Mobile Gaming Today: Gaming Investments Week

Hey Folks, GDC Week 🤟🏻 Hope you’re enjoying the show there. Me? Fully focused on growing Gamigion.com, so much going on here! 😄 Not sure about the next event, but I miss my Event MAFIA! 🔫 👌🏻 Top Gaming Content » Let Players Play Their Way: Personalization 🤟🏻 Gaming personalization isn’t just about algorithms tweaking things behind the scenes, it’s about giving players control. From Candy Crush’s speed toggle to Monopoly Go’s event rewards, the best games let players shape their own experience. More choice = more engagement, better retention, and a game that feels personal. The future? Less invisible segmentation, more meaningful player decisions. Full article here 🤟🏻 🤟🏻 Game of the Week » Lucky Defense Analysis: 111%’s Risky Bet That Won Big They took the classic tower defense genre, rolled the dice, and ended up creating one of […]

Ömer Yakabagi March 18

Highlights

Qatar Development Bank invests in SekGames

Istanbul-based mobile game studio SekGames will use the funding to expand its publishing activities and grow its gaming portfolio. Founded by Ali Osman K., Serkan Çotul, and Alper Kocabiyik in 2020, SekGames continues to make a name for itself in the mobile gaming industry with its innovative projects. Specializing in hybrid casual games, the company aims to deliver fun and immersive experiences for players. SekGames plans to use the funding to expand its game publishing activities and grow its gaming portfolio. The studio, known for successful titles like Police Station Idle, Dream Hospital, Coffee Shop Idle, and Money Print Idle, has been selected for support under the Startup Qatar Investment Program. With nearly 2,000 applications from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Türkiye, and India, SekGames stood out for its innovative approach and growth potential, earning a spot among the 11 selected startups. AppMagic: […]

Ömer Yakabagi March 18

Highlights

Mobile Gaming industry can no longer ignore Women

Studios are closing, successful teams are being laid off, budgets are being squeezed. The market is oversaturated.At least, that’s what we’re being told. What if there was a massive opportunity lying right in front of us?What if we could tap into an audience and generate profits like we did a few years ago, when gaming was at its peak?I believe it’s possible, and games that embrace female players will be the biggest winners. Here’s how we’ll tackle this: looking at the rise of this audience, observing the UA problem, talking about the disparity in leadership, and the blue ocean lying in front of us.The rise of women in mobile gamingLike in most industries, we lack the data and granularity to properly assess the state of women players in mobile gaming. As highlighted in Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a […]

Julie Tonna March 18

Highlights

2025 Unity Gaming Report: Key Findings

The State of Game Development in 2025 The gaming industry remains a global powerhouse, with over 3 billion active players and revenue surpassing $184 billion in 2024. Yet, studios are navigating a turbulent landscape marked by layoffs, closures, and financial uncertainty. Developers are balancing bold creativity with risk mitigation, leveraging technology and strategic decision-making to survive and thrive. 1. Managing Risk by Reducing Costs Studios are prioritizing efficiency. 60% of devs focus on maximizing the value of existing games rather than launching new ones. Strategies include lean teams, debt avoidance, live ops investments, and increased use of efficiency tools. Latin America is an emerging hotspot for game success and market expansion. Studios carefully weigh live update models to keep players engaged without overextending resources. 2. Experimenting with Multiplayer Experiences Multiplayer remains dominant, but approaches are evolving. 64% of studios are […]

Ömer Yakabagi March 18

Analysis

Lucky Defense Analysis: 111%’s Risky Bet That Won Big

An All-in-One Deep Dive That's Actually Fun to Read! Alright, let’s talk about Lucky Defense—the game that took the classic tower defense genre, rolled the dice (literally), and ended up creating one of the most chaotic, fun, and weirdly addictive experiences out there. This isn’t your average game analysis. Nope. We’re going full throttle into the depths of Lucky Defense—from its epic rise, gameplay mechanics, wild community moments, and even the monetization that’ll make you ask, "Am I gambling or gaming?" So, buckle up. It’s about to get lucky (or unlucky) 🎉 The Origin Story: When Luck First Struck Lucky Defense was officially launched by 111% (a South Korean dev studio) on May 23, 2024. And it didn’t just drop quietly—it absolutely exploded in South Korea. We're talking about skyrocketing to the #1 download spot and pulling in over $11 million in revenue within its first two months. Not too shabby for […]

Aylin YAZICI March 17

Analysis

The Importance of Personalization in Gaming

Segmentation has long been a cornerstone of success in the gaming industry, particularly for top-grossing titles across various genres. The ability to analyze player data, categorize users based on specific behaviors, and tailor their experiences accordingly is a well-established best practice. With AI and machine learning continuing to evolve, this practice has become even more sophisticated, offering dynamic personalization at an unprecedented scale. However, personalization does not have to be solely reliant on automated algorithms. There is another, often overlooked, yet equally powerful approach: empowering players with choices. Allowing players to actively shape their experiences through in-game options provides a layer of customization that is perceived as more engaging and rewarding. While still requiring extensive data analysis to design these options effectively, the act of letting players choose creates a deeper sense of agency and investment in the game. Why […]

Ahmetcan Demirel March 16

Highlights

Jobs in Mobile Gaming: 15 March

» 1161 Jobs in Mobile Gaming this week 🤟🏻 👉🏻 Data from Gamigion.com/jobs 🕺🏻 Dev 💻 Art 🎨 Product 📱 Marketing 🎯 Business 💰 Data 📈 QA ⚒️ 💻 Dev Senior Director of Engineering Scopely 🇺🇸 Technical Team Lead (Client) Scopely 🇨🇳 Technical Director Unannounced Title Scopely 🇪🇸 Sr. Director, Engineering - Head of Game Tools Scopely 🇺🇸 Staff Engineer - Monopoly GO! Scopely 🇪🇸 Lead Software Engineer Scopely 🇲🇽 Platform Account Engineer Scopely 🇪🇸 Technical Lead of Analytics Engineering Scopely 🇪🇸 Senior Director, Engineering - Yathzee With Buddies Scopely 🇪🇸 Senior Engineer - Monopoly GO! Scopely 🇪🇸 Senior Software Engineer, Supercell ID Supercell 🇬🇧 Senior Game Programmer, Brawl Stars Supercell 🇫🇮 Senior Game Tech Programmer Supercell 🇫🇮 Software Engineer 2- Full Stack Zynga 🇮🇳 Engineering Manager 2 Zynga 🇮🇳 Software Engineer - Ad Monetization Zynga 🇨🇦 Mobile Game Engineer […]

Gamigion March 15

Highlights

Google Expands Mobile Gaming to PC

Google Play is making all mobile games playable on PC by default! Ahead of the GDC, Google announced new updates for Mobile & PC Gaming, including expanded support for Mobile Games on PC, New Dev tools & Upcoming Game Releases. Mobile Games on PC by Default Google Play will now make all mobile games available on PC automatically. Developers can opt out if they choose. Optimized games will have a special badge, while others will be marked as playable. Google Play Games for PC is also adding support for AMD-based laptops and desktops and integrating into PC start menus. New Developer Tools Google introduced several updates to help developers bring mobile games to PC: A new SDK for native PC games on Google Play Games with in-app purchase support. Updates to Play Console for easier build distribution across mobile and […]

Ömer Yakabagi March 14

Highlights

Low CPI Cheat Code: Any IPs, Any Ads

IP infringement taken to a new level ⚠️ Why bother with licensing if you just gender swap all of the top anime IP characters into oversexualized women? The mobile game Enigma of Sépia released last month did just that and already made $3M, still doing $80K a day 😅 I have seen a lot of blatant Pokémon and Anime rip-offs lately, probably because of the renewed success of Pokémon IP that TCG Pocket brought, but this one really is on top of it all. Even though the art is low cost they took great effort into putting all of this IP into "this state," and there is a lot of it. I found even Blizzard Entertainment's Genji from Overwatch there, who I couldn't even show here on LinkedIn for obvious reasons. 😅 How long can this thing exist on the […]

Jakub Remiar March 14

Highlights

More Revenue, Less Fees: Samsung’s 80/20 on Galaxy Store

Samsung Revolutionizes Mobile Gaming with 80/20 Revenue Share & Cloud Gaming Innovations Samsung is shaking up the mobile gaming industry with a game-changing 80/20 revenue share model for games on the Galaxy Store. Announced just ahead of the Game Developers Conference, this move significantly undercuts Apple and Google’s standard 30% cut, aligning more closely with Epic Games' developer-friendly 12% model. Empowering Developers with Cloud Gaming Samsung’s mobile cloud gaming platform is redefining how developers scale their businesses. By eliminating the need for downloads, the platform allows players to jump straight into gameplay, enhancing user acquisition, boosting revenue potential, and simplifying game development with an extensive suite of software development kits (SDKs) and tools. Since launching commercially in North America in November 2024, Samsung’s cloud gaming service has already driven significant success. Take Vizor, the developer behind Klondike Adventures—since joining Samsung’s […]

Ömer Yakabagi March 14

Highlights

Angel Portfolio Playbook: What Failures and One Exit Taught Me

I had been a founder for over 15 years and in 2019, I felt like I wanted to take the leap into the startup investing side. Inspired by Jason Calacanis's book "Angel," I wrote my first check to a game studio founded by former Next Games colleagues of mine. After starting with small $5K investments, I eventually created an angel syndicate with 200+ gaming professionals before launching F4 Fund in 2024. Between 2019-2023, I made 34 angel investments. Note that I’ve stopped doing new angel investments after we started F4 Fund. Currently, in March 2025, the portfolio looks something like this. 1 exit (returned more than 1x of total invested capital) 4 companies doing extremely well, 4 that struggled but are now growing 16 with markups of 30-300% 7 gone to $0 (plus 4 more likely in 2024) 2 survived […]

Joakim Achren March 14

Highlights

The Secret Behind Royal Match’s $4M a Day

Warning ☢️ Heavy Game Design post ahead 😁 Royal Match's 👑 event metagame system has become not only the golden standard for level based games, but its a must have driver for monetization 💸. All the top casual games use it such as Monopoly GO, Match Factory, All in Hole, HexaSort, etc. Why it is so exceptional? The beauty of this system is that it is not dependent on core gameplay. Usually, it needs just a level-based setup, but even Monopoly GO, which isn't level-based, uses it in an iterated form 🛠️. The main purpose of the system is to put incentives and time pressure towards playing the main core gameplay. This increases engagement time as surely you won't go away now if there are just 10 minutes ⏳ left in the event. It also reinforces playing the core and […]

Jakub Remiar March 14

Highlights

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