Look at Gaming #308 | Wednesday October 11th 2023

GM! It's Wednesday.

One of the largest and most popular mobile game just tried to avoid Apple's 30% fee, not once but twice in a month.

miHoYo creator of Genshin Impact, Honkai Stair Rails, etc. was directing players to their website to purchase 10%-discounted items. The game studio didn't publicly advertise this new method but rather the game's forums (also a mobile app) were directing players to web store.

Apple discovered this and removed the forum app from the App Store (lol).

The following week, miHoYo revealed another payment method within Alipay. Apple, once again, stopped this by disabling the feature.

Although the game studio may not attempt a third time, it's clear that it is discontent with Apple's fees. This is both unsurprising and surprising. Obviously, no one wants to pay Apple's 30% fee rake. But miHoYo has a close relationship with Apple — winning awards and being physically visited by Apple's CEO.

We also know that Epic Games recently filed an appeal on their legal case against Apple for the same situation. There are also numerous other attempts such as Pokemon Go Webstore and the new Monster Hunter Now Web Store. These are big names making big splashes so let's see how things shake out.

In other news, Disney may buy Electronic Arts (EA), Supercell porting Clash Royale and Clash of Clan to PC, and BAPE partnering with Tamagotchi (yes the digital pets).

See you guys tomorrow!

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Too big for your rules? miHoYo tried to dodge Apple App Store fees twice in one month | PGBiz


🌊 MARKET 📞
Report: Disney execs keen to acquire a publisher like EA | GameDeveloper

Children spend $39 on in-game content monthly | GamesIndustry.biz

RPGs account for 60% of Korea’s mobile game sales | PGBiz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
#230: Blood sacrifice | Hit Points


🌈 Platforms 🏠
Sony Announces New Slim PlayStation 5 Models With Removable Disc Drives | GameInformer

Supercell to bring Clash of Clans and Clash Royale to PC for the first time | PGBiz

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Diablo IV Won't Come To Xbox Game Pass This Year | GameInformer

Too big for your rules? miHoYo tried to dodge Apple App Store fees twice in one month | PGBiz


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Amazon and Immutable Want to Make it Easier to Launch Crypto Games | Decrypt.gg


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Fast Travel Games secures $4m in new investment round | GamesIndustry.biz


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
BAPE Bets on Virtual Pet Nostalgia With Tamagotchi Streetwear Collab | Decrypt.co

Cyberpunk 2077' Goes Hollywood as Game Sells 25 Million Copies | Decrypt.gg

———

Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #309 | Thursday October 12th 2023

GM! It's Thursday.

Lots of headlines today! Zynga is activating a Halloween campaign across 17 games(!!). It's a pretty good lineup. The top games in the merge genre are Empires & Puzzles: Match-3 RPG and Merge Dragons and the top casino titles are Zynga Poker and Wizard of Oz Slots Games. There's even a sports sims game called Top Eleven Soccer Manager.

In 2023 YTD, these 17 games had 83M downloads and generated $635M. Normally, I don't care for these campaigns but with the recent launch of Sugartown, which only has 933 NFT owners, I think it would be insightful to showcase Zynga's level of reach in its web2 portfolio.

Assuming a 10% retention rate, there'd still be 8M players and if just 2% of these players decide to try Sugartown, that's 166k new players. Tbh, this is terrible math but it's good enough for some back-of-the-envelope analysis.

In other news, we saw Valve pulling support for Counter-Strike 2, noting that less than 1% of users play on Mac. Xsolla bought 3 content creation and distribution companies so now they could integrate their payment processing into the creator's tech stack. Fortnite is also pushing gamers towards creator maps. EA scored more goals with FC 2024 than FIFA 2023, 20% more sales. And AppLovin swooping in to buying Unity?

BIG news day! Catch you guys tomorrow.

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
Zynga kickstarts Halloween early with in-game events across 17 titles | PGBiz


🌊 MARKET 📞
Microsoft adjusts Activision Blizzard deal to prevent EU probe | GameDeveloper

Data drop: Honkai Star Rail earns $500m, IAP and ad breakdowns, word game analysis, top hypercasual games and more | Mobilegamer.biz

AppLovin may make a second attempt at buying Unity, rumours suggest | PGBiz

British Esports responds to backlash over Saudi esports partnership | GamesIndustry.biz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
How to train your CFO (about probabilistic measurement) | MobileDevMemo


🌈 Platforms 🏠
PlayStation 5 Cloud Streaming Arrives This Month For Premium Users | GameInformer

Xsolla acquires 3 content creation and distribution companies | GamesBeat

Fortnite is pushing creator-made maps with a YouTube-like redesign | The Verge

Zynga kickstarts Halloween early with in-game events across 17 titles | PGBiz

Steam devs will need SMS verification to release game builds | GameDeveloper


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
Zynga Enters Web3 with Sugartown | Naavik


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
What it's like making games in Unreal Engine for Fortnite as an indie dev | GameDeveloper

How to be a great leader at a games company – without going bananas | GamesIndustry.biz

Behind the scenes: The making of Netmarble’s Grand Cross: Age of Titans | PGBiz


💲 Fundraising 🤑
Space Rock Games secures $900,000 in funding | GamesIndustry.biz


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
Valve kills Counter-Strike 2 support for Mac, older hardware | GameDeveloper

———

Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #310 | Friday October 13th 2023

GM! Happy Friday!

Mobile game ads are a $90 billion market and it's only getting bigger because a larger variety of exogenous brands will enter this market. But the largest market demographic is not who you think it is.

Monetizr surveyed 200k+ North American mobile game players. The results reveal that gamers age 43+ is a larger group than Millennials and GenZ COMBINED.

This shift challenges conventional assumptions. The demographic of mobile gamers in North America is changing and that presents opportunities for exogenous brands to reach these audiences in a novel way.

I've mentioned several times in this newsletter about brands like Gucci or Nike activating campaigns on Roblox. That's an example of exogenous brands (ie non-gaming brands) interacting with their target customer in a new medium. We're now seeing an expansion of to the other side of the spectrum.

In other news, Steam Deck launched its new app store, Crypto Gaming still attracted $600M in the bear market, Rocket League receives major backlash when they banned P2P item trading, and Netflix games hit 80M installs.

Have a wonderful weekend y'all!

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• Gamers over 43 outnumber Gen Z on mobile per survey of 200K+ | GamesBeat

🌊 MARKET 📞
• Gamers over 43 outnumber Gen Z on mobile per survey of 200K+ | GamesBeat
• Gamers seek relaxation, favor mobile devices and watch game streams | GamesBeat

💎 Deep Dives 🔎
• Shareholder fall guy | SuperJoost Playlist
• As Netflix game downloads hit 80m, here’s a look at its top performers to date | MobileGamer.biz
• The 'We Were Here' franchise gave away 7 million copies of its latest game. Why? | GameDiscoverCo

🌈 Platforms 🏠
• The Stream Deck’s new paid app store is here | The Verge

✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
• NBA's LaMelo and Lonzo Ball—And Their Dad—Star in NFT Game 'StrayShot' | Decrypt.gg
• Crypto Gaming Attracted $600M Worth of Q3 Investment Despite Bear Market | Decrypt.gg
• Rocket League Players Revolt Over Item Trading Ban—Do NFTs Fix This? | Decrypt.gg

🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
• Developing a video game in Unity: an easy, step-by-step guide | GameDeveloper
• Gaming is mastering automation in player support | GamesBeat
• Driving ROI with Data Analysis – Part 2 | Naavik

👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
• EA announces turn-based football game for mobile, EA Sports FC Tactical | PGBiz

———

Drop a gg!

In the realm of dreams and innovation, a setback is but a pause, not an end. For every closed door, countless horizons of possibility still beckon.

WAGME #22 — Big Time launches pre-season and distributes token airdrop, Moonfrost releases its 1st Closed Alpha Playtest, Parallel gets listed on Steam, and Mystery Society releases application form

Drop a gg and show some love! ❤️💞

Look at Gaming #311 | Monday October 16th 2023

GM! It's Monday.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend but you know who had the best weekend of all? The good folks over at Redmond, Washington as the MSFT-ATVI deal was finally approved.

This deal took nearly two years to complete but it's finally completed. Here are the TL;DRs:
• $69B purchase of Activision Blizzard
• 633 days after Microsoft's bid announcement
• CMA approval came from Ubisoft taking control of cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard for the next 15 years (in perpetuity)
• Ubisoft PLus will (soon) carry Activision Blizzard games
• Microsfot signed deals with Nintendo and Sony for CoD and committed to keeping CoD on Steam
• Microsoft has 23 in-house studios
• Activision has 3 gaming divisions (ABK) and 13k employees
• Bobby Kotick (CEO of Activision Blizzard) to step down at the end of 2023
• Microsoft now owns IPs like Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Guitar Hero, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Starcraft, Warcraft, Candy Crush Saga, and much much more.

That's it for today! Also, I'm testing a new format with the headlines below. Let me know if you guys like the reduced spacing and the bullet points or if I should revert to the old ways with the spacings.

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• Microsoft finally closes deal to buy Activision Blizzard | Axios

🌊 MARKET 📞
• ESL FACEIT Group: Growing Beyond Play | Naavik
Microsoft finally closes deal to buy Activision Blizzard | Axios
• 2023 has been a brutal year for game developers | Axios
• Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard’s deal for cloud gaming rights, explained | The Verge
• Bobby Kotick out at Activision Blizzard | PGBiz
• Every Activision Blizzard Game Franchise Xbox Now Owns | GameInformer

💎 Deep Dives 🔎
• India’s Real Money Gaming Tax | Konvoy Ventures

✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
• Sega Exec Says Blockchain Gaming an 'Unknown World' Worth Exploring | Decrypt.gg

🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
• How AI and other tech are accelerating game development | GamesBeat

👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
• Minecraft has sold over 300 million copies | The Verge

———

Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #312 | Tuesday October 17th 2023

GM! It's Tuesday.

So I've been using Geforce Now to play Maplestory Global on my mac while being in Korea. This doesn't sound complicated but it was.

Maplestory only runs on PC and if you're in Korea, you have to play Korea Maplestory. I had to overcome the platform mismatch and the geo-block.

I needed Parallels to download Maplestory so that my Steam account would be linked to Maplestory, then I had to use Geforce Now to launch Steam, which then launched Maplestory. All the while I had to keep VPN on. (Oh and every account needs to be created under US-region).

After this experience, I'm a firm believer in cloud gaming. Yes, one could argue that I should just get a PC (and I am). But the larger point is that any gamer should be able to play on any device. The device should fit to the form of the user, not the other way around.

And we see just that with Netflix testing its cloud gaming service in the US. Recall that a few months ago they had launched a gaming controller app on the app store. Now Netflix subscribers could play games on smart TVs and TV-connected devices.

Though Netflix mentioned that this isn't a console-replacement (well since it really couldn't be) but rather a "value-add" to its existing subscribers. But this is an interesting point.

I had to subscribe to GeForce Now. If I had the choice to not pay another subscription and rather just get charged a little more on my Netflix subscription for cloud gaming services, I'd be much more inclined to do so.

Netflix's bundling of its cloud services is something we should pay attention to. No other tech giant has as large a consumer-subscriber base as Netflix does. We've seen the power of bundling before (see Microsoft).

There was another tech giant that rolled out cloud gaming a few months ago. Samsung launched cloud gaming natively on its phones but the distinction is that it would run mobile games. Today's benefit is that it drastically shrinks the funnel and reduces friction. Tomorrow's benefit is that as mobile games become more computationally intensive fewer devices could run the games at full graphics.

And with 78% of gamers play on mobile, with 44% considering mobile as their primary device for gaming, this market is quite large, and growing.


Apologies for a long one today. Felt like being long-winded. Thanks for bearing through that. Catch y'all tomorrow!

———


⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• Netflix’s cloud gaming service begins tests in US | TechCrunch

🌊 MARKET 📞
• 78% of gamers play on mobile, with 44% considering it their primary device | PGBiz

• Almost half of all gamers find their spouse through gaming | PGBiz


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
• So, Microsoft now owns Activision Blizzard. How will this affect the rest of the industry? | GamesIndustry.biz

• Who's top of Steam Next Fest for October 2023? | GameDiscoverCo

• Market Situation in China | Brutally Honest

• The Zen Match Case: How a First Mover Fell Behind | Deconstructor of Fun

• The profitability of Sony's gaming business does not reach 15% | GameDev Reports


🌈 Platforms 🏠
• Epic is offering a big incentive for developers to bring older games to its store | The Verge

• Playable Grand Theft Auto on Netflix? Just 'Rumors,' Says Streaming Giant | Decrypt.gg

• Netflix’s cloud gaming service begins tests in US | TechCrunch


💲 Fundraising 🤑
• Zeedz.io raises $1M and launches climate change game on mobile devices | GamesBeat


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
• There's a Film Festival Happening in Minecraft Right Now | Decrypt.co

• The next League of Legends music group is a virtual boy band | The Verge

• Monopoly Go developer Scopely estimated to surpass $7bn in lifetime user spend | PGBiz

Look at Gaming #313 | Wednesday October 18th 2023

GM! It's Wednesday.

I'm bullish on the S.E.A. Region. Niko Partners' latest report, "The SEA-6 Games Market", includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. There are 288M gamers in this region.

These markets total a $5.8B (~3% of the global games market) and projected to grow at 5.4% CAGR — reaching $7.2B by 2027. Indonesia dominates as the largest market in terms of revenue, players, and growth rate.

2/3 of the region's revenue comes from mobile and expected to climb to 70% in 2027. Indonesia and Singapore has the fastest revenue growth rate of 9.9% and 8.2%, respectively.

Surprisingly though esports is a key driver for gaming in this region, with teams in Thailand and Malaysia earning the most esports medals. The SEA-6 esports market is about 3% of the global market's.

Not mentioned in the article but I think is important is the customer acquisition cost for SEA players. The unit economics for these players are improving which makes them more attractive in the uber competitive mobile gaming landscape.

In other news, we saw GamesIndustry.biz's best place to work in the US, a dive into the hybridcasual revolution, and details on PS5 cloud streaming.

Catch y'all tomorrow!

———
⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• SEA-6 Games Market Reports | Niko Partners


🌊 MARKET 📞
• Revealed: The 2023 GamesIndustry.biz Best Places To Work Awards US winners | GamesIndustry.biz

• SEA-6 Games Market Reports | Niko Partners

• A casual revolution: Why even console devs want in on hybridcasual | PGBiz

• 94% of Gen Alpha are game enthusiasts, but gaming has universal appeal | PGBiz

• Monopoly Go, casual and IP drive Data.ai Q3 mobile games report | GamesBeat

• Ipsos & Video Games Europe: How children spend money in Games | GameDev Reports


🌈 Platforms 🏠
• Xbox chief says Activision Blizzard games aren’t coming to Xbox Game Pass until 2024 | The Verge

• Here are the details on PS5 cloud streaming | The Verge

• Activision made a secret deal for gun product placement in Call of Duty | GamesIndustry.biz

• Indie publishing is “in a really weird place” on mobile – so is TikTok the answer? | Mobilegamer.biz


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
• FTX Promised $100M to Maker of SBF's Favorite Game 'League of Legends' | Decrypt.gg


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
• How Super Mario Bros. Wonder transformed Mario's 2D capabilities | GameDeveloper

• Deep Dive: Designing a narrative for multiple middles and multiple heroes in Saltsea Chronicles | GameDeveloper


💲 Fundraising 🤑
• Bitcoin Metaverse Token Pre-Sale From ‘Life Beyond’ Team Raises $3.5M | Decrypt.gg

———

Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #314| Thursday October 19th 2023

GM! It's Thursday.

Show me the incentives and I'll show you the outcome. Fortnite is changing its creator payout economics. This policy update will incentivize creators to stimulate players to spend.

The current policy pays creators based on:
(1) Player popularity
(2) Player retention
(3) Rewards time played

The new incentives will reward creators when players buys or spends V-Bucks one week before and one week after they've engaged with the creator's experience. For example, if a player bought the new Spiderman game on Epic Games Store, then played an Spider man-themed Fortnite experience then the creator of that Fortnite experience would get some attribution to that sale.

Many platforms are heading this UGC / Creator Economy 2.0 route so we should pay attention to how the current dominating UGC platforms enact their economic policies. Earlier this year we saw Roblox having their own methodology for sales attribution and incentivization.

Another interesting data point Tim Sweeney (CEO of Epic Games) mentioned was that third-party Fornite experiences play time exceeds first-party experiences. That's what a healthy UGC platform looks like.

In other news, we have an AI that was trained for 50,000 hours to play Pokemon Red and the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder's game trailer. There were also a few headlines about alternative app stores such as Epic games releasing on Oppo (SEA app store) and Krafton investing in One Store (South Korea's app store).

If anyone has experience working with these alternative app stores, please reach out! I'm keen to learn more about those market dynamics. As Apple & Google are forced to loosen their grip on the mobile app stores, attention will start shifting to the alternative app stores.

That's it for today! Drop a gg in the comments. I wanna hear from you :). Have a wonderful rest of your week.

(There's been some interest in working with thecoreloop about collabs, sponsorships, etc., so please shoot me a dm @kapital_k)

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• Fortnite creators will get paid for encouraging players to spend | The Verge


🌊 MARKET 📞
• After 50,000 hours, this AI can play Pokémon Red | TechCrunch

• Nostra goes global with mobile game discovery platform on smartphone lockscreens | GamesBeat


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
• Steam Deck: everything you were afraid to ask! | GameDiscoverCo

• Building the creator economy, part 1: Roblox | Unboxing

• Can Disney be a gaming company again? | MobileDevMemo


🌈 Platforms 🏠
• Xbox boss Phil Spencer is "all in" on revisiting dormant Activision Blizzard franchises | GameDeveloper

• Fortnite comes to the Oppo App Market alternative app store in Southeast Asia | PGBIz

• Fortnite creators will get paid for encouraging players to spend | The Verge


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
• What to Expect From the AI World Fair in Decentraland | Decrypt.gg

• South Korea to mandate 'probability displays' and investigate blockchain games on Apple and Google stores | PGBiz


💲 Fundraising 🤑
• Forge raises $11M to unlock rewards for gamers | GamesBeat

• PUBG maker Krafton invests $14.8 million in alternate app store One Store | PGBiz


👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊
• Here we go: all the news about Super Mario Bros. Wonder | The Verge

• Exploring Warcraft Rumble’s road to release | GamesBeat

• Virtuix opens preorders for Omni One VR treadmill | GamesBeat

• AppMagic: Users have spent over $7B in Scopely games | GameDev Reports

———

Drop a gg!

Look at Gaming #315| Friday October 20th 2023

GM! Happy Friday!

Yesterday I talked about Epic Games' creator economics. Today I want to shed light on PUBG Mobile's new $100M creator fund.

The plan is to spread that $100M over three years through sponsoring competition prizes, incentivizing game creation and support. The World of Wonder is PUBG Mobile's version of Fortnite Islands. This creator tool allows players to create mods and new maps.

We see a divergence in Epic Games' & Krafton's strategy. Epic opted for the direct revenue-share route whereas Krafton pushed for indirect economic support. I think builders would care more for the direct rev share rather than these auxiliary support.

But PUBG did mention it plans to invest 'tens of millions of dollars' into new games. One could argue that receiving that seed investment from Krafton greatly reduces the personal risk. Since we don't know the particular terms of PUBG Mobile's investment, we will have to wait and see. Epic won't invest in your creations and they'll take a piece of your revenue so Krafton's deal may be more attractive to some.

Final bit on UGC is around Discord's new plan to allow developers to monetize their apps. We see that the platformatization trend doesn't limits itself to just games. Discord is the de facto communications application for gaming.

Now is the time to form a team or go solo on creating experience across all of these UGC platforms.

In other news, we have Apple firing high-level App Store employees in China for misconduct (aka accepting perks and such from game developers lol) and some guidelines around game monetization regulations in the EU and UK.

Have a wonderful weekend!

———

⚡ Spotlight 🤩
• PUBG Mobile to introduce $100 million creator fund for “Wonder Creators Network” | PGBiz


🌊 MARKET 📞
• Why Hollywood game adaptations need a YA-inspired business model | GameDeveloper

• NICKMERCS inks 8-figure deal with Twitch rival, Kick.com | GamesBeat

• Apple sacks App Store staff in China over potential deals with game developers | PGBiz

• Are your game monetisation techniques going to remain legal? | GamesIndustry.biz

• Newzoo: How different generations interact with games in 2023 | GameDev Reports


💎 Deep Dives 🔎
• 639 days later | SuperJoost Playlist

• Netflix Q3 earnings: subscriber beat, new ad formats, yet another price hike | MobileDevMemo


🌈 Platforms 🏠
• Discord will let developers monetize their apps | GameDeveloper

• PUBG Mobile to introduce $100 million creator fund for “Wonder Creators Network” | PGBiz


✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐
• Get ready for Neal Stephenson’s open metaverse as Lamina1 unveils Avalanche Web3 plans | GamesBeat


🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘
• Postmortem: Windy Meadow | GameDeveloper


💲 Fundraising 🤑
• Quest Portal raises $7.6M and launches subscription for tabletop role-playing games | GamesBeat

———

Drop a gg!

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