Elon Musk is launching AI Game Studio

Musk's xAI is diving into Game Dev with a next-gen AI-powered studio. Alright. So, can Elon Musk Make Games GREAT AGAIN? Elon Musk wants to shake up gaming, claiming big studios have too much power. The plan? AI-driven game studio. But if it works, wouldn’t it just become another massive studio, repeating the same industry problems? The real challenge for indie devs isn’t just competition—it’s lack of resources and visibility:🚀 High dev costs🚀 No organic traffic🚀 Zero UA budget🚀 A discovery system built for profits, not quality A Better Play: AI-Powered Support for Indies🛠 1. Free AI Tools for Indie DevsWhat if AI helped indie devs build more with less?Think AI-driven art, monetization, live-ops automation, and even AI-powered NPCs—available for free (or via simple X-based ad revenue deals). 🎮 2. A Curated Indie App StoreMusk’s X could launch a next-gen […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 18

Highlights

Mobile Gaming Today: 47

⚡️ Feb 11-18: What's up? Hei Fam! After your feedback, I changed the Newsletter Format a bit. Lmk how you feel 🦧 Game of the Week: Goods Puzzle ABI Game Studio’s Hit Game here. Making around 300K IAP + Ads altogether per day! More? Sort Puzzle: The Hottest Genre Of 2024 This newest iteration of the mixed object match pair puzzler is hitting the gas, overtaking even the previous leader of this loop. Another testament to the quality setup of Hybrid Casual puzzler, powered by a unique core gameplay loop with very accessible gameplay and theme. On top of it, its metagame is using all of the best practices of the event rotation meta from Royal Match, making this a highly grossing combination. Sort Puzzle Top 10: AppMagic 2025 Gaming Investments » AppLovin is selling all its Game Studios for […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 18

Journal

War Robots by MY.GAMES: $1 Billion in Revenue

As reported by PocketGamer, My.Games and Pixonic’s War Robots has officially joined the billion-dollar club, surpassing $1 billion in lifetime revenue across all platforms. The milestone follows the game’s 10-year anniversary, cementing its status among fewer than 100 mobile titles to hit this benchmark, according to data.ai. With over 300 million installs, War Robots maintains an active player base of 4.7 million monthly users and 690,000 daily players. Mobile dominates the game's success, contributing 95% of total installs and 94% of revenue. Android leads in downloads with 212 million compared to iOS’s 70 million, but revenue is nearly split—$455 million from Android and $442 million from iOS. Global Reach and Expansion The U.S., Japan, Germany, South Korea, and the UK drive the game's revenue, with U.S. players alone contributing over $380 million. The game's return to China last year further […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 17

Journal

MTG completes $620M Plarium Buy

Mid-Core Mobile Dominance here. Modern Times Group (MTG) is acquiring Plarium, the studio behind Raid: Shadow Legends, from Aristocrat Leisure for $620 million. The deal, expected to close in Q1 2025, will nearly double MTG’s EBITDA and free cash flow, pushing annual sales past $1.1 billion. Key Highlights: Plarium’s Performance: $613M revenue and $137M adjusted EBITDA (LTM as of Sept 2024). Raid: Shadow Legends is the top-grossing turn-based RPG on mobile. Other hits: Vikings: War of Clans, Mech Arena, Merge Gardens (90% of Plarium’s revenue). Expanding into China & Asia via a NetEase partnership. Financial Structure & Growth Impact: $20M deferred payment (2026); potential earnouts of $30M (2025) & $170M (2028). Acquisition expected to be highly EPS accretive. $460M bank financing secured. Strategic Synergies: MTG gains Plarium’s expertise in live-ops, user acquisition, and monetization. Integration with Plarium Play & GoGame […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 15

Journal

2025 Mobile App Trends Report: Applovin x Adjust

Source: Applovin x Adjust If 2024 was the year of experimentation, 2025 is the year of scaling. App Marketers & Devs spent the past year testing new Tech, adapting to changes in user behaviors, and preparing for regulatory changes and platform updates. This year we’ll see mobile app companies leverage what they’ve learned to drive sustainable growth at scale. As people’s lives become more mobile-centric, with consumers spending an average of five hours a day on their devices and engaging with 26 apps each month, the opportunity to reach consumers is ripe for both app marketers and direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. In addition, in-app spending increased by 15.7% year over year, signaling strong industry momentum – and consumers’ confidence in completing mobile purchases. As more companies embrace mobile’s potential, marketers are future-proofing their practices, incorporating AI into their advertising workflows, extending […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 14

Highlights

TikTok is now back to the US App Store!

The Chinese social media platform is once again available for download in the US as Donald Trump deliberates its future amid ongoing security concerns. Welcome back, old sport! TikTok reappeared in Apple's and Google's US app stores on Thursday after President Donald Trump postponed a ban on the Chinese-owned social media platform and confirmed that the tech companies would not face fines for hosting or distributing it. More: How TikTok’s US Ban Could Reshape Mobile Gaming Marketing The widely-used short video app, which nearly half of all Americans engage with, briefly went offline last month before a law took effect on January 19. This law mandates that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, must either sell TikTok on national security grounds or face a ban. The next day, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order delaying the ban's enforcement by 75 […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 14

Journal

AI Innovation: EU AI Act and Microsoft’s Take

Source: Microsoft Last week, the first provisions of the European Union AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive AI regulation, went into effect. The AI Act extends beyond the EU—it applies to companies that operate in countries that place AI products on the EU market or produce AI systems whose outputs are used in the EU. Microsoft has been involved in dialogue with EU regulators from the AI Act’s earliest stages, and we continue to engage with regulators to share our insights, seek clarity on open questions, and advocate for practical outcomes. Below, we go into more detail on how we and our customers can innovate in line with the EU AI Act. Building Microsoft products and services that comply with the EU AI Act Organizations around the world use Microsoft products and services for innovative AI solutions that empower them […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 12

Journal

Gaming M&A returns to growth in 2024

Gaming M&A and financings in 2024 saw a robust year, with $27.3B in disclosed deal value across over 967 transactions, a 39% increase in disclosed value compared to 2023. Public markets showed signs of recovery with the Drake Star Gaming Index growing 10.4% for the year. The Drake Star Global Gaming Report 2024 analyzes Gaming and Esports dealmaking in 2024 and the last quarter of the year and outlines what to expect for the coming year and beyond. Full report here. Highlights include: M&A activity in 2024 experienced a 21% increase in deal volume over 2023, with 198 announced deals and $10.5B in disclosed value. As predicted, several high-profile M&A deals emerged from private equity firms, including EQT’s $2.8B acquisition of Keywords and CVC’s $1.1B purchase of Jagex. Other major transactions included Playtika’s acquisition of SuperPlay for up to $1.95B and […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 12

Highlights

Unity’s Sudden Lay-Offs: 5 AM Email

Another day that we're proud to help our industry: Gamigion.com/jobs 🍀 Apparently, the entire Unity Behavior team was cut, alongside many other employees. This just in: Software developer Unity Technologies has executed yet another round of massive layoffs – the sixth one in recent years – eliminating an undisclosed number of employees, including, apparently, entire departments. Unity The layoffs were first revealed in a LinkedIn post by Coline Turquin, a former Senior Software Developer at Unity and one of the affected employees, which states that Coline was terminated after five years as "part of the recent layoffs," implying she was not the only one impacted. This implication was later reaffirmed by Florence Rolland-Soulier, who left Unity in 2023 due to the company changing too much from what it once was, who described the job cuts as "mass" and noted that "some of the brightest, most […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 11

Highlights

Supercell’s Super Record Revenue, $3 billion in 2024

Supercell hit a record $3 billion in revenue in 2024 as all of its live games saw sales rise YoY for the first time since 2014. Let's hear from Ilkka, CEO & Co-Founder of Supercell: The past year was a rollercoaster – the good kind of. We had some unprecedented successes and unprecedented challenges. Of the many achievements, failures, risks, and lessons at Supercell that highlighted 2024, two games stand out. On one hand, Brawl Stars exploded by every conceivable metric, like I have never seen before in my entire career. Brawl Stars is a great example of what is possible to achieve even with a relatively ”old” live game when all stars align. It is also the latest example that it truly is possible to create forever games, and the best games never get “old” if you keep them […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 11

Journal

Take-Two Gaming Report: Losses Increased by 36%

Take-Two Interactive released its report for the third quarter of fiscal 2025, which spanned from October 1 to December 31, 2024. Here's what it revealed. ▫️Take-Two reported net revenue of $1.36 billion, which is 1% lower than the previous year. ▫️Almost all revenue came from digital game sales—96% or $1.31 billion. ▫️The leading platform for Take-Two remained mobile, accounting for 54% of revenue. Console games contributed 37%, while PC and other platforms made up 9%. ▫️The total net bookings for the quarter rose by 3% to $1.37 billion. ▫️Losses couldn't be avoided. During the quarter, Take-Two lost $125.2 million, a 36.6% increase compared to the previous year. ▫️Overall, the company is pleased with the quarterly results. Although the mobile division led by Zynga earned less than expected (mainly due to a downturn in the hyper-casual games segment), overall operational metrics […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 7

Highlights

King’s New Game: Candy Crush Solitaire

Candy Crush meets Solitaire! 🎉 King just dropped Candy Crush Solitaire—their first new game in five years! It’s a fresh spin on the classic TriPeaks Solitaire, packed with Candy Crush magic—power-ups, boosters, and even a hold slot for extra strategy. 🌟 What’s new?✅ Familiar Candy Crush elements like Color Bombs, lollipop hammers & jelly bears 🍬✅ Strategic gameplay with a hold slot for extra moves 🎯✅ A rewarding Sweet Journey where players collect postcards from places like Paris & Japan ✈️ 🃏 Why solitaire?Casual card games are booming! Candy Crush Solitaire keeps it relaxing yet strategic, blending satisfying progression with endless replayability. 💡 Built for the long runKing is rolling out regular updates, seasonal events, and new levels—so there’s always something fresh to dive into! Here's what we hear from Oriol Canudas, General Manager, New Games at King: 🚀 Exciting […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 7

Ömer Yakabagi

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