone's OS — easier to build, more tools, more standardized to the device.
But now imagine as a studio having to manage across all these different app stores for UA. It's a massive headache. A solution, however, recently launched. You can read more about it in the Spotlight section.
Gamescom is well under way so everyone feel the FOMO and go read the update from PGBiz below.
Lastly, I want to talk about the crazy number of handheld devices that are released/to be released. PlayStation handheld. Xbox handheld. Steamdeck. Qualcomm handheld. New Switch device. Razer handheld.
The last time I saw this much competition in the handheld space was with the PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo DS.
Why is everyone making a handheld? Is it cloud-streaming fever mixed with how gamers have been conditioned to play on mobile for the past decade?
———
🔦 Spotlight 🌟
Avow Intelligence simplifies media buying for mobile OEM marketers | GamesBeat
🌊 MARKET ☎️
Gamescom Highlights: Crunchyroll goes big with One Punch Man World | PGBiz
Avow Intelligence simplifies media buying for mobile OEM marketers | GamesBeat
How Chinese apps are thriving in the global market | PGBiz
European market report: Growing revenues, growing workforce and older gamers | GamesIndustry.biz
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Revise and resubmit | SuperJoost Playlist
🌈 Platforms 🏔
Samsung’s 2020 smart TVs are getting cloud gaming apps soon | The Verge
Phil Spencer: Xbox needs mobile to thrive - and that includes streaming Starfield | GamesIndustry.biz
Amazon Luna app launches on LG smart TVs | TechCrunch
Epic’s First Run offers 100% revenue share to game devs in exchange for exclusivity | TechCrunch
Sony’s Latest PlayStation Handheld Launching for $200 This Year | Decrypt
Somebody already unboxed the Quest 3 | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/23/23842962/meta-quest-3-leak-unboxing-vr
This batarang houses Qualcomm’s next big bet on gaming | The Verge
✨ Web 3️⃣ + Meta 🌎
Social Poker App PokerGO Play Lands on Gala Games | Decrypt
Mobile RPG Champions Arena Launches on Gala Games | Decrypt
🧠 Knowledge Hub 📚
Is the Mobile Shooter Market Saturated? Top Tips on How to Innovate in a Crowded Genre | GameRefinery
———
Drop a gg! Let us know what research topic you want us to dive deeper into.
VentureBeat
Avow Intelligence simplifies media buying for mobile OEM marketers
Avow, a global app-growth company, has unveiled its Avow Intelligence, a platform that simplifies buying media for mobile OEMs.
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Look at Gaming #281 | Friday August 24th 2023
GM! It's Friday.
Been an eventful week here at thecoreloop! We released our On-Chain Space Station (OCSS), the dedicated hub for on-chain gaming. Find you and your project in our database here!
Today's top headline that caught my attention was that The Pokemon Company made nearly $12B dollars in licensed products in 2022. Per License Global's annual report, pokemon is the fifth most profitable licensed brand.
Number one on the list is Disney with $61.7B and in fourth place is Warner Bros with $15.8B. This is the power of IPs. What makes Pokemon stand out is that its really just one core IP whereas Disney and WB are a collection of IPs. Do you think it's possible for one core IP to rise to the top? Evidence suggests that a collection of IP is needed for the throne.
In other news, Gamescom is going strong! Check out some pictures of the fancy, no-expense-spared booths from MobileGamer.biz.
Have a wonderful weekend!
————
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
The Pokémon Company made $11.6 billion from licensed products in 2022 | PGBiz
🌊 MARKET 📞
Gamescom 2023 kick off. Microsoft's second run at ATVI. And VC's role in gaming | UNBOXING
The battle for October | GamesIndustry.biz
UK video games tax relief drops 6% | GamesIndustry.biz
InvestGame: The gaming investment market in H1 2023 | GameDevReports
NetEase generated $3.3 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2023 | PGBiz
Which mobile game companies spent big on Gamescom booths? | MobileGamer.biz
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
The potential audience for PlayStation Portal is huge | GamesIndustry.biz
Xbox at the Crossroads | GamesIndustry.biz
Into the depths of genre-bending restaurant and fishing sim Dave the Diver | GameDeveloper
✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
NFL Rivals Game Now Lets You Buy NFTs on iOS and Android | Decrypt
💲 Fundraising 🤑
Scriptic raises $6m in additional seed funding | GamesIndustry.biz
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
The Pokémon Company made $11.6 billion from licensed products in 2022 | PGBiz
———
Drop a gg! Let us know what research topic you want us to dive deeper into.
GM! It's Friday.
Been an eventful week here at thecoreloop! We released our On-Chain Space Station (OCSS), the dedicated hub for on-chain gaming. Find you and your project in our database here!
Today's top headline that caught my attention was that The Pokemon Company made nearly $12B dollars in licensed products in 2022. Per License Global's annual report, pokemon is the fifth most profitable licensed brand.
Number one on the list is Disney with $61.7B and in fourth place is Warner Bros with $15.8B. This is the power of IPs. What makes Pokemon stand out is that its really just one core IP whereas Disney and WB are a collection of IPs. Do you think it's possible for one core IP to rise to the top? Evidence suggests that a collection of IP is needed for the throne.
In other news, Gamescom is going strong! Check out some pictures of the fancy, no-expense-spared booths from MobileGamer.biz.
Have a wonderful weekend!
————
The Pokémon Company made $11.6 billion from licensed products in 2022 | PGBiz
Gamescom 2023 kick off. Microsoft's second run at ATVI. And VC's role in gaming | UNBOXING
The battle for October | GamesIndustry.biz
UK video games tax relief drops 6% | GamesIndustry.biz
InvestGame: The gaming investment market in H1 2023 | GameDevReports
NetEase generated $3.3 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2023 | PGBiz
Which mobile game companies spent big on Gamescom booths? | MobileGamer.biz
The potential audience for PlayStation Portal is huge | GamesIndustry.biz
Xbox at the Crossroads | GamesIndustry.biz
Into the depths of genre-bending restaurant and fishing sim Dave the Diver | GameDeveloper
NFL Rivals Game Now Lets You Buy NFTs on iOS and Android | Decrypt
Scriptic raises $6m in additional seed funding | GamesIndustry.biz
The Pokémon Company made $11.6 billion from licensed products in 2022 | PGBiz
———
Drop a gg! Let us know what research topic you want us to dive deeper into.
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In The Loop w/ Kapital_K (Week 3️⃣4️⃣ of 2023)
Here are the top five headlines and fundraising announcements plus a collection of content from independent creators that you missed this week!
———
TOP 5 HEADLINES
———
thecoreloop FEATURED PICKS 💖:
• @thecoreloop // On-Chain Space Station (OCSS), the hub for all things on-chain gaming — link
• @MobileDevMemo @eric_seufert // Netflix’s games strategy takes shape — link
• UNBOXING // VC’s Role In Gaming. Gamescom 2023. MSFT-ATVI Round 2 — link
• $9.4M in Funding // $6.2M from Scriptic and $3.2M from Made on Earth Games
———
Check out our Substack for the full newsletter!
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Substack
IN THE LOOP with kapital k // W34 of 2023
The only gaming newsletter you need. I curate and aggregate content from across web2 & web3 to deliver it straight to your inbox.
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Look at Gaming #282 | Monday August 28th 2023
GM! It's Monday.
Starting the week off with some good news. The US video game market is on track for a 3% growth in 2023 per Circana (prev. NPD).
Earlier this year, we were on track to have a negative or flat growth 2023 so this is a good sign that things have found a new equilibrium. Surprisingly this equilibrium was balanced through the sales of hardware.
Content spending $47.5B (-1% YoY)
Hardware spending $7.0B (+19%) YoY)
Accessories spending $2.5B (-1% YoY)
—————————
TOTAL SPENDING $57.0B (+1% YoY)
Obviously the motivator to acquire a console is the blockbuster releases. This year we're getting a fair share of great games and there was a podcast last week by GamesIndustry.biz talking about The battle for October.
Read more about the US gaming market in the Spotlight section.
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
The US video game industry gets back to growth | GamesIndustry.biz
🌊 MARKET 📞
The US video game industry gets back to growth | GamesIndustry.biz
Gaming VC activity remains subdued in Q2 2023 | PitchBook
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Digital Fashion Houses | Naavik
Copyright Law and GenAI Content | Konvoy Ventures
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Riot Games wants to "refresh" its oldest esport | Axios
✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Saga unveils Web3 tech that it hopes will enable the multiverse | GamesBeat
🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Scopely’s Monopoly Go: three years of “iterating to greatness” – and one big pivot | MobileGamer.biz
💲 Fundraising 🤑
Star Citizen has received $600 million in funding | GameDeveloper
————
Drop a gg!
GM! It's Monday.
Starting the week off with some good news. The US video game market is on track for a 3% growth in 2023 per Circana (prev. NPD).
Earlier this year, we were on track to have a negative or flat growth 2023 so this is a good sign that things have found a new equilibrium. Surprisingly this equilibrium was balanced through the sales of hardware.
Content spending $47.5B (-1% YoY)
Hardware spending $7.0B (+19%) YoY)
Accessories spending $2.5B (-1% YoY)
—————————
TOTAL SPENDING $57.0B (+1% YoY)
Obviously the motivator to acquire a console is the blockbuster releases. This year we're getting a fair share of great games and there was a podcast last week by GamesIndustry.biz talking about The battle for October.
Read more about the US gaming market in the Spotlight section.
———
The US video game industry gets back to growth | GamesIndustry.biz
The US video game industry gets back to growth | GamesIndustry.biz
Gaming VC activity remains subdued in Q2 2023 | PitchBook
Digital Fashion Houses | Naavik
Copyright Law and GenAI Content | Konvoy Ventures
Riot Games wants to "refresh" its oldest esport | Axios
Saga unveils Web3 tech that it hopes will enable the multiverse | GamesBeat
Scopely’s Monopoly Go: three years of “iterating to greatness” – and one big pivot | MobileGamer.biz
Star Citizen has received $600 million in funding | GameDeveloper
————
Drop a gg!
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GamesIndustry.biz
The battle for October | Podcast
Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox
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Look at Gaming #283 | Tuesday August 29th 2023
GM! It's Tuesday.
Let's talk about gaming handhelds.
At the top, we have the heavy duty PC-like handhelds such as the Steam Deck, Asus Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and Logitech G Cloud.
Then we have the platform-specific handhelds like Nintendo Switch. We also saw Playstation Portal last week alongside Xbox hinting at an Xbox handheld device too.
Following are the mobile-enhancer handhelds like Razor's Edge and BackBone One. I feel these are in the middle of the market between the two aforementioned handheld types. Thus, this no man's land is the riskiest part to occupy without clear unique selling propositions and strong moats.
Regardless, these devices present a whole new distribution channel as well as additional platforms for cross-playing. The varying price points increase accessibility for many gamers. On the higher end, these handhelds are blurring the lines between a Console/PC experience and that of a gaming handheld — especially Qualcomm's Snapdragon G3 with its XR glasses.
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G Series aimed at starting a new generation of handheld gaming | GamesBeat
🌊 MARKET 📞
320,000 attendees visited Gamescom 2023 | GamesIndustry.biz
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
CharacterBank's goal to create 'VR's Mario' | GamesIndustry.biz
What 'Steam review count' tells us about your game |GamesDiscoverCo
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Lenovo Legion Go will reportedly set consumers back €799 | GamesIndustry.biz
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G Series aimed at starting a new generation of handheld gaming | GamesBeat
NetEase go for maximum 'Impact' with new RPG Project Mugen | PGBiz
✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
What Can The Bitcoin Lightning Network Do For Web3 Gaming? | Naavik
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
Grand Theft Auto 6: Everything You Need to Know | Decrypt
———
Drop a gg! What handheld are you getting? I might scoop the Xbox one, if it were to release. But ... maybe the PlayStation Portal too haha.
GM! It's Tuesday.
Let's talk about gaming handhelds.
At the top, we have the heavy duty PC-like handhelds such as the Steam Deck, Asus Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and Logitech G Cloud.
Then we have the platform-specific handhelds like Nintendo Switch. We also saw Playstation Portal last week alongside Xbox hinting at an Xbox handheld device too.
Following are the mobile-enhancer handhelds like Razor's Edge and BackBone One. I feel these are in the middle of the market between the two aforementioned handheld types. Thus, this no man's land is the riskiest part to occupy without clear unique selling propositions and strong moats.
Regardless, these devices present a whole new distribution channel as well as additional platforms for cross-playing. The varying price points increase accessibility for many gamers. On the higher end, these handhelds are blurring the lines between a Console/PC experience and that of a gaming handheld — especially Qualcomm's Snapdragon G3 with its XR glasses.
———
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G Series aimed at starting a new generation of handheld gaming | GamesBeat
320,000 attendees visited Gamescom 2023 | GamesIndustry.biz
CharacterBank's goal to create 'VR's Mario' | GamesIndustry.biz
What 'Steam review count' tells us about your game |GamesDiscoverCo
Lenovo Legion Go will reportedly set consumers back €799 | GamesIndustry.biz
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G Series aimed at starting a new generation of handheld gaming | GamesBeat
NetEase go for maximum 'Impact' with new RPG Project Mugen | PGBiz
What Can The Bitcoin Lightning Network Do For Web3 Gaming? | Naavik
Grand Theft Auto 6: Everything You Need to Know | Decrypt
———
Drop a gg! What handheld are you getting? I might scoop the Xbox one, if it were to release. But ... maybe the PlayStation Portal too haha.
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VentureBeat
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G Series aimed at starting a new generation of handheld gaming
Qualcomm unveiled its latest Snapdragon G Series platform last week to power a new generation of dedicated handheld gaming devices.
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Look at Gaming #284 | Wednesday August 30th 2023
GM! It's Wednesday.
Earlier this week we talked about the US market showing signs of growth, albeit barely at 3% YoY. Today we received insights from Data.ai and IDC's H1 2023 report indicating that the GLOBAL gaming market is actually stagnating or even slightly down year-over-year.
Mobile Games = $108B
PC/Mac = $40B
Consoles = $43B
Handheld = $3B
TOTAL = $194B
Interestingly, the APAC region spending increased relative to the North America and Western Europe across platforms. The increased spending is promising as Asia may be the catalyst to lift us up from the gaming bottom.
Also, in today's news we hear about Ayaneo Kun, which is yet another handheld console. I need to find a way to get my hands on all these handhelds and test them all out myself! (Please DM if you have a plug!)
Hope everyone has a good hump day!
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Gaming spend stagnates per Data.ai and IDC H1 2023 report | GamesBeat
🌊 MARKET 📞
Gaming spend stagnates per Data.ai and IDC H1 2023 report | GamesBeat
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
The great streaming squeeze | MobileDevMemo
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Meta’s avatar legs roll out to beta testers, but only in Quest Home | The Verge
The Ayaneo Kun nearly doubles the Steam Deck’s battery for nearly twice the price | The Verge
🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
“No retreat, no surrender”: how to survive in mobile gaming, according to Hothead Games | MobileGamer.biz
💲 Fundraising 🤑
NPCx raises $3M for better game character mocap | GamesBeat
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
Keeping the classics alive: how archivists are preserving video game history | The Verge
———
Drop a gg! Let me know what topic you guys are interested in for me to research for my next thought piece.
GM! It's Wednesday.
Earlier this week we talked about the US market showing signs of growth, albeit barely at 3% YoY. Today we received insights from Data.ai and IDC's H1 2023 report indicating that the GLOBAL gaming market is actually stagnating or even slightly down year-over-year.
Mobile Games = $108B
PC/Mac = $40B
Consoles = $43B
Handheld = $3B
TOTAL = $194B
Interestingly, the APAC region spending increased relative to the North America and Western Europe across platforms. The increased spending is promising as Asia may be the catalyst to lift us up from the gaming bottom.
Also, in today's news we hear about Ayaneo Kun, which is yet another handheld console. I need to find a way to get my hands on all these handhelds and test them all out myself! (Please DM if you have a plug!)
Hope everyone has a good hump day!
———
Gaming spend stagnates per Data.ai and IDC H1 2023 report | GamesBeat
Gaming spend stagnates per Data.ai and IDC H1 2023 report | GamesBeat
The great streaming squeeze | MobileDevMemo
Meta’s avatar legs roll out to beta testers, but only in Quest Home | The Verge
The Ayaneo Kun nearly doubles the Steam Deck’s battery for nearly twice the price | The Verge
“No retreat, no surrender”: how to survive in mobile gaming, according to Hothead Games | MobileGamer.biz
NPCx raises $3M for better game character mocap | GamesBeat
Keeping the classics alive: how archivists are preserving video game history | The Verge
———
Drop a gg! Let me know what topic you guys are interested in for me to research for my next thought piece.
Please open Telegram to view this post
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VentureBeat
Gaming spend stagnates per Data.ai and IDC H1 2023 report
Gaming consumer spend is relatively flat in 2023 so far - beating previous expectations - according to Data.ai and IDC's latest report.
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Look at Gaming #285 | Thursday August 31st 2023
GM! It's Thursday.
Quiet day but there was one article that caught my eye. C.H.A.I.N.G.E.D. is a new gaming project that's developed by multiple dev studios. This is the closest effort I've seen to conduct composability while maintaining continuity in the web2 space.
The article is quite long as it details out the developers' motivations and history but I think it's well worth it.
This game is a sequel to the original game called CHAIN — an uncanny name since it's not at all crypto related yet it has so much Web3 spirit.
Developers effectively play the telephone game. Each developer would only get to see the game before them and then try and make a follow-up to that. but this led to a disjointed experience in CHAIN so in this "v2" they're going to adopt a branching-path approach so each route is distinct while still being a part of an open world — under the same narrative umbrella.
🤟 PSA: If this message was forwarded to you, please check out the main channel at https://t.me/thecoreloop
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
C.H.A.I.N.G.E.D. is a multi-dev project where every in-game decision is a brand new game | GameDeveloper
🌊 MARKET 📞
Gaming Trends and Defining Games of 2023 | GameMakers
CD Projekt sees small revenue drop ahead of Phantom Liberty release | GameDeveloper
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Why do some great PC/console games fail to 'go big'? | GameDiscoverCo
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Gaming is a “natural extension” of Netflix’s business | PGBiz
🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Cubersecurity In Gaming: Safeguarding User Data In Online Platforms | GamingLyfe
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
C.H.A.I.N.G.E.D. is a multi-dev project where every in-game decision is a brand new game | GameDeveloper
———
Drop a gg!
GM! It's Thursday.
Quiet day but there was one article that caught my eye. C.H.A.I.N.G.E.D. is a new gaming project that's developed by multiple dev studios. This is the closest effort I've seen to conduct composability while maintaining continuity in the web2 space.
The article is quite long as it details out the developers' motivations and history but I think it's well worth it.
This game is a sequel to the original game called CHAIN — an uncanny name since it's not at all crypto related yet it has so much Web3 spirit.
Developers effectively play the telephone game. Each developer would only get to see the game before them and then try and make a follow-up to that. but this led to a disjointed experience in CHAIN so in this "v2" they're going to adopt a branching-path approach so each route is distinct while still being a part of an open world — under the same narrative umbrella.
———
C.H.A.I.N.G.E.D. is a multi-dev project where every in-game decision is a brand new game | GameDeveloper
Gaming Trends and Defining Games of 2023 | GameMakers
CD Projekt sees small revenue drop ahead of Phantom Liberty release | GameDeveloper
Why do some great PC/console games fail to 'go big'? | GameDiscoverCo
Gaming is a “natural extension” of Netflix’s business | PGBiz
Cubersecurity In Gaming: Safeguarding User Data In Online Platforms | GamingLyfe
C.H.A.I.N.G.E.D. is a multi-dev project where every in-game decision is a brand new game | GameDeveloper
———
Drop a gg!
Please open Telegram to view this post
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
Telegram
thecoreloop — your go-to gaming news
Daily gaming news directly to your DM. Bet you'll learn something everytime you see us.
———
DM: @kapital_k for feedback, support, and GMs
———
DM: @kapital_k for feedback, support, and GMs
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Look at Gaming #286 | Friday September 1st 2023
GM! It's Friday. Happy Friday.
My good friend Teng Yan (@0xPrismatic) from Delphi Digital and I have these monthly calls where we catch up on life then at the end we talk about the happenings in our respective corners of the internet.
As Head of NFT Research, Teng is required to be at the forefront of the NFT space. I, on the other hand, am very far from the cutting edge of NFTs so I trust Teng to keep me abreast with that part of the industry. In return, I give him the DL on the games space.
During this catchup call, however, we decided to record that last portion of our discussion. If you're interested, check it out HERE.
If you like it, then let us know. (If you don't, keep it to yourself because we're going to keep on doing it anyways🥰 💋 )
🤟 PSA: If this message was forwarded to you, please check out the main channel at https://t.me/thecoreloop
———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Ubisoft’s subscription play | SuperJoost
🌊 MARKET 📞
Google's Generative AI Tools Now Turn Text Into Online Worlds | Decrypt
SEF’s Faisal Bin Homran on esports, mobile and building gaming in Saudi Arabia | PGBiz
GameDiscoverCo & Gamalytic: Insights from Steam reviews | GameDevReports
💎 Deep Dives 🔎
PS Plus price hike: We'll all pay for a subscription-based future | GamesIndustry.biz
Ubisoft’s subscription play | SuperJoost
🌈 Platforms 🏠
Unity strives to be the best game engine and much, much more | GamesIndustry.biz
✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Otherside: Legends of the Mara Open Beta Launching in September | Decrypt
YouTuber Loses $60K Worth of Crypto After Showing Seed Phrases on Stream | Decrypt
👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
Saints Row Developer Volition Games Has Been Shut Down | GameInformer
———
Drop a gg!
GM! It's Friday. Happy Friday.
My good friend Teng Yan (@0xPrismatic) from Delphi Digital and I have these monthly calls where we catch up on life then at the end we talk about the happenings in our respective corners of the internet.
As Head of NFT Research, Teng is required to be at the forefront of the NFT space. I, on the other hand, am very far from the cutting edge of NFTs so I trust Teng to keep me abreast with that part of the industry. In return, I give him the DL on the games space.
During this catchup call, however, we decided to record that last portion of our discussion. If you're interested, check it out HERE.
If you like it, then let us know. (If you don't, keep it to yourself because we're going to keep on doing it anyways
———
Ubisoft’s subscription play | SuperJoost
Google's Generative AI Tools Now Turn Text Into Online Worlds | Decrypt
SEF’s Faisal Bin Homran on esports, mobile and building gaming in Saudi Arabia | PGBiz
GameDiscoverCo & Gamalytic: Insights from Steam reviews | GameDevReports
PS Plus price hike: We'll all pay for a subscription-based future | GamesIndustry.biz
Ubisoft’s subscription play | SuperJoost
Unity strives to be the best game engine and much, much more | GamesIndustry.biz
Otherside: Legends of the Mara Open Beta Launching in September | Decrypt
YouTuber Loses $60K Worth of Crypto After Showing Seed Phrases on Stream | Decrypt
Saints Row Developer Volition Games Has Been Shut Down | GameInformer
———
Drop a gg!
Please open Telegram to view this post
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
X (formerly Twitter)
Teng Yan (@0xPrismatic) on X
Placeholder acc: I'm now tweeting AI & Crypto at → @tengyanAI
Building @cot_research & @theagentangle.
Building @cot_research & @theagentangle.
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