Why Players Are Jumping The Ship

Most likely you are one of them. To understand why players abandon games before completion, we must understand player behavior and market trends. The main reasons behind this trend: 1. The Challenge FactorDifficulty spikes and frustrating gameplay elements often deter players from going further.2. Engagement ShortfallsGames that fail to consistently engage players with exciting content or mechanics often face high abandonment rates.3. Shiny ObjectPlayers ' preferences constantly evolve with the era of new games and genres being launched.4. The Time DilemmaModern lifestyles allow limited gaming time. Consequently, games that demand significant time investment risk being abandoned for shorter, more accessible experiences.5. Financial AspectsGiven the rising costs of games coupled with economic uncertainties, players may prefer free-to-play games or those sold at discounted prices.

Ali Farha June 12

Journal

Supermarket Simulator Mobile: Why is it so popular?

📣 When should you implement banner ads in your game? 📣 💡 To have Banner ads account for a significant amount of your ad revenue you need the following:- Long session lengths 📏 - Uninterrupted gameplay ❗ - A refresh rate that is optimized for your game or App Long session lengths allow you to increase the amount of impressions or IMP/DAU you show to your users. Generally, a banner IMP/DAU of 80-120 is what you should aim for if you’d like to earn a meaningful contribution to your user LTV. ☀ A big factor that helps increase the banner IMP/DAU is showing the same banner placement for as much of the user session as possible. Every time a user moves between menus and the banner placement changes, the mediation needs to reload the banner creatives, reducing the total amount of […]

Felix Braberg June 10

Journal

Remote Work + Agile = Bliss

Remote Work + Agile = Bliss 🤩 Remote and agile do not have to be compared on a one-dimensional sliding scale, where you sacrifice some of one to have more of the other.Remote <——————————————> AgileThe opposite is true. They should be considered two complementary dimensions, where more of one enables more of the other.If you look at the four quadrants below (bottom-up and left to right):1️⃣ Not Remote & Not Agile - How traditional organizations think. Everyone micromanaged in the same location 👎2️⃣ Not Remote & Agile - How traditional Agilists think. We need to have co-located teams for maximum agility.3️⃣ Remote & Not Agile - How traditional companies tried to do remote. It doesn’t work. Now enforcing RTO.4️⃣ Remote & Agile - How high-performing teams work best. Bliss ⭐️Remote enables Agile & Agile enables Remote. ⭐️ Remote and distributed […]

Jon Leslie June 10

Journal

Knowing Your Game Is Half the Battle

But the other half? Understanding the genres. To simplify, here's a list: 1. MMORPGs2. Puzzle Games3. Hybrid Games4. Sports Games5. Shooter Games6. Fighting Games7. Platform Games8. Simulation Games9. Dance/Rhythm Games10. Survival Horror Games11. Action Adventure Games12. Role Playing Games (RPGs)13. Turn Based Strategy Games14. Real Time Strategy (RTS) GamesThis list is by no means exhaustive or strict. Each genre can overlap and bleed into another. The only limit is the imagination of the game developers.

Ali Farha June 10

Journal

Pro Or Against The Humour In The Work Environment?

In the hustle and bustle of today’s work environment, fostering friendly communication and maintaining a positive atmosphere is absolutely crucial. When colleagues interact with warmth and respect, it not only enhances individual well-being but also fosters a collaborative and efficient work structure. A workplace where laughter is welcomed and jokes are shared creates an environment where creativity and innovation can flourish. We spend a significant portion of our lives at work; feeling comfortable and human in this space is essential. Being afraid to laugh or make a light-hearted comment only builds walls between us. We must remember that we are all human, and a little humor goes a long way in building strong, trusting relationships.We should aim to cultivate a work culture where friendliness is seen as a strength, not a weakness. By creating spaces where everyone feels valued, heard, […]

Elizaveta Savenkova June 10

Journal

Game Matchmaker Cheat Sheet

Game Matchmaker cheat sheet with components that can be used for MM design! ⚖🎮 Use it to find a personalized approach that suits your game! 🌟Some explanations:— Couple of parts are simplified for the sake of brevity— Several parts from PvP block can be used in PvE, but with lesser impact— Analytics present here only as a reminder to not forget about it. And also because it will be difficult to fit it on one page.— Some terms may not be very clearly defined (I tried to do my best here)📚In terms of genres, there are some differences:— For premium games it is important to be ready for big number of people. And with bunch of MM systems from the start.— For f2p and GaaS games it may be scaled through game live ops after the release, if the audience […]

Sergei Zenkin June 10

Journal

Top Soft Launches: New LEGO Games on the Horizon

TOP SOFT LAUNCHES NEW LEGO GAMES With the challenges of new privacy policies, using IP has been a key UA strategy in mobile games in recent years.IPs endemic to the gaming industry have been performing well, such as “Candy Crush”🍬 and “PUBG”🪂.But there are non-endemic IPs that are well received by the gaming audience, such as soccer (”EA Sports”), board games (”Monopoly GO”), and cartoons (”Pokémon GO”).Now imagine a mobile game with an endemic IP of almost 1.2 billion downloads combined with one of the most iconic brands in kids' culture. 🤯This one is…✨ "LEGO® Hill Climb Adventures" ✨Developed by Fingersoft in partnership with the LEGO Group, "LEGO® Hill Climb" is a 3D version of "Hill Climb Racing".With a well-polished game art. 🎨Moments of competition, like "Hill Climb Racing 2". 🏁But keeping the famous brake-acceleration balance mechanics. 🚗The game also […]

Carlos Pereira June 10

Journal

Iteration over Innovation? Case: Makeover Match

Making games is hard. As player expectations rise and market conditions become more challenging, creating a successful game and maintaining that success is becoming increasingly difficult. It looks like these are not enough to stop Tactile, the Danish studio behind smash hit Lily’s Garden, from working on a new title since they launched their latest game Makeover Match in March 2023. Although the Tactile team has several titles under their portfolio, the well-known swapping mechanic is not very common among their games. Especially with their two most recent titles Lily’s Garden and Penny & Flo, Tactile has been a stronghold for story-driven puzzle games with the collapse mechanic. Releasing a match-3 game with the swapping mechanic is certainly a demonstration of their eagerness to take on a new challenge. However, quite counterintuitively, the strongest aspect of Makeover Match is the […]

Ahmetcan Demirel June 10

Journal

Angel Investors: How to create your own?

People often ask me about angel investors in the games industry. I can usually name a dozen folks, mostly previous founders or executives in the field. However, these individuals are constantly bombarded with inbound deals and often aren't consistently active in angel investing. While some might be full-time investors, the truth is that the games industry lacks well-known, dedicated angel investors. In this post, I want to share a strategy for new game founders who lack a broad network but have something compelling for potential investors. I call it "creating your own angel investors." Searching for angel investors on social media or LinkedIn won't yield many results because people rarely advertise this role. Yet, many industry professionals are open to angel investing if given the opportunity. From 2020 to 2023, I ran an angel syndicate with over 200 game industry […]

Joakim Achren June 10

Journal

Game Development Tools Landscape

I wish I had the tools available today when I joined gaming 12 years ago. Still, 3 sins can ruin your game production. (I must admit, I’ve committed all 3 sins)1. "Why buy this tool? A weekend and energy drinks, and I'll make a new one. It'll even make coffee!"Avoid this because:• 61% producers aim for 1–2-week releases.• that's a lot of energy drinks.• not enough weekends.2. “Our custom tool? It's so unique, only three people in the world understand it.Two of them just quit.”Avoid this because:• 53% longer to onboard with in-house tools• less focus in creating the game experience• the remaining one writes in hieroglyphs.3. "This third-party AI pathfinding? My pet could write better algorithms. Hold my keyboard."Avoid this because:• 66% of development timelines fall short.• solving solved issues wastes resources.• wheel reinvention proves its necessity."Okay, your idea, […]

Sergei Vasiuk June 10

Journal

Passion For Games Is A Huge Business Advantage

Why? 1. Passion = KnowledgeEver met someone who lights up when discussing a topic?They can talk for hours, knowing every tiny detail.This deep immersion can't be faked—it's driven by passion.2. Passion = Understanding the AudienceIf you love the games you make, you know exactly what your audience wantsBecause you are the audience!3. Passion = High Product ValuePassionate creators can't tolerate mediocrity.They strive to enhance every aspect of the game, adding interesting details and putting their soul into the project.Players notice this dedication.4. Passion = Going the Extra MileEvery project faces tough moments.In these times, the willingness to go the extra mile is crucial.Those who don't care will give up.Those who love the game will find creative solutions to succeed.Of course, other qualities are essential in game development.Game design, business skills, management, strategy, etc. All are critical.But a love for games […]

Anton Slashcev June 8

Journal

This year looks truly special for the MMORPG genre.

While we may be living in a time of crisis for the gaming industry, there are still a lot of cool games that have been released or are coming out. On different platforms and markets, both indie and AAA, even MMORPG has a lot of stuff! 😎 🎉 This year looks truly special for the MMORPG genre. There are:— Expansion for the World of Warcraft— Expansion for the Final Fantasy XIV Online (with boosted graphics)— Updates in Destiny and TESO— Guild Wars 3 development confirmed— Pax Dei, Blue Protocol, Throne and Liberty planned for release this yearPersonally I want to check up FFXIV. Already played for 100 hours, but it is clearly not enough. 🤗

Sergei Zenkin June 7

Journal

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