IN THE LOOP with kapital k // W30 of 2023
The only gaming newsletter you need. I curate and aggregate content from across web2 & web3 to deliver it straight to your inbox.
Week 30 of 2023. Here are the top five headlines and fundraising announcements + a collection of content from independent creators that you missed this week!
GameAnalytics // USA Game Ad Revenue Reach $130B in 2025 — link
Summary: A new report predicts that game advertising revenue in the USA will reach $130 billion by 2025, as reported by Pocket Gamer. The growth is attributed to the increasing popularity of mobile gaming and the rise of in-game advertising.
Analysis: As the gaming industry continues to expand, advertising within games becomes an effective way for brands to own the marketing experience of their audience. But in-game marketing is only 6% of the advertising spend in the USA. Brands are still undervaluing the potential of ads in the gaming space. Also that 50% of all ad revenue from within the gaming industry comes from within the gaming industry itself, talk about dogfooding ourselves.
An interesting data piece from Ernst & Young reports that brands spend nearly $60B on TV advertising even though consumers spend 4.5x more time gaming than watching tv.
Netflix // External Developers Pivotal For Its Gaming Ambitions — link
Summary: An article in GamesIndustry.biz highlights the significance of Netflix's external development partnerships in shaping its gaming strategy. The streaming giant's collaborations with external game developers are seen as pivotal for the success of its gaming expansion, allowing Netflix to tap into the expertise of established gaming studios and create high-quality original games.
Analysis: Netflix has a massive catalog of IP. Though what makes this catalog valuable is Netflix’s recommendation engine. Imagine that recommendation AI is able to identify then serve these games to players. Now further imagine that Apple/Google loses their monopolistic grip on their respective app stores. Netflix would be become a platform to launch its games within the Netflix app — a comprehensive user journey from watching shows to playing in them. On another note, Netflix’s approach to collaborating with external devs is noteworthy. There isn’t a work-for-hire relationship. Netflix expects studios to come ready, experienced, and passionate about Netflix’s IP.
PocketGamer.Biz // Revival of Casual Games — link
Summary: The article on PocketGamer.biz explores the revival of casual games, which are experiencing renewed popularity and growth in the gaming industry. The resurgence of casual games is attributed to their accessibility, appeal to wider audiences, and adoption of innovative features and monetization strategies.
Analysis: It's been all the rage to talk about hybridcasual as hypercasual fell out of favor. Though there might be a resurgence of casual games.
Five Categories of Mobile Games: Hypercasual > Hybrid > Casual > Mid-Core > Core. Hypercasuals are the play-once-throw-away type of experiences then the Hybridcasual are pretty much the same except there's a progression system — think Archero. In the middle we have Casual games are the match-3 games such as Candy Crush Saga.
Hypercasual became all the rage as the mobile advertising grew in popularity. Studios like Voodoo would ship dozens of these games each year and load em up with UA and monetize with ads only.
Surprisingly the retention rate for Hypercasual and Casual games are similar. But unsurprisingly the session length for Casual games are nearly 2x that of Hypercasual. In terms of monetization, ARPU for Casual games varies widely from $4 to $49, whereas Hypercasual has a tighter range of $4 - $11.
Activision Blizzard // Call of Duty: Mobile Passes $3B Lifetime Revenue — link
Summary: The article on PocketGamer.biz highlights the significant milestone achieved by Call of Duty Mobile, surpassing $3 billion in lifetime revenue. The mobile version of the popular franchise has become a major revenue driver, accounting for half of all engagement for the Call of Duty franchise.
Analysis: The success of Call of Duty Mobile underscores the immense potential of mobile gaming in generating substantial revenue for well-established franchises. This trend suggests that mobile gaming is no longer seen as a secondary platform but a primary and lucrative one for major gaming IPs. Call of Duty was first released two decades ago in 2003 on PC and console. But it only came on mobile in 2019. In Activision's Q2 2023 financials, the company stated that more than half of all engagement happens on mobile — totaling $3B in lifetime revenue. This is incredible for a game that was predominantly on PC and console. It only took 3 years for the engagement to flip sides. Can Activision Blizzard execute their mobile strategy with other titles like Overwatch? This also speaks to the evolution of mobile players. The core genre is becoming more prevalent in mobile and that's a good thing.
GamesIndustry.Biz // The State of Recruitment 2023 — link
Summary: The article on GamesIndustry.biz discusses the state of recruitment in the gaming industry in 2023. It explores the challenges faced by companies in attracting and retaining talent, as well as the changing dynamics of hiring practices in the sector.
Analysis: I believe that Mobile Product Managers are gems. These roles are grueling and demands the individual to be proficient in multiple disciplines at once. With these successive massive layoffs within the industry, founders and VCs should look to acquire talent from this seemingly ever-growing pool. Most web3 studios are relatively new and early so providing as much as transparency in the job description would help attract talent — and save the startup a lot of time and headaches later. Here are some recruiting firms: Values Value, One Player Mission.
Don’t miss out on next week’s IN THE LOOP w/ kapital k.
@CryptoFi_18 (IOSGVC) // The Tech Stack of On-Chain Gaming — link
@JavierAng_ (TheBlockCrunch) // Metaverse Landscape — link
@0xAikoDai (Folius Ventures) // Web3 Games May Come From The East — link
@0xsyora (0xPixeLAW) // Four Reasons We Must Pay Attention to Autonomous Worlds — link
thecoreloop // Beyond Traditional Advertising: Exploring Interactive Experiences & Web3 Innovations — link
Lightspeed Ventures // Gaming x AI Market Map: The Infinite Power of Play — link + New Website
Mobile Dev Memo // Alphabet Q2 earnings: YouTube returns to growth, and advertising’s AI feedback loop — link
Mobile Dev Memo // Roblox has launched an ad network — link
Mobile Dev Memo // Meta Q2 2023 earnings: 12% ad revenue growth, impressions increase 34% with slowing CPM declines — link
Mobile Dev Memo // Snap Q2 earnings: revenue decline, continued focus on ad measurement — link
Konvoy Ventures // LatAm Gaming Market — link
Kevuru Games // Why Mobile Is The Most Profitable Game Development — link
SuperJoost Playlist // Essential Facts About the ESA’s Finances — link
The GameDiscoverCo // Summer special: how devs should reach out to top YouTubers — link
GameDev Reports // How to Market a Game — 2022 Worst Year For Indies on Steam — link
OpenFort // Technical Dive: Combining Token Bound Account (TBA) with Account Abstraction (AA) — link
Game Stuff // Why Noone Wants To Fund Your Mobile Game Startup — link
Birchnut // The Emerging Web3 Narrative: Autonomous World — link
Deconstructor of Fun // Mastering — link
Game Dev Advice // How to Successfully Pitch to Publishers
Bad End // Dave the Diver, Halls of Torment
Deconstructor of Fun // Mastering Remote Work Culture with Playrix
Deconstructor of Fun // Conversation w/ CEO Jason Kingsley of Rebellion
Deconstructor of Fun // TWiG #242 Dinosaurs Crash an Eggy Party & Battle Pass Galore
The AIS Game Maker’s Notebook // Re-release: Marvel’s Spider-Man Creative Director, Bryan Intihar
Navigating the Metaverse // The Metaverse Under Metamorphosis
Closing Theory // $2.3M // Web2 // Sim — Mobile studio, developer of House Rush and Neighborhood Rush
Investors: a61z Games, Powerhouse Capital, Seth Sivak, Keller Capital, LLC, Pear VC, Liquid 2 Ventures
Valhalla Ventures // $66M // Web2 // Fund — Seed-stage fund focusing on deeptech and gaming firms with an emphasis on social experiences
Investors: Unknown
Delabs Games // $4.7M // Web3 // Casual — The blockchain game developer behind Rumble Racing Star
Investors: Hashed Ventures, Spartan Labs, Polygon Labs, Planetarium, Merit Circle
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h/t to thecoreloop contributors: @0xkapital_k @chng_raymond @cloudxgmf @wassiecapital @iandaog @playtern @friandoteth @0xconglomerate @itsbambam
