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

-----

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.

-----

⚡ 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


-----

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.

-----

⚡ 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

-----

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

-----

⚡ 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

-----

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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Look at Gaming #333 | 11.14.2023

GM! It's Tuesday.

Meta and Tencent is teaming up. After a 14-year ban from China, Meta is finally reentering the country.

For Meta's VR ambition, it's teaming up with Tencent to bring a VR device into PROC. The headset is said to be somewhere between a Quest 2 and Quest 3.

This largest social media company and the largest gaming company is forming a union to conquer the metaverse. Scary.

In other news, we have Game7's report is amazing. Highly recommend checking out the data points in there. Amazon isn't immune to lay offs. And Google's CEO will be testifying in the Epic v Google case. Tune in.

Catch y'all tomorrow.

-----

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Tencent backs Meta’s VR push into China after a 14 year ban | PGBiz


🌊 MARKET 📞
Amazon lays off 180 staff from games division | PGBiz

Obskur’s Character Creator and marketplace streamlines Vtubing | TechCrunch

Epic v. Google: everything we’re learning live in Fortnite court | The Verge


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Black Friday admon tips | Brutally Honest

7 x Game Industry Truths with Chris Hewish, President of Xsolla | Deconstructor of Fun


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Netflix says the cloud will let it expand beyond mobile games | The Verge

Tencent backs Meta’s VR push into China after a 14 year ban | PGBiz


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Why So Many Crypto Games Are Switching Chains—Or Calling it Quits | Decrypt.gg

Game7 says Asia is a hub for Web3 game development while U.S. dominates funding | GamesBeat


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
The evolution of user acquisition in 2023 part one | PGBiz


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Neowiz invests in Blank Game Studios | GamesIndustry.biz


-----

🗣️ BIG NEWS 👀

🤕 PaladinsDAO is redefining the esports opportunity in web3 gaming.

It's no surprise that esports is trying to reinvent itself. Web3 unlocks a new paradigm that's both a spectacle and a speculation.

PaladinsDAO is adding an additional layer of fun to esports by utilizing NFTs to supercharge rabid web3 gaming fans and communities.

Here's how it works:
• 5,000 NFT Passes for Season 1
• Community Cup (imagine a World Cup but for NFT communities)
• Participating in the Community Cup enters you into a raffle for rare NFTs
• Wager on your fave team to earn points to be used in the Paladins Ecosystem
• Only NFT and Pass Holders can participate

(I'm a proud holder of a Paladins NFT and will defo be drinking your milkshake at the Community Cup.)

———

‼️ Mint Day: NOVEMBER 1️⃣1️⃣/1️⃣6️⃣ @ 1️⃣2️⃣PM UTC 👉

➡️ MINT
📕 READ

Look at Gaming #334 | 11.15.2023

"Over 50% of India's internet users are gamers" per Google & Lumikai's latest report.

Indian gaming market is $3.1B. Mobile games is about 1/3 of that.

The other 2/3 is comprised of RMG (real money games) — but just last month India announced a 28% tax on deposits. So the annual growth rate for this segment is projected to be just 5% until 2028.

Outside of China, India is the largest country responsible for mobile game downloads (15.4B in 2023).

Two surprising data points:
1. India's ARPPU (Avg Reg Per paying User) is $19, that's a pretty big number.

2. One out of the four gamers are a paying players.

These are pretty good numbers for a "Tier 3" country

In other news, The Game Awards is launching a Fortnite island for players to vote, Niko Partners x Tencent released their report on MENA & Asia gaming market, and Google CEO dropping into the Epic v Google trial.

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⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Lumikai & Google: The Indian Gaming Market in 2023 and Forecast until 2027 | GameDev Reports


🌊 MARKET 📞
The Game Awards launches Fortnite island giving players the vote | GamesBeat

GTA 6 is not being made by the same Rockstar that made GTA 5 | GamesIndustry.biz

Google’s CEO is about to drop into the Fortnite trial | The Verge

Lumikai & Google: The Indian Gaming Market in 2023 and Forecast until 2027 | GameDev Reports

Nexon’s Q3 2023 smashes records with 78% revenue rise in North America and Europe | PGBiz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Amazon’s advertising partnerships with Meta and Snap | MobileDevMemo

The journey to probabilistic attribution (with Michael Kaminsky) | MobileDevMemo

Niko Partners x Tencent Present Deep Insights Into Asian & MENA Markets | Niko Partners

Brand strategy in an information war | MobileDevMemo


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Samsung Gaming Hub adds Boosteroid cloud gaming service | GamesBeat


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Immutable removes ‘gas’ fees from Web3 player experience with zkEVM blockchain | GamesBeat


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Tips for building your own accessibility program | GameDeveloper


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Transcend Fund amasses nearly $60m in second seed fund | GamesIndustry.biz

Squido Studio raises CA$1.5m in funding round | GamesIndustry.biz


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
Pokémon Concierge’s first trailer has perfect stats | The Verge

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Look at Gaming #335 | 11.16.2023

GM! It's Thursday.

We have a collection of headlines today. AppFlyer indicated that UA budgets have dropped 20% in Q3 of 2023, when compared to Q3 2022. Apple Search Ads is the top media source — unsurprisingly since ATT pretty much killed everything else.

On iOS, the ranking goes
• ASA (Apple Search Ads) > Mintegral > AppLovin > Meta > Unity

On Android, the ranking starts:
• Google (duh!) > Unity > IronSource > Meta > AppLovin.

AppFlyer tracked 11.5B across 30k mobile apps from April till September for the data above.

Aside from that, I also want to highlight these two headlines regarding UGC-fication and platformatization.
(1) Supercell opens up Creator Program
(2) CD Projekt working on The Witcher 3 mod editor

Supercell has hundred of millions of downloads with billions in lifetime revenue across multiple franchises. The mobile powerhouse is lowering the gates to its Creator Program now allowing micro-influencers to create experiences.

The Witcher 3 has sold FIFTY million copies since 2015, crossing console generations. CD Projekt Red (CDPR) is creating an editor that allows creators to mod existing quests and stories as well as producing original content.

And one quick aside for the dark side of UGC-fication. Roblox is being sued by parents who are alleging that some experiences on Roblox are used to groom children and host sexual content. Children (allegedly) were propositioned for sexual acts and received sexual messages. This is the 2nd class action suit as earlier this year Roblox was hit with allegations of child gambling.

I'm a proponent of UGC-fication but we're going to need better policy and policing in place to safeguard players. Fortnite's move to get user-ratings for their islands is probably the right direction.

That's it for today folks. Catch y'all tmrw.

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⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Mobile marketing budgets have dropped 20%, says AppsFlyer | MobileGamer.biz


🌊 MARKET 📞
Circana: The American gaming market in October 2023 fell by 5% | GameDev Reports

GameSquare Q3 results show FaZe acquisition fills funding gap | GamesBeat

DDM: Gaming M&A activity hit $6bn during Q3 | GamesIndustry.biz

Game Changers Episode 4: Holly Liu - Kabam | Konvoy Ventures

Newzoo lowers 2023 games market value forecast to $184bn | GamesIndustry.biz

Mobile marketing budgets have dropped 20%, says AppsFlyer | MobileGamer.biz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
The political economy of games journalism: Interview with David Nieborg | Unboxing


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Parents sue Roblox for allegedly hosting child grooming, sexual content | GameDeveloper


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
PancakeSwap Launches Crypto Gaming Hub—And You Can Earn CAKE | Decrypt.gg


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
Exciting News: ASA Advertising Unleashes More Inventory without Price Increase, Plus App Top Chart Now Free | Social Peta

11 tips for killer User Acquisition ops | Brutally Honest

The evolution of user acquisition in 2023 part two | PGBiz


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Bezi raises $13M to enable user-generated and collaborative 3D design | GamesBeat


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
CD Projekt is working on a mod editor for The Witcher 3 | GameDeveloper

Supercell opens up Creator Program to up-and-coming influencers | PGBiz

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Drop gg!

For those who build, invest, and play – remember, every game is a story waiting to be told and an adventure waiting to be had.

WAGME #27 — Shardbound raises $5m led by Bitkraft, Ethxy announces $1.6m pre-seed round to build a Telegram-based MMORPG and Parallel announces that its Open Beta will be released on the Epic Games Store.

Drop a gg and show some love! ❤️💞

Look at Gaming #337 | 11.20.2023

GM! It's Monday. Welcome back to the week.

I want to spotlight this interesting project called Rooms, which recently launched on the App Store. It's a crossover between digital LEGOs, pinterest, and Roblox.

Users design their "rooms" with furniture, pets, tiny avatars, and more. These mini encapsulated rooms act as a form of self-expression. Though, what's unique is the form factor and UI/UX of the app.

Imagine a TikTok-like vertically-oriented UI with the infinite scrolling function. But as you scroll and marvel at these UGC rooms, you could actually click and interact with the room. Flip open a book, pull a chair back, pick up the cat.

This platform offers more than just doom scrolling UGC content, the users could mod and edit existing rooms using the Lua language (same language used in Roblox). So users could learn how to code then run their code to see objects "magically" appear in their rooms.

I've yet to see this form factor on UGC platforms. These types of platform shifts is always more powerful when you utilize platform native features (like for mobile it's infinite scrolling, vertical orientation, gyroscope, camera).

Go download the app and check out the UI/UX.

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

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⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Rooms, an interactive 3D space designer and ‘cozy game,’ arrives on the App Store | TechCrunch


🌊 MARKET 📞
How Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield wants to bring back the joy of card games | GamesBeat

Rooms, an interactive 3D space designer and ‘cozy game,’ arrives on the App Store | TechCrunch

Embracer's Q2 sales up 13%... but 900 employees are out | PGBiz

Layoffs, gaming at the Web Summit and Project Flagpole | GamesBeat

The ascent of Indian video game development | GameDeveloper

InvestGame: Gaming Market investment activity in Q3 2023 | InvestGame


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Gaming Journalism: How, What, and Impact with Jason Schreier and Neil Long | Naavik

Digital Building Blocks | Konvoy Ventures


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Champions Tactics Preview: Everything You Need to Know About Ubisoft's NFT Game | Decrypt.gg

These Are All the Solana Games on the Epic Games Store Right Now | Decrypt.gg


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Germany creates €100M subsidy to fund its game developers | GameDeveloper

Sleek raises $5M for Web3 social networking | GamesBeat


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
PlayStation Portal has sold out two days after launch | GamesIndustry.biz

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Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #338 | 11.22.2023

GM! Happy Early Thanksgivin' to all! Just a short one today.

Video games are larger than ever now. They keep getting larger still. But is there a limit?

GTA 6, Call of Duty, Zelda, Mario Bros., are just a selective few banner titles. Although 2023 has been the year with the highest number of games above the 90 metacritic score, the industry is shakey. Aside from the layoffs which could be a natural retraction of the gross expansion due to COVID, the games sector is unsustainable.

Triple AAA games are more complicated and more expensive than ever. Court documents revealed that it costs hundreds of millions for titles like Horizon Forbidden West. The Verge released the last episode of their miniseries on gaming. They talk about possible futures for four AAA games (Assassin's Creed, Madden, CoD, and GTA).

All eyes are on GTA as its a title that has changed the games industry many times before.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are indie games. I'd check out this piece by GamesIndustry.biz covering the indie scene at Xbox. For those that don't know ID@Xbox is an initiative focused on publishing/supporting indie games.

Then a last piece of reading is Deconstructor of Fun's Console Gaming's Triple Threat. I've mentioned before how I believe that handheld consoles is going to change the landscape yet again. So studying what consoles got right and how it'll be implemented on handhelds is an astute action to take.


That's all for today. Happy Turkey day and catch y'all soon.

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⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto VI, and the fate of AAA games | The Verge


🌊 MARKET 📞
Games VC funding down 68% YoY per PitchBook Q3 report | GamesBeat

China's game market to grow 5.2% this year | GamesIndustry.biz

Xsolla releases first ever State Of Play report, offering insight into the future of mobile games | PGBiz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Are Embracer's struggles a sign of wider issues to come? | GamesIndustry.biz

Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto VI, and the fate of AAA games | The Verge

Console Gaming’s Triple Threat | Deconstructor of Fun


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Why Supercell rebooted its creator program | Mobilegamer.biz

The indie scene "is not going anywhere" on Xbox – as long as it can thrive | GamesIndustry.biz


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Ubisoft's 'Champions Tactics' NFT Game Is Coming to Animoca's 'Mocaverse' | Decrypt.gg

State of Web3 With Game7 | Naavik


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
15 years later, Chet Faliszek dishes on the making of Left 4 Dead | GameDeveloper


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Saga raises $5M more in seed funding for Web3 protocol development | GamesBeat


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Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #339 | 11.23.2023

GM! Happy Turkey Day!

We appreciate you and thank you for rocking with us.

So today I want to cover a research piece from SuperScale (mobile growth platform) that claims 83% of mobile games fail within 3 years and nearly half are cancelled during production. They interviewed 500 game devs in the UK and US to acquire these insights.

Only 4% of games hit peak revenue during their second year. This means that even though a game has a good initial roll out, continued success in year 2 is still extremely hard to achieve.

Despite these 80% of developers prefer working on new titles but a third of them feels like its too difficult to succeed.

In a blog post by SuperJoost (NYU professor and founder of NPD, a renowned data provider) said the layoff environment in games right now will lead us to mediocrity.

Platform fees are tough to renegotiate. Marketing is the lifeblood of the company. So headcount is usually the first line item that gets cut. So even if developers wanted to build new innovative titles, they won't have the capital to fund it nor the people to build it.

2023 has been a banner year for game releases — though it's a lot of the same. It's definitely things we like but it's also things we're used to liking.

I hope to see web3 gaming challenge some norms and push some boundaries on this front. Web3 founders have already chosen to play on hard mode so they're already furthest out on the risk curve. So let's go for gold.

Happy Holidays! Will catch y'all on Monday.

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⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Report: 83% of mobile games fail in the three years after launch | GamesIndustry.biz


🌊 MARKET 📞
What's the gaming M&A market like in 2023? | GamesIndustry.biz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
Report: 83% of mobile games fail in the three years after launch | GamesIndustry.biz

A path to self-publishing | Brutally Honest

Best layoffs of the year | SuperJoost Playlist

The three conversion funnels of a digital product | MobileDevMemo

Podcast: Exploring the CTV advertising opportunity (with Peter Hamilton) | MobileDevMemo


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
GAM3 reveals shortlist for Web3 gaming awards with $2M prize pool | GamesBeat


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
A case for building your own tech | GamesIndustry.biz


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Game Studio Behind Matr1x Fire Raises $10 Million for NFT Mobile Shooter | Decrypt.gg

Layer AI raises $1.8m in funding | GamesIndustry.biz

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Drop a gg!