The Future of Innovation in the Mobile Games Sector
Pocketgamer brought several mobile gaming experts together to debate the following question:
- Ten years into the App Store era, how much headroom do you think remains for innovation in mobile games, whether that be new genres, mashups, mechanics, tech features etcetera?
OR
- Is the market now inherently mature, reducing innovation to the level of marginal gains?
Read more HERE.
How Large is The Mobile Gaming Advertising Market?
In his latest blog, Eric Seufert attempts to estimate e size of mobile advertising spend for games — that is, the amount of money spent on mobile channels to advertise mobile games.
Jagex on Making The Voice of The Player Heard
MCV featured Jagex’ director of player experience, Kelvin Plomer, and player experience manager, Steve Wilson, who shared insights into their approach to player support and community.
10 Mistakes to Avoid in Influencer Marketing
Deconstructor of Fun brings an article about influencer marketing. The article talks about some basic stuff, like getting your audience right, tracking metrics for the set goals, motivations for influencers to collaborate with a client (they predominantly want relevant content for their audience), etc..
Worldwide Spend on Digital Games Falls 6% Year-over-Year
As reported by MCV, “digital games have generated $8.4 billion in January 2019 across console, PC, and mobile platforms, a dip of 6 per cent since this time last year. According to a report by industry analysts SuperData, PC saw the biggest drop – 29 percent year-over-year – while console saw a fall of 3 per cent, which the company attributes to a “tepid performance from top premium console franchises such as Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, FIFA and Overwatch”. Even Fortnite’s revenue dropped 48% month-over-month in January.
News around the globe
- Rumors that Playrix might be up for sale are around, although the publisher has explicitly denied such claims. According to this article, “people familiar with the matter” say that Playrix recently entered into an exclusive agreement with a U.S.-based financial advisory firm to manage the sale for more than $3B. The article goes on to say that a number of Chinese companies, including iDreamSky and FunPlus have inquired about buying Playrix. The publisher is best known for its Homescapes and Gardenscapes titles (earning approximately a third of company’s total revenues for 2018) but its previous two titles, Township and Fishdom also performing well and both earning more than $100m each. In 2018, Playrix earned a total of $866m and got more than 135m downloads.
- More legal complaints against Epic Games and their Fortnite. Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley – the duo known best for popularising the “Running Man” challenge – has lodged a legal complaint against Epic Games, accusing the developer of exploiting African American talent and profiting from the plaintiffs’ creative expression via the dance emote, Running Man. Previously, actor Alfonso Ribeiro and Rapper 2 Milly filed lawsuits against Epic for replicating and selling their dance moves in Fortnite. Epic’s lawyers claim: “The Plaintiff’s lawsuit is fundamentally at odds with free speech principles as it attempts to impose liability, and thereby chill creative expression, by claiming rights that do not exist under the law,” wrote Epic’s lawyer, disputing the claims recently. “No one can own a dance step. Copyright law is clear that individual dance steps and simple dance routines are not protected by copyright, but rather are building blocks of free expression, which are in the public domain for choreographers, dancers, and the general public to use, perform, and enjoy.” More on MCVUK.
- TechCrunch reports that Fortnite is getting a $100m budget for esports competitions prize cash in 2019. A lot of this money (30%) will go on first ever The Fortnite World Cup to be held in New York at the end of July. Top 100 players will be invited to this event. Details.
- We previously reported that Nexon is up for sale. Now, there’s a word that Electronic Arts, Amazon and Comcast all started bidding on the controlling share of South Korean giant. Previously public bidders include Netmarbale, Kakao and a number of private equity funds.
- Supercell’s multiplayer mobile arena fighter Brawl Stars has become the first new mobile game to break into the top 10 chart for worldwide revenue since NetEase’s Fantasy Westward Journey in June 2018, according to Sensor Tower. Brawl Stars placed eighth on Google Play and 13th on the App Store meaning when combined it slid in at 10th spot for overall worldwide revenue. Brawl Stars is estimated to have generated $110 million in player spending since releasing in December 2018, with $51m of that brought in in January. Source.
Notable new releases
Mobile Industry News 