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Ömer Yakabagi

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Playable Factory secured a strategic investment from Ludus Ventures

The partnership, combining Playable Factory’s proven expertise with Ludus Ventures’ strategic insights, is set to redefine Interactive Advertising. Playable Factory, a leader in gamified advertising and interactive ad technologies, has secured a strategic investment from Ludus Ventures. This partnership will further enhance Playable Factory’s leadership in both its core playable ads business and its growing focus on non-gaming applications, enabling the company to deliver even greater value to brands across diverse industries. The investment will help the company expand its innovative web tools, refine its industry-leading playable ad solutions, and unlock new opportunities in emerging markets.  Ludus Ventures’ extensive experience in scaling successful technology companies makes this partnership uniquely strategic with a portfolio that includes brands like Monetizr, specializing in gamified rewards, and Goama, a brand in gamification services, Ludus Ventures brings unmatched expertise in interactive solutions. Backed by General Partners with […]

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Apple Faces Investigation in China Over Monopoly

China's antitrust regulator is preparing an investigation into Apple, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the situation. The potential subject of the investigation is the App Store's policies. According to Bloomberg, Chinese authorities suspect that Apple forced app developers to pay excessively high fees — ranging from 15% to 30% depending on their income levels. Additionally, the antitrust officials intend to assess the legality of prohibiting the use of alternative payment systems and mobile stores on iOS. It is reported that the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) in China began discussing this issue with Apple executives and developers last year. Representatives from Apple and SAMR did not comment on the Bloomberg report. Notably, Chinese developers had previously attempted to sue the corporation, accusing it of imposing excessively large commissions in the App Store. Their efforts were unsuccessful. In May […]

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AppsFlyer lays off 100 employees, 7% of its workforce.

After "AppLovin's Adjust Layoffs", now AppsFlyer's turn. CEO Oren Kaniel says the company will focus on AI and scalability as part of long-term growth plans. Unicorn AppsFlyer is laying off 100 of its employees, about 7% of its workforce. The company currently employs 1,200 people, two-thirds of whom are based in Israel. The layoffs will affect employees both in Israel and in the company’s other global offices. AppsFlyer was founded in 2011 by Oren Kaniel and Reshef Mann. According to estimates, the company's revenue is currently around $400 million, and the layoffs may be part of preparations for a planned IPO in the coming year. AppsFlyer was founded in 2011 by Oren Kaniel and Reshef Mann. The company has developed technology that allows app owners to identify where their most profitable users originated from, such as a Google search, an […]

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Türkiye’s Laton Ventures raises $50M to invest in Game & App Startups

🚀 🟣 Laton Ventures announces:- $50M Fund raised- 5 investments were completed in TR/EU/US, 2 of them raised Series-A rounds within a year. Grand Games, one of our first investments, raised $30M- Ranked among the global top 10 most active gaming VCs- Backed by 40+ exited gaming/tech founders and industry veterans from 10+ countriesLaton Ventures, Melisa Yaguboglu, Volkan Özen Laton Ventures: Görkem Türk (left), Melisa Yaguboglu, Volkan Özen. Laton Ventures, a Gaming & Apps focused VC firm founded by Görkem Türk, has closed its first fund with $50 million. The Istanbul venture capital fund is the largest gaming and apps-focused fund in Türkiye, which has become one of the prominent global hubs for the gaming industry, said Türk in a statement. Laton Ventures will globally invest in pre-seed and seed-stage gaming startups, while also backing non-gaming app companies. Back in April, […]

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Gaming AdTech: Bigabid raises $25 million Series A

The round, led by MobilityWare, will fuel expansion and enhance ad-based gaming models. Bigabid, a data-driven ad-tech company specializing in machine learning (ML) based solutions, has raised $25 million in a Series A round and signed a cooperation agreement with the gaming company MobilityWare to expand its media activity in the gaming sector. The company’s $3 million Seed round took place in 2016. The company’s CEO, Amit Flohr, told Calcalist that Bigabid faced challenging years in its early stages, but now that it is profitable, it has decided to raise new capital. “MobilityWare and several leading angel investors participated in the round. We’ve had many offers to raise funds, but I didn’t want to dilute the shareholders. I was looking for an investment that adds strategic value, which makes the collaboration with MobilityWare especially important. The funds will also be […]

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Mobile Gaming Today: 43

Hola Fam ☃️ Lezgo with hot stuff. Bye, TikTok. Aaand - Already back, lol. Strong reminder: Don't rely heavily on a single UA channel. Smt fun? Game of The Week: Block Blast Block Blast has created the biggest ad revenue game from a simplistic block-blasting mechanic. It's using the Tetris "likeness" to its advantage, but it still has a lot of iteration to differentiate from its predecessor. But don't be fooled, under the surface, there is a lot of hidden stuff that is the secret sauce of the game such as difficulty balancing. More? Here on YouTube & Spotify Mobile Marketing » Magic Sort Analysis: Grand Games’ New Treasure 📈 Paid campaign effect on organic traffic 🤟🏻 Evolution of Stacking Mechanics 👥 Player Segmentation to boost LTV 📱 Mobile Games Marketing Predictions 🇹🇷 Top 10 Turkish Mobile Game Publishers 👾 […]

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How TikTok’s US Ban Could Reshape Mobile Gaming Marketing

TikTok went offline on Saturday. The law passed by Congress last year gave TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance until Jan 19 to divest from TikTok or be cut off from U.S. App Stores and hosting services. TikTok said a sale wasn't possible and challenged the law in court, but the Supreme Court rejected it on Friday. Trump on Sunday posted that he'd restore TikTok, first writing "SAVE TIKTOK" and then vowing to issue an executive order on Monday to extend the time before the law takes effect. However, TikTok is already back. After being banned for not even 1 full day, it displays a "Welcome Back" pop-up. More? Marvel Snap is now banned following the TikTok US Ban. Marvel Snap's publisher Nuverse is owned by TikTok parent company ByteDance. Industry's Take? I think TikTok ban is kind of not the […]

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Konvoy Q4 2024 Gaming Industry Report

🎮 Konvoy Q4 2024 Gaming Industry Report - funding in 2024 was down 15% from 2023, and Q4 saw $286m in funding (the lowest funding in 5+ years for gaming venture). ↗️ - AI funding is marginally increasing in gaming (10% of funding this quarter) - Series A graduation rates for gaming startups dropped to just 11.5%, signaling an opportunity for more support for early-stage founders.- Big tech is doubling down on immersive platforms with Google Android XR launch, and rising scrutiny around child safety is reshaping trust and accountability online.👀 We expect the gaming market size to hit $223B by 2029, the road ahead is packed with many challenges and unique opportunities.🎮 Full report here. Source: Konvoy & Josh Chapman

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The ‘Why’ Behind Grand Games’ $30M Investment

We wrote about "Grand Games secures $30M Series A" last week. Cooler stuff? Just published our "Magic Sort Analysis", check it out! Let's talk about the How & Why. Securing $30M just 9 months after its launch? 🦄 Folks, it's something big. The publisher behind Magic Sort made $4M+ in 6 months. Among the largest Series A rounds for Turkish gaming startups. Turkey’s Casual Mobile Gaming scene is booming. Or, it's been booming 😅 Check out: Mobile Gaming World: Türkiye Dream Games raised $255 million in 2022. Peak Games was acquired by Zynga in 2020 for $1.8 billion. Spyke raised $50M last year and launched with $55 million. DoubleU Games Acquires Turkish Studio Paxie Games Azur Games, has acquired the hypercasual portfolio of Good Job Games. Agave Games' $18M Series A at a valuation of around $100M last month. Cypher Games Secures 10M$ Investment […]

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Huuuge Games Lays Off 122 Employees

Poland office faces 89 layoffs as studios in the Netherlands and Finland shut down. Huuuge Games Restructures, Laying Off Nearly a Third of Its Workforce Huuuge Games is downsizing its global workforce by 29%, letting go of 122 employees as it shifts focus back to social casino titles. The layoffs include 89 positions in its Poland office, representing 21% of that branch's headcount. The company is also closing its Netherlands and Finland studios, known as 'Huuuge Pods,' and halting new game development. Additionally, funding for Bananaz Studios will cease, leading to a $3.5 million write-down. Huuuge expects the restructuring to be completed by February 2025, asserting it will not negatively affect revenue. Despite an 18.2% year-over-year decline in net income to $15.3 million in Q3 2024, the company remains profitable, holding $125 million in cash reserves and exploring potential mergers […]

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