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Ghibli-Style AI Art Takes Over ChatGPT

If your social feeds have turned into a dreamy, anime-soaked wonderland, you're not alone. The internetโ€™s latest obsession? AI-generated Studio Ghibli-style images, transforming everything from historical icons to meme culture into magical stills straight out of My Neighbor Totoro. But hereโ€™s the plot twist: this viral trend is powered by OpenAIโ€™s new GPT-4o model, and it's already shaking up the creative world, including mobile gaming. Isn't it illegal? AIโ€™s Copycat Moment: The Copyright Storm Is Here. AI giants like OpenAI are already under fire for using creatorsโ€™ work without consent, and a new viral image generator just turned up the heat. Hereโ€™s why itโ€™s a tipping point: Artists recognize their own style. This tool mimics with eerie precision, revealing that copyrighted works were likely used to train the AI. It skirts the law, not the ethics. The AI alters just […]

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8 Things Games Do Better Than Any Art

8 Things Games Do Better Than Any Art People say games arenโ€™t art. โŒ Wrong!Games do what no other art form can.Hereโ€™s 8 ways games outshine everything:๐Ÿญ. ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Œ๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฆโ€ข Books make you imagine.โ€ข Movies make you feel.โ€ข Games make you live it.Mass Effect โ†’ Choices shape your story.๐Ÿฎ. ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜˜๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜งโ€ข A book shows a hero making tough choicesโ€ข A game forces you to make it.Spec Ops: The Line โ†’ Regret every step.๐Ÿฏ. ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜Œ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜บโ€ข Movies show only whatโ€™s filmed.โ€ข Games let you look everywhere.RDR2 โ†’ Secrets in every town.๐Ÿฐ. ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜“๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จโ€ข โ€˜Fast & Furiousโ€™ wonโ€™t teach driving.โ€ข With racing games youโ€™ll pick up skills fast.F1 โ†’ Even Formula 1 champions use it.๐Ÿฑ. ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ ๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณโ€ข In movies, the hero is never YOU.โ€ข In games, your instincts kick in.Resident Evil 4 โ†’ […]

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Offerwalls: What is it for Publishers and Advertisers?

Ad El Dorado - Inside the Incentivized Ad Platforms Quest for Gold Gold Diggers, Welcome! The number of Incentive Ad Platforms or offerwall solutions has significantly increased in the last couple of years. I remember that back in 2017, the only options for publishers looking for offerwalls solutions were relegated to two choices: Fyber and Tapjoy. Now, itโ€™s 2025, and according to Paul Bowenโ€™s Data Baseon Incentivized ad platforms, you can choose from 19 companies. Thatโ€™s 8x more companies in 8 years. So, this week, I want to break down the different types of offerwalls available to publishers and break down common pitfalls publishers face when chasing these golden gains. ๐Ÿค”What is an Offerwall?๐Ÿค” Easy - A publisher integrates an offerwall where their users can see a list of offers they can complete for in-game currency. The offers can range […]

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Custom Store Listing for World Eternal Online

We did a super fun creative test with Core Loop for World Eternal Online. The goal? Come up with new art styles for the game and see how they perform compared to the original, in terms of audience appeal and campaign results.To bring it all to life, we leaned heavily on AI:๐Ÿง  ChatGPT helped us write character prompts๐ŸŽจ Midjourney turned those into awesome character designs๐ŸŽฅ Pika, Kling and Creatify helped animate everything into ad-ready creativesBut it didnโ€™t stop there.We used the AI art to build dedicated Custom Store Listings on Google Play, complete with unique icons and screenshots for each visual style. Then we ran a Meta campaign to send traffic to each version and measure the differences in audience behavior and conversion rates.The result? Two totally different visual vibes. Two different types of players. Tons of insights for further […]

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Influencer Marketing Framework

๐Ÿงฉ Your Influencer Marketing strategy wonโ€™t be scalable unless you follow a framework. Hereโ€™s Step 1 of the 3-step formula: The first stage is always all about gatheringย knowledge.- Start small, working with Nano and Micro Influencers- Identify initial content verticals based on your target demos- Test the potential of these verticals and sub-verticals- Examine data at scale to identify which verticals are worth scaling withWhen you have sufficient data to make reliable conclusions about a vertical's potential: Move on to Phase 2: Optimisation. ๐Ÿงฉ Profitably scaling Influencer Marketing - Optimisation. Phase 2 is where you optimise the creatives you use to actually convert the audiences in these niches.This involves iterating with- Visual elements of the integration- Talking points- CTAs- Different Live Ops and events- Initial additional incentives like gift codesOnce you've figured out the optimal setup, you can move onto […]

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Is CPI the new ROAS?

In mobile gaming user acquisition, return on ad spend (ROAS) hasnโ€™t always been the go-to metric for success. Before ROAS took centre stage, cost per install (CPI) was the primary focus, with advertisers optimizing for the lowest CPI possible without much thought to what happened post-install.Then, as attribution improved, the industry shifted toward measuring D7 ROAS as a key performance indicator. This provided an early read on whether a cohort of installs would eventually break even. Over time, predictive lifetime value (LTV) models layered onto this, helping publishers refine their forecasts and ensure long-term profitability.Now, in a post-Zero Interest-Rate Policy (ZIRP) world, CPI is making a comeback alongside ROAS as gaming companies sharpen their focus on efficiency and profitability. Letโ€™s explore why.The Risk of Unchecked CPIEvery mobile publisher operates under a simple equation:LTV - CPI = ProfitThe challenge? LTV isnโ€™t […]

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Game Over for Sexist Mobile Ads

Mobile gamingโ€™s fun, until the Ads get weird. And sexist. And downright disgusting. The UKโ€™s Advertising Standards Authority just dropped the ban hammer on eight mobile game ads that crossed a lineโ€”hard. Think: women as props, porn tropes masquerading as game previews, and disturbing depictions of coercion wrapped in cutesy animation. The ASA called it what it is: shocking and unacceptable. See: Actions being taken on Sexualised Ads ๐Ÿคฏ Wait, This Is Still Happening? Jup. ยฏ\_(ใƒ„)_/ยฏ Despite progress in other media, mobile game ads are stuck in a grim loop of clickbait and sleaze. Why? Low CPI = Business as usual :)) Theyโ€™re not edgy. GROSS. And yet, they WORK. Thatโ€™s the problem :)) Real Cost? ๐Ÿšซ Misleading gameplay = player distrust ๐Ÿ’” Sexist content = alienating 48% of the mobile gamer base (yep, that many are women) ๐Ÿ“‰ Fake […]

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Actions being taken on Sexualised Ads

Itโ€™s encouraging to see action finally being taken on sexualised ads in our industry. The UKโ€™s ASA has just banned ads from five mobile games for breaching guidelines, including ones featuring hyper-sexualised and stereotypical portrayals of women. This follows a string of similar cases, and itโ€™s clear the industry is now under real scrutiny; who knows how long before the IAB enforces something even further?I covered this issue in detail last year with Gamesforum, pointing out how this kind of advertising doesnโ€™t just fail morally, it also fails commercially. It undermines trust in the product, the platform, and ultimately the industry, which reduces retention rates and other qualitative gaming metrics. These arenโ€™t edge cases, theyโ€™re still far too common.This ASA ruling is a much-needed first step, but weโ€™ve got a long way to go. Itโ€™s not enough to quietly hope […]

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Why Mukbang Games are in the top charts?

Who's Hungry? Let's see why Mukbang Games are in the top charts โ€‹๐Ÿ”โ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿœโ€‹โ€‹ Check out some insights into the trend and dive into the fastest-growing Mukbang Games in the world! ๐Ÿš€โ€‹In my opinion, these games are great for those who love food๐Ÿ”ฅ

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Supercell Supports Offroad Games in High-Speed Studio Launch

Buckle up: a crew of Space Ape veterans just launched Offroad Games, a brand-new London studio with one missionโ€”drive car games into the future with full-throttle energy. Even better? Theyโ€™re not doing it alone. In a bold move to keep beloved games alive and thriving, Supercell and Offroad Games have joined forces, handing over the keys to Chrome Valley Customs, Fastlane: Road to Revenge, and the long-dormant Go Race: Superkarts. This partnership protects jobs, powers up innovation, and fuels growth across Londonโ€™s buzzing dev scene. At the wheel is Geoffrey Gilles, Offroadโ€™s CEO and former GM of Chrome Valley Customs and original game lead on Beatstar. Backed by a team of ten (and growing), Offroad is already profitable and running at full speed, with no outside funding and no time to waste. โ€œOffroad is buzzing with gallons of nitro energy! […]

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10 Ways to Monetize a Game

10 Ways to Monetize a Game Here are 10 common game monetization models: ๐Ÿญ. ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜‚๐—บ โ€“ ๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜† ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€. โ€ข Instant revenue, full experience โ€ข High price can deter players ๐Ÿฎ. ๐—™๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ-๐˜๐—ผ-๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜† (๐—™๐Ÿฎ๐—ฃ) โ€“ ๐—™๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ, ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐—ถ๐—ป-๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€. โ€ข Large player base, high revenue potential โ€ข High competition, requires constant updates ๐Ÿฏ. ๐——๐—Ÿ๐—– (๐——๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜) โ€“ ๐—”๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜-๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ต. โ€ข Extends game lifecycle, ongoing revenue โ€ข Requires continuous development, balancing paid vs. free content ๐Ÿฐ. ๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†-๐˜๐—ผ-๐—˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป โ€“ ๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น-๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐—ถ๐—ป-๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ (๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ผ, ๐—ก๐—™๐—ง๐˜€). โ€ข Attracts players with rewards, player-driven economy โ€ข Security risks, regulatory challenges ๐Ÿฑ. ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐— ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—š๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด โ€“ ๐—•๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ป-๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€. โ€ข High revenue, strong player engagement โ€ข Legal restrictions, ethical concerns ๐Ÿฒ. ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป โ€“ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฎ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ […]

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The Future of UA: Creator Programs

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—จ๐—”! Creator programs. "๐—ข๐—ฟ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€". Roblox, Fortnite, MY.GAMES, and Supercell recruited over ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€. Why? ๐Ÿ‘‡ ๐—ช๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—บ, ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด:โ†ณRetentionโ†ณFeedback loops and positive PRโ†ณGenerate user-generated contentโ†ณDistributionโ†ณReduce fatigueโ†ณReward your most loyal fansโ†ณDrive more revenue Supercell has recruited over 1,000 creators, claiming some have even increased viewership by 600%. I mean, you canโ€™t pay bills with viewership, but still. That was their main UA channel until Brawl Stars blast, and it still is the main UA for some games: ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—บ ๐—ถ๐˜'๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐—จ๐—”, ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€. Creator programs. Everyone and their mom has one, including Roblox, Fortnite, Rush Royale, and Supercellโ€ฆbut why? Whatโ€™s the ROI? Well, there are several benefits to starting one, including: Retention:ย keep the community engaged, return for new content, and generate buzz around updates Feedback loops and […]

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