gamingindustry

I was recently approached by a media outlet to share my top 5 gaming predictions for 2024, which made me think, f*ck it, I’m going to extend the list to my top 10 for the year overall (in no particular order): 1. Consolidation among top gaming companies will continue, making it tougher for small to medium-sized studios to thrive independently. Even successful ones will consider partnering with larger publishers due to the increasing challenges in user acquisition and profitable game launches.2. Mergers and acquisitions will see a resurgence, with venture capitalists increasing their investments, albeit not reaching the levels of two years ago. I've observed a growing number of investments and discussions among business leaders recently which will come to fruition soon (hopefully). VC firms, having had a quieter year, will need to take more risks but will do so […]

After four days, Palworld, an early-access survivor game described as "Pokemon with guns," grossed ~$108M over three days en route to the 2nd highest concurrent player count for a paid title on Steam. It's an outstanding success for Pocket Pair, a 50-person Japanese team with $7m raised. But like early access hits Valhiem, Battlebit, and Temtem before it, an inability to quickly deploy capital hampers compounding return. Instead of these titles having their best days to look forward to, they're in the rear-view mirror, the equivalent of peaking in high school, but this time, you get millions in cash for the ordeal. Teams should follow the Kikta Studio model: prove a trajectory and let someone else build the bow. When founders sell games, they retain control of their destiny and find themselves newly rich with modelable capital, allowing games to […]

Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO, named Johanna Faries the new president of Blizzard, closing a pivotal moment in the ATVI-Microsoft merger. Faries faces the challenge of revitalizing Blizzard amidst declining revenue and engagement across its franchises. The situation is dire enough that Faries inherits a needed rebirth of Blizzard. The Blizzard of old is dead, and several causal agents are responsible.The Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment about when a ship remains the same after trading its planks one by one with another ship. The same experiment applies to Blizzard, who has replaced a good deal of its workforce after they left for new start-ups. Over the last decade, venture capital siphoned copious amounts of Blizzard employees into new start-ups, aided by California's law banning non-competes. The VC-backed combination of Dreamhaven (fmr. Blizzard founder), Second Dinner (fmr. Hearthstone team), Magic Soup […]