Journal

You’ve heard me talk a lot about the benefits of remote work. Having been remote and distributed for nearly a decade, I’ve seen how well it can work. The pandemic introduced the entire world to remote work.For most, once you’ve experienced remote work, it seems obvious… “Why haven’t we been working like this all along?”For someone like myself, who has worked from anywhere distributed across multiple time zones for years before the pandemic, The debates around:-> Onsite-> Hybrid-> Remote-> RTO mandatesare all secondary to creating tremendous value with relatively small distributed teams. This is why, pre-pandemic, I didn’t even think of myself as a remote worker; I thought of myself as a member of a high-performing team that just happened to be spread around the world. It’s technologically feasible to work from anywhere, distributed and asynchronously, and it has been […]

hashtag#Germany is supporting game studios with new funding programStart-up founders can now apply for the Press Start: Games Founding Grant.To qualify, founders or college students must have established a new studio in Germany within the last 18 months or plan to do so in the next year https://lnkd.in/eTgz5JxK

One of the last bastions of decent ad experience is going down. Google is launching "high-engagement" ads. ⚡ By default, new settings will automatically be enabled for all apps. Opt-out process is still unclear, with some information hinting that for those not using AdMob mediation, the only way to opt-out will be via dedicated account manager while those using AdMob mediation will be able to opt-out via AdMob dashboard controls. 🎮 What these new settings mean for publishers 👇 ⏩ ⌛ 1. Rewarded video ads will be skippable after up to 60 seconds (compared to up to 30 seconds so far). Only after the ad becomes skippable, the reward will be granted.2. Interstitial ads will be skippable after up to 15 seconds (compared to up to 5 seconds so far). 3. Rewarded video ads will be skippable after up to […]

What's the supreme boss level in game dev? A question comes up a lot from my students↳ especially those aspiring to be solo devs.Solo dev is tough; prepare to be:• Developer • Level Designer • Content Writer• Game Designer• UX / UI Designer• Release Engineer• Audio Engineer• 2D/3D Artist• Tech Artist• Animator• TesterAnd the list goes on and on and on...I'm not here to crush any dreams, but… solo ambitions may not always be realistic.Sure, there are exceptions. 🍀 In truth, creating complex games solorequires exceptional talent and ample time.So, what's the "boss level" for aspiring devs? It's forming a hashtaghashtag#TEAM OF LIKE-MINDED.As simple and as challenging as it sounds.Fellow Gaming Pros, let's networks!• Comment to introduce yourself.• Engage with others in the comments.• Feel free to send connection requests.Thank you for considering a connection. 🙏 (｡◕‿‿◕｡)Let me start:I’m Sergei, […]

Which game metrics drive the most ROAS impact? Here is a Tier List:S-Tier (Highest Impact)• Long-Term Retention• ARPDAU (Average Revenue Per Daily Active User)A-Tier• CPI (Cost Per Install)• Conversion to Payer Rate• Short-Term RetentionB-Tier• Sticky Factor• Average Purchase Value• Session Length• Number of SessionsC-Tier• Purchase Frequency• Levels per Session• Churn Rate• Tutorial Completion RateD-Tier• CTR (Click-Through Rate)• eCPM (Effective Cost Per Mille)E-Tier• K-Factor• CVR (Store Page Conversion Rate)• Time to First Purchase

Plants vs. Zombies 3 is shutting down (for now), while PvZ 1 gets +80% downloads! 🌻🧟 In January 2024, Electronic Arts soft-launched the latest Plants vs. Zombies 3 in regions like the Philippines, Indonesia, and the UK. This was the second soft launch, with the first attempt back in 2020. 🗓️Both times, the game didn’t reach a global launch, as PopCap Games took it offline to adjust based on player feedback and key metrics. And guess what’s happening while PvZ 3 is being reworked? The original Plants vs. Zombies is thriving—we haven’t seen similar weekly downloads in years. 🚀In the last few weeks, the franchise attracted a wave of new players, with average weekly downloads jumping from ~1.1M in September to ~1.9M by the end of October, according to AppMagic.I think this is partly driven by the excitement around PvZ […]

💫 Hexasort by Lion Studios: A $200M/year Hybrid-Casual Giant 🧩💥 Since its soft launch in September 2023, Hexasort has scaled to a massive $500K/day ($150K from IAP & $300K from ads). Through three game-changing ad monetization innovations, Lion Studios has transformed this title into a hybrid-casual puzzle powerhouse. Here’s how:Rewarded Ads in Gameplay: 🎁 Strategic placement of rewarded ads on the main game board to help users progress faster.A New Ad Unit – Rewarded App Open Interstitial: 🆕 A clever ad unit that rewards users with extra perks simply for opening the app.User-Ad Experience Segmentation: 🎯 Tailored ad experiences based on specific user acquisition campaigns, personalizing gameplay, and ad exposure.According to Sensor Tower, Hexasort’s players are deeply engaged, averaging 40 minutes daily over nearly 6 sessions. This translates to around 90 banner impressions, 9 interstitials, and 6 rewarded ad opt-ins […]

🚨 New feature in Google Ads🚨 I just saw this feature this morning (I am not completely sure if it's new but it is the first time I see this in my account at least) so here you go! 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐚 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞-𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨!Google is introducing more AI features gradually and after the introduction of the bumper ads few months ago, we have now the possibility of adding a voice-over in any video from our account or Youtube.As you can see in the screenshot, you just need to select a voice and then write the script that the voice will reproduce.To be honest, some voices are quite natural haha and you have multiple tones of voice. This can be a good feature to give a different approach to all these videos with only […]

Hexasort making 🤑 $500k/day in revenue and has set a new standard for hybrid-casual games on multiple levels. 👇 Hexasort by Lion Studios (a.k.a AppLovin) has become a significant player in mobile gaming and has grown steadily since its global launch. There are multiple layers of a masterpiece. Great innovation on the ad placements. Felix already awarded the whole team a Nobel prize in recognition of their genius. With Jakub defending the game designers behind the highly addictive game. Gameplay mechanics are designed for long sessions and strategic thinking.Surprisingly, their main UA channel is Applovin. Hah, that is no surprise. Sorry. The whole creative approach is from a perfect UA playbook where you scale on Ad networks with a shit ton of playables. Yes, 70-80% of creatives are playables! Kudos to the team. 📺 Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/dGFRxVzH🎧 Listen on […]

These 10 games kept their revenue throne on the top charts, are they all successful? What does even success means? In terms of revenue, success mean a lot of money.Full lists are https://lnkd.in/dynmZZ4NHowever,When you look at the big picture You see it takes time to define success.And its not necessarily means revenue.Though it helps to define it.Here are some other success metrics:-Functional Minimum Viable Product-Early Retention Rate-Day 0 Play Time-Enough players for metrics to make senseAnd here are ‘’scaled’’ success metrics:-LTV-Low CPI-High Install-ARPDAU-Late Retention RateTherefore,↳ Look from a zoomed out perspective↳ Combine it with your talent,↳ Define the your OWN metrics,↳ And set a path for your ‘’success’’.Most importantly, keep it up! If you want to define yours, DM meAndrei Zubov or Diana Levintovaand learn more about metrics.What are your success metrics?Cheers! AppMagic