Why You Need to Keep Failing Even When You’re at the Top

When we look at the top games on the charts, the Royal Matches, the Candy Crush Sagas, the Project Makeovers, it’s easy to imagine that their developers must have discovered a secret formula. "It's all in the numbers", we think. "They must have the most perfect roadmap with every step masterfully calculated". But the reality is much messier than that. In truth, the more successful your game becomes, the more you need to fail in order to sustain and even grow that success. Because early success, while still a tremendous feat, often leans heavily on well-known moves: adopting established best practices, leveraging known market behaviors, following paths already proven by others. You can copy, adapt, and execute. And if you do it better or more efficiently, you can thrive to a certain extent. However, once you graduate from that initial […]

Ahmetcan Demirel June 9

Analysis

HTML5 Gaming Gold Rush: Discord, Telegram, X & More

The huge potential for games on Discord, Telegram, and every platform with a browser. After years of false starts, HTML5 gaming is experiencing a stunning reversal—backed by GPU advances from the AI boom, 5G ubiquity, and platforms desperate to escape Apple and Google's grip. Playgama CEO Dmitry Kachmar reveals why major platforms from Discord to Telegram are racing to become gaming destinations and why, this time, the technology, economics, and timing finally align. Why this matters to you: The app store monopoly is cracking: Learn how to leverage alternative distribution before everyone else catches on Every social platform wants games NOW: Discord, Telegram, and others are creating massive new audiences hungry for content Lower CAC, instant distribution: Discover why HTML5 games can achieve profitability with traditional web marketing tactics Platform-specific insights: Critical design differences between Telegram's mobile-first and Discord's desktop-first […]

Joseph Kim June 6

Analysis

Mediations in 2025: 9 facts out there.

Back in March 2022, I wrote an article titled "RIP MoPub - MAX vs ironSource is on," which tackled 10 key questions for publishers deciding between mediation platforms. At the time, MAX and LevelPlay (then ironSource) were neck and neck - each offering a solid, competitive product with unique strengths and weaknesses. Fast forward to May 2025, and the mediation landscape has seen significant shifts. MAX now appears to be dominating the space, while LevelPlay - once a clear contender - seems to be falling behind. Conversations with peers, combined with industry chatter and online sentiment, all reinforce this impression. But what’s the real story? Who truly holds the market today? How do the major mediation platforms measure up? And what does the future hold? Let’s dig into the facts. Methodology To gain a clearer picture of the current mediation […]

Božo Janković June 4

Analysis

The Rise of the Financial Kingmakers: Private Equity’s $21B+ Bet on Gaming

Written by our Partner, InvestGame. In under a decade, private equity has transitioned from cautious spectator to one of the major industry dealmakers, deploying over $21B across 68 deals since 2018. This notable shift—from holding just 10% of the deal count to commanding a significant 30% share of mid-to-large cap gaming M&A—underscores PE’s escalating confidence and decisive role in shaping gaming’s landscape. Post-pandemic market dynamics catalyzed heightened institutional investment activity, exemplified by headline-grabbing transactions like Savvy Games Group’s $4.9B purchase of Scopely, EQT’s $2.8B public takeover of Keywords Studios, CVC’s $1.3B secondary for Dream Games, and the second PE-to-PE turnover of Jagex at $1.1B. Private equity firms are now playing big—but what has triggered this transformation? This analysis sheds light on the strategic catalysts behind private equity’s rapid ascent in gaming, highlights key investment strategies underpinning this surge, and provides […]

Gamigion June 4

Analysis

Why Marvel Snap Players Hated Their Most Profitable Event

A tale of two events: 92% revenue boost vs. community backlash (and what we can learn from it) When Marvel Snap returned from its app store takedown in February 2025, it ran two wildly different events that revealed a fundamental truth about mobile game design: sometimes, the most profitable events aren't the ones players love most. Sanctum Showdown drove a 92% revenue spike but left players exhausted. High Voltage "only" generated 52% more revenue but had players begging for its return. The difference? A delicate balance between monetization, engagement, and actually letting players have fun. Key Takeaways: 📊 The Revenue Paradox: Sanctum Showdown's 2-week grind fest nearly doubled revenue (+92%) but sparked player complaints, while High Voltage's 1-week sprint "only" increased revenue by 52% but became a fan favorite 🎮 Small Tweaks, Big Impact: High Voltage simply changed the game to 3 […]

Joseph Kim May 27

Analysis

Match Villains: A Dracula-Led Heist Into the Most Brutal Market in Mobile

We’ve said it before, and unfortunately it keeps getting more true with time: this is the absolute worst moment to launch a new Match-3 game. User acquisition costs are no longer “high”, they’re absurd. The casual puzzle market, particularly Match-3, has turned into a battlefield where only the best-funded and most patient teams can survive. And even those often struggle to do so profitably. We mentioned this fact when we analyzed Dream’s wild Royal Kingdom campaign. It is the most extreme (and recent) symptom of a market pushing studios to try everything to make it work. Imagine having to cast a list that includes LeBron James, Kevin Hart, and Jimmy Fallon despite having arguably the best switcher engine in the market… While it’ll take a long time to know whether that absurdly expensive campaign actually paid off, the fact that […]

Ahmetcan Demirel May 27

Analysis

The Definitive Mobile Game Tech Market Map

This comprehensive overview highlights the key infrastructure and service providers that empower mobile game development, operations, and growth. This map covers 12 categories, from game engines and backend services to ad mediation, customer support, and data infrastructure. Whether you're a studio evaluating tools or an investor exploring the space, this map offers a concise overview of the most important players in the mobile game tech ecosystem. Below, we introduce each category and provide succinct overviews of the featured companies. 🧱 Game Engines Unity: The dominant engine for mobile games; widely adopted for its robust tooling, asset store, and cross-platform support. Unreal Engine: Known for high-fidelity rendering, though less common in mobile than console/PC. Cocos Creator: Lightweight and especially popular in Asia, great for 2D and casual games. Godot: Open-source and growing rapidly among indie developers. GameMaker: Accessible 2D engine, often […]

Joseph Kim May 27

Analysis

84% of New Playable Ad Impressions Came from AppLovin in Q1 2025!

Building or testing mobile ads? Concise, no-BS Q&A here! 😅 We deep dive with Brijesh, Co-Founder of Segwise, to decode exactly what’s working right now! We chatted about their latest Playable Winning Patterns Report! Segwise has built AI Agents to improve creative ROAS, and they used their AI Creative Agent to tag and analyze top-performing playables launched between Jan-March 2025! They also dropped a lifetime free tool that will help you experiment with playables! Brijesh, what made you put this report together? It’s pretty straightforward, at Segwise we want UA teams to create high-impact creatives that convert. And we feel this can be achieved by swapping subjective hunches with hard data-backed creative decisions. Which is why we tagged and analyzed over 200 top-performing playables launched in Q1 2025 using our Creative Agent. We used it to tag 30 variables/creative elements […]

Gamigion May 15

Analysis

Whiteout Survival vs. Kingshot: A Masterclass in Genre

When one studio launches two of the biggest strategy games in the world, the only question left is: which one should you obsess over first? What You’ll Read: In this analysis, we’re diving deep into the frosty survival saga of Whiteout Survival and the flashy medieval mayhem of Kingshot — both powered by Century Games. You’ll get: A full breakdown of how both games launched, grew, and hooked players What makes each gameplay loop tick — from tapping bandits to freezing your citizens How they make money (and why you might want to spend) The ads that got you to download — and the drama that came with them Live ops secrets: who’s evolving faster, and what’s coming next Who’s winning globally, who’s catching up, and what it means for the future of 4X Whether you’re here to pick your next obsession, decode smart […]

Aylin YAZICI May 13

Analysis

How Social Gameplay Can Help Your Game Grow At Every Stage

Social gameplay is often treated like a final boss in game development. It’s the cherry on top that studios promise themselves they’ll add once they’ve made it. And as Adam and Laura jokingly mentioned on the TWIG podcast some time ago, it ends up becoming “social gameplay jazz hands”. A flashy but often empty gesture toward something fundamentally valuable. It perfectly captured how social layers are often treated as the endgame in a title’s lifecycle. You go through all the necessary steps (building, launching, scaling) and if you're lucky enough to end up with a game that gains traction and shows evergreen potential, then and only then are you “supposed” to start thinking about social features. But that mindset limits what social gameplay can actually do for a title. What if, instead of being an afterthought, social mechanics were baked […]

Ahmetcan Demirel May 12

Analysis

iOS Growth: Personalizing the Full Funnel

Discover how to scale your iOS app in 2025 by aligning every step of the funnel, from user acquisition to ASO, onboarding, and monetization. Growth is multi–channel, multimodal, and deeply fragmented. A few years ago, you’d set up an ad campaign, monitor, optimize, and scale. But now, growth on iOS is different. It’s no longer linear, especially since SKAdNetwork. It got messy. We lost visibility, granularity, and targeting. So here we are, having to juggle all of this and keep reaching our ROAS goals without precious data. But it means having to focus on creating better experiences. We must align data, innovation, creativity, and engagement. We must align UA, ASO, product, and monetization. We now have to look at the entire user journey, from the first ad impression until the user completes their first purchase or subscription. In the highly competitive iOS landscape, where privacy rules and performance loops […]

Julie Tonna May 7

Analysis

The gaming industry’s next big growth story: Middle East

The gaming industry’s next big growth story? It’s happening in the Middle East right now. Billions in investment. A booming Gen Z population. Government-backed gaming initiatives. A royal family obsessed with games. The region is rapidly becoming the new global force in gaming, and most studios aren’t ready for what’s coming.Did you know Saudi Arabia plans to invest $38B into gaming and esports?Or that the UAE and Egypt are quietly building major player bases with some of the world’s highest mobile engagement?The Middle East is perhaps the most interesting, and fastest growing region in all of gamingdom. The last few years it has been undergoing a profound transformation, one that is redefining its position in the global gaming industry. For years, MENA was considered a promising but underdeveloped market. Today, it’s rapidly becoming a key player, backed by visionary national […]

John Wright May 6

Analysis

Login to enjoy full advantages

Go Premium!

Enjoy the full advantage of the premium access.

Stop following

Cancel subscription