IN THE LOOP with kapital k // W48 of 2023
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Week 48 of 2023. Here are the top five headlines and fundraising announcements + a collection of content from independent creators that you missed this week!
Epic Games // Judge Orders Epic & Google To Settle Before Verdict — link
THOUGHTS: Epic wants three things from Google: (1) Allow Epic and other developers to operate their own Android app stores; (2) Allow Epic and other developers to run their own payment processors; (3) Google will not try to find loopholes. The judge felt the first two claims are terms that could be negotiated to a settlement, but the third is simply Google agreeing that it won’t break the law, which obviously it shouldn’t do in the first place.
The order is to have Epic and Google reach an agreement before the jury’s verdict on Friday December 8th. Epic is supposed to present something on Monday December 4th then Google must respond within 48 hours.
TikTok // Shutsdown Gaming Division — link
THOUGHTS: The massive social media company laid off a significant portion of its gaming unit, Nuverse. The department has 3000 personnel and many are still awaiting their fate. Supposedly the company is withdrawing completely from the gaming market but ByteDance may retain some portion of the team.
Though just because TikTok wasn’t successful at building games, it doesn’t mean that their platform isnt suitable for games. Earlier this year TikTok released a report showing how powerful gaming marketing is on its platform with engagement and conversion numbers far outstripping other networks.Microsoft // Launching Xbox Mobile Store — link
THOUGHTS: The gates are busting open on these alternative app stores. The first battles will be fought in Europe. We know Meta is launching an app store through its Facebook app. Microsoft has planned to launch its own mobile store ofr a while as well. However, recent court documents from the Epic v. Google trial, shows that Activision Blizzard was considering to launch a mobile app store too. The initial plan was to partner with other gaming powerhouses such as Supercell or (wait for it) Epic Games.
These gaming-centric app stores were going to charge 12-15% fees instead of the current 30% rake on Apple and Android. The boss over at Xbox didn’t give us any details on the fee rate but he did say that the app store is coming sooner rather than later — months or year, not years.Take-Two Interactive // Sued Over Virtual Currency — link
THOUGHTS: The gaming company behind GTA, Red Dead Redemption, and 2k is being sued by users for them effectively “cancelling” the user’s in-game currency. So T2 closed some old 2K servers and the players are in revolt. So much so that they’re suing. Surprisingly though these users aren’t your stereotypical “core” gamers but rather these are the sports gamers.
I’ve always felt these segment of players are one of the most valuable ones because no matter what they will return and buy the next year’s version of the game. The licensing fee may be expensive but this reliable and consistent source of revenue is worth it.
But we also know that if a franchise broke off from a publisher, that doesn’t mean the publisher will suffer — see EA after FIFA splitting.Saudi Arabia // Crown Prince of Gaming — link
THOUGHTS: First it was sports, then movies, now they’re coming after video games. The minority investments are becoming major. From the world famous Italian plumber to the gangbangin’ streets of Compton, Savvy Games Group has a piece of that IP. And when they want more than a piece, they’ll just buy it outright like they did with Scopely for $4.9B and ESL and Faceit for $1.5B.
This is probably the only real challenger against the world’s largest gaming company, Tencent. It’s interesting though that these two entities, a corporation and a nation state, with not the best human rights record are so deeply embedded into gaming, which is a very purist escapist retreat from the world.
Don’t miss out on next week’s IN THE LOOP w/ kapital k.
Decentralised.co // The Gaming Issue — link
Hit Points // Network Down — link
Brutally Honest // Hybrid Casual UA Playbook — link
Brutally Honest // Latest Creative Trends & Ad Monetisation Tips from Habby: Souls! — link
MobileDevMemo // Appropriate Fee for Social media Subscription — link
MobileDevMemo // FIrst-Party Data & New Walled Compounds — link
Niko Partners // Observations from Korea’s G-Star 2023 — link
Konvoy Ventures // The Rise & Challenge of F2P Models — link
PGBiz // Game Analysis: Decoding Monopoly GO Live Ops — link
Deconstructor of Fun // Product Marketing Management
Deconstructor of Fun // TWIG # 260 — State of Mobile
Game Changers (Konvoy Ventures) // Michael Pachter - Wedbush Securities
two & a half gamers // Creative Trends in Q3, Admon Tips, Merge Mansion Japan
Mobile Games Playbook // How To Navigate Ads & Rev Landscape
MobileDevMemo // How to Build a Brand
Thirdverse // $8.0M // Web3 // VR — Released titles such as Altair Breaker and 5v5 shooter X
Investors: Unknown
KEK Entertainment // $8.0M // Shooter — Vehicle shooter for mobile, PC and console, styled as a "platform-agnostic IP"
Investors: Korea Investment Partners, Woori Technology Investment Co, Kona Venture Partners, The Games Fund, Play Ventures
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h/t to thecoreloop contributors: @0xkapital_k @chng_raymond @cloudxgmf @wassiecapital @iandaog @playtern @friandoteth @0xconglomerate @itsbambam
