PreMortem.Games

JULY 17, 2023

The fact that you can tell who you’re up against because of how they fight, not how they look or what their name is. Over the years the team grew to an international and fully remote team of 9 developers that released Mordhau, the studio’s first title, in 2019. It was this idea that pushed everything else.

Console 104

Console First person PC Mesh 104

Big Games

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

Let’s explore the Top 10 Mobile Game Development without wasting your precious time! Unicorn Run also introduces flying powers and shooting mechanics to help you achieve higher scores, adding an extra layer of excitement to the gameplay. So, are you excited to take a look?

Graphics 52

Graphics Racing Entertainment Games 52

The Bottom Feeder

MARCH 5, 2024

Lots of studio closures. The enormous mobile side of the business has been churning out massive piles of product (and 80 ripoffs of every game that gets any traction) for years. There is just too much entertainment out there fighting for too little free time. They just like to play games. There have been lots of layoffs lately.

Indy 103

Indy Writing Games Fighting 103

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. It’s again taking a super simple addictive core game but actually pairing it with a simplified progression mechanic and some amount of live operations. Missed a previous newsletter?

Mechanics 52

Mechanics Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile 52

Game Refinery

OCTOBER 26, 2023

The ever-changing nature of the mobile market means that new monetization mechanics are constantly emerging and evolving. One of the most popular monetization mechanics is the subscription-based battle pass , which was introduced via Valve’s DOTA 2 in 2013 but popularized by the worldwide phenomenon, Fortnite.

Mobile Gaming 82

Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Co-op 82

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 29, 2020

It all started with “ Dota Auto Chess ”, developed in January ’19 by Drodo Studio as a mod for Dota 2. And just like that, this new concept initially created for PC quickly became a new genre and expanded to mobile, as most of these games are also on mobile (or are going to be soon). What should be the path?

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile Games Fighting 52

Moonmana

APRIL 7, 2023

Both Unity and Unreal are popular choices among giant game development studios as well as indie developers. Some say Unreal is better just because it’s a common choice for AAA studios. Unity is considered the best solution for mobile game development. Unity is the best option for indie developers and mobile game projects.

Engine 52

Engine Engineering Game Engine Asset 52

Game Refinery

AUGUST 17, 2022

Therefore, to correct this terrible misuse of the term, we will look at what “roguelike” or “roguelite” or even “Rogue” actually mean, as well as diving into some concrete examples of how roguelike elements and mechanics have been used in mobile games in China lately. source: Wikipedia).

Mobile Gaming 52

Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 8, 2020

Somewhere in the middle of this journey, another Friendly Game studio shared the early results of the new game they had recently launched. Considering the overly competitive mobile user acquisition market, increasing LTV over time is vital not only to succeed but to survive. This can be seen in how the installs affect revenue.

Data 59

Data Build Mobile Mobile 59

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

AAA game franchises are in the middle of a renaissance on mobile. Several of the industry’s top IPs have received high-fidelity ports that have been successful in bringing core franchise players to the mobile format. It was only a matter of time before Call of Duty would find its feet on mobile. So is COD Mobile dead?

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile FPS Console 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 20, 2020

This makes RPGs the third largest genre on mobile after Strategy ($5.4Bn) and Puzzle ($4.5Bn) games. For example, entering Fighting games is nearly suicidal effort. Fighting games install trends are spiky as is the revenue rate. To summarise it, failing to make and scale a high-quality RPG will likely doom a studio.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Fighting Studios Art 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. This post is sponsored by Xsolla.

Console 59

Console Mobile Mobile PC 59

PreMortem.Games

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

I left gamedev entirely for five years, because I was burned out from working on yet another F2P mobile casino game or whatever soulless product would feed my family.” I do sometimes have ‘flashes’ -or dreams- of cool ideas like a gameplay mechanic, other times a whole story or environment. Prepare to learn and give yourself time.

Dev 158

Dev Playtesting Art Games 158

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 17, 2020

Here are the three things you need to know about ironSource: #1: They’re developing the most robust, data-driven growth engine for mobile games. #2: In fact, Arcade games alone make up for ~45% of 2019’s total download volume across all mobile gaming genres. This analysis is also brought to you by ironSource.

Mechanics 52

Mechanics Platformer Studios Data 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 31, 2022

An essential data platform for all mobile gaming studios. Well, one of the biggest trends in mid-core games is growing your business on mobile and beyond. The biggest sub-genre on mobile in terms of revenue is 4X Games, which also had a good year. This prediction is written by Michail Katkoff and Buğrahan Göker.

Cross platform 52

Cross platform Platformer Puzzle Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 8, 2019

Beyond study and instrumentation, there is instinct.” - Annorax* Creating a new F2P mobile game is riskier than it’s ever been. The majority of F2P mobile publishers are prioritizing the improvement of live operations processes for existing products over the creation of new products to generate more reliable revenue and to control costs.

Fantasy 52

Fantasy Mechanics Concepts Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 25, 2022

The card-battling RPG genre was one of the first in mobile games that enjoyed success at scale and popularity around the world. By embracing and encouraging gamers’ motivation to collect and to cultivate, the card battling genre has become a proven formula for mobile companies and studios to maximize their revenue.

Baking 52

Baking Simulation Build Animation 52

Game Refinery

OCTOBER 11, 2022

Tower of Fantasy is a new MMORPG developed by Hotta Studio and published by Perfect World and Level Infinite. Similar to the mechanics of Genshin Impact, the player explores the vast open-world by climbing on the walls, swimming in the rivers, gliding in the skies, wiping out enemies, and solving different kinds of puzzles.

Fantasy 52

Fantasy Co-op Open World Feature 52

Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

This analysis is written by Taras Koshelev (Lead Game Designer at My.Games Venture Capital) who focused on game mechanics and loops and Michail Katkoff (Founder of Savage Game Studios) who covered the market and marketability. Puzzle RPGs on Mobile. In 2019 Puzzle RPGs experienced a 54% growth of revenue in the Western markets.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Tile Mechanics Build 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 3, 2019

There was also this no-name developer Supercell that launched their first mobile games just few miles away back in 2012. Mechanics like auto-win and auto-battle clearly indicate the need for players to shorten their session and “be done” with the matching component of E&P. An unprecedented success from a no-name developer.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Build Feature Balance 52

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 2, 2022

Mobile games market predictions in 2022 Michail Katkoff, Savage Game Studios, and Deconstructor of Fun. Mobile gaming megatrends Eric Seufert, Mobile Dev Memo. Mobile ad spending worldwide is going up and shifting faster than ever from traditional channels like TV, OOO into digital.

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile Balance Mobile Gaming 52

Deconstructor of Fun

DECEMBER 11, 2019

The most notable move being the opening of a Berlin studio that is categorically focussed on “casual” games, with key hires coming in from Blizzard, King, Rovio and the likes. More recently, and while writing this post, Voodoo also announced a new Montreal studio that wants to build games “beyond hypercasual”.

Data 52

Data Advertising Studios Mobile Gaming 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 14, 2020

Puzzle genre is the second largest, after strategy games, on mobile in terms of in-app purchases. AppLovin, the US-based ad network turned publisher , which came clear about their investment into Firecraft Studios, acquired Belka. King lost third of downloads but woke up towards the end of the year to fight back for downloads.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Games Tile Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

MAY 4, 2020

Most mobile gaming companies bet on incremental innovation as their gateway to success. Instead, we think that Clans would have declined even without Clash Royale (albeit at a slower rate) due to the “law of gravity” that all mobile games face after launch and, therefore, that Clash Royale was net positive. Cover image: Talouselämä. #1

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming 52

Keith Burgun

JANUARY 27, 2023

I’m reminded a bit of those mobile games where the first 10 minutes is like this absolutely incredible looking and sounding thing, and then you’re sort of “dropped off” into the same old 2015 gacha clone looking thing. I mean, you spend a LOT of time fighting in this game. And the battles kind of suck.

Writing 52

Writing Fantasy Fighting Cutscenes 52

Deconstructor of Fun

DECEMBER 12, 2021

The Genesis and Rise of Sky Mavis Axie Infinity is developed by a studio called Sky Mavis , which is headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and officially formed in 2018 to bring the game to life. On the other hand, Axie Infinity mashes familiar turn-based gameplay with a Hearthstone-like card battler mechanic.

Mechanics 52

Mechanics Balance Games Game Design 52

Deconstructor of Fun

AUGUST 27, 2019

This post is sponsored by Lab Cave , a Mobile Growth Company that provides App Store Optimization and Mediation services for mobile Apps and Games. This deconstruct is written by Eva Grillova (Game Designer at Smirk Game Studios) and Abhimanyu Kumar (Mobile Games Consultant). To make sure you don’t miss on all of the ?content

Balance 52

Balance Content Mechanics Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

MARCH 4, 2019

This one is written by Om Tandon (Director of User Experience, DIGIT Game Studios) and Abhimanyu Kumar (Mobile Games Consultant). Almost all Social Casino titles have fought for market share by staying safe and delivering authentic casino experiences on mobile. To make sure you don’t miss on all of the ?content

UX 52

UX Mechanics Build Point and Click 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 10, 2019

Yet something has changed in the last years as mobile free to play has matured and become global. Many of the new games that are gaining ground are coming from developers like Lilith , Firecraft Studios (Matchington Mansion), FunPlus (King of Avalon, Guns of Glory) and IGG (Lords Mobile). Core Battle: Fighting on Auto-Pilot.

Mechanics 52

Mechanics Feature Mobile Mobile 52