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10 common game dev mistakes

10 common game dev mistakes ☠️ (and how to avoid them)If you're building games, avoid these traps.Each one can cost you months of work and serious $$.𝟭. 🕵️ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 • Research the market and genre first • Spot gaps and trends before prototyping𝟮. 💭 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻” • Ship a prototype every month • Track D1/D7/D30 metrics • Cut anything that doesn’t improve them𝟯. 🧩 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁-𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 • Lock your MVP scope • New features must beat existing KPIs in A/B tests𝟰. 🎮 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗧𝗨𝗘 • One mechanic per screen • Finish the tutorial in <2 mins • End the first session with a wow moment𝟱. 💸 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 > 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 • Hit ≥40% D1 and >10% D7 before adding monetization • Retention first — monetization will follow𝟲. 📅 𝗭𝗲𝗿𝗼 […]

Anton Slashcev September 2

Highlights

GDEV Increases Share in Royal Ark to 57% as Zombie Miner Hits #1

GDEV Inc. (Nasdaq: GDEV), an international gaming and entertainment company, today announced that it has increased its total ownership in its portfolio studio, Royal Ark, to 57%, through the exercise of a previously negotiated conversion option. This move marks a deepening of the strategic partnership initiated in 2022, further reinforcing GDEV’s approach to empowering creative studios without compromising their autonomy. The GDEV & Royal Ark teams made a joint decision to create a new product and turn that vision into reality through Royal Ark‘s execution. This partnership culminated in the launch of Idle Zombie Miner, which was soft launched in early 2024 and, within just eighteen months, accumulated over 17M installs and reaches TOP-1 position among games of its genre (Clicker/Idle), according to AppMagic. Preliminary unaudited results indicate that Zombie Miner generated approximately US $23 millionin revenue in the first […]

Gamigion September 2

Highlights

Gaming ON: How ZiMAD Blends AI and Puzzles

Last week, we had a cool chat about AI & Puzzles with Victor Kaptsov, Head of Promo at ZiMAD. We talked about whether AI can truly replace human-led production, or if it is still just another tool in the creative arsenal. 🦧 Here’s a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how ZiMAD used Runway, Kling, Midjourney & Krea to produce promo videos for their puzzle games. 🧩 Top Qs? Takeaways from Runway Gen-4, Kling 2.0, Midjourney & Krea? Biggest technical pain points? Is AI getting more powerful, or more unpredictable? You called AI both Raw Material & Lithographic Laser? Misunderstandings about using AI in creative production? When does AI speed things up & when slows them down? Where does the human role stay IRREPLACEABLE? Why go full AI? The “flying heroine” came from a simple but bold idea: we wanted to combine the […]

Gamigion September 2

Journal

Testing creatives just for the sake of testing?

I still see companies testing creatives just for the sake of testing 🤦‍♂️ What's the point of spending +60% of your budget on creative testing if you are not reserving money to feed the winners from these tests?Having one evergreen/BAU ad group with 10 winners and $500/day while you upload one testing ad group with a new concept and $200/day twice or 3 times a week is not efficient.You will likely have 2-3 winners max on your BAU absorbing the whole budget while you waste a bunch of potential winners. The framework I shared is only useful/efficient if you really focus on feeding the winners! If you start to accumulate winners that never get spend, then it's time to create more BAUs rather thank keep spending on new testing ad groups!This framework is fully flexible because it allows you to […]

David Vargas September 2

Journal

The current state of the UK gaming industry is shifting.

The current state of the UK gaming industry is shifting, we’re finally seeing better government support for studios and entrepreneurs in the space. A big part of this being led by my good friend Nick Button-Brown and the rest of the newly instated gaming council. We’re also seeing growth in British consumer spend and overall studio revenues, across both mobile and PCC.- UK consumer spending on games hit £7.6 billion in 2024, with 39 million active gamers (60% of the population), cementing the UK in the top 10 global markets.- The UK video games sector generates £31 billion in annual turnover, growing at 12–13% per year, supported by £650m in investment.- London’s 700+ studios employ 13,700 professionals, contributing £1.4 billion to the economy, while the London Games Festival alone has driven £110m in sales.Bonus points if anyone not from London […]

John Wright September 2

Journal

Welcome Back Pass designed for returning users on Survivor.io

🔑 Spotted something new in Survivor.io (Habby) — a Welcome Back Pass designed for returning users. Most games lean on:🎁 Welcome back gifts (a simple bundle)🎯 Welcome back events (less common — e.g., MONOPOLY GO! has one)But this is the first time I’ve seen a special pass created just for reactivated players.Why it’s clever:✅ Adds structure & progression instead of a one-off reward✅ Encourages players to re-engage daily after coming back✅ Opens monetization opportunities (premium pass upsell)It’s a fresh twist on reactivation design — turning “welcome back” into an ongoing journey rather than a single moment.👉 Curious — do you think more games will shift from gifts → events & passes for returning users?

Michael Kopelovich September 2

Journal

Exact monthly burn that predicts failure vs. success at each stage.

I've reviewed 200+ gaming studio P&Ls. Here's the exact monthly burn that predicts failure vs. success at each stage. Pre-production (0-6 months):Winners: $30-50K/monthLosers: $150K+/monthThe difference? Winners have 3-5 people figuring out the fun. Losers have 15 people building infrastructure for a game that doesn't exist yet.Prototype to soft launch (6-12 months):Winners: $50-80K/monthLosers: $300K+/monthWinners stay lean, test fast, kill bad ideas. Losers hire a full art team, lease a fancy office, and burn cash on "culture."Soft launch to global (12-18 months):Winners: $80-120K/monthLosers: $500K+/monthThis is where it gets interesting. Winners only scale when the data screams "yes." Losers throw money at "maybe."Post-launch scaling:Winners: Variable based on revenueLosers: Fixed high burn regardless of performanceThe brutal truth from all these P&Ls?Studios that succeed keep burn at 3-4x their MRR until they hit $1M monthly revenue. Studios that fail burn 10-20x their MRR hoping for […]

Joakim Achren September 2

Journal

Bite Size Insights: Puzzle #33

One strong metric in your first test, what to do now? It’s the most exciting moment in early testing: First goal is always getting enough players.50 per day is minimum, higher the better.Here is a quick chart on what to do:↳ High CPI - High d1 retention✅ Do gameplay videos with different scenarios.⛔ Don't do anything too fancy or crazy early on. ↳ Low CPI - Low d1 retention✅ Do focus on core mechanic and onboarding⛔ on't change entire game assets or mechanic↳ High d1 retention - Low d0 playtime✅ Do improve game performance and difficulty⛔ Don't add new mechanics immediately ↳ High d1 retention - Low d7 retention✅ Do re-organize your level buckets and features⛔ Don't add new mechanics or boosters↳ Low d1 retention - Low d0 playtime - High CPI✅ Do get yourself an Appmagic account and start […]

Gökhan Üzmez September 1

Journal

Finding Alpha: Strategic Survival in the Mobile Gaming Crisis

At the Modern Growth Stack conference in Seoul, Korea, earlier this month, I presented on a topic I believe is critical for our industry's survival: Finding Alpha. The mobile games industry is in distress, and I've been watching too many companies make the same mistakes over and over. It's time we have an honest conversation about competitive advantage and what it truly takes to thrive in this new world. TL;DR (What “Alpha” Really Means) Alpha = company-specific excess return—performance you earn because of your unique strategy/capabilities, not because “the market lifted all boats.” If your market is distressed, alpha isn’t optional; it’s survival. In volatile eras, macro choices (where/how you compete) matter as much or more than micro execution (how well you operate). Don’t sprint in the wrong direction. Play to win = identify the single highest-leverage point in your space, then go all-in on it; half-measures don’t generate alpha. […]

Joseph Kim September 1

Journal

HUGE new update to Economy Flow Builder!

Finally, the ability to use deep research and generate JSON economy flows directly in the program! Google has also been on a subsidy tear, and you can get a free API key, which gives you quite a few requests.I've also implemented a depth level to indicate the level of specificity required to generate the economy. Most importantly, I've also added a one-click button to push your JSON results to GitHub, so others can have the opportunity to use them. This is also an opportunity to perform more manual edits or refine the existing JSON with more localized knowledge. Full changelog: 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟭.𝟮.𝟱𝟬 – 𝗔𝗜 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻• 𝗔𝗜-𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗝𝗦𝗢𝗡𝘀: Generate full economy structures in 30–60s with Google Gemini AI• Three analysis depth levels• Copy+paste API key setup, with a direct links to Google's free API key sign-up𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹 & 𝗝𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗽• […]

Phillip Black September 1

Journal

Path of Exile 2 is back at 350K concurrent users just on Steam.

Path of Exile 2 by Grinding Gear Games is back at 350K concurrent users just on Steam 👀. It introduced the revolutionary 𝐚𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 update and went free for the weekend, so what happened? ▪️ Because economy and trading is so important in PoE, this is the most drastic change in last 10 years 😲. This essentially enables you to put items for trade, go offline and other players can buy them from you without your interaction. Auction houses in loot based RPGs usually have detrimental effect as we saw with Diablo 3, but here it could be a different case, but only time will tell, I am still not sure what will be the full effect of this rapid acceleration of synchronous player trading. ▪️ The game is currently in paid early access, but it went completely free for […]

Jakub Remiar September 1

Highlights

Another 20 Reasons You Hear ‘No’ from VCs

In early 2023, I released a free eBook titled "It's a Pass" in which I shared the most common reasons that I'd said no to founders who'd pitched me. These were when I was still an angel investor, and now that I've been a full-time VC for two years, it's time to update my list of reasons to say no. Here's a list of updated twenty reasons why I've said no to startup founders in the past two years. I will share the pass note, which basically is a paragraph of text that shows why I'm passing on the investment. Market Concerns 1. Insufficient Market Size: "I struggle to see your approach as a massive opportunity to build a billion-dollar company. I think you can make this a really nice business, but getting to venture returns doesn't feel like something you can achieve." This […]

Joakim Achren September 1

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