Siyata to Enter $126B Mobile Gaming Market via Core Gaming Merger

Telecom Meets Gaming: Siyata’s Bold Entry into the $126B Market. Siyata Mobile, a cellular communications provider, is finalizing a $160 million reverse merger with game developer Core Gaming. This move will transition Siyata into the $126 billion mobile gaming sector, with Core Gaming’s shareholders potentially acquiring up to 90% ownership in the newly merged company. Siyata’s existing shareholders are assured a minimum 10% stake, possibly through a special stock dividend. Core Gaming CEO Aitan Zacharin will lead the combined company, aiming for $100 million in revenue and profitability by 2025. Siyata’s Push-to-Talk division will remain operational as a subsidiary under Marc Seelenfreund. As detailed in Siyata’s SEC filing, the deal will be completed remotely within three business days of meeting the conditions outlined in Article VI, unless both parties decide otherwise. No public notice is required for the closing, and […]

Gamigion June 4

Journal

NCSOFT & SHIFTUP Announce Major New Titles

NCSOFT Unveils 'AION 2', Targeting Record-Breaking Revenue On May 29, NCSOFT unveiled the first official trailer for AION 2 via a live broadcast. The game is slated for release sometime in 2025. Following the reveal, NCSOFT’s share price surged by 9.18% on June 2, underscoring strong investor confidence. During the company’s Q1 earnings call, Co-CEO Byungmoo Park announced a bold revenue target for AION 2, aiming for over 2 trillion KRW in sales next year, surpassing NCSoft’s entire 2023 annual revenue of 1.8 trillion KRW and marking the company’s largest financial goal to date. As a sequel 17 years in the making, AION 2 is being praised as the “definitive evolution” of the IP. The game features a world 36 times larger than the original, with over 200 character customization options. With eight core classes returning and a shift toward […]

Myoungwon Kim June 4

Journal

Century Games into Match-3 Arena: 4X Giant to Crack the Puzzle Code?

You may know Century Games as the leader of 4X genre with Whiteout Survival ❄️ and now Kingshot, but did you know that they are actively going into casual Match3 genre? The most difficult thing for successful companies is to diversify into different genres, where they are not that strong. If we exclude 4X, Century games is actively trying to push into casual with Match 3 being just the most common attempt. There are also games from Sort genre, Merge genre and even Farming genre 👨‍🌾, where Century already did $300 Mil. revenue with Family Farm Seaside and Family Farm Adventure. So why Match3? Because 4X is the biggest genre category on mobile doing $1,2 Bil. a month 😲 and Puzzle is right in the 3rd place going neck to neck with RPG making $800 Mil. a month, so its […]

Jakub Remiar June 4

Journal

Retention Rates in Gaming

We can see on data (two data sources: AppsFlyer and Adjust) that the retention rates in gaming is slightly declining. Of course there are still games with exceptional retention rates + there are some genres that got into "casualisation" trend so its data is improving, although once we talk about average data, the trend is visible... What is the reason? Too much content and too many games? Strong focus on advertising and Growth that is moving away users from one game to another? Much more focus on monetisation than on retention? Focusing on low hanging fruits, known patterns - so finally there is not so much innovation in the games? #mobilegaming #insights #retention

Mariusz Gąsiewski June 4

Journal

Sharing insights and real data on my new ADC campaign

Last week, I was one of the first guys announcing the new setup that TikTok offers for iOS campaigns, where you can basically enable or disable SKAN and trust in ADC only. I was not going to miss the chance of being one of the first with the new update so I started a new campaign the exact same day when I posted that to see how good ADC can be compared to SKAN.Today, as usual, I am sharing insights and real data so you can draw your own conclusions 😉Here's what the new ADC campaign has generated for me in one AEO campaign based on Purchases for a mobile game (casual category) whose SKAN schema is simply formed by revenue buckets:👉Installs ADC: 618👉Installs SKAN: 270 (-56% than ADC)👉Installs ASC: Not available ❌ --> first time in my life I […]

David Vargas June 4

Journal

Who’s really behind the LiveOps curtain?

Ever wondered who’s really behind the LiveOps curtain? In free-to-play mobile games, LiveOps is where revenue is made, players are retained, and content never sleeps.But the magic doesn’t happen on its own.From strategic minds to sharp analysts, from the ones who write copy to those who ship code, it takes a village.I created this visual guide to break down key roles in LiveOps teams: what they do, how they collaborate, and why every one of them matters.✅ Use it to review your current setup✅ Share it with your team✅ Or pin it as a reference if you're building a LiveOps function from scratch 📌 Bonus Tip #1: Always assign a LiveOps owner per event. When everything’s everyone’s job, nothing gets shipped on time. 📌 Bonus Tip #2: QA in LiveOps isn’t optional. One broken timer or misconfigured segment can tank […]

Michael Khripin June 4

Journal

Biggest Mobile Games by DAU?

Do you know which mobile games are the biggest by 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬? And I mean really big 👀 😁 Felix always jokes (or not?🤣) on our podcast that Block Blast has the biggest DAU of all mobile games (17 Mil.), but this isn't event close to the the actual biggest games on the market. Roblox having 90 Mil. is of course the biggest, but realistically it is a game ecosystem platform rather than a specific game. Which leaves the throne to Garena Free Fire 👑. This battle royal phenomenon is currently celebrating its 8th anniversary. It had its peak DAU 150 Mil. 😱 in June 2021. Then we have Clash Royale, which despite its user size being around 10% bigger (45 Mil.) than Clash of Clans makes around 50% monthly revenue of what Clans does 🤔. So what pattern […]

Jakub Remiar June 4

Journal

Mobile Gaming and Apps Revenue Concentration is Crazy!

Revenue concentration (in-app + subscriptions) in mobile apps (gaming + non-gaming) is crazy.... It is huge market, although at the same time 66% of revenue in 2025 (based on Sensor Tower, Jan-April 2025 data) comes from apps that were built in 2019 and earlier.Interesting aspects ▪️ Just 1% of revenue in 2025 came from apps that were built in 2025 ▪️ Revenue concentration in subscriptions + in-app is actually higher in mobile non-gaming apps than in mobile gaming apps (it is different market, although not necessarily easier) ▪️ From positive side share of revenue from apps that are 2-3 years old is pretty high already (16% already so for sure that share will increase till end of the year)What it means? 👑 As I was mentioning a few times already, apps market is getting "the winner takes all" type of […]

Mariusz Gąsiewski June 4

Journal

Game Publisher Insights: Homa

The other day, my bank teller asked what I do,I said I design mobile games.He lit up: “Oh wow… like Royal Match?” I laughed ,“Well… kind of. But not really.”Is this what people think all of us do?Like does he even know its almost a $4B game, or how big of an operation it is to run that...Anyways...I think I deconstruct way MORE games than I construct on daily basis.Today's flash takes is about Homa,Major mobile publisher in France, 🇫🇷 Increasing their activities in Türkiye as well.. 🇹🇷 👀 My flash takes goes as: ⚡ 86% IAP is All in Hole,⚡ No major 2025 release,⚡ Ad Revenue > IAP Revenue,⚡ 20% downloads are arcade idles,⚡ 30% downloads are action shooters,⚡They are trying to shift focus on puzzles,⚡ But their action games keeps their low CPI,⚡Figuring out IAP monetization will scale […]

Gökhan Üzmez June 4

Journal

Zynga Closes Echtra Games, Developer of Torchlight

Zynga has officially shut down Echtra Games, the studio behind Torchlight 3. The move, according to the company, aligns with a broader strategic shift in how it allocates its resources and sets priorities. “Zynga has made the difficult decision to close Echtra Games, halting development on future projects and reducing staff,” the company stated to IGN. “This is part of a strategic realignment. We’re committed to supporting affected employees with respect and care throughout this transition.” Echtra Games, based in San Francisco, was founded in 2016 by Max Schaefer, a co-creator of Diablo and co-founder of Blizzard North. After Runic Games shut down in 2017, Echtra revived the Torchlight series with Torchlight Frontiers in 2018. Zynga acquired Echtra in 2021, and Zynga itself was acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2022. This closure follows Zynga’s earlier announcement this year that it […]

Gamigion June 4

Highlights

U.S. App Store Hits $406B: 90% Commission-Free for Developers

Apple announced that U.S. App Store generated $406 billion in developer billings and sales in 2024. Remarkably, over 90% of these earnings were commission-free, meaning developers retained the majority of their revenue. The App Store has seen tremendous growth, nearly tripling in size from $142B in 2019. In the same five-year span, earnings for U.S.-based developers more than doubled, with small developers seeing a 76% income increase between 2021 and 2024. Breakdown of 2024 App Store Sales: $277B from physical goods and services $75B from in-app advertising $53B from digital goods and services Key growth sectors include food and grocery delivery, travel bookings, and enterprise apps. Spending on general retail and grocery delivery has surged fourfold, with food delivery now surpassing ride-hailing in App Store revenue. The App Store’s global reach enabled U.S. developers to rank in the Top 5 […]

Gamigion June 4

Journal

Mobile Gaming Today: Jun’2

Hei Fam! 🕺🏻 PocketGamer Barcelona week? The weather here? PERFECTION. ☀ Will moderate a panel on June 3 at 12:20, 'The Evolution of UA'. Cya over there! 🍻 🦄 Game of the Week: Match Villains by Good Job Games ⚡️ Match Villains: A Dracula-Led Heist Into the Most Brutal Market in Mobile The absolute worst moment to launch a new Match-3 game. UA costs are sky-high, payback takes forever, and players expect console-level polish. That’s why Match Villains from Good Job Games turns heads—not because it’s a breakout yet, but because it might be. Match Villains isn’t a hit yet. But it’s the one to watch. 👌🏻 Top Gaming Update: Hybridcasual Time 🦄 The Rise of Hybridcasual: Supersonic’s Vision for the NEXT Just sat down with Igor Bereslavski, GM at Supersonic, to unpack the studio’s bold leap from hyper-casual dominance […]

Gamigion June 2

Journal

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