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

Highlights

Jobs in Mobile Gaming: 32

8-15 Feb 👉🏻 Data from Gamigion.com/jobs 🕺🏻 Dev 💻 Art 🎨 Product 📱 Marketing 🎯 Business 💰 Data 📈 QA ⚒️ 💻 Dev Senior Analytics Engineer Scopely 🇪🇸 🇲🇽 Senior Software Engineer Scopely 🇪🇸 Staff Engineer - Monopoly GO! Scopely 🇪🇸 Analytics Engineering Manager Scopely 🇪🇸 Game programmer & New Game Founder, Spark Supercell 🇫🇮 Senior Client Programmer, Project R.I.S.E Supercell 🇨🇳 IT Technical Producer Supercell 🇫🇮 Software Engineer 2 Zynga 🇮🇳 Senior Software Engineer Zynga 🇮🇳 Software Engineer (Live-ops) - Gram Games Zynga 🇬🇧 Principal Software Engineer- Full Stack Zynga 🇮🇳 Lead Technical Program Manager/Lead Producer - Systems, ZMGT Zynga 🇺🇸 Senior Software Engineer (Client) - Wizard of Oz Slots Zynga 🇺🇸 Senior Performance Engineer - Echtra Games Zynga 🇺🇸 Technical Account Manager Playtika 🇵🇱 IT Engineering Team Lead Playtika 🇺🇦 Technical Product Manager Moon Active 🇮🇱 Unity Developer […]

Gamigion 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

The 11 Sins of Mobile Marketing

Wrath: The Absence of an “Integrated” Growth Model Stagnation: Lacking a Clear UA Creative Testing Methodology Sand-bagging: Brand Keeps Creative Testing Stuck in the Mud Gluttony: Failure to Take Advantage of Pricing Optimization & Discount Flow Envy: Missing a Proper ASO Methodology Neglect: Failure to Reap the App Store’s Low-Hanging Fruit Sloth: Struggles with iOS Evaluation and SKAN Greed: Lacking the Methodology to Predict User LTVs Over-simplification: The Use of Only a Basic Prediction Event Ignorance: Not Understanding User Behavior Pride: Not Capitalizing on New Opportunities 1. Wrath: The Absence of an “Integrated” Growth Model “Sir, the good news is that we have finally created the Growth Model. The bad news is that we have no idea how to use it!” Do you have a system that can easily answer questions like: “What would be the revenue impact if we […]

Peter Fodor February 14

Highlights

Body Shaming Ad Creatives for low CPIs?

What the F*** is actually happening? Using 𝚖̶𝚊̶𝚔̶𝚎̶𝚘̶𝚟̶𝚎̶𝚛̶ body shaming creatives to drive low CPIs? 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗣𝘂𝘇𝘇𝗹𝗲 & 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 & 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝟯𝗗 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱 is here! 👇 In the last couple of weeks, there has been a significant increase of these bodyshaming/makeover ads on Facebook. First, I thought it was only one game. Nothing major. But then I saw multiple games like 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵, 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗣𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝘂𝘇𝘇𝗹𝗲 𝟯𝗗, 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄, 𝗲𝘁𝗰.. All these games are using the same combination. Screw Puzzle + Makeover. Having two cores built in the game. Using one core in the creatives to drive low CPIs. Masquerading behind 𝗔𝗦𝗠𝗥 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴. Is this really a stress relief? Am I missing something? That is not the whole story. Screw Match adding even 3rd core with is Match3D. Sounds familiar, Jakub? When we say you have […]

Matej Lancaric February 14

Journal

Embracer Group Q3 numbers: 30% Drop

Embracer Group just released their Q3 numbers per their earnings call yesterday and the company is seeing a 30% drop on the Swedish Stock exchange. Key highlights from the earnings call:• Net Sales: The company reported net sales of SEK 7.4 billion for the quarter, reflecting a 7% organic growth.• Adjusted EBIT: Adjusted EBIT amounted to SEK 1,175 million, slightly below the previous year’s SEK 1,318 million but above management expectations.• Sale of Easybrain: Embracer Group announced the sale of Easybrain to Miniclip for $1.2 billion (USD), with the transaction expected to close any time now.• Strategic Focus: The sale of Easybrain aligns with Embracer’s strategy to streamline operations and focus on core assets. However, they saw just a 2% increase on mobile and a 23% drop on PCC revenues so I am not sure how this will effect them […]

John Wright February 14

Highlights

AppLovin’s Gaming Portfolio

Yesterday AppLovin announced that it is selling it's whole gaming portfolio for $900 mil. 🤑 in order to focus only on Ad tech. The buyer was not announced. 🤔 Who could it be? Let's look closer at the performance of the games portfolio to get some hints 😎 ▪️ The ten studios that are being sold are Magic Tavern, Zero Gravity, PeopleFun, Lion Studios, Belka, Zenlife, Clipwire, Leyi, Machine Zone and Athena. On a surface look, the whole games portfolio did around $50 Mil. in IAP revenue only for last month. This is exactly half 📉 of what it did at its peak in January 2021. Downloads wise last month there was around 19 Mil. downloads, which is 10 times less compared to its peak in January 2021, which was 190 Mil. 😱 Of course let's be real, the peak […]

Jakub Remiar February 13

Journal

How do you design an addictive game?

How do you design an addictive game? 𝟭. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽: • A simple, repeatable cycle: Challenge → Action → Reward • Instant gratification with quick loot and flashy visuals • Small dopamine hits to keep players coming back 𝟮. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: • Quick upgrades for short-term wins • Unlockable skills for mid-term goals • Achievements and leaderboards for long-term motivation 𝟯, 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻: • Daily rewards, time-limited events, and seasonal content • FOMO mechanics with exclusive items • Social incentives like guilds and team challenges 𝟰. 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿: • Gradual difficulty scaling to keep players in flow • Rewarding visuals, audio cues, and haptics • Emotional connection through narrative and characters 𝟱. 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: • Leaderboards, rankings, and PvP battles • Clans, co-op modes, and community-building mechanics • […]

Anton Slashcev February 13

Journal

Decoding VC responses

Decoding VC responses - here's what they actually mean: "Let's keep in touch" = It's a NO. But they want optionality if you become hot later."Too early for us" = Either they don't believe in the space, or your team isn't experienced enough. It's anyways a NO. "Need to see more traction" = They don't have conviction in current state. Get them to be specific about what metrics would change their mind."Great vision, but..." = They don't believe you're the team to execute it. Or the market isn't ready yet."We need to see a lead first" = They're interested but won't take conviction risk. Good signal - use this to get other investors excited.Real talk: The only response that matters is a term sheet. Everything else is just varying degrees of "no" or "not yet."Pro tip: If they don't provide […]

Joakim Achren February 13

Journal

Monetization in Sort Games – A Sneak Peek!

💡 Monetization in Sort Games – A Sneak Peek! 💡 Here’s a small teaser for my upcoming two-part blog series on monetization strategies in sort games! 🧩 🔹 Part 1: IAP Strategies – How sort games design their in-game purchases for maximum impact. 🔹 Part 2: RV Strategies – How rewarded video is integrated to drive engagement and retention. Stay tuned – plenty of insights coming soon! 🚀✨

Michael Kopelovich February 13

Journal

Sort Puzzle: The Hottest Genre Of 2024

Sort Puzzle: The Hottest Genre Of 2024 🔥 The genre saw explosive 460% YoY revenue growth in 2024! Already popular in Tier-1 West, it made a breakthrough by finding the right monetization strategies 💪🤩 6 out of the top 10 grossing games are 2024 newcomers.👑 Newcomer Hexa Sort by Lion Studios replaced Block Jam 3D after its 15-month reign.🍦Water Sort Puzzles are fading from the rankings, while a new theme of household goods sorting is gaining momentum.

Andrei Zubov February 13

Journal

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