In the world of creation, every brick counts. Keep building; your masterpiece awaits.

WAGME #23 — Midnight Society releases Snapshot VII for Deadrop, Immutable X re-locks 125 million $IMX tokens, Bigtime announces economy update and SoRare kicks of Season 2

Drop a gg and show some love! ❤️💞

🔔 Weekly Gaming Digest 👀

In The Loop w/ Kapital_K (Week 4️⃣2️⃣ 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 📣

📌 MSFT-ATVI Deal Finally Closes

📌 PUBG Mobile's New $100M Creator Fund

📌 Netflix Rolling Out Cloud Gaming Tests In US

📌 Epic Games Changes Creator Payout Policy

📌 Niko Partners Show That SEA-6 Region Will Be $7B in 2027

———

thecoreloop FEATURED PICKS 💖:

🤕 Threads
• @NickMetzler // Value Accrual, All You Need To Know — link

🗣 Blogs
• thecoreloop // Weekly Alpha Gaming Metaverse Expedition (WAGME) #23 — link

➡Pods
• Mobile Games Playbook // Top 3 Trends in China’s Mobile Market — link


💲 Raises
• $37.9M raised this week. $7.6M for Quest Portal, a tabletop game subscription company. $14.8M into One Store, South Korea's dominant app store. $11.0M for Forge, a platform to connect and reward player achievements.

———

Check out our Substack for the full newsletter!

Look at Gaming #316| Monday October 23rd 2023

GM! It's Monday. Welcome back.

Let's throw some F in the chat for the folks over at FaZe. Being down 97% from its SPAC in July 2022 is max pain. The esports brand was acquired for $17M (worth of stock, not even cash), which is a massive drawdown from its $725M SPAC. At its peak, $FAZE traded at $1.2B market cap on the NASDAQ exchange.

The esports industry as a whole is going through an identity and sustainability crisis — not an existential crisis. Even large publishers like Riot Games and Blizzard are having issues with their respective esports organizations. The core issue with esports is that it can't convert those views into dollars, despite growing viewership numbers. The current structure doesn't work. It was subsidized by VC dollars when capital was free but that's no longer available.

Thus, we see an emerging model of creators building their own games and experiences. Empowered by the trend of UGC-afication and platformatization of everything, we may have a recipe to save esports. A few prime examples are Dr. Disrespect's Midnight Society, Ninja's Project VFN, and 100 Theives' Project X.

We've seen the power of this potent combination: creators' fan base (distribution) plus robust UGC tools (experiences).

This is classic vertical integration (per Investopedia: Vertical integration is a strategy that allows a company to streamline its operations [distribution via fan base] by taking direct ownership of various [game experiences] rather than relying on external [game publishers and studios].

The leverage point is that most of these creators built their fan base through playing on the games that turned into a platform! So the fan base is already embedded into the ecosystem, resulting in frictionless consumption.

In other news, Twitch allows creators to stream across multiple platforms (but read the fine print), Homa Games porting over 6 mobile games into Nintendo (porting is a new trend), and Naavik covers the future of Hybridcasual. And of course the age-old battle between PlayStation and Xbox, except this time they're literally fighting in the dome.

Catch y'all tomorrow!

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• Faze Clan acquired for $17 million, one year after its $725 million SPAC | The Verge


🌊 MARKET 📞
• Xbox and PlayStation battle it out at The Sphere | The Verge

• The Future of Hybridcasual | Naavik

• Hearst makes its gaming move, in a bid for the Wordle and crossword crowd | Axios

• Faze Clan acquired for $17 million, one year after its $725 million SPAC | The Verge

• Gaming Industry Report - Q3 2023 | Konvoy Ventures


🌈 Platforms 🏠
• Twitch Will Let Users Stream Across Platforms—But They Better Act Right | Decrypt.gg

• Homa releases six mobile games on Nintendo Switch and offers the tech for devs to do likewise | PGBiz


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
• Dr. Disrespect's 'Deadrop' Shooter Unveils Cars, Racing Battles at Vegas Event | Decrypt.gg

• Angry Birds, 'The Voice', Warner Music Artists to Launch Avatar Skins via Ready Player Me | Decrypt.gg

• Yuga Labs CEO Is Learning Making NFT Games Is Hard | Decrypt.gg

• Habbo Game Plans to Keep Using NFTs Without Uttering Dirty Crypto 'Jargon' | Decrypt.gg


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
• How to create an isometric game guide | Kevuru Games


💲 Fundraising 🤑
• Crypto Game Upland Raises $7 Million Ahead of Ethereum Token Launch | Decrypt.gg

• Noodle Cat Games raises $12m in Series A funding round | GamesIndustry.biz

• Copresence raises $6M for 3D avatar creation platform | GamesBeat

———

Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #318| Tuesday October 25th 2023

GM! It's Tuesday. Hope everyone is enjoying some greenery today.

Another trend that I've been seeing is big tech moving into gaming in meaningful ways. One company in particular is going deep.

Netflix plans to outcompete other mobile games by leveraging its IP and recommendation engine to convert existing subscribers into gamers. The issue is that Netflix's game portfolio and investments are a fraction of its core content-related efforts.

But I do want to comment on Netflix's approach to studio selection and title greenlighting. The streaming giant opted to acquire certain studios and partner with others. More interestingly, Netflix is open to receiving pitches from studios on how they would use Netflix's IP. We've seen numerous examples of this throughout this year alone. This is much more similar to the indie publishing model than a triple AAA one in which studios get to be creative on what they want to build and which IP to adopt.

Despite Netflix's ambitions, the results are mediocre — nearly 1% of users play games daily, that's 2.2M out of 247M subscribers. There are 77 titles offered. These are mobile titles so we haven't gotten into the cloud gaming metrics yet. That service just launched earlier this month so we shall have to wait to see.

In other news, Blizzard soft-launched another mobile title called Warcraft Rumble (I'll be trying this out this week), 52% of the Chinese population plays games, and Supercell launching Clash of Clash and Clash Royale to PC today. There's also this cross-over between Magic: The Gathering and Marvel — now that's a collaboration I didn't expect to see.

Catch up with y'all tomorrow!

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• CoCEO Greg Peters outlines Netflix’s ‘crawl, walk, run’ games strategy | Mobilegamer


🌊 MARKET 📞
• Chinese gaming trends revealed as 52% of the population play games | PGBiz

• CoCEO Greg Peters outlines Netflix’s ‘crawl, walk, run’ games strategy | Mobilegamer

• Circana: The US gaming market grew by 10% in September | GameDev Reports


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
• Ready, Set, Rumble: Blizzard's Soft Launch Playbook for Warcraft Rumble unveiled | Brutally Honest

• How are new F2P games doing on Steam in 2023? | GameDiscoverCo

• GamesBeat Next: Why creators are the future of the gaming industry | GamesBeat

• Parallel Bets, Microsoft, and AI Strategies | MatthewBall


🌈 Platforms 🏠
• Report: Less than 1% of Netflix's total subscribers play games daily | GamesIndustry.biz

• Supercell takes Clash of Clans and Clash Royale cross-platform with PC releases today | PGBiz


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
• Your MVP should have a robust meta game | Simon (MightyBearGames)


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
• How To Overcame Post-Launch Slump - The Case of Merge Garden | Deconstructor of Fun


💲 Fundraising 🤑
• AppQuantum’s Core is the King will invest up to $1M in selected hybridcasual mobile devs | PGBiz


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
• Sony says Spider-Man 2 is its "fastest-selling" PlayStation game | Axios

• Magic is gathering Marvel heroes for giant crossover event | The Verge

• Amazon Prime's Fallout TV Adaptation Premieres Next April | GameInformer

• League’s new boy band looks ripped out of Arcane | The Verge

———

Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #318| Wednesday October 25th 2023

GM! It's Wednesday.

I am amazed by and impressed with streamers content creators. The discipline to maintain the consistency. The seemingly bottomless energy they bring on screen.

I've been fortunate to have worked closely with 50 streamers so I have an appreciation for their craft. That's why this case study on Shroud (the 2nd largest streamer) caught my attention.

In September shroud streamed 283 hours. A standard work schedule is 160 hours per month. Just imagine that, 1.7x the time. Granted, September was a popular month with the launch of Starfield and CS2.

Shroud brought in 2.2M Unique Registered Viewers and 783k Returning Registered viewers. The Registered part is important as it represents high-quality viewers.

From these viewers, shroud was able to get 5.5% to engage actively in the chat. This is considered HIGH engagement.

Another metric to look at is shroud's Hours Streamed:Hours Watched ratio. For 283 hours streamed, shroud received 5.5M hours watched — Ratio of 1:19k. Content creators always talk about "evergreen content", the term means content that could be rewatched ad infinitum. But streamers earn that lifetime of views within one session. Though as a bonus, there will be epic gameplay clips that will be evergreen content.

Just a short one today!

Let me know how I'm doing/what you want me to improve on! Catch ya tmrw ❤️

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• Case Study on Shroud: Understanding Unique & Returning Viewers | StreamHatcher


🌊 MARKET 📞
• Xbox and cloud help boost Microsoft’s Q1 2024 earnings | The Verge


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
• Warcraft Rumble Soft Launch Playbook Review | Brutally Honest

• Case Study on Shroud: Understanding Unique & Returning Viewers | StreamHatcher


🌈 Platforms 🏠
• Report: Unity's Runtime Fee quietly gave large devs exemptions in launch rush | GameDeveloper

• Bakugan Brawling hits Roblox: Bringing big-name brands to the metaverse | PGBiz


• Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
• Transmedia IP, Gaming and the Metaverse | Naavik


💲 Fundraising 🤑
• Brilliant Labs raises $3M for generative AI-based AR glasses | GamesBeat

———

Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #319| Thursday October 26th 2023

GM! It's Thursday.

A fun fact about myself is that I used to compete in an amateur league for Mario Kart. But we couldn't call it Mario Kart because Nintendo is known to be extra protective over their IP. And for good reason.

Today Nintendo announced guidelines for community-ran tournaments and competitions. There's a limit of ~$10k for tournament cash prizes in a 12-month period. The size of the participants must be les than 200 for in-person events and 300 for online. One thing that surprised me was the strict policy on hardware — unlicensed accessories/mods/etc. are NOT allowed.

The community criticized Nintendo for being too stringent on the hardware policy as some gamers had to use certain mods or a new controller for better accessibility.

I'm unsure how Nintendo plans to enforce then police these policies as most tournaments are "underground", except for a handful that broadcast/streams their events. Putting that aside, I think the maker of my favorite game have good intentions but these guidelines are too much.

The rising waves of UGCafication and platformization are here. Nintendo is pushing against this seismic force and I don't think its conducive for the future.

In other news, check out the profile by PGBiz on Africa's games market. I wanted to spotlight that piece too but felt like I needed to shine a light on Nintendo's new policy as it hits close to home. Also, Like A Dragon is going to have animal-crossing like mini games, which feels its totally "jumping the dolphin". (If you got this reference, kudos to you.)

Catch y'all later!

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• Nintendo to roll out new community tournament guidelines | GamesIndustry.biz


🌊 MARKET 📞
• Meta loses $3.7B in Q3 in metaverse-focused Reality Labs division | GamesBeat

• Exploring Africa's games market opportunity | PGBiz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
• SENTRY: analyzing a winning Next Fest demo! | GameDiscoverCo


🌈 Platforms 🏠
• Valve officially releases SteamVR 2.0 | The Verge

• Nintendo to roll out new community tournament guidelines | GamesIndustry.biz


💲 Fundraising 🤑
• Harmony Games raises $3m in seed funding round | GamesIndustry.biz

• Shrapnel' Game Studio Neon Machine Raises $20 Million Led by Polychain | Decrypt.gg


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
• Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth Will Have Animal Crossing-Style Minigames | GameInformer

———

Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #320 | Friday October 28th 2023


GM! Happy Friday. Hope you guys get to touch some grass this weekend!

There was a small-ish survey of 1000 gamers taken earlier this year. Though, the sample size is slightly smaller than I'd like to see, there was a few data points that caught my attention.

Half of these gamers behave DIFFERENTLY in game than they do IRL. "More competitive, confident, curious, and ambitious", the survey reported.

If players are different than who they are IRL, then how effective is segmentation and demographic targeting? Currently the tools aren't robust enough to segment gamers by their in-game behaviors and actions. And also game publishers/studios aren't openly sharing that data either.

We have websites like tracker.gg and etc. that records certain data points but even these are fairly surface level. So what, if Player One's KD is 2.6 on Valorant versus Player Two's KD of 0.6? But if I told you that the assist on Player One is 10% of Player Two's and that Player Two always purchases support equipments and plays support characters. Then if you're finding users for a game that involves less aggressive playstyle, perhaps Player Two is the user you'd want to target.

I think web3/crypto unlocks a portion of this type of segmentation. The transparent (or at least more transparent) nature of crypto would lead game studios to open up a bit more about these finer data points. Then NFTs and other tools could be used to capture and index these data points.

Just some Friday food for thought. :)

In other news, we have Nintendo doubling down on going against the UGC trend with their new social media policies, Games Industry expected to see some increase in deal activity in 2024 per Drake Star, and a look at Microsoft's plan to integrate Activision Blizzard to its gaming empire.

Catch y'all next week!

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• Tinuiti: A Gamer's Portrait in 2023 | GameDev Reports


🌊 MARKET 📞
• Microsoft reorganizes ZeniMax staff into Xbox leadership team | GameDeveloper

• Report: Game industry investment, deals to increase in 2024 | Axios

• Ubisoft's H1 sees a 14% revenue bump | GamesIndustry.biz

• Newzoo: Top 10 Games by MAU on PC and Consoles in September 2023 | GameDev Reports

• Tinuiti: A Gamer's Portrait in 2023 | GameDev Reports


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
• FaZed and confused | SuperJoost Playlist

• How Could Top Troops decrease their high CPIs? | Brutally Honest


🌈 Platforms 🏠
• Nintendo details more aggressive social media guidelines | GamesIndustry.biz

• Empowering Everyone - How Xsolla Plans To Give Developers The Power To Find And Keep Players Content | PGBiz


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
• Blockchain Will Be ‘Standard’ for Gaming in Asia: Bandai Namco Exec | Decrypt.gg


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
• Deep Dive: Reimagining the battle pass in Guild Wars 2 | GameDeveloper


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
• Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile will deploy in spring 2024 | GameDeveloper

———

Drop a gg!

WAGME #24 — Shrapnel raises $20m Series A, Hytopia closes $3m fundraising round and Merit Circle announces its token migration while also launching their UX-focused gaming platform, Beam.

Drop a gg and show some love! ❤️💞

Look at Gaming #321 | Monday October 30th 2023

GM! It's Monday.

Community is a hard thing to build. So this article from PGBiz breaking down gamer archetypes and the different channels of connecting with your game's community.

First, there are in-game and out-game channels. In-game communication usually takes the form of a text chat or a voice channel. Out-game is where it gets interesting.

Out-game connections are external chat rooms, forums, and social media that isn't affiliated with your game. These could be centered around a specific game or about general gaming culture.

Here are the four types of gamers in a community. Remember, these are gamers who enjoy your game enough to join the community.
1. Beginners. This is self-explanatory. The key is to allow for easy onboarding then proper placement. You want these beginners to find their "clique" and where they fit in the community asap.

2. Veterans. These are your OGs. They know the game quite well and are usually answering Beginners' questions, driving discussions, and engaging with the community. Additionally, they most likely have exposure/access to external forums so need to cultivate them to be your evangelist for all Out-game channels.

3. Non-combatives. These are gamers who doesn't play to compete but rather to just be a part of the experience. An ideal community provides a collaborative and open space for them to participate as they seem fit.

4. Cheats. These are players who just like to find the edge cases and are motivated on discovering the "hacks". They need a forum and platform to share their conquests and "brag" about how they figured out the tips and tricks. They're also most likely to be active on external chats so you need to cultivate them as well.

Identifying the composition of your community will enable you to discover the right medium and format of communication. This will boost not only those gamers LTV but also attract and retain new players.

Catch you guys tomorrow!

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Top Tips: Five key steps for building your mobile gaming community | PGBiz


🌊 MARKET 📞
Weekly Gaming Reports Recap: October 23 - October 27 (2023) | GameDev Reports

Rovio saw a 5.6% decline in revenue in the third quarter of 2023 | PGBiz

Ubisoft "overperforms" in Q2, sees record first half for 2023-2024 fiscal year | GameDeveloper

Meta Q3 earnings: 24% advertising revenue growth, 7% engagement increase | MobileDevMemo


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Inside Scopely: Monopoly Go, Stumble Guys, & Its Future | Naavik

Why is There a Productivity Problem in Gaming? | SystemTalk

I'm Hoping I Don't Get Kicked': FaZe Kalei on the Future of FaZe Clan, Call of Duty, and 'Eboys' | Decrypt.gg

Verifiable Anonymity | Konvoy Ventures

Analyzing Fortnite's Unique Channel Growth on Live Streaming Platforms | Stream Hatchet

Unity's Runtime Fee debacle caused 15% of its US advertisers to jump ship | PGBiz

Microsoft joins the publishing top table | GamesIndustry.biz


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Microsoft is improving its Xbox app for Windows handheld gaming PCs | The Verge

Disney’s cozy life sim won’t be free to play after all | The Verge

TikTok & Newzoo: Promoting games on PC and Consoles in 2023 | GameDev Reports


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Animoca Brands acquires Azarus to bring streaming to Web3 games | GamesBeat


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Top Tips: Five key steps for building your mobile gaming community | PGBiz


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Moonveil Entertainment raises $5.4M for Web3 multiplayer mobile games | GamesBeat

———

Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming 322 | 10.31.2023

GM! It's Tuesday.

This isn't surprising but RPGs have the most engaged and loyal playerbase (on mobile) — followed by Strategy then Simulation genres.

An analysis of millions of players' behavior across 500 mobile titles, Mistplay compiled a loyal report to compare players across genres as well as their receptiveness to ads and other form of monetization.

Puzzle games have the highest Day-30 retention. But its only middle of the pack in terms of monetization and other measures. Conversely, RPG accounted for nearly 1/3 of all in-app purchases in 2022.

For largest count of spenders and repeat purchasers, the lifestyle genre takes the crown.

Unsurprisingly, new and timely released content keep players engaged. If the update is crap, however, 40% of players will uninstall. Player's stickiness is driven by desire for progression and the reluctance to abandon progress. In other words, players succumb to sunk cost fallacy.

Heavy spenders ($100+) are 28% more likely to play EIGHT OR MORE games every week and are 55% more likely to spend in those games as well.

"2% of a mobile game's player base can generate up to 95% of its IAP revenue" - Mistplay

Studying these behaviors within your game's genre AND providing a community (see Look at Gaming #321) could be saving you in this high CAC/UA environment.

In other news, Fortnite is cashing in on nostalgia by bringing OG Fortnite back, Steve Aoki partners with Stepn, and Ledger has new gamified crypto education experience in Sandbox.

Catch y'all tomorrow!

-----

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
RPGs have the most loyal fans, but how do different genres drive monetisation? | PGBiz


🌊 MARKET 📞
Sensor Tower: The Japanese Mobile Market in 2023 | GameDev Reports


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
How many games do PC/console players own, & do they 'main' just one? | GameDiscoverCo

Meta, subscriptions, and the EU’s Privacy Gordian Knot | MobileDevMemo

RPGs have the most loyal fans, but how do different genres drive monetisation? | PGBiz


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Nintendo patent details a handheld that splits into two | GamesIndustry.biz

Fortnite is the latest game to entice players with a portal to the past | TechCrunch


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Saga launches Pegasus incentivized testnet for Web3 gaming | GamesBeat

Ledger launches new season of gamified crypto education in The Sandbox | GamesBeat

Steve Aoki Dropping Digital Sneakers in Move-to-Earn Game 'Stepn' | Decrypt.gg


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Evolving a studio from single to multi product | GameDeveloper

Diary of a (retired) CEO | Deconstructor of Fun


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Guild Esports pens investment deal to earn up to £1m | GamesIndustry.biz

Playbite raises $1M to bring back the magic of arcades for mobile games | GamesBeat

Saudi Arabia's Future City Neom Will Invest $50 Million in Metaverse Giant Animoca | Decrypt.gg

———

Drop a gg!
Midwest Games secures $3m in funding | GamesIndustry.biz

-----

Look at Gaming #323 | 11.01.2023

GM! It's Wednesday.

I think this article from GamesIndustry.biz is a must read. It provides clarity on where we are in the games industry's business cycle.

In 2023, there were strong sales figures and hits after hits. Hogwarts 15M copies sold. Zelda 10M in a weekend. Diablo $666M. Baldur's Gate 3, Star Wars, Super Mario (the movie and the game). More than 24 games scored 90+ on Metacritic in 2023.

But yet 6000 jobs were eliminated. No one was immuned, from large conglomerates such as Embracer to tech companies like Twitch, and even storied studios (see Bungie, BioWare, Epic).

What's going on?

In the analysis, the author took us back to the pre-COVID period. I'll just TLDR the data points for you.

2019
- 45% of game sales were newly released games
- Console = -30%
- Mobile = +13%

2020
- 33% of games sales were newly released games
- Console = +52%
- Mobile = +26%

2021
- 31% of games sales were newly released games
- Console = +14%
- Mobile = +7%

2022
- 40% of games sales were newly released games
- Console = -8%
- Mobile - 7%

What does it mean? In 2019, the focus was on new titles as everyone was anticipating new console releases. In 2020, new consoles came and the craze began but we also saw older titles regaining attention — healthy. The trend continued in 2021.

Another element to consider was the flurry of investment activities. EA buying Codemasters, Xbox buying Bethesda, Tencent and Sumo, Take-Two and Zynga, Sony and Bungie, and of course the Microsoft-Activision deal. Also talented devs leaving studios to form their own ventures also received tons of funding.

Then it all changed in 2022.

People expected a retraction, a reversion to the mean. We're seeing this in the form of job cuts and slowdown in fundraising, which would translate to fewer and subpar game releases in the coming years.

The industry is going through a correction and we just have to "muscle through" it.

Though, there are factors that are working in our favor such as the technological advances in the hardware and software. New chips, new handheld consoles — better AI and developer tools.

Apologies for the long one today but I felt this article warranted it.

Catch y'all tomorrow!

-----

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
What the hell is going on with video games? | GamesIndustry.biz


🌊 MARKET 📞
Mo.co going to closed beta | Brutally Honest

AMD’s Q3 revenues hit $5.8B, up 4% as PC CPUs grow again | GamesBeat

How startups can survive the coming storm | Game Stuff

2023 sees more than two dozen games score 90 and up on Metacritic | GamesIndustry.biz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
What the hell is going on with video games? | GamesIndustry.biz


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Twitch ditches Switch | The Verge


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Solana Launches Tools to Make It Easier to Create Crypto Games | Decrypt.gg


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Clean Slate vs. Reactive Design | GameDeveloper

10 design lessons learned from 30 years of horror games | GameDeveloper

S-Tier Go-To-Market Insights for PC Games | Naavik


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Developer Funstop secures $1.5 million funding from Indian investors | PGBiz

Look at Gaming #324 | Thursday November 2nd 2023

GM! It's Thursday. Man how the week just fly by!

Short one today. Global gaming market is expected to hit $300B with 3.8 billion gamers by 2030. Though this sounds like a good big number, it's actually not.

In 2020, the industry experienced 26% (fueled by COVID). Then 2021 led to single digit growth of 9% and in 2022 there was a 5% decline. Experts expect 2023 to be slightly positive but barely (if at all) keeping up with inflation.

So the industry is "peaking".

There were other interesting data points in 2023 that I want to share:

• $12B from180M subscriptions

• $125B in-game spending (60% cosmetics
+ 40% progress-based)

• $22B for games advertising

• $20B for console hardware

That's it for today! Catch y'all tomorrow.

——

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Midia Research: Video games to pass $300bn revenue, 3.8 billion players by 2030 | GamesIndustry.biz


🌊 MARKET 📞
Only 2.5% of 2022 PC games hit 50K players per Newzoo, TikTok study | GamesBeat

Midia Research: Video games to pass $300bn revenue, 3.8 billion players by 2030 | GamesIndustry.biz

2023 has the best-reviewed slate of video games of the last 20 years | Axios


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Apple and Google race to attribute the internet | MobileDevMemo


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Xbox is about to get better apps and web games | The Verge


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Challenging game developers to change their outdated blockchain mentality | GamesBeat


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Ways of designing intimacy in games | GameDeveloper

Indie vs. AA vs. AAA Games: What's the difference? | Kevuru Games


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
EA Sports FC hits 14.5M accounts in first month sans FIFA brand | GamesBeat

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Final Booster Course Pass Wave | GameInformer

———

Drop a gg!

"In the game of innovation, persistence is the player's greatest power-up and the builder's most reliable tool."

WAGME #25 — Moonveil Studio raises $5.4million fundraising round led by Gumi Cryptos Capital & Arcane Group, Small Brain Games launches Draw.Tech, and Sleepagotchi graduates from Alliance DAO's 11 cohort

For the hardcore enthusiasts, we've also opened up a Web3 dedicated channel where you can get things live as we see them — Join Here

Drop a gg and show some love! ❤️💞

Look at Gaming #327 | 11.06.2023

GM! It's Monday.

Epic Games has waited over 1000 days to get its day in court.

The Fortnite creator's case against Google is going to be heard today. Recall that Epic v. Apple — both sides lost but Epic was the bigger loser. But this is another shot at the app store duopoly.

Epic is claiming that Google has a monopoly since there are no competitors to Android's app store. Secondarily, Google is pushing its Google Play payments service while disallowing other payment services to compete.

2 Monopolies:
(1) Android App Distribution
(2) Android In-App Payment Processing

The legal battle hinges on "market definition". If the court decides that apps AND phones are one market then Google has the upper hand. If the court decides that Android Apps are its own market then, Epic has a shot.

But what makes this case most interesting is that its a . . . JURY TRIAL. The judge ruled on the Epic v Apple case. This time the two companies have to convince the people.

The trial will take roughly five weeks. So we will know the results before the holiday period.

Hope you guys have a wonderful start to your week!

-----

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• Epic v. Google, explained | The Verge


🌊 MARKET 📞
• Epic v. Google, explained | The Verge

• The contradictions of the modern game industry with huge hits and simultaneous layoffs | GamesBeat

• South Korea’s in-app purchase revenue has reached almost $3.6 billion in the year to date | PGBiz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
• Building a Roblox Studio | Naavik

• Playable Ads + Cloud Gaming | Konvoy

• Console user agreements represent a poor excuse for consent | GamesIndustry.biz

• Warcraft Rumble - the ULTIMATE Deconstruction | Deconstructor of Fun

• Does Sony have a long-term software strategy? | GamesIndustry.biz


🌈 Platforms 🏠
• Epic v. Google, explained | The Verge

• The copyright fight over Fortnite dance moves is back on | The Verge

• Blizzard announces Overwatch 2 Clash mode, 3 heroes at Blizzcon | GamesBeat

• Microsoft’s fullscreen Xbox pop-up ads don’t have to be annoying | The Verge


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
• Crafting the Perfect Game Art Brief | Game Developer

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DROP A GG!

🔔 Weekly Gaming Digest 👀

In The Loop w/ Kapital_K (Week 4️⃣4️⃣ 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 📣

📌 Five Keys for Building Mobile Gaming Community

📌 Breakdown of Player Behaviors Across Genres

📌 Games Industry Juxtaposition: Megahits and Massive Layoffs

📌 Games Industry On Track For $300B by 2030

📌 What is Sony's Strategy?

———

thecoreloop FEATURED PICKS 💖:

🤕 Threads
• @Eric_seufert // LTV/CAC Without Context Is Useless — link

🗣 Blogs
• thecoreloop // Weekly Alpha Gaming Metaverse Expedition (WAGME) #25 — link

➡Pods
• Naavik // Inside Scopely: Monopoly GO, Stumble Guys, & Its Future — link


💲 Raises
• $59M raised this week. Animoca received $50M from a large middle east investor. Three studios raised $8M and one esports guild raised $1M.

———

Check out our Substack for the full newsletter!

👉 MONTHLY RECAP (Oct. 2023) 🌡

powered by thecoreloop, Gaming Chronicles, and Gaming Grid

———

🤕 thecoreloop's Web2 Corner 🤟
• October was a busy month with banger releases like Super Mario Bros Wonder, Spiderman, and Alan Wake 2.

• Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard, f'real this time.

• Battle of for UGC Crown: Fortnite Creator Payouts vs. PUBG $100M Creator Fund

• 6k Jobs (2% of the industry) were eliminated

• Older gamers outweigh Gen Zs for mobile games — and more likely to spend.

———

👍 Gaming Chronicles Web3 Coverage 😎
• Prominent projects are debuting on platforms like Parallel on Steam and Might Action Heroes on Google Playstore

• Gaming blockchains also made big moves with Beam deploying subnets on Avalanche, Ronin releasing Gifting Portal, and Avalanche taking over Gamified show

• Big fundraising announcements from Fableborne ($7.8M), Hyptopia ($3M), and Wild Forest ($400k)

———

👀 Gaming Grid's FOCUS on Asia 💪
• NEOM invested $50M into Animoca Brands and Mythic Protocol, Singapore-based team has launched 250 titles since 2019, secured $6.5M

• Square Enix’s SYMBIOGENSIS kicks off its Allow List Campaign for their mint and ZTX Playtest Hits 47.5k Players.

• T1 Esports team partners with Avalanche to launch a subnet while Metapixel Gran Saga closes shop.

———

Thank you for tuning into the Global Monthly Recap — the most comprehensive coverage in gaming.

thecoreloop telegram
Gaming Chronicles substack
Gaming Grid twitter

Look at Gaming #328 | 11.07.2023

GM! It's Tuesday.

Like I mentioned a few months ago, I think there's a shift in the console/platform landscape. Handhelds are about to go on their revenge tour.

Early signs of this came with the Nintendo Switch delivering that home-and-go experience and the Steam Deck providing the balance between battery and power.

The advancement in cloud gaming plus the players are conditioned to play on mobile have led us to this inflection point. The limitations are finally lifted on handheld consoles. We see this take many forms and niches.

Obviously the top of the line products are the Switch and Steam Deck but these two devices serve different demographics. Within these demographics, we have Asus, Ayaneo, Logitech, Razer, and as well as mobile phone-controllers that further democratizes access to the handheld console market.

Back to the upper echelon of handheld, we have Playstation and Xbox planning to release their portable devices too.

These are definitely not the GameBoy of yesteryears. The future will be in your hands, literally.

Catch y'all tomorrow.

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⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Handheld gaming is the future — again | The Verge


🌊 MARKET 📞
A recap of Epic Games vs. Google trial day one | GamesBeat

Handheld gaming is the future — again | The Verge

Omdia: Gaming subscriptions will grow to $22 billion by 2027 | GameDev Reports


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Unity updates user terms to reflect Runtime Fee changes | GameDeveloper

Sega Sammy Group teases first "Rovio x Sega" mobile game | PGBiz


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Getting Gamers in the Zone: Understanding Flow | GameDeveloper

Making Immersive Games 101: Maintaining the Magic Circle | GameDeveloper


💲 Fundraising 🤑
TapNation generates $16.1 million in latest funding round | PGBiz

GFR Fund raises $53.5M to invest in games and entertainment | GamesBeat


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Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #329 | 11.08.2023


GM! It's Wednesday.

Another trend I've been eyeing is Creators x UGC Platform creations.

Today we saw a talent agency — that represents A-list celebs like Denzel Washington and Jessica Alba to sports superstars like Stephen Curry — jumping into the Fortnite islands.

The talent agency signed Creators Corp, a development studio that specializes in building on UEFN. Unique, branded, and authentic experiences are coming.

This now expands Fortnite Island experiences to beyond just gaming. It'll span across music, sports, film, and every form and niche of entertainment that we love.

The first exogenous brand experience is Steph Curry: Run the Ring, which is an obstacle course game. On the more gamer-native side, Creators Corp also worked with Timethetatman (one of the largest Twitch streamers) and Bugha (Fortnite World Champion).

Sadly, UEFN doesn't allow for external APIs or non-permissioned server interactions — meaning no blockchain, for now.

Catch y'all tomorrow.

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⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Creators Corp. signs with WME to build UEFN maps for A-list talent | GamesBeat


🌊 MARKET 📞
Kotaku, Washington Post, and Vice alum form Aftermath | GamesIndustry.biz

Square Enix's H1 sales get a 5% bump as profits plummet | GamesIndustry.biz

China generated over $42 billion in mobile user spend in 2023 | PGBiz

Sensor Tower: The Mobile Gaming Market in South Korea in 2023 | GameDev Reports


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
World Building - how Megamod plans to change user-generated content for every player | PGBiz


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Nintendo Announces Live-Action Zelda Movie | GameInformer

Anime Streaming Service Crunchyroll Adds Games—Here's What You Can Play | Decrypt.gg

Epic Games says its titular store remains unprofitable | GameDeveloper

Creators Corp. signs with WME to build UEFN maps for A-list talent | GamesBeat


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Final Fantasy' Maker Square Enix Reveals How to Get NFTs to Play 'Symbiogenesis' | Decrypt.gg


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Behind the monstrous challenge of "just adding multiplayer" to Salt and Sacrifice | GameDeveloper

Identifying the human problems behind the lack of a clear vision in games development | GamesIndustry.biz

Plai Labs unveils AI-powered text-to-video tool PlaiDay | GamesBeat


💲 Fundraising 🤑
VR game firm MyDearest raises $8m in funding round | GamesIndustry.biz


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hits 19.5M sold | GamesBeat

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Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #330 | 11.09.2023

GM! it's Thursday.

As a continuation to yesterday's post, there's another UGC platform upon us. The notable thing about this one is that it's a mobile game. (Granted it was a clone of a PC/console game)

Stumble Guys released 'Stumble Workshop' which allows for players to create characters, obstacle courses, and unique experiences for the community.

Modding culture is hitting mainstream.

In other news we have a flurry of earning announcements and guidances. Take-Two Interactive is deepening its loss, now down $543M but GTA is coming early December. Conversely, Roblox crushed it with 38%+ in revenue for Q3.

In Asia, Sega reports a strong H1 2023. Krafton raking in $343M in Revenue for Q3. Square Enix with some mixed results, sales up but profits down. But it also has their new web3 game mint going on now.

Oh and the Epic v. Google Day 3 legal battles but now it involves... Spotify? Turns out there's a "User Choice Billing" agreement that allows for Spotify to use its own payment services but still giving Google a cut — it's still 26% though (lol).

Catch y'all tomorrow

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⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Stumble Guys new Stumble Workshop opens the UGC floodgates | PGBiz


🌊 MARKET 📞
FaZe falls short, Bungie bungles layoffs, and Netflix can't convert | Unboxing

Sega raises forecasts after strong H1 | GamesIndustry.biz

Take-Two losses deepen to $543.6m in latest quarter | GamesIndustry.biz

Krafton generated $343.5 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2023 | PGBiz

Roblox revenue sees a 38% bump in Q3 | GamesIndustry.biz

Epic Games v. Google: Day 3 | The Verge

Microsoft, EA, Activision, Ubisoft and Epic face game addiction lawsuit | GamesIndustry.biz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Podcast: The Creative Realignment (with Alex Collmer) | MobileDevMemo

The black box inside the black box | MobileDevMemo

#233: Talking to the monsters | Hit Points


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Stumble Guys new Stumble Workshop opens the UGC floodgates | PGBiz


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
The core principles of building prosperous game economies | GamesIndustry.biz

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Drop a gg!

The bold ideas of today are the breakthroughs that will shape tomorrow's.

WAGME #26 — Citadel raises $3.3m fundraising round led by 1kx, Shrapnel launches their $SHRAP token and Forgotten Runiverse kickstarts their Eve of Memory pre-alpha event.

Drop a gg and show some love! ❤️💞

Look at Gaming #332 | 11.13.2023

GM! It's Monday.

So much juiciness is flowing out of the Epic v. Google trial. We learned that Google offered $147M to Epic to make Fortnite a Play Store exclusive. Google also offered these "incentives" to other large publishers like Activision, Com2uS, EA, Riot, Supercell, Tencent, etc.

Paying for exclusivity isn't new. But in this particular case, it shines a light on games that got too big. So big that the payola is laughable. Epic going off-platform caused Google to lose an estimated $130-250M of potential revenue — this is more than the $147M "bribe" that Google offered. It is estimated that if Epic's defection from the Play Store were to spread to other large publishers, Google could lose up to $3.6B.


And this isn't limited to games. Netflix received a discounted rate of 10% App Store fees. Spotify also got a sweetheart deal.

Now this is week 2 so let's see where we go from here.

Check out Konvoy's blog on Revenue Per Gamer ($59) and Mobilegamer.biz's dive into what's going on over at Playstation Mobile.

Catch y'all tomorrow!

-----

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Fortnite’s $147million ‘bribe’ only highlights Google Play’s ongoing payola problem | PGBiz


🌊 MARKET 📞
The Australian games industry in numbers | GamesIndustry.biz

Fortnite’s $147million ‘bribe’ only highlights Google Play’s ongoing payola problem | PGBiz

50% of Take-Two’s revenue came from mobile in the latest financial quarter | PGBiz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Revenue Per Gamer ($59) | Konvoy Ventures

Newzoo: IP & Brand Collaborations in Games in 2023 | GameDev Reports

Playing, fast and slow | SuperJoost Playlist


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Roblox report highlights Gen Z’s sense of digital self-expression | GamesBeat

What’s going on at PlayStation Mobile? | Mobilegamer.biz


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
7 Essential Considerations before Launching a Gaming Token | Evolution of Web3 Gaming

Assassin's Creed Maker Ubisoft Is Building a Crypto 'Gaming Experience' With Immutable | Decrypt.gg

Roblox CEO Envisions In-Game NFTs as Part of Open Ecosystem 'Dream' | Decrypt.gg

Gucci Cosmos Land Opens in The Sandbox Metaverse Game | Decrypt.co


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Multiplayer game and live streaming gaming platform Noice raises $21m | GamesIndustry.biz


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
God Mode: 7 Incredible Video Game Speedruns You Have to See to Believe | Decrypt.gg

Hades is coming to Netflix | The Verge


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