Game Refinery

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

Following the high-level trend of hybridization across mobile , more and more casual games have started introducing competitive elements into their live event strategies. This has become especially prevalent in the puzzle subgenre, with around 75% of casual puzzle games in the US top-grossing 200 implementing these features.

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Puzzle Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile 52

PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

“As I travel across Africa creating games, there’s something everyone seems to agree on…” says Bethlehem Anteneh , a trained architect, co-founder of SOSTLab and the moderator of the She Got Game panel at Africa Games Week (AGW). Think of a bar where 90% of the people are men.

Game Developer 141

Game Developer Game Development Development Games 141

PreMortem.Games

JUNE 30, 2023

Kiro’o Games is an ambitious game development company based in Yaounde, Cameroon. Founder and CEO Olivier Madiba is pursuing his dream of creating the biggest African game studio by building a Pan-African entertainment ecosystem which encapsulates games, comics, animation and even restaurants. This is his story.

Entertainment 197

Entertainment Build Games Animation 197

iXie gaming

OCTOBER 10, 2023

Free-to-play and live-service games have become well-established in the gaming industry. They provide players with a convenient way to start playing, and the longevity of such games hinges on the appeal of their existing content as well as the strategy for delivering and monetizing future updates.

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Balance Content Games Platformer 52

PreMortem.Games

DECEMBER 22, 2023

Because, let’s be honest, creating games is hard. This year we featured over 20 brave game creators in our solo developers-series and we like to share some highlights. It took solo game developer Graham Reid great effort to finish his game. “I Her upcoming game, Spilled! ,

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Development Dev Indy Game Developer 254

iXie gaming

NOVEMBER 25, 2022

Games are more than just a diversion. However, developing games has become very time-consuming and expensive. This is why game art studios have emerged over the past decade. Instead of working on the next big blockbuster title alone, game art studios help companies create their titles with minimal financial investment.

Art 52

Art Game Developer Game Development Studios 52

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 12, 2023

In February, Ilkka Paananen, the beloved CEO of Supercell, and arguably one of the faces on the Mount Rushmore of Mobile Games Executives, published his yearly blog post. FRUSTRATION: These blog posts can also annoy game executives and senior leaders. After all, Supercell is our beacon of hope. Source: Data.ai

Mobile 118

Mobile Mobile Engine Engineering 118

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 31, 2021

Our 2021 predictions have been sponsored by Facebook Gaming. Facebook Gaming helps developers and publishers to build, grow, and monetize their games. As the casinos worldwide shut down the Casino games on touchscreen devices hit the jackpot with a nearly 50% increase of IAP spend year-over-year. billion IPO.

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile Games Feature 52

PreMortem.Games

JULY 17, 2023

The brutal and bloody combat game from Slovenian developer Triternion has already been very successful for the last 4 years on PC. This is a completely different beast from a shooter.” “ Mordhau at its core has always been about melee combat”, says Jonathan Dunn, Game Designer at Triternion.

Console 104

Console First person PC Mesh 104

Moonmana

APRIL 7, 2023

If you’ve ever wondered what the best game engine is, we invite you to figure it out with us. Unity versus Unreal – this seems to be an ever-lasting battle in the game development world. Having been the market leaders for years, these two are the main candidates for the title of the best game engine. What is Unity?

Engine 52

Engine Engineering Game Engine Asset 52

Game Refinery

APRIL 6, 2023

With increased competition from IDFA regulation changes and new games consistently entering the market, two of the biggest challenges facing publishers and mobile game studios are acquiring new players (UA) and keeping those players in your game (player retention). Why implement minigames?

Mechanics 80

Mechanics Puzzle Mobile Mobile 80

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 4, 2023

We dive into decline of hypercasual games and hybridcasual, an attempt by mobile game developers to adapt to the new normal in the industry. Former Disney and NBCU Execituve Talk the Death of the Games-as-App Before going deeper, let us define the terms: Hypercasual games are the bubble gum of the gaming industry.

Mechanics 52

Mechanics Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 29, 2020

Netflix recently released a video series, High Score , covering the history of the video games industry. Each of the major innovations covered dramatically increased the size of the video games market. Are there any implications for the next big innovations that will drive the current video game market size even higher?

Esports 52

Esports Technology Games Platformer 52

Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

While it’s fun and entertaining to follow Epic’s crusade on Apple, I think it’s equally important to discuss how these court battles impact tens of thousands of game developers around the World. Consider it an appetizer to the content. Below you’ll find our conversation on YouTube and podcast.

Dev 52

Dev Mobile Mobile Build 52

Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Recently Apple decided to delay the privacy requirements of iOS 14 until ‘early next year ’ presumably after the mobile game industry uproar became too much. Extending that period of instability makes the hardest and most vital part of the business- making new games- more difficult for a longer period of time.

Game Developer 52

Game Developer Game Development Development Mobile Gaming 52

Game Errors

APRIL 5, 2023

Ever since it joined Kabam’s mobile gaming lineup, Marvel: Contest Of Champions has provided a mix of good and bad for its legions of players. Some players have reported that their game is crashing when they attempt to access certain features or events. If so, choose to Update the game.

Software 52

Software PC Fighting Mobile Gaming 52

Gamesbrief

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

In 2008 , I was a financier who had left banking and was working on the edges of the games sector. A new games phenomenon was emerging. Mobile games were in their infancy and about to be given rocket fuel when Steve Jobs announced the creation of the iPhone. But there are also fundamental changes taking place.

Internet 52

Internet Technology Fighting Mobile Gaming 52

Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Since then, I’ve read Lloyd’s article “ Subscriptions: The new weapon in the game monetization arsenal ” half a dozen times and turned from a doubter of subscriptions into a believer. He has been in the video game industry since 1993, where he has worked at both start-ups and huge entertainment companies.

Games 52

Games Content Entertainment Retail 52

Greenheart Games

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

A bit of research brought up a story from a year ago ( source ) that puts the blame on Google’s algorithm for fighting fake reviews and concluding that genuine reviews are also deleted by it as collateral damage. Lots of them just gave the game a 5-star rating without a custom text. We had just lost over 400. burns in our minds.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Culling Content Writing 52

Game Errors

JUNE 6, 2023

Both of these games are known for their amazing multiplayer experience. Looking at Fortnite, we can see that this game is also compatible with PCs with basic hardware. Apex Legends is a First-Person shooter game, while Fortnite is Third-Person. However, in Apex Legends, a gamer must be an expert and do more to move and fight.

Esports 52

Esports Data Cross platform Content 52

Mircosoft Game Dev

AUGUST 10, 2017

Despite being the lead developer of Godot, I have almost 20 years of experience developing and shipping games, and a decade of experience as technical consultant. I didn't become rich (yet :D) making games, but I learned a lot in the process. Many games were released, but a large amount were abandoned.

Prototyping 52

Prototyping Alpha Asset Point and Click 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JULY 10, 2022

This post is written by our friends, the fantastic Game Bakery substack team. However, the gameplay in Dislyte is nothing new, adopting Lilith’s best practices for CCG-RPG games with validated gameplay, solid meta-features, and gacha-based monetization. The game is, in a way, a follow-up to the widely successful AFK Arena.

Art 52

Art Media Feature Content 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JULY 20, 2020

Riot’s Team Fight Tactics (TFT) was launched quickly to catch the emerging auto-chess genre that was gaining popularity as a mod on Twitch. Riot for sure succeeded in shipping fast, but they clearly didn’t pay much attention on the business case for the game. Till date Team Fight Tactics has reached bit over 11M installs.

Fighting 52

Fighting Games Mechanics Balance 52

Game Errors

APRIL 26, 2023

The Far Cry series currently includes five numbered games and several spin-offs. And they’re all completely different games. Far Cry is just famous for the fact that each new game is something very different from the previous ones. Fortunately, we have all you need to know, so make sure you stay on this page until the end.

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Ray Tracing Open World Cinematics PC 52

PreMortem.Games

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

Even as creatives in other entertainment industries continue to fight to make fair wages, a new front has opened in gaming as developers figure out what to do about Unity’s new fee structure. Based on the number of users installing a game, the platform will trigger a fee depending on specific revenue and installation thresholds.

Engine 115

Engine Engineering Game Engine Platformer 115

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 8, 2020

Oleg has built his data-driven product management expertise working on some of the biggest games as well as some of the biggest social platforms in the World. The most common metrics gaming companies focus on are Day-1, Day-7, and Day-30 retention rate. The soft launch of the game was a disaster. But let me start with a story.

Data 59

Data Build Mobile Mobile 59

Game Refinery

AUGUST 17, 2022

“Roguelike” was definitely a buzzword among game developers last year in China, and the shockwaves made by the boom can still be felt today – for example, still in May 2022, we spotted three new games that claimed to be “roguelike” entering the Chinese iOS top-grossing top 200 list. source: Wikipedia).

Mobile Gaming 52

Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 19, 2021

Our 2021 predictions have been sponsored by Facebook Gaming. Facebook Gaming helps developers and publishers to build, grow, and monetize their games. Role-Playing Games on Mobile The RPG market is a high risk, high reward genre walled by a robust entry barrier. Small Giant did it with Puzzle and Empires.

Cross platform 52

Cross platform Mobile Mobile Platformer 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 29, 2024

Guest post by Alexander Devyaterikov , Producer at Belka Games In today's gaming world, it's not enough to just have a good game. We need to release regular updates: more content, more events, faster, and higher quality. As you can see, the result is pretty good for a 9-year-old game. The schedule is filled.

Mechanics 98

Mechanics Content Puzzle Mobile Gaming 98

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

content coming out in the future, please do subscribe to the Deconstructor of Fun infrequent but powerful newsletter. AAA game franchises are in the middle of a renaissance on mobile. Major franchises claimed three of the top downloaded title spots worldwide last month: Call of Duty Mobile, Mario Kart Tour, and PUBG Mobile.

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile FPS Console 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 13, 2021

Written by Ethan Levy , who is always looking for worthy, free-to-play mobile games for the N3TWORK Scale Platform. Ask him about a free, $10,000 UA test for your game. But now, thanks to this tantalizing report we get to wonder, what should be the gaming of Netflix? What do we actually know?

Mobile Gaming 52

Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Games 52

Deconstructor of Fun

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

Guest post by Kenneth Landen , Director of Product at Hit Factor Executive Summary In the ever-evolving landscape of mobile gaming, Supercell's Brawl Stars has undergone a remarkable resurgence, transforming challenges into triumphs. Culminating with the highest revenue month the game has seen in years in January 2024.

Mechanics 59

Mechanics Content Feature Mobile 59

Logic Simplified

JULY 11, 2023

The video game industry is a huge and consistent segment of the market. Video games are the first choice for millennials as well as adults who can’t get their childhood gaming addiction off their heads. Every day, new games are released across all platforms, each focusing on a distinct genre.

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Racing Simulation Puzzle Fighting 65

Deconstructor of Fun

MARCH 27, 2019

Both of the authors are true fans of Command & Conquer franchise and both of the authors understand all to well how hard it is to ship a hit mobile game. content coming out in the future, please do subscribe to the Deconstructor of Fun infrequent but powerful newsletter. This has to be a major disappointment to EA Mobile.

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming Build 52

Deconstructor of Fun

DECEMBER 5, 2021

If you’re interested in growing your business on mobile and beyond, look no further. Xsolla has dedicated tools that will help you create your own online commerce platform, improve your performance marketing and discoverability, and expand your game business on mobile and PC. Check out Xsolla’s solutions for more information.

Console 59

Console Mobile Mobile Content 59

Game Refinery

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Niantic’s AR-based mobile game took the world by storm and broke numerous world records , including the most revenue grossed by a mobile game in its first month ($206.5m). It’s an entertaining game in its own right, revolving around solid tapping and swiping controls that players must master to succeed.

Mobile Gaming 65

Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Mechanics 65

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 25, 2022

This post is written by the fantastic Game Bakery substack team of Chase, Zixuan, Haiyin, Caitou, Fish, Amy, Chow, Jing, Wanzi and edited by Caitou, Rob. From our sponsor: Do you need funds to finish, release, or promote your game? Your game gets screened internally by our industry experts within two weeks. Create an account 2.

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Baking Simulation Build Animation 52