Journal

What Does Take-Two’s Potential Sale of Chartboost Mean for Mobile Mediation? 🎮💰 The global mobile ad market is driving massive revenue—around $40 million daily, or roughly $14.6 billion annually, from network-to-publisher payments in mobile games and apps. Take-Two Interactive alone reported $613.3 million in ad revenue in 2023, capturing an estimated 4.21% of in-game ad revenue, making Take-Two a major player in mobile advertising. But with rumors of Take-Two selling Chartboost, what impact could this have on the industry? 🤔Why This Matters:Mediation platforms often act as loss leader products, offered at no cost to publishers in exchange for valuable user data that powers networks' UA campaign profits. Take-Two’s games are currently mostly mediated through Chartboost, giving them direct control over ad placements and margins. If Chartboost is sold, Take-Two might shift its portfolio to a third-party platform like AppLovin or […]

Age of Empires Mobile is earning 🤑 $500k/day right after the global launch. Nostalgia doesn’t mean $100 million/month. But in this case, “only” $11mil/month. 👇 Well, no hypercasual gates mechanics, no fun... Ehm, I mean, no revenue! Ehm, I mean no scale. Well, what the fuck do I even mean, then? Well, that is what I wrote in the very beginning. Nostalgia is not enough! In this episode, we delve into the nostalgic world of the Age of Empires, discussing its recent mobile adaptation and the implications of Tencent's involvement. We explore the gameplay mechanics, including various mini-games and the integration of elements from Vampire Survivors, while also reflecting on the challenges of maintaining the essence of a classic strategy game in a modern mobile format. The conversation highlights the balance between nostalgia and innovation in game design.Wake up, Microsoft! […]

🚨 Meta new ad-free subscription is here! 🚨 After the whole DSA (Digital Services Act) and a €390M fine, it’s official: ad-free subscriptions for Instagram & Facebook are available in the EU. - Subscription plan: ➡️ €12.99/month, no ads! 🤑 An extra 8€ for each additional account... a bit much, don’t you think?- Free with ads: ➡️ The usual setup🤔 Does it give Meta a free pass to add even more ads for non-subscribers?So many questions on my end:Does this mean Meta values user LTV at around €12.99/month (let's remove the store fees but you get my point)? Who came up with that price point? And if this model catches on, would it even be profitable long-term if more people pay to avoid ads? Maybe we’ll see this option spread globally?🚨 This could be bad news for advertisers. If lots […]

20 traps that ruin your Live Ops (and how to avoid it) I teamed up with Sergei Vasiuk to break down the most common mistakes in Live Ops and share tips on how to improve them.• Trends• Events• Whales• Failures• Metrics• Content• Updates• Paywalls• Feedback• Segments• A/B Testing• Community• Progression• Onboarding• Radio Silent• Past Success• Monetization• Tech Performance• Customer Support• Cultural RelevanceThese elements combine to satisfy players.It's where design meets player satisfaction.It’s not about perfection ↳ it’s about continuous improvement.That’s the mark of a truly great game.A standard we can all aim for.

💡 Understanding eCPM Averages Could Save You Big in Ad Monetization! In our latest review on two & a half gamers, we looked at My Supermarket Simulator 3D by Game District and highlighted a key ad monetization insight: Game District chose Google’s App Open Ad format over a simple interstitial with a small reward. Based on eCPM benchmarks across main geos, this choice could potentially mean an extra $20-30K per day in ad revenue. 📈💸eCPM rates are influenced by around 90 factors, including competitiveness, CTR, install rate, user location, and active UA spending. Here’s a quick benchmark to estimate your ad revenue potential, assuming a 70/30 IAP to IAA split:🇺🇸 USA:- Rewarded Ads: $30- Interstitials: $15- Google App Open: $1-3- Banners: $0.60-0.90🌍 Tier 1 Geos:- Rewarded Ads: $15-20- Interstitials: $7-12- Google App Open: $0.50-1.5- Banners: $0.28-0.35🌏 Tier 2 Geos:- Rewarded […]

Part 1 of 5: Where has the year gone? With Slush being next week it signals to me that the year is practically gone, or atleast, Q5 is on our doorstep, with that in mind I wanted to share my 2024 predictions from this time last year plus the addition 4 I did at the 6 month mark to take stock before putting out my 2025 predictions this week.So overall how did my predictions fair against the year?Well, as always, there's winners and losers but I would say overall, and mostly, correct, with a few exceptions and caveats as always.1. Consolidation? Yes we continued to see big companies acquire smaller ones and overall the big get bigger (no sh*t sherlock).2. Mergers and Acquisitions? Yes, namely SuperPlay being acquired by Playtika and I would have liked to seen more deals in […]

Pokemon TCG Pocket is killing it 🤩 still doing more than $5 Mil. 🤑 a day! I had to pull out my old cards from the "childhood box" to confirm that a lot of them are now in the mobile game using the exact OG illustrations 😁. Couldn't be more happy to play again with these familiar faces 😊. The DeNA team did a great job by streamlining the original physical Trading Card Game rules. Instead of 60 cards you now only have 20 cards in your whole deck. Energy system was again simplified. Similarly how Hearthstone removed the lands as it was streamlining Magic the Gathering gameplay, Pocket also removed energy cards out of the deck and made it an automatic resource that is constantly given to you each round regardless of your cards. If you go for double […]

Creating "(Shareable) Moments of Joy": The New Formula to Viral and Socially Engaging Game Design? 🎮✨ In future's gaming landscape, simply delivering a high-quality game isn't always enough. With players craving more shareable, social experiences, developers need to consider how to foster “moments of joy”—gameplay that not only excites players but also encourages them to share, stream, and engage in a more community-driven way.Here’s where emergent gameplay and social mechanics come into play:📸 Encourage Shareable Moments:Players love to showcase unique, fun, or funny moments, especially in games that emphasize co-op or PvP elements. Designing gameplay that lends itself to unexpected, high-stakes, or humorous scenarios can help spark these moments. Imagine scenarios where players can collaborate or compete in ways that lead to share-worthy outcomes, encouraging organic social sharing.🤝 Create Cooperative and Social Experiences:Rather than pushing individual achievements, fostering co-op gameplay […]

Founder: "Everyone is like family here, Alexis"Founder: "Ok, actually we're struggling" CEOs should never confuse friendship with leadership.Period.I have managed 100s of A-players.Over the last 20 years..I see too many CEOs who hire fast.Build "fun" cultures, fully remote, casual Fridays.They run up a toxic "we're all friends" environment.Then mediocrity sets in.This is when they reach out to me.Team management should be done professionally.Instead of prioritizing being liked.↳ Prioritize building high-performing teams.With no structure, you have no excellence.↳ Dedicate 1 day a week to performance reviews.Need to turn things around in less than 3 months?↳ Then 2-3 days of active management.Building A-teams in 2024 doesn't have to be scary.It's not popular work, but it is crucial.If you avoid confrontation.If you hate setting boundaries.If you prefer being "the cool boss".Remember the CEO doesn't have to do it alone.Instead:a) Hire a full-time HR […]

Are you interested in game development?From where should you start? 🤔 I've got a quirky fix for this!Ever tried picking a game profession...by playing a game?You’re just a few easy questions away.Warning: May contain humor, sarcasm, cynicism and typos.Funny enough, I followed the path of 'Do you like to be alone'.Ended up as a Voice Actor. 🤷‍♂️I mean, come on, really? 😂So, let's flip the script.What's your profession?Let's game-ify this choice!