Grand Games secures $30M Series A

Istanbul-based Turkish Mobile Game Studio, Grand Games raises $30M Series A to build genre-defining mobile games. Grand Games, the trailblazing gaming studio behind the widely loved Magic Sort mobile game, has raised a $30M Series A round marking its arrival as the latest up-and-coming studio to emerge from Istanbul, the gaming powerhouse that brought forth Dream Games and Peak Games. Balderton led the round with participation from existing investors Bek Ventures (formerly known as Earlybird Digital East), Laton Ventures and angel investor Mert Gür. Suranga Chandratillake - General Partner, Balderton 👇🏻 Istanbul is producing some of the world’s finest gaming studios and within that ecosystem the founders of Grand Games stood out with their vision to create world-class genre-defining casual games that players love to play. The speed with which they have built a brilliant team culture and achieved success with their […]

Ömer Yakabagi January 9

Highlights

Mobile Gaming Today: 41

Hej Fam! Curious about how you celebrated the New Year! Hope you had a great one 🕺 For me, this one has been the worst. Why? 👇🏻 NYE Germany: Several killed after Fireworks Chaos Is it just about people dying? So many injuries… Animals & Plants, Halloo? 🇩🇪 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Though, here’s a COOL update from 2024: 🥁 tooo-too-too-toooom! 🥁 Made it to the Top 10 Mobile Gaming Content Creators! 🌍 Super grateful for all the love and support. Thank you, Gaming People! Weekly Quote Mobile Marketing » User Acquisition & Creative Learnings 2024 🌊 Soft-launch Sonar #7 📱 Mobile Gaming in 2024 🔧 LiveOps Full Breakdown 📈 Evolution Pull-The-Pin Trend 🎁 Interesting Offer in Coin Master 📉 Decrease the CPIs. Whatever it takes! 👾 iOS Games: Top Free ASO & ASA Tools 🤔 User Reactions to Gen AI-created Content? 💐 […]

Gamigion January 6

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Jobs in Mobile Gaming: 26

🎨 First Week - Jobs in Mobile Gaming 👉🏻 Data from Gamigion.com/jobs 🕺🏻 Dev 💻 Art 🎨 Product 📱 Marketing 🎯 Business 💰 Data 📈 QA ⚒️ 💻 Dev Technical Director Unannounced Title Scopely 🇪🇸 Senior Analytics Engineer Scopely 🇪🇸 Staff Engineer - Monopoly GO! Scopely 🇪🇸 Senior Engineer - Monopoly GO! Scopely 🇪🇸 Senior Gameplay Programmer, Squad Busters Supercell 🇫🇮 Software Engineer Zynga 🇨🇦 Mobile Game Engineer Zynga 🇹🇷 Lead Technical Product Manager Zynga 🇨🇦 Senior Game Developer - Gram Games Zynga 🇹🇷 Technical Operations Specialist Moon Active 🇮🇱 Game Developer Moon Active 🇵🇱 Solutions Engineer MobilityWare 🇺🇸 Ad Tech Product Manager MobilityWare 🇺🇸 Director of Engineering, Ad Tech MobilityWare 🇺🇸 Full Stack Developer - Match Hotel! (Istanbul & Ankara) SciPlay 🇹🇷 Unity Team Leader SciPlay 🇮🇱 Senior Software Engineer Plarium 🇮🇱 Unity Developer CrazyLabs 🇪🇸 Freelancer Creative Ads […]

Gamigion January 6

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Brutally Honest #144

Hey, FAM! What’s up? 🥃 Drink talk Happy Holidays to everyone. The annual UA & Creatives Learnings article is coming! Stay tuned.. 🦩Tip of the week Experimenting with Runway prompts taught me how subtle changes can completely transform the outcome of a video. Here's how I refined my process: 1. The Iteration Process First Attempt: The camera shakes wildly while zooming in. Not ideal, but it kickstarted experimentation. Second Attempt : Prompt: "The camera slowly pushes in on the bird looking at the egg and then on the machine in the background. The machine slowly rotates its arm." Result: Improved focus, but the random opener didn't feel cohesive. Final Version: Prompt: "Subject sadly looks at the egg, machinery in the background slowly moves its arm." Added the MidJourney-generated image as the first frame to set the tone. Focused prompts on […]

Matej Lancaric December 27

Highlights

DoubleU Games Acquires Turkish Studio Paxie Games

DoubleU Games Acquires Turkish Studio Paxie Games in a Deal Valued at Up to $67 MillionStrategic Entry into the Fast-Growing Merge-2 Puzzle Market South Korean mobile gaming giant DoubleU Games has agreed to acquire Paxie Games, a leading Turkish gaming studio renowned for its hit title Merge Studio: Fashion Makeover. This strategic acquisition, valued at up to $67 million, marks DoubleU Games’ entry into the high-growth Merge-2 puzzle genre and strengthens its global portfolio. Under the agreement, DoubleU Games will acquire a 60% stake in Paxie Games for $27 million at closing, with the remaining 40% to be purchased over three years, contingent on achieving financial performance milestones. The transaction, financed through treasury shares and cash, will close in Q1 2025. Founded in 2021 by Direnç Çelik, Hüseyin Anıl Özmen, Refik Anıl Bulut, and Sarenur Başel, Paxie Games has achieved […]

Ömer Yakabagi December 26

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User Acquisition & Creative Learnings 2024

The article breaks down the game-changing lessons in User Acquisition (UA) and creative strategies for mobile marketing in 2024. It's packed with insights you can't afford to miss, from diversifying UA channels and leveraging AI-driven optimization to mastering creative production and adapting to shifting platforms. It highlights how detailed creative briefs, effective communication, and experimental tools like TikTok Creative Challenges helped marketers stay ahead in a rapidly changing post-IDFA world. As we gear up for 2025, the stakes are higher than ever. Success lies in embracing AI-generated UGC, incentivized ads, and playables to drive engagement, slash CPIs, and scale effectively. This guide provides the playbook for dominance, with actionable steps for refining your strategies, optimizing your teams, and staying ahead of the competition. Don’t fall behind—future-proof your UA strategy now! Dive into this must-read guide and equip yourself with the tools and tactics to crush it […]

Matej Lancaric December 26

Highlights

Mobile Gaming Today: 40

Hej Fam!Ready for the last Mobile Gaming Today of the year?Let's go!Some cool news here 🕺🏻Was included in the ‘Top Gaming Insights Sources’ list made by AAA Agency.Kudos to everyone who supports this lovely industry 🐿️Let’s get this party started!Weekly Quote: Christmas & NY Edition“Our minds deserve unplugging, no Slack pings, no emails, no LinkedIn scrolls—just you, your priorities, and the freedom without interruptions.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Mobile Marketing» Match Factory’s Success & Gameplay Mechanics⚡️ Game Analysis: Spyke Games’ Tile Busters🎅 2025 App Marketing Predictions 🤝 Power of Partnerships in Gaming🌏 Mobile Gaming in South East Asia🎢 ‘Pick Me Up’ By SuperSonic📊 New AdROAS in Meta🔔 Push Notifications Guide📚 New week & New case study🔗 Cross-Promotion for Mobile Games🧠 Smart Signal IntegrationIndustry Highlights» Top 10 Predictions for Mobile Gaming in 2025☃️ Survive(d) to 2025🌍 Mobile Games Downloads Heatmap🏅Sports Apps are becoming increasingly popular💼 […]

Gamigion December 24

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Jobs in Mobile Gaming: 24

🎨 1050 Jobs in Mobile Gaming » 13-20 December 📆 👉🏻 Data from Gamigion.com/jobs 🕺🏻 Dev 💻 Art 🎨 Product 📱 Marketing 🎯 Business 💰 Data 📈 QA ⚒️ 💻 Dev Fullstack Engineer - Monopoly GO! Scopely 🇺🇸 Head of Publisher Operations, External Development Scopely 🇺🇸 Platform Accounts Engineer Scopely 🇪🇸 Senior Game Tech Programmer Supercell 🇫🇮 Full Stack Engineer Zynga 🇮🇱 Senior Software Developer - Small Giant Games Zynga 🇫🇮 Principal Software Engineer Zynga 🇨🇦 Technical Product Manager Playtika 🇮🇱 Technical Operation Specialist Playtika 🇮🇱 Technical Product Owner Playtika 🇵🇱 Unity Developer Playtika 🇵🇱 C# Client Developer Playtika 🇵🇱 Senior C# Developer Playtika 🇷🇴 Games R&D-Flutter Client Developer Playtika 🇵🇱 Unity Technical Lead Playtika 🇵🇱 Full Stack Developer Moon Active 🇮🇱 Technical Product Manager Moon Active 🇮🇱 Customer Support Technical Expert Moon Active 🇮🇱 Automation Engineer Moon Active 🇵🇱 […]

Gamigion December 22

Highlights

Jobs in Mobile Gaming: 25

👉🏻 Data from Gamigion.com/jobs 🕺🏻 Dev 💻 Art 🎨 Product 📱 Marketing 🎯 Business 💰 Data 📈 QA ⚒️ 💻 Dev Senior Fullstack Engineer - LiveOps Automation Team Scopely 🇪🇸 Engine Programmer, Platform Supercell 🇫🇮 Unity Developer Playtika 🇷🇴 Software Engineer Dream Games 🇹🇷 Game Developer Dream Games 🇹🇷 SecOps Engineer Dream Games 🇹🇷 Senior Software Engineer Dream Games 🇹🇷 Solutions Engineer MobilityWare 🇺🇸 Ad Tech Product Manager MobilityWare 🇺🇸 Director of Engineering, Ad Tech MobilityWare 🇺🇸 Game Developer Peak 🇹🇷 Senior Software Engineer, Games Peak 🇹🇷 Software Engineer (w/m/d) HandyGames 🇩🇪 Analytics Engineer (w/m/d) Lotum Technical Director - Caramba Studio - Match3 Voodoo 🇪🇸 Senior Fullstack Engineer Voodoo 🇫🇷 Lead Programmer Gameloft Brisbane 🇦🇺 Senior Game Programmer Kwalee 🇮🇳 Software Engineer (Live-ops) Gram Games 🇬🇧 Software Developer Miniclip 🇮🇹 Senior Software Engineer, Minecraft Mojang Studios 🇺🇸 Unity Developer Product […]

Gamigion December 22

Highlights

Brutally Honest #143

Hey, FAM! What’s up? 🥃 Drink talk Back home in Slovakia. So many new ideas. Looking forward to start executing. Stay tuned. The new AI section is here! Check it out at the end of the newsletter! 🦩Tip of the week How do you evaluate creatives before spending a dime testing them? Ever had that gut feeling—"this will flop" or "this will crush it"? We’ve all been there. I used to be the “no feelings, only data” person, but as I started producing more creatives myself, I developed a solid framework to pre-evaluate ideas. Here’s how: The Boring Test When you watch the creative, ask yourself: Where do you lose interest? Is it the 1st second? The 3rd? Are you watching until the end? Try this with your team. Watch together and ask for a show of hands—“Who got bored, […]

Matej Lancaric December 20

Highlights

Agave Games, Creator of Find the Cat, secures $18M

A Turkish startup, Agave Games, known for its hit mobile game Find the Cat, has raised $18 million in Series A funding. The game, inspired by Where’s Wally-style puzzles, has players search for hidden cats in increasingly complex drawings. The funds will help Agave grow its team and develop at least two new games within the next year. The casual mobile gaming market, including puzzle and farm-building games, remains highly profitable. Find the Cat has been a massive success, surpassing 10 million downloads just three months after its August release, with revenues of $10 million on Android alone, according to SensorTower. Investors see it as “the next Tripledot,” a successful casual game studio. The funding round was co-led by Felix Capital and Balderton Capital, with participation from E2VC. All three firms were early investors, with Balderton also leading Agave’s seed […]

Ömer Yakabagi December 17

Highlights

Mobile Gaming Today: 39

Ahoj!I feel like most of us are already in "Holiday Mode Activated" 🎄Just counting down the days until Christmas & NY, lol.Honestly, it feels like December is the Friday of the year, and we’re all just waiting for the party to start ☃️Very sooooon¯\_(ツ)_/¯Mobile Marketing» Creative Trend: Near-Death Snake Experience😶‍🌫️ 2025: Growth, UA & Monetisation👑 Why Royal Kingdom isn’t paying off💀 A/B test in iOS: 4 weeks to get significance?🎮 What do gamers expect from Rewarded Ads?📚 Top 10 Grossing Word Games +38% IAP ARPDAU🤘🏻 UGC Trends: Organic Trends for Paid Campaigns🦧 Multiplayer Mini-games by YouTube⚡ Game Pubs: Hyper to Hybrid Casual👾 Useful Rewarded Video insights💬 Meanwhile, in Telegram Games…😶‍🌫️ 2025 CMO ConsiderationsIndustry Highlights» Predictions for Mobile Ad Tech 2025☃️ VC Jargon?🏆 Game Iteration Success⚔️ Core vs. Meta in Mobile Games💡 How to generate hit game ideas?📖 FTUE Guide For […]

Gamigion December 16

Highlights

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