5 takeaways from Supercell CEO’s Blog Post

I don’t think there’s many people in gaming who doesn’t look forward to reading Supercell’s CEO Illka Paananen yearly blog post that addresses the industry. If you haven’t already read it I suggest you check out the article and look over it, but if you want my key 5 takeaways and highlights it would be:• Brawl Stars’ Remarkable Surge: Over five years post-launch, Brawl Stars achieved unprecedented growth, with metrics such as player count, engagement, and revenue increasing multiple times over. To go from $10-20m a month to $70m+ is one of the biggest success stories I’ve ever seen in mobile, another key indication of the importance of live ops in todays games. • Squad Busters’ Introduction: Supercell released Squad Busters, its first new game in over five years, which generated over $100 million in gross revenue during its first […]

John Wright February 13

Journal

Phynd’s $10M Bet: Mobile Gaming to Smart TVs with Ad-Supported Cloud Play

Phynd’s $10M Bet: Bringing Mobile Gaming to Smart TVs with Ad-Supported Cloud Play Phynd, a cloud gaming platform designed for smart TVs, has secured $10 million in funding to disrupt the gaming industry. Led by Wellington Management, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, the investment will fuel Phynd’s 2025 beta launch, offering a subscription-free gaming experience powered by ads. A New Frontier for Mobile GamingPhynd’s focus on smart TVs presents an opportunity for mobile gaming studios to expand their reach beyond smartphones. With 500 million smart TVs globally capable of supporting cloud gaming, developers can port mobile games to a larger screen without additional hardware. This model aligns with the free-to-play (F2P) and ad-driven economy of mobile gaming, allowing studios to monetize their games via non-intrusive sponsorships and in-game advertising. Disrupting the Traditional Gaming ModelUnlike Google Stadia or Xbox Cloud […]

Gamigion February 12

Journal

The future of interactive storytelling is here!

🎮 The future of interactive storytelling is here! Imagine narrative games evolving into something entirely new: a perfect blend of Episodes and Choices style storytelling and AI-generated one-minute episodic video content. This isn't just speculation – it's happening right now across major platforms:📱 TikTok is already testing TV-like series with 90-second episodes, some titles generating hundreds of thousands of views behind modest paywalls ($5.13 for 10 episodes). Instagram creators are building millions of followers through episodic Reels, while YouTube embraces serialized content on YouTube TV.💰 The market is ready: Companies are investing millions in creator-hosted series, with shows like Third Cultures pulling 450,000+ views in their first episodes. When you combine this audience appetite with AI-powered interactive storytelling... the potential is staggering.🚀 Next frontier: Think TikTok meets narrative games, but powered by AI. Interactive video stories that adapt to YOUR […]

Joakim Achren February 12

Journal

Advertising’s first trillion-dollar year

Global ad spend surpassed the trillion-dollar mark for the first time ever in 2024, thanks to a 10.5% growth rate, according to WARC. That’s both the strongest growth in 6 years and the largest increase in absolute dollar value ever — $104B in incremental advertising spend worldwide — if we disregard the 2021 post-Covid recovery. So yeah: marketers are competing in a super-heated ecosystem. And just to turn up that thermostat even more, Q4 was the hottest part of the hottest year on record, with 30% of the year’s ad spend: a staggering $324 billion. But we know that a good chunk of that holiday quarter spending is not traditional user acquisition. It’s retail and shopping: gifts and personal indulgences. User acquisition is a little different: it tends to be smarter spend. And that means many mobile growth experts spend in Q2 and […]

Gamigion February 12

Journal

Gaming M&A returns to growth in 2024

Gaming M&A and financings in 2024 saw a robust year, with $27.3B in disclosed deal value across over 967 transactions, a 39% increase in disclosed value compared to 2023. Public markets showed signs of recovery with the Drake Star Gaming Index growing 10.4% for the year. The Drake Star Global Gaming Report 2024 analyzes Gaming and Esports dealmaking in 2024 and the last quarter of the year and outlines what to expect for the coming year and beyond. Full report here. Highlights include: M&A activity in 2024 experienced a 21% increase in deal volume over 2023, with 198 announced deals and $10.5B in disclosed value. As predicted, several high-profile M&A deals emerged from private equity firms, including EQT’s $2.8B acquisition of Keywords and CVC’s $1.1B purchase of Jagex. Other major transactions included Playtika’s acquisition of SuperPlay for up to $1.95B and […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 12

Journal

Before Selling Your Mobile Game?

If you’re thinking about selling your game, you’re likely swamped with questions. How long will it take? What’s it worth? How do you find the right buyers? The sales process can be daunting, especially for first-timers. To help you navigate this challenging terrain, we spoke with Orel and Eden Bleytman, the co-founders of OEB Digital. Their M&A advisory and brokerage firm recently facilitated the successful multi-million € sale of a game that AppAgent had supported for three years. During our conversation, they shared valuable insights and answered some of the most pressing questions faced by game sellers. When Selling Your Game Makes Sense Pursuing New Projects One of the most common reasons developers consider selling their game is the desire to pursue a new project. Naturally, your passion might shift to a new idea, but your current game probably demands ongoing attention. Selling […]

Peter Fodor February 11

Highlights

Unity’s Sudden Lay-Offs: 5 AM Email

Another day that we're proud to help our industry: Gamigion.com/jobs 🍀 Apparently, the entire Unity Behavior team was cut, alongside many other employees. This just in: Software developer Unity Technologies has executed yet another round of massive layoffs – the sixth one in recent years – eliminating an undisclosed number of employees, including, apparently, entire departments. Unity The layoffs were first revealed in a LinkedIn post by Coline Turquin, a former Senior Software Developer at Unity and one of the affected employees, which states that Coline was terminated after five years as "part of the recent layoffs," implying she was not the only one impacted. This implication was later reaffirmed by Florence Rolland-Soulier, who left Unity in 2023 due to the company changing too much from what it once was, who described the job cuts as "mass" and noted that "some of the brightest, most […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 11

Highlights

Supercell’s Super Record Revenue, $3 billion in 2024

Supercell hit a record $3 billion in revenue in 2024 as all of its live games saw sales rise YoY for the first time since 2014. Let's hear from Ilkka, CEO & Co-Founder of Supercell: The past year was a rollercoaster – the good kind of. We had some unprecedented successes and unprecedented challenges. Of the many achievements, failures, risks, and lessons at Supercell that highlighted 2024, two games stand out. On one hand, Brawl Stars exploded by every conceivable metric, like I have never seen before in my entire career. Brawl Stars is a great example of what is possible to achieve even with a relatively ”old” live game when all stars align. It is also the latest example that it truly is possible to create forever games, and the best games never get “old” if you keep them […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 11

Reports

2024 Global Mobile Games Marketing Trends by SocialPeta

Source: SocialPeta The global mobile gaming market in 2024 continues to grow, fueled by increased smartphone penetration in emerging markets and strong in-game purchase trends in established markets like North America and Europe. Both large and small companies are expanding internationally, with significant growth potential in these regions. Key Highlights: Mobile Game Market Continues to Recover: Over 250K advertisers participated in global mobile game ad campaigns in 2024. Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan Are the Most Competitive Markets: These regions are the only ones where the average number of creatives exceeds 100. The U.S. leads in the number of advertisers, surpassing Europe. RPG Games Lead in Creatives: RPG games have the highest average number of creatives, exceeding 220 on average—more than any other genre. iOS Creatives Are on the Decline: The share of iOS creatives has dropped below 30%, with new creatives now almost […]

Gamigion February 10

Journal

Mobile Gaming Today: 46

Hola Fam ☃️ Just published our Podcast with Matej, was a big FUN! Bon appetiiit 🦄 Mobile Marketing » Top 10 Gaming Publishers in IAP Revenue in 2024 🚀 1287326723 new AI tools every day! 🤝 Power of Partnership: Mobile Gaming Collaborations ⚠️ Careful with the new adROAS campaigns in Meta! 🔮 The Future of F2P Games & Hybrid Monetization 🐋 How to Monetize Whales Through Milestone Events 🌍 Monetization in emerging markets presents a significant challenge. 🎮 Tracking Game Releases & Transfers 🔥 Screw Master 3D: Hybrid Casual is on Fire 🏆 Top 10 Tripeaks Solitaire Games Industry Highlights » Türkiye: Rising Gaming Empire’s 5-Year 🧩 Why Some Puzzle Games are More Addicting? 🇻🇳 Vietnam’s Gaming Ecosystem & Regulatory Changes 📉 Take-Two Gaming Report: Losses Increased by 36% 🚨 Apple Faces Investigation in China Over Monopoly 📊 MTG posts […]

Gamigion February 10

Journal

MTG posts 7% YoY Q4 Growth: Strong Mobile Gains and Strategic Acquisitions

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Modern Times Group generated revenue of $155 million. Snowprint made its first organic contribution to MTG's performance in Q4 2024, following its acquisition in October 2023. Modern Times Group recorded a 7% year-over-year growth in net sales, reaching $155 million, driven by 9% organic growth and a 6% increase in constant currencies, according to the firm's Q4 2024 financial results. User acquisition spending in Q4 amounted to $62, representing 40% of revenues, up from 38% in the previous year. The tax expense amounted to -$8 million, leading to a total net income of -$22 million. Cash flow from operations was $30 million, and cash and cash equivalents at the period's end stood at approximately $324 million. Steady revenue growth in FY 2024 For the full year of 2024, MTG recorded a 3% YoY increase in net sales, […]

Isa Muhammad February 10

Highlights

Valve Bans In-Game Ads: A Bold Move

Valve Bans In-Game Ads: A Bold Move Valve corporation has updated its policy to strictly ban in-game ads as a monetization strategy for developers. While this may please gaming purists, I see some challenges this could create for developers and the industry overall.Key Impacts: • Economic Limitations for Developers: Removing ads as a potential revenue stream limits options for developers, particularly those working with F2P models or small-scale projects. • Reduced Accessibility for Tier 2/3 Regions: Ads often help monetize players in regions where spending on microtransactions is less common, making this a missed opportunity. • Missed Potential with Intrinsic Ads: Brand integrations (e.g., seeing Coca-Cola ads on a racetrack) can enhance immersion without breaking gameplay, yet Valve’s stance cuts off this possibility.While I understand Valve’s decision aligns with its audience and focus on premium experiences, this move underscores the […]

John Wright February 10

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