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Gaming Investments: 2025 Predictions

Written by our partner InvestGame. 2024 was a year of recovery and strategic recalibration for the gaming industry. After years of pandemic-related challenges and shifting market dynamics, the sector is gradually finding its footing. As demand for gaming fell post-COVID, many public companies struggled to demonstrate positive organic revenue growth (i.e. growth excluding revenue from recently acquired companies), often missing analyst expectations. Rising interest rates and broader macroeconomic uncertainty further affected valuations for publicly traded gaming firms, making company stock less attractive currency for new acquisitions. This led sellers of acquisition targets to prefer cash over buyers’ illiquid, risky, and typically depreciating stocks. Meanwhile, debt raised during the pandemic to finance acquisitions has become more expensive to service. Coupled with weaker organic performance, these factors tightened debt covenants and led numerous public strategic players to announce strategic reviews, lay off […]

Gamigion January 20

Journal

Top Casual Games LiveOps Strategy

Top Casual Games LiveOps Strategy Based on Playliner research, here’s what’s working for the top titles: 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗚𝗼 • $92M/month revenue, 3M downloads • Focus: Co-op activities • Supporting features: Collection, passes, mini-games, task-based rewards 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲𝘀 • $41M/month revenue, 4M downloads • Focus: Expeditions & Adventures • Supporting features: PvP, tournaments, win streaks, passes 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 • $120M/month revenue, 4M downloads • Focus: Tournaments • Supporting features: Co-op, mini-games, collections, gacha 𝗖𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 • $53M/month revenue, 2.8M downloads • Focus: Task-based rewards • Supporting features: Tournaments, passes, win streaks 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘆 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵 • $86M/month revenue, 7.7M downloads • Focus: Win streaks • Supporting features: Mini-games, tournaments, task-based rewards 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 • $35M/month revenue, 6.5M downloads • Focus: Expeditions & mini-games • Supporting features: Co-op (Regata), passes, tournaments 𝗚𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗽 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗿 • $23M/month revenue, 2M downloads • Focus: Mini-games & decoration events • Supporting […]

Anton Slashcev January 20

Journal

Most Downloaded 2024 Release Puzzle Games

If new game alerts were paid in 2024, I’d be writing this on my private jet, thanks to color sort puzzles. What do you mean you don’t get new game alerts?If you’re competing in this market, Which by now, I assume you are because you’re still readingit’s about time to subscribe to AppMagic.Competitors keep those new puzzle games coming,In fact, as you read this, another color-sort game Has been probably released for testing.As the majority stayed in the “Color” lane in 2024,How much will they scale in 2025? Let’s see who’s really going to take off.

Gökhan Üzmez January 20

Journal

Archero 2: Onboarding done right!

🚀 Onboarding done right! Archero 2, the sequel to the popular Archero game by Habby, has a fantastic 3-day offer for new players. It's clever because it tackles retention right from the start—once you buy the pack, you’re motivated to log in daily to claim the rewards you’ve already paid for. This helps bring players back during the critical first few days, setting strong engagement habits early on. What’s even better? The twist! They’ve added three pricing tiers, offering better rewards as you move up, ensuring value at every level. It’s a smart mix of monetization and retention.

Michael Kopelovich January 20

Journal

20 metrics all game devs should hold close.

20 metrics all game devs should hold close. (there are more, but I’ll keep it simple)First, remember 3 core pillars:1. New Players ↳ How you acquire your audience.2. Active Players ↳ How you retain your audience.3. Paying Players ↳ How you monetize your audience.Second, there’s no one-size-fits-all set ofmetrics, but here's the truth:20% of your game’s metrics drive80% of your game’s performance.Here are the 20 most important metrics:📊 Acquisition Metrics• New Daily or Monthly Active Users• CPA (Cost Per Install/Login/Battle)• Fraud Share: Invalid ad metrics• New Players Retention Rate• New Players Churn Rate• K-Factor: Viral growth📊 Retention Metrics• Daily/Monthly Active Users• 1, 7, 30 Day Retention• Session Length• Session Count• Churn Rate• Lifetime📊 Monetization metrics• LTV: Revenue over player Lifetime• ARPPU: Revenue Per Paying User• Daily/Monthly Paying Users• Average Transaction Value• ARPU: Revenue per User• Number of Transactions• Payer Retention• […]

Sergei Vasiuk January 20

Journal

90% of Games Fail at Monetization

90% of Games Fail at Monetization The truth? Monetization Model isn’t about squeezing every dollar - it’s about finding what WORKS for YOUR game.I’ve laid out 6 models with:🟢 The wins.🔴 The pitfalls.But first, focus on these 4 factors:1. Game Genre• Story-heavy? Go premium.• Fast-paced? Free-to-play wins.2. Target Audience• Casuals love “free.”• Hardcore? They’ll pay for the good stuff.3. Game Lifespan• Subscriptions win with long-term play.• Short-term? In-game payments do the job.4. Game Design & Value• Players will pay if it’s worth it.• But don’t pull shady pay-to-win moves.Monetization is NOT just about the money.It’s about building trust, delivering value, and creating something players want to come back to.

Sergei Vasiuk January 19

Journal

Why Duolingo succeeds

I just wrote a piece on why Duolingo succeeds (and where the opportunities are) in language learning apps 🎮📱 I the piece, I'm breaking down what makes Duolingo work, and where new startups can find opportunities:1/ The Power of Game Mechanics- Leaderboards + league system drove 17% more learning time- 3x increase in highly engaged learners- Streak features + rewards keep users coming back- Former Zynga expertise in analytics drives optimization2/ The Reality Check- Most users treat it as a casual game, not serious learning- Example: Friend spent 2 years on Finnish, still struggles with basic conversations- Success metric: Making language learning a daily hobby vs. achieving fluency3/ Market Positioning MatrixTwo key axes to evaluate language learning apps:- Progress (study depth + learning progression)- Engagement (entertainment + stickiness)4/ Where are the opportunities?- "Hardcore" language learning remains untapped- Gap between casual […]

Joakim Achren January 19

Highlights

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 👾 […]

Ömer Yakabagi January 19

Highlights

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 […]

Ömer Yakabagi January 19

Journal

Want to be a top 1% game producer?

Want to be a top 1% game producer? Here are 20 lessons every great game producer lives by: 1. Passion matters. ↳ You can’t lead gamers without being one. 2. Own your mistakes. ↳ Transparency builds trust within your team. 3. No decision is perfect. ↳ Every choice comes with trade-offs and uncertainty. 4. There’s no magic formula. ↳ Chasing mythical insights leads to failure. 5. Iteration is key. ↳ No game starts perfect—refine it continuously. 6. Ideas are worthless without execution. ↳ Cool ideas are common; great execution is rare. 7. Respect your players. ↳ Treat them like valued guests, or they’ll leave. 8. Fun comes first. ↳ Features or monetization can’t fix a boring game. 9. Start small, succeed big. ↳ Prove a small concept before scaling up. 10. Profit is the ultimate measure of success. ↳ Revenue […]

Anton Slashcev January 18

Highlights

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

Ömer Yakabagi January 18

Journal

Jobs in Mobile Gaming: 28

🎨 933 Jobs in Mobile Gaming » 10-17 January 👉🏻 Data from Gamigion.com/jobs 🕺🏻 Dev 💻 Art 🎨 Product 📱 Marketing 🎯 Business 💰 Data 📈 QA ⚒️ 💻 Dev Technical Team Lead (Client) Scopely 🇨🇳 Senior Fullstack Engineer - LiveOps Automation Team Scopely 🇪🇸 Client Engineer Scopely 🇨🇳 Senior Analytics Engineer Scopely 🇲🇽 Senior Client Programmer, Project R.I.S.E Supercell 🇨🇳 Game Client Programmer, Clash Royale Supercell 🇨🇳 Senior Software Engineer- Website Development Zynga 🇮🇳 Principal Software Engineer - Developer Services, ZMGT Zynga 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 Lead Technical Program Manager/Lead Producer - Systems, ZMGT Zynga 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 Senior Software Developer - Small Giant Games Zynga 🇫🇮 Senior Performance Engineer - Echtra Games Zynga 🇺🇸 Senior Software Engineer 1 Zynga 🇮🇳 Gamplay Engineer 2 Zynga 🇮🇳 Unity Developer Playtika 🇵🇱 🇷🇴 Software Architect Playtika 🇮🇱 Ad Tech Product Manager MobilityWare 🇺🇸 Director […]

Gamigion January 18

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