thecoreloop — your go-to gaming news

Look at Gaming #261 | Thursday July 27th 2023 Venmo is a popular payment app in the US that facilitated over $244B in 2022 with over 75M users. Its reported that the avg payment on the app is $60. Sounds like its just the right amount to buy a game. Xbox integrated with Venmo. This is just another step forward since Microsoft already has a relationship with Paypal. Players can use their venmo account to pay for games, Xbox subscriptions, and of course pay one another. The last part I think is interesting. Depending on how well integrated Venmo is to the platform, I can imagine some player2player payment action happening. "$5 for first blood," said by my teammate to the left as we spawn into our CoD game. Fun. ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 Microsoft integrates Venmo into Xbox's payment system | GameDeveloper 🌊 MARKET 📞 Data drop: COD: Mobile hits $3bn, King up 9%, 2027 forecasts, Asia and MENA stats and more | MobileGamer.Biz Meta Q2 2023 earnings: 12% ad revenue growth, impressions increase 34% with slowing CPM declines | MobileDevMemo Zuckerberg acknowledges investor "discomfort" as Meta loses another $3.7B on Reality Labs | GameDeveloper Street Fighter 6, Resident Evil 4 drives Capcom Q1 sales to $313m | GamesIndustry.Biz Alphabet Q2 earnings: YouTube returns to growth, and advertising’s AI feedback loop | MobileDevMemo Sega's Rovio deal clears regulatory hurdles and gets the green light | PGBiz 🌈 Platforms 🏠 Microsoft integrates Venmo into Xbox's payment system | GameDeveloper Checkout.com teams with NetEase Games on international game payments | VentureBeat Samsung Galaxy lineup has plenty of power for gaming | VentureBeat 👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊 Candivore’s Match Masters passes $200m, 50m installs as it sets sights on US market | MobileGamer.Biz

Look at Gaming #260 | Wednesday July 26th 2023 Man! I guess this week is just filled with ad-related topics. If you missed our piece on Digital Marketing 3.0. Read it HERE. Yesterday we talked about Roblox's ad network and how that's going to change the game — apologies for the cringey cliché. Now a report from GameAnalytics shows USA game ad revenue hit $130B by 2025. But that's 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. There are quite a few interesting data points in the report so check out the link in the Spotlight section. Promise you'll learn something! ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 USA game ad revenue to reach $130 billion in 2025 | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 🌊 MARKET 📞 Snap Q2 earnings: revenue decline, continued focus on ad measurement | Mobile Dev Memo by Eric Seufert Consumers spent 2.5 billion hours on Android in H1 2023, what's that mean for mo | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz USA game ad revenue to reach $130 billion in 2025 | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz The state of recruitment in 2023 | GamesIndustry.biz Xbox Q4 revenues flat as hardware drops 13% | GamesIndustry.biz Xbox hardware stumbles as Game Pass delivers record Q4 engagement | GameDeveloper 💎 Deep Dives 🔎 Japan’s indie game scene is growing up | The Verge ✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐 Crypto Gaming Startup Ultra Launches Esports Platform With Token, NFT Prizes | Decrypt Solana Gaming Franchise Aurory Expands to Ethereum Layer-2 Arbitrum | Decrypt CyberKongz to Mint Genkai NFTs on Ronin, Migrate Game to 'Axie' Chain | Decrypt Solvo pivots from crypto investment app to Web3 gaming wallet | VentureBeat 🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘 Why no one wants to fund your mobile game startup | GameStuff Why Is Mobile The Most Profitable Game Development - Kevuru Games | Keruvu Games Socialisation in gaming: The trend for increased retention and revenue | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 💲 Fundraising 🤑 Valhalla Ventures raises $66M to invest in deeptech and gaming | VentureBeat 👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊 How Netflix's external dev partnerships are pivotal for its gaming gambit | GamesIndustry.biz The Futurama crew touches down in Fortnite | The Verge Three new Starfield animated shorts offer more glimpses of Bethesda’s new universe | The Verge Blue Protocol brings an anime world to life | hands-on preview | VentureBeat _______ Drop a gg! How is UA/growth going for you guys? I know its tough all round right now.

Look at Gaming #259 | Tuesday July 25th 2023 Aside from TikTok, Roblox is another ad platform that you must know. Why is it important? Nearly half of kids age 13 and under in the US plays Roblox — that's 61M DAU. Roblox launched their Immersive Ads product back in March 2023. This allows creators to insert specific areas in their games that facilitates PROGRAMMATIC ad placements. There are two types of Immersive Ads. (1) A static billboard, (2) A billboard that transports you to another game. NOTE. You can NOT divert users off Roblox — so no URLs, QR codes, etc. Roblox is openning that up to outside partners. Folks like Vayner3 (Gary Vee's outfit), Dentsu (Japanese Ad & PR company). Prepare to see a deluge of brands flooding into this ad platform. There are numerous stringent issues with targeting and advertising to kids. If Roblox could crack the regulatory code, then it's going to be a dominant player in the ads space. 🔦 Spotlight 🌟 Roblox has launched an ad network | Mobile Dev Memo by Eric Seufert 🌊 MARKET ☎️ Belgium officially expands its Tax Shelter to games | GamesIndustry.biz ESRB proposes facial recognition as new form of age verification | GameDeveloper India accounted for 15.29% of game downloads in the first six months of 2023 | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 💎 Deep Dives 🔎 Roblox has launched an ad network | Mobile Dev Memo by Eric Seufert How to Market a Game: 2022 became the worst year for indie developers on Steam | GameDevReports ✨ Web 3️⃣ + Meta 🌎 Welcome to McNuggets Land: McDonald’s Launches Metaverse Game in ‘The Sandbox’ | Decrypt 🧠 Knowledge Hub 📚 Summer special: how devs should reach out to top YouTubers | GamesDiscoverCo Mastering Remote Work Culture: A Conversation with Playrix — Deconstructor of Fun 💰 Fundraising 🧧 Delabs Games Raises $4.7 Million to Build on Polygon | Decrypt 👾 Game & Stats Releases 🎮 Exoprimal reaches one million players | News-in-brief | GamesIndustry.biz Mortal Kombat 1 adds Omni-Man, Peacemaker, and Homelander to roster | The Verge

gm. Let's start the week off with a bang. Here's a look at our essay on how we're thinking about Marketing 3.0. UA costs are up 2x and brands are hurting. We covered things from branded in-game experiences on Roblox all the way to Starbucks' Odyssey Loyalty Program. Read it HERE. ____________ TL;DR — Brands are struggling to maintain engagement while sustaining return on advertising spend. But there are alternatives advertising avenues on the horizon. In this article we explore these techniques that may transform the relationship between customers and brands, which can increase brand awareness, engagement and customer lifetime value (LTV).

Look at Gaming #258 | Monday July 24th 2023 With the MSFT vs. FTC pretty over, I wanted to take a look at the franchise that was the crux of the whole case. 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 — totalling to $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. ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 Call of Duty: Mobile passes $3bn in lifetime revenue, half of all engagement for | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 🌊 MARKET 📞 Why is cloud gaming the future for video games? | Kevuru Games Microsoft and Activision Blizzard: A complete timeline | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz Ubisoft saw $298 million in net bookings in Q1 of the 2023-24 fiscal year, but m | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz Indian government clarifies 28% tax does not apply to mobile games | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 💎 Deep Dives 🔎 Xbox' back catalogue isn't just a stopgap – it's a competitive advantage | Opinion | GamesIndustry.biz #218: Get the papers | Hit Points by Nathan Brown LatAm Gaming Market | Konvoy Ventures SEGA President: Games for a new console generation will cost $70M+ to develop | GameDev Reports 🌈 Platforms 🏠 The Sony Project Q PlayStation handheld is running Android in a leaked video | The Verge ✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐 Unpacking the ‘Backpack’ Wallet: How ERC-6551 Tokens Are Changing Digital Ownership | CoinDesk 💲 Fundraising 🤑 Closing Theory raises $2.3m | GamesIndustry.biz 👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊 A new MMORPG from NetEase - Justice Online Mobile - is earning at least $1.5M daily since the release | GameDev Reports Call of Duty: Mobile passes $3bn in lifetime revenue, half of all engagement for | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz _______ Drop a gg! Also thecoreloop also bought its first Paladin to be a part of PaladinsDAO! Excited for what to come. Stay tunedddddd. :)

gm gm! Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Your weekly digest is here: In The Loop w/ Kapital K This week I'm covering: - The FTC x Microsoft Saga - Q2 2023 Fundraising Activity ($6B+) - Roblox Subscriptions - TikTok getting 3 Trillion Views - A Quick Look at Candy Crush There was over $141M in fundraising this week with a $1.7B acquisition. We also have blogs about the Japanese gaming market as well as the State of Web3 Game Dev Tooling. If you're in the listening mood, we have some great pods about Creating Interoperability Standards as well as a pod on Iterative Prototyping for Board Games. Read more here

Look at Gaming #257 | Friday July 21st 2023 Happy Friday y'all! We got a big big report from Drake Star today covering the Q2 2023 Fundraising and M&A within the gaming industry. Here are some quick stats: - 196 private funding deals totalling $663M - $6.2B in M&A activity 🔦 Spotlight 🌟 Q2 gaming M&A deal value rises to $6.2B thanks to Scopely, Rovio | Drake Star | VentureBeat 🌊 MARKET ☎️ FTC withdraws its in-house challenge to Microsoft’s Activision-Blizzard deal | The Verge Carry1st & Newzoo: Sub-Saharan African countries gaming revenue reached $863M in 2022 | GameDevReports Peak XV, Tiger Global, others urge PM Modi to review India's online gaming tax | TechCrunch Valorant to accelerate PC game and Esports revenue growth in China | Niko Partners Ubisoft's Q1 sees a 9% dip | GamesIndustry.biz Q2 gaming M&A deal value rises to $6.2B thanks to Scopely, Rovio | Drake Star | VentureBeat Netflix Q2 earnings: password-crackdown subscriber bump, revenue miss and ARPU decline | Mobile Dev Memo by Eric Seufert 🌈 Platforms 🏔 How 25 years of Yu-Gi-Oh prepared Konami for live service games | GamesIndustry.biz ✨ Web 3️⃣ + Meta 🌎 OpenSea Launches Peer-to-Peer NFT Swaps, 'Deals' | CoinDesk 🧠 Knowledge Hub 📚 The best places to publish your indie game | GameDeveloper 👾 Game & Stats Releases 🎮 The Borderlands movie comes out next year | The Verge Pokémon Sleep is now available in the US on Android and iOS | The Verge Jam City launches DC Heroes & Villains mobile RPG | VentureBeat

Look at Gaming #256 | Thursday July 20th 2023 Not enough is said about Candy Crush. This franchise is partly responsible for the mobile gaming revolution. So check out the Spotlight article to learn more about this legendary story. This year King's net revenue increased 9% YoY. They are the best at accelerating production and testing for their live ops. The Swedish company is a powerhouse today with nearly 3B downloads and $11.3B lifetime revenue across all its titles. King is still king more than a decade later. ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 Mobile Masterworks: Candy Crush | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 🌊 MARKET 📞 Microsoft extends Activision Blizzard merger deadline by 3 months | VentureBeat 💎 Deep Dives 🔎 Mobile Masterworks: Candy Crush | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 🌈 Platforms 🏠 Activision Blizzard Esports Hit With Layoffs As Overwatch League's Future Remains Undecided | Game Informer Diablo IV drives record quarter for Blizzard and Activision | GameDeveloper Unity Opens Beta for VisionOS Development | GameDeveloper ✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐 Making a metaverse that matters | Wagner James Au interview/podcast | VentureBeat 🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘 The five Ps of better creative management | GamesIndustry.biz Jam City’s Radostina Zhekova and Winnie Wen on UA creativity and the rise of fem | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 💲 Fundraising 🤑 GGWP raises $10m for AI moderation platform | GamesIndustry.biz Screen Australia backs 23 studios with $2 million in funding | GamesIndustry.biz Eyeball Games raises $1.5M for blockchain pool game | VentureBeat Karat Financial raises $70M and teams with Visa on credit cards for creators | VentureBeat

WAGME #19 — Rumble Arcade & Topology roll out exciting playtests, BITKRAFT & IOSG release reports on Game Developer Tooling and network effects in Game Engines respectively while both Curio & XPLA roll out major updates. • ❗️ 3 Priority Items to pique your interest • 💻 7 Mints n Drops to look into • 📘 5 Guides to keep you ahead • 👾 11 Game Releases/Updates to keep you in the loop • 🧐 2 Newly Spotted Games to track —————— Drop a gg! ❤️

Look at Gaming #255 | Wednesday July 19th 2023 Roblox released some big news. Though Roblox has provided numerous way for devs to make money from selling items to charging an access fee. For the first time ever, developers are able to offer subscriptions. These myriad monetization options are in stark contrast to those offered by Fortnite's Creator Mode — you only get paid based on how long players spent within your experience. Another nugget Roblox dropped at the end of their press release was that players may be able to "purchase real-world goods within an experience." BOOM‼️ ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 Roblox is going to let developers offer subscriptions in their experiences | The Verge 🌊 MARKET 📞 Republican members of Congress urge FTC to drop case against Microsoft-Activision | GamesIndustry.biz US Supreme Court denies gamer lawsuit a block against Microsoft's Activision acquisition | GamesIndustry.biz Microsoft, Activision reportedly discussing acquisition deadline extension | GamesIndustry.biz Famitsu: Japanese gaming market in H1 2023 | GameDevReports Brazilian mobile market to jump to $5.2bn gross revenue by 2027 | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz Introducing a new UK games industry salary benchmarking service for businesses | GamesIndustry.biz Venture Capital Funding to Web3 Plummets 76%, Crunchbase Report Shows | CoinDesk Data drop: H1 2023 digested, TikTok tips, App Store visibility plus Diablo Immortal, Attack Hole and more | Mobilegamer.biz 💎 Deep Dives 🔎 Generative AI for ad creative: five value milestones | Mobile Dev Memo by Eric Seufert Summer special: video games & AI 'exposed'? | GameDiscoverCo 🌈 Platforms 🏠 Roblox is going to let developers offer subscriptions in their experiences | The Verge ✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐 You Can Now Earn Bitcoin for Playing Minecraft—Here’s How | Decrypt 'Assassin's Creed' Creator Ubisoft Throws Weight Behind Cronos Blockchain | Decrypt 'Neopets' Cancels NFT Game After Raising Money From Polygon, Avalanche | Decrypt Cool Cats Expands Gaming Push With Trio of Upcoming Titles | Decrypt 🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘 How Coffee Talk 2 evolved from DLC to a full-fledged sequel | GameDeveloper 'I've turned down life-changing money': The story of Waffle | GamesIndustry.biz 💲 Fundraising 🤑 Futureverse Raises $54 Million From 10T, Ripple Labs for Metaverse Push | Decrypt Scalo leads $3.5m investment in Sushi Roll, Blend it 3D publisher Hexacore | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊 Hit comic book series Invincible to get new mobile game courtesy of Ubisoft | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz

Look at Gaming #254 | Tuesday July 18th 2023 What if I told you TikTok has a 30% click-thru rate with over 4.1B impressions for one title. There's a trend on TikTok called #GameEdit, which is when a creator edits gaming-related content with a humorous interpretation. Genshin Impact's #GenshinEdit received 5B impressions and 30% of viewers digs up more information about the game after seeing the TikToks. TikTok is an extension to the game itself. This new medium of immersion and engagement with game content extends the user's lifetime value (LTV). The report also indicated that gaming content received over 3T views in 2022. This is similar to "modding", except it's not playable in the traditional sense but it does connect with the players beyond the initial game. ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 TikTok users viewed more than three trillion gaming-related videos in 2022 | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 🌊 MARKET 📞 Africa’s gaming revenue is more than 90% mobile | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz MS-ABK nears completion in the US | Microcast | GamesIndustry.biz EA and other video game stocks see big boost as M&A fever creeps in | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 💎 Deep Dives 🔎 Why running Merge Mansion is like ‘governing a micronation’ | Mobilegamer.biz Excerpt: John Romero’s autobiography Doom Guy on the birth of id Software | The Verge 🌈 Platforms 🏠 Threads as a gaming hub? Zynga founder-backed Artie is counting on it | TechCrunch TikTok users viewed more than three trillion gaming-related videos in 2022 | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz ✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐 The State of Web3 Game Developer Tooling | BITKRAFT Ventures 💲 Fundraising 🤑 More Turkish investment as Fortune Mine Games closes $2m seed round | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊 Google and Taito’s AR Space Invaders game is out now on Android and iOS | The Verge Crunchyroll announces One Punch Man game for PC and mobile | VentureBeat

Look at Gaming #253 | Monday July 17th 2023 Welcome back to another week of gaming news! Kicking off the week right with the FTC's appeal being denied and Microsoft signing a multi-year deal with Sony to keep CoD on PlayStation. So this deal is racing towards the finish line — especially since there's a $3B breakup fee if Microsoft misses the July 18th deadline. Though there's still the UK's Competition & Markets Authority that stands in Microsoft's way of total domination. ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 Sony signs deal with Microsoft to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation | VentureBeat 🌊 MARKET 📞 Sony signs deal with Microsoft to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation | VentureBeat FTC denied appeal to block Microsoft-Activision acquisition | GamesIndustry.biz African games market hits $863m throughout 2022 | GamesIndustry.biz Gamified e-learning platform Kahoot gets acquired in a $1.7B deal led by Goldman Sachs, Lego and more | TechCrunch 💎 Deep Dives 🔎 The Future of Player Betting | Naavik 🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘 Lessons Learned From My Startup Journey | Deconstructor of Fun

GM. Here's some Sunday reading for you! We had a fairly slow week of news barring the US Court ruling for Microsoft-Activision Blizzard. There was also the big news about Android;s Google Play Store changed their policy to allow blockchain/NFT in their apps. In the Threads, Blogs, and Pods world, we have Konvoy Ventures funding report for Q2 2023, Deconstructor of Fun's survey results on Remote vs. Hybrid vs. On-Site work. Laslty, I think funding activity is coming back! We had over $81M in funding this week across web2 and web3. To read more check it out here: https://tinyurl.com/thecoreloopitlw28

This is Part 1 of our Super Apps series. GM y'all. We wanted to explore the possibility of an industry-specific super app. But before that we had to learn a bit about the super app space. - Super apps don't have to come from messaging and social media platforms. - Before they become super apps, these apps exhibits key attributes that led them to super app status. - We cover some examples of super apps that came from other industries. - There were some macro trends that contributed to the success of super apps in the east ——————— Drop a gg! Let me know what you guys think of the piece.

Look at Gaming #252 | Friday July 14th 2023 Happy Friday y'all! Aside from all the FTC, Microsoft huff and puff, Sony is just shipping and building. From releasing great new hardware products like the PS5 accessibility controller and the Backbone One mobile peripheral to software release such as Project Q, Sony is focused on delivering new products and services to their users. And now, Sony is planning to invest $2B into extended reality research — closing the game between the digital and physical world. This is 40% of its annual R&D budget for the company, not just the Sony Interactive (their gaming division). I honestly have no idea what "extended reality" means but i'm here for it. Hope it doesn't turn into Meta's R&D spending on the metaverse which totaled $36B from 2019 till now. 🫠 Have a great weekend y'all! ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 Sony to invest $2 billion into extended reality research | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 🌊 MARKET 📞 Report: Arm in talks with Nvidia as anchor investor ahead of IPO | GamesIndustry.biz 💎 Deep Dives 🔎 How nDreams became one of the biggest VR game developers in the world | GameDeveloper 🌈 Platforms 🏠 Antstream Arcade is coming to Xbox | GamesIndustry.biz Google Play Games beta for PC expands to over 60 new countries including India | TechCrunch Sony to invest $2 billion into extended reality research | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz ✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐 Saga draws 224 projects to its Web3 scaling platform in less than a year | VentureBeat 🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘 The developers of Thronefall make games for people who don't have time | GameDeveloper 👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊 The Last of Us TV series up for 24 Emmy nominations | GamesIndustry.biz

Look at Gaming #251 | Thursday July 13th 2023 What a day! We have the FTC filing for an appeal on the US District Court's decision — not surprised. Here we go again. In other big news, we have Android dropping a MEGA policy change. Moving forward, Google Play will start supporting blockchain technology (eg NFTs) for the mobile games and apps. This is pretty big vindication for all of us web3 folks. The terms and conditions and how the approval/review process would be are still unclear. Though, this policy only applies to existing apps this is a large step in the right direction. Since both Apple and Androids are allowing for NFTs in mobile, there's no longer a valid claim as to why your game isn't on mobile. It's the largest gaming platform. Go get those users y'all. ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 Android policy change adds blockchain support for Google Play apps | GameDeveloper 🌊 MARKET 📞 FTC Appeals Court Ruling In Activision Blizzard Acquisition Case Against Microsoft | Game Informer Apps VS Mobile Games: Who came out on top in H1 2023 | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz 💎 Deep Dives 🔎 Xbox bonanza: that FTC win & the future of Game Pass! | GameDiscoverCo Why esports businesses should pay close attention to employment law | Opinion | GamesIndustry.biz Down. Not out. | SuperJoost Playlist 🌈 Platforms 🏠 Unity announces Safe Voice | GamesIndustry.biz Roblox is coming to Meta’s Quest VR headsets | The Verge ✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐 Android policy change adds blockchain support for Google Play apps | GameDeveloper 🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘 Guerrilla Games and the road to Horizon: Forbidden West | GamesIndustry.biz How Trailmix took Love & Pies from perpetual pivots to record retention | Mobilegamer.biz 💲 Fundraising 🤑 Embrace raises $20M to help devs build better mobile games and apps | VentureBeat Bring It On raises $4M to make skill-based games like Road Trip Bingo | VentureBeat Infinite Canvas raises $6M in funding, launches AI-powered Discord game | VentureBeat Binance Labs Invests $15 Million in Crypto Game Publisher Xterio | Decrypt 👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊 Stumble Guys teams up with MrBeast on in-game experience | VentureBeat

WAGME #18 — Action-packed week of open betas including Mighty Action Heroes, Gran Saga & Mithraeum. Messari drops their on-chain gaming report & Ubisoft dives into Web3 via its Tactical RPG, Champions Tactics. • ❗️ 7 Priority Items to pique your interest • 💻 5 Mints n Drops to look into • 📘 8 Guides to keep you ahead • 👾 19 Game Releases/Updates to keep you in the loop • 🧐 9 Newly Spotted Games to track —————— Drop a gg! ❤️

Look at Gaming #250 | Wednesday July 12th 2023 Alas we have a conclusion to one of the largest legal case of the gaming industry. The court decided to deny the FTC's injunction of the Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This is right on the heels of the deal's expiration date of July 18th, upon which Microsoft has to pay Activision Blizzard a breakup fee of $3B. Initially, Microsoft kept pressing that ABK's mobile expertise and market dominance were why they pursued the deal. But in the end the case largely rested on the Call of Duty franchise. Now there are still chances of the FTC filing an appeal so the show continues. ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 Judge Denies FTC's Injunction | Axios 🌊 MARKET 📞 India deals a 28% tax blow to online gaming industry | TechCrunch Microsoft and UK regulators agree to pause their Activision battle to negotiate | The Verge What's next for Microsoft & Activision Blizzard | Axios Judge Denies FTC's Injunction | Axios What happens to Microsoft and Activision Blizzard post-FTC? | VentureBeat Judge denies injunction in Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition | VentureBeat Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard merger can’t be blocked by FTC, judge rules | TechCrunch 💎 Deep Dives 🔎 The Game Industry Has Spoken: Remote vs. Hybrid vs. On-Site | Deconstructor of Fun ✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐 EU’s Metaverse Vision Focuses on Standards and Governance for Virtual Worlds | Video | CoinDesk 🧠 Knowledge Hub 📘 What is brand marketing? | Mobile Dev Memo by Eric Seufert 💲 Fundraising 🤑 Gardens raises $31m in Series A funding round | GamesIndustry.biz

Look at Gaming #249 | Tuesday July 11th 2023 We know China is a powerhouse when it comes to mobile gaming spend but what's less well-known is the console market — and it's larger than you might think. Niko Partners dropped a report suggesting that the console market generated $2.3B in 2022 from nearly 17M gamers. These figures are from all sales, hardware and software, legitimate channels and grey market. Unsurprisingly, more than 3/4 of the software sales are generated via the grey market. Niko Partners also surveyed actual players to assess what kind of games they prefer and surprisingly these are the first-party narrative-rich titles such as God of War and The Last of Us, while FPS like CoD: MW2 is played by a very small subset. ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 In-depth: inside China's 'hidden' game console market | GameDiscoverCo 🌊 MARKET 📞 Classic Games Disappearing Faster Than Silent Films | Axios In-depth: inside China's 'hidden' game console market | GamesDiscoverCo RPGs led the pack through 2022 in MENA and Asian markets, regional trend report | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz Gaming Industry Report - Q2 2023 | Konvoy Venture 💎 Deep Dives 🔎 Netflix Games 2.0: social games push incoming after big-name live service and triple-A hires | Mobilegamer.biz Meta's firehose (or: the wrong lesson from Threads' 100MM users) | Mobile Dev Memo by Eric Seufert 🌈 Platforms 🏠 Netflix Games 2.0: social games push incoming after big-name live service and triple-A hires | Mobilegamer.biz ✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐 Axie Infinity: Raylights launches monetization and multiplayer gaming | VentureBeat Stepn Creator's Next Game Is a Social MMO Called Gas Hero | Decrypt Mighty Bear Games will publish Mighty Action Heroes on Arbitrum blockchain | VentureBeat 💲 Fundraising 🤑 Gamercraft raises $5 Million for AI-powered skill- gaming platform | VentureBeat 👾 Game & Stats Releases 📊 100 Thieves debuts Bank Heist custom Fortnite Map | VentureBeat The Boys Invades Call Of Duty This Week | Game Informer

Look at Gaming #248 | Monday July 10th 2023 Just a short one for Monday y'all. It was quiet over the weekend. There is one headline that I wanted to spotlight. The growth in gaming amongst women and girls. There was a headline previously about how the age group 50+ feels neglected by the games industry and how that same segment is growing rapidly with over 30% of adults 45+ playing online games. Here are some stats on female gamers. 47% of console gamers are female. Females make up half of PC gamers and 54% of mobile gamers. The breakdown of console type is even more interesting as females own: 52% of Switch, 45% of Xbox Series, and 41% of PS5. This speaks to the broader trend of "everyone is a gamer" and more particularly how certain segments are becoming the lion share of the market. ⚡ Spotlight 🤩 What To Watch: Growth in Gaming Among Women and Girls | The NPD Group 🌊 MARKET 📞 What To Watch: Growth in Gaming Among Women and Girls | The NPD Group 🌈 Platforms 🏠 Mobile Mavens: What do app downloads direct from Facebook mean for the industry? | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz Pulling the Threads: Inside social media's latest trend | Pocket Gamer.biz | PGbiz ✨ Web 3⃣ + Meta 🌐 Line Next signs deal with Sega to make Web3 game for Game Dosi | VentureBeat