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Korean Indie Games: Pioneering Global Success

Korean indie games are making waves in the global gaming industry. In recent years, several Korean indie titles have gained recognition and acclaim across the world. Let’s explore some of the standout ones. The Devil Within: Satgat Developed by Newcore Games, The Devil Within: Satgat blends traditional Korean culture with a post-apocalyptic narrative, creating a unique and immersive gaming experience. Set in a fictional Joseon era, the game tells the story of ‘Kim Rip’, a loyal bodyguard betrayed by his comrades and driven by a desire to restore justice in a world overrun by demons. The game draws heavily on Korean historical themes while incorporating dark fantasy elements. The title Satgat refers to a traditional Korean hat worn to protect against rain, snow, or sunlight, adding a cultural layer to the game’s aesthetic. The Devil Within: Satgat has received numerous […]

Myoungwon Kim September 12

Journal

New Korean Game Releases in Late 2024

As we enter the second half of 2024, the Korean gaming industry is gearing up for significant changes, with several highly anticipated titles set for release. This period is crucial for developers as they aim to build on the successes of the first half of the year while strengthening their business strategies through new game launches. These new titles will span multiple platforms, including mobile, PC, and consoles, as companies push to expand their global presence. Many of these games leverage popular IPs or bring fresh innovations to the market, offering players diverse experiences. Nexon: Mobile Adaptations of Popular IPs and New Genre Challenges Nexon is preparing to launch several highly anticipated games in late 2024. Among these is Mabinogi Mobile, a mobile adaptation of the beloved Mabinogi IP, which originally debuted as a PC MMORPG in 2004. Known for […]

Myoungwon Kim September 5

Journal

The Buzz Around Pearl Abyss’s Upcoming Game ‘DokeV’

Pearl Abyss's DokeV, an open-world action-adventure game, gained widespread attention after its 2021 Gamescom trailer. As Crimson Desert nears completion, Pearl Abyss plans to focus on DokeV development, with more updates expected soon.

Myoungwon Kim August 14

Journal

PlaySimple’s Word Search Explorer makes $163K a day in Ad Revenue

PlaySimple Games's Word Search Explorer is doing $163K a day in ad revenue 🤑, which is more than the current word category IAP leader NYT Games: Word, Number, Logic 👀 (which makes $150K a day) What is the catch? Looking at these games even though their overall daily revenue is similar, the difference is of course the volume of installs they are pulling in. Word Search Explorer is doing more than 200K install a day, while the NYT game is doing barely 20K. So there is a 10x difference here 😵. Oh, but Jakub, that is bad traffic. No its not. Even though the NYT one is mostly US downloads, Word Search Explorer is doing more than 30K only US installs a day + the other countries on top. It also wins on current Daily Active Users of 3,3 Mil […]

Jakub Remiar May 20

Highlights

Supercell’s Clash of Clans is coming to Netflix!

Barbarians, Arrows & Absurdity. Supercell’s Clash of Clans is getting the animated series treatment. Yep, it’s official: Netflix is bringing the world of Clash to life with a brand-new animated series straight out of Supercell’s chaotic, comedy-filled universe. Think epic raids, legendary mustaches, and the kind of ridiculous war drama only Clash could deliver. At the heart of the show? A gutsy Barbarian way in over his head, leading a crew of lovable misfits to defend their village—and survive the hilariously dysfunctional politics of battle. 🎬 Fletcher Moules, the mind behind the OG Clash animations, is showrunning. And it gets better: the writing's powered by Ron Weiner (Silicon Valley, Futurama, 30 Rock). Animation’s handled by Icon Creative Studio, the same team behind some of the slickest visuals in town. 💬 “Fans have been begging for a Clash series—and now it’s […]

Gamigion May 20

Journal

Mobile game monetization is both art and science.

Mobile game monetization is both art and science. 𝟭. 𝗜𝗻-𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 (𝗜𝗔𝗣) 💰Players spend money directly inside the game. These are usually tied to value, progress, or customization.• 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽– Premium currency– In-game currency– Energy/lives– Resources, characters, decorations– Bundles and boosters• 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀– Starter packs– No ads offer– Seasonal and flash sales– Double/triple value bundles– Build-your-own offer• 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀– Basic, premium, and elite battle passes– Daily, weekly, and VIP passes• 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀– Monthly benefits– Weekly perks– VIP status or premium features• 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗠𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝘀– Loot boxes– Gacha systems– Mystery rewards and lucky wheels– Energy refills, bonus currency– Progress or power-up boosters𝟮. 𝗜𝗻-𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗜𝗔𝗔) 📺Players watch or engage with ads in exchange for rewards. It’s a balance between revenue and retention.• 𝗥𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝘀– Refill lives or energy– Extra currency or items– Ship timers, speed-ups, multipliers– Bonus chests, lucky draws– Double rewards, special access• 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗱𝘀– […]

Anton Slashcev May 20

Journal

Royal Mach Hits a New High With $6B User Spending

Royal Mach Hits a New High With $6B User Spending 🚀 Last week we discussed the Top 10 Puzzle Publishers and noticed how Dream Games quickly climbed up to the 5th place. All thanks to Royal Match! 👑The game added one more billion in user spend in just 4 months 🤯 Royal Match overtook Candy Crush Saga in June 2023, becoming the Match-3 revenue leader—and hasn’t given up the top spot since. In April 2025, it continued to dominate, outperforming Candy Crush by 14% in monthly revenue🥇In the beginning of the year, we highlighted that the game started maturing. It followed the path of previous market leaders like Gardenscapes and Project Makeover, focusing on monetization and LiveOps. That’s reflected in its RpD—up 17.3% YoY, reaching $15.6 in April 2025. Learn more about approaches Dream Games used in our report.And have […]

Andrei Zubov May 20

Highlights

Wooga Hit by Layoffs as Claire’s Chronicles: Solitaire Gets Canceled

50 Layoffs precisely. Berlin-based Wooga has quietly cancelled its upcoming title Claire’s Chronicles: Solitaire, leading to a wave of layoffs across the Playtika-owned studio. Claire’s Chronicles: Solitaire had been in soft launch since October 2024. 50 departures on spanning roles in art, design, economy, production, and data. The cancellation marks another shift in direction for the June’s Journey and Pearl’s Peril maker, which saw a leadership transition earlier this year. Former Youda Games GM Dennis Korf stepped in as Managing Director, following a handover from longtime MD Nai Chang. This isn’t the first time Wooga has shelved a major game. Late last year, Chang shared about lessons learned from the studio’s earlier misfire, Switchcraft, and the challenges of innovating under Playtika’s umbrella. Meanwhile, parent company Playtika just reported record Q1 revenue of $706M—buoyed in part by its SuperPlay acquisition—but saw […]

Gamigion May 20

Journal

Full event gated behind a one-time payment.

💰 Spotted in MONOPOLY GO! — a full event gated behind a one-time payment. The Shield Ventures event offers dice rewards and a grand prize, but only if you pay to unlock it. Likely part of an A/B test. Not my favorite approach, but if the rewards feel worth it, maybe it converts well.

Michael Kopelovich May 20

Journal

Interesting twist on daily goals in Cake Sort by Lion Studios.

🎯 Saw an interesting twist on daily goals in Cake Sort by Lion Studios! Before starting the week, players get to choose their daily XP goal, and the rewards scale up based on how many days they stick with it.✅ Flexible goals📆 Progress resets weekly🎁 Bigger chests for longer streaksI’ve seen this goal-setting approach before in Coin Master and Travel Town — but usually in limited-time live-ops events, not in daily or weekly task systems.Nice mix of personalization and retention — and the UI keeps it light and motivating.

Michael Kopelovich May 20

Highlights

11 tips for Killer UA operations (Q2 2025)

Here we go again! The previous UA killer articles were super successful, so I started writing a UA killer tips segment. I will keep sharing these tips; don’t worry. Keep reading the tips to improve your UA. They are simple, practical, and efficient! That’s it, no bullshit and brutally honest! No fluff intro, straight to the point. 1. When should we start Applovin as a channel? I often get the following questions: When should we start? Is it a good channel? Are we ready? First, we must ensure that our in-app purchase volume is strong enough for the algorithm to optimize effectively. We aim for at least 10–15 unique purchases per day. We can do a quick math exercise to determine if we're ready using our D7 cost per purchase (CPPD7). For example, if our CPPD7 is $800, then multiplying that […]

Matej Lancaric May 20

Journal

Puzzle & Dragons “0” launches in May!

Puzzle & Dragons "0" launches in May! 😮 Its predecessor is an absolute juggernaut.• 7.3B gross revenue • WW RPDs over $100 🧠 💥Staggering.That said, the revenue trend has been slowly negative since IDFA deprecation in April 2022.It ONLY made $43M (net) in Q1... so I suppose its a good time for a reboot.Anyone else looking forward to playing this one? 🤠Revenue data from AppMagic 🪄✨

Matthew Emery May 20

Journal

What’s Wrong With Reviver:Butterfly?

Just stumbled on this game “Reviver: Butterfly” in the Game of the Day section on the App Store recently. There was a short article about it: The article made me feel curious. The art style is so unique for these days. Point-and-click quest, with a time travel twist. Managing not only locations, but different timelines. I loved the design and the story. The whole experience is so different from the majority of games I see today in the top charts. It’s like a breath of fresh air. But who are these brave developers? CottonGame, the developer behind Reviver: Butterfly, was founded in 2013 in Shanghai. They’ve carved a niche in the world of atmospheric, story-rich indie games — especially on mobile. Their past works include the quirky Mr. Pumpkin Adventure, the haunting Dad’s Monster House, and the philosophical Isoland series. […]

Michael Khripin May 19

Highlights

Supersonic’s SuperPitch: Studio Speed-Date?

Pitching games & Standing out in Hybrid-casual? Just sat down with my dear friend Guy Yogev from SuperSonic. Sharing our Studio Speed-Date chat with you since I find it valuable for the studios. 🤟🏻 Anyone not knowing them? From Trash Tycoon to Screw Master, Supersonic has already published 130+ Games, hit 190M+ MAU, and racked up 6.4 Billion installs. What's SuperPitch? They're opening the door to just 8 studios, a live pitch session where selected teams will present their games and get real-time expert feedback. As a part of the TEAM, let’s hear from THE GUY. SuperPitch happens June 16. 🧩 What’s the quickest way to lose your audience during a game pitch? Guy: Complexity kills. We’ve seen hundreds of decks. The ones that win us over get to the point fast. Your pitch should scream “this is the fun” […]

Gamigion May 19

Journal

Economy Diagramming Using Figma & AI

𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗬 𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗠𝗔 & 𝗔𝗜 Every game/economy diagram worth its salt contains a +Power ↔ +Action slide. It says 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, but usually it’s not enough to understand what the hell is going on. Like traditional economic modeling, diagramming clarifies uncertainty by revealing a game's internal structure or “wiring.” It forces a simplification of assumptions, and, like the effect of understanding the world from a Mercator projection map, the diagram itself shapes one's understanding of reality. The most valuable economy diagram anchors in player action, where currencies play a secondary role. All diagrams start with either spending time or money: the two raw ingredients that all output derives from in games. Each further step is an action-driven refinement of the last stage. Along the way, usually deriving from the final production step, is a “final” good. This is ultimately what […]

Phillip Black May 19

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