Playable Factory secured a strategic investment from Ludus Ventures

The partnership, combining Playable Factory’s proven expertise with Ludus Ventures’ strategic insights, is set to redefine Interactive Advertising. Playable Factory, a leader in gamified advertising and interactive ad technologies, has secured a strategic investment from Ludus Ventures. This partnership will further enhance Playable Factory’s leadership in both its core playable ads business and its growing focus on non-gaming applications, enabling the company to deliver even greater value to brands across diverse industries. The investment will help the company expand its innovative web tools, refine its industry-leading playable ad solutions, and unlock new opportunities in emerging markets. Ludus Ventures’ extensive experience in scaling successful technology companies makes this partnership uniquely strategic with a portfolio that includes brands like Monetizr, specializing in gamified rewards, and Goama, a brand in gamification services, Ludus Ventures brings unmatched expertise in interactive solutions. Backed by General Partners with […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 6

Journal

Pokémon TCG Pocket hit record daily revenue of $8M/Day

Pokémon TCG Pocket recently hit record daily revenue of $8 Mil a day! 🤑 and finally introduced Trading 💱 and it is, how to put it, "complicated" 😅. We all knew this was coming, but we really didn't expect this execution. Read the latest on all you need to know on one of the biggest new games on the market 😎. Every Gacha (lootbox = random rewards game) is based on the premise that everything you get goes through random chance. You can't chose what you get and there are very small chances to get the best content, because the game pretty much ends when you get it, which will never happen as they will add more "new best content" later 😅 Trading or any sort of mechanics that is directly skipping through the randomness is completely breaking this system. Imagine […]

Jakub Remiar February 5

Journal

Apple Faces Investigation in China Over Monopoly

China's antitrust regulator is preparing an investigation into Apple, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the situation. The potential subject of the investigation is the App Store's policies. According to Bloomberg, Chinese authorities suspect that Apple forced app developers to pay excessively high fees — ranging from 15% to 30% depending on their income levels. Additionally, the antitrust officials intend to assess the legality of prohibiting the use of alternative payment systems and mobile stores on iOS. It is reported that the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) in China began discussing this issue with Apple executives and developers last year. Representatives from Apple and SAMR did not comment on the Bloomberg report. Notably, Chinese developers had previously attempted to sue the corporation, accusing it of imposing excessively large commissions in the App Store. Their efforts were unsuccessful. In May […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 5

Journal

Some insightful takeaways from the CTA survey

Some nonobvious / insightful 💡 takeaways from the CTA survey: • 18% of gamers (28.6m) are hardcore; most economically active. 73% male, avg. 29 y/o. Play 42h / week, spend most time on premium games. 91% play on PC / consoles. 51% engaged in creating content. Preference for multiplayer games, shooters, open-world games.• 46% of gamers (72.1m) are "core" gamers. Not as active as hardcore, play fewer games & genres, but still quite often.• 36% (55 million people) are casual gamers (least engaged)• Gaming lifecycle chart (below) is interesting food for thought, and resonates with my own experience.• Every generation self-identifies more strongly as 'gamers' than the one before.From Consumer Technology Association Survey.For anyone with access to full survey, I'd be curious to know the 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 criteria for placing a respondent into one of the three groups (hardcore, core, casual).

Matthew Emery February 5

Analysis

Royal Kingdom vs Royal Match

Royal Kingdom vs Royal Match 𝟭. 𝗙𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗣𝘃𝗣 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀 ⚔️ • Every 10th level, players attack opponent castles using Match-3. • Shields protect, potions repair. 𝟮. 𝗔 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 ⭐ • Potions replace stars as rewards. • Variable potion amounts instead of a fixed one-star reward. 𝟯. 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗮 🏰 • Multiple separate locations instead of a single expanding one. • Clearer visual progression to show total work scope. • Team ranking system with weekly goals and rewards. • Player rank system that unlocks new areas. 𝟰. 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 💥 • Wizard Hat: Changes random color elements. • Bomber Plane: Drops 3 bombs that auto-activate. 𝟱. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 💎 • Earned through meta-tasks instead of level completion. • Players can request potions from teammates once per day. • More emphasis on team cooperation. 𝟲. 𝗨𝗽𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲s […]

Anton Slashcev February 5

Analysis

Why Some Puzzle Games are More Addicting?

The puzzle genre is a powerhouse in mobile gaming, generating over $7 billion annually in in-app purchases (IAP). Despite this immense market, more than half of the revenue comes from a single subgenre: Match-3. Established giants dominate not only Match-3 but also other popular subgenres like Merge and Blast, making it incredibly difficult for new entrants to gain traction. In such a highly competitive space, innovation is the key to creating new opportunities, and we've seen that with the rise of Physical Match and Tile Match games. Titles like Match Factory, Triple Match 3D, and Tile Busters have successfully carved out space by introducing fresh mechanics to the puzzle category. “Pair” games mainly consisting of Physical Match and Tile Match titles didn’t take long to become the third largest puzzle subgenre. As the puzzle market evolves, a new wave of […]

Ahmetcan Demirel February 5

Journal

Mobile Gaming Brands Winning with UGC

We all know that gaming marketers are loving UGC ads right now, I've spoken about this multiple times recently and it's definitely a trend that is going to keep gaining in traction and user performance (ROI). I was recently approached by the folks at Ramdam to review their market report on just this subject and I found a world of really useful data points that further validate my whole hypothesis around the ad-type shaping the cultural norms in marketing.Probably my favourite state overall was that ads incorporating UGC achieve on average a 7.5% higher Day 30 retention rate! I think all studios right now could do with seeing those kinds of performance bumps from using this strategy!Download the report here.

John Wright February 5

Journal

How to Monetize Whales Through Milestone Events

How to Monetize Whales Through Milestone Events 🐋 Monetization features for whales are designed to target the highest-spending players, while also engaging less-spending players with the potential to convert them into whales.💡 How milestones tied to hard currency spend work:Players complete milestones and receive rewards by spending standard hard currency during the event.🐳 In-game Examples:— “Emerald Waterfalls” event in Hero Wars is held weekly, starting on Wednesdays. While its long duration and regularity make its exact impact on revenue harder to measure, its continuous rotation demonstrates its importance.— “More Than Gems” event in Rise of Kingdoms is held on weekends during major clan events like the “Sunset Canyon Tournament” and “Alliance Mobilization,” resulting in a 12–40% revenue increase on the following Mondays.✅ Why it’s important:Whales are one of the most important cohorts that can generate the absolute majority of revenue […]

Andrei Zubov February 5

Journal

Merge-2 with Complex Meta: The Year of LiveOps & Monetization

Merge-2 with Complex Meta: The Year of LiveOps & Monetization 🚀 The genre surged in 2024, with revenue up 106% YoY and downloads rising 43%.But here’s the catch—this growth comes from just a few dominant titles, including Merge Mansion, Travel Town, Gossip Harbor, and Seaside Escape. 👑How did they achieve this? By doubling down on LiveOps and refining monetization strategies, drawing inspiration not just from each other but also from Match-3 and Casual Casino. 🎰Want the details? You’ll find them all in our report.Casual Games Report 2024 also covers:🏆 How Two games outperformed Merge Mansion, which dominated the niche for three years.🔄 How Merge Mansion is fighting back to reclaim its position.📈 How three new games broke into the Top 10—and what set them apart.

Andrei Zubov February 5

Highlights

AppsFlyer lays off 100 employees, 7% of its workforce.

After "AppLovin's Adjust Layoffs", now AppsFlyer's turn. CEO Oren Kaniel says the company will focus on AI and scalability as part of long-term growth plans. Unicorn AppsFlyer is laying off 100 of its employees, about 7% of its workforce. The company currently employs 1,200 people, two-thirds of whom are based in Israel. The layoffs will affect employees both in Israel and in the company’s other global offices. AppsFlyer was founded in 2011 by Oren Kaniel and Reshef Mann. According to estimates, the company's revenue is currently around $400 million, and the layoffs may be part of preparations for a planned IPO in the coming year. AppsFlyer was founded in 2011 by Oren Kaniel and Reshef Mann. The company has developed technology that allows app owners to identify where their most profitable users originated from, such as a Google search, an […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 5

Journal

The Future of F2P Games and Hybrid Monetization

Systematic and emergent gameplay mechanics are a powerful tool in game design; shaping some of the most memorable and engaging player experiences.From physics-driven mechanics, puzzles, etc. to open-ended economic and systemic simulations, these mechanics allow players to interact dynamically with a game world rather than following pre-scripted paths. However, despite their growing popularity, their full potential for F2P mobile games and premium games incorporating F2P economies is still largely untapped.In this article, we'll explore how systematic and emergent gameplay can be leveraged for monetization, engagement, and live service sustainability — making it a cost-efficient alternative to content-heavy LiveOps while maintaining player retention. We’ll also take a look into how these mechanics align with intrinsic motivations, intrinsic monetization and social group monetization, creating deep and meaningful engagement-monetization loops that extend beyond e.g., traditional extrinsic reward systems.The Efficiency of Systematic and Emergent […]

Antti Kananen February 4

Highlights

Türkiye’s Laton Ventures raises $50M to invest in Game & App Startups

🚀 🟣 Laton Ventures announces:- $50M Fund raised- 5 investments were completed in TR/EU/US, 2 of them raised Series-A rounds within a year. Grand Games, one of our first investments, raised $30M- Ranked among the global top 10 most active gaming VCs- Backed by 40+ exited gaming/tech founders and industry veterans from 10+ countriesLaton Ventures, Melisa Yaguboglu, Volkan Özen Laton Ventures: Görkem Türk (left), Melisa Yaguboglu, Volkan Özen. Laton Ventures, a Gaming & Apps focused VC firm founded by Görkem Türk, has closed its first fund with $50 million. The Istanbul venture capital fund is the largest gaming and apps-focused fund in Türkiye, which has become one of the prominent global hubs for the gaming industry, said Türk in a statement. Laton Ventures will globally invest in pre-seed and seed-stage gaming startups, while also backing non-gaming app companies. Back in April, […]

Ömer Yakabagi February 4

Journal

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