Edward Rumley

part 1 and 2 is out john has summed the things that game publisher need to take note. the need to understand the player behavior, player motivations and game economy is crucial in crafting the revenue path and strategies for each segment or group. there is no 1 size fits all strategy. not just on monetization, before that, acquistion and retention would be the initial steps to work on and follow by monetization. Just working monetization alone will see repercussions. Players have too many options to choose, how to keep them to the game and keeping them long will be one of the core to successful monetization.

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Looking forward to this! I'm really keen to hear more from new startups and how they are combatting some of the industry challenges right now. Hoping there will be a mix of experience in the room so that we can share new ideas. I'm really interested to hear from Studios who have previously setup during difficult industry climates and what their learnings were from this. Give me a shout if you plan on coming along and feel free to pose questions in this thread! #Leadership #PersonalDevelopment #Gamesindustry #GamesLeadership

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The latest Consumer Market Valuation Report published by Ukie was published a few days ago, and I only just managed to go through it. The report shows that 📈 The UK games market was worth £7.8 billion in 2023, a 4.4% increase compared to 2022's revised total of £7.5 billion 📈 Software sales were up 4.1% year-on-year, while hardware also grew 2.1% compared to 2022 However: 📈 Consoles led growth for hardware with a 12% increase 📉 PC showed an 11% decrease 📈 VR hardware sales also increased by 11% to £194 million 💴 Revenue from the “Broader Game Culture Sector”, a new vertical the UKIE created to encompass revenue from TV, film, soundtracks, books, and merchandise reached £418 million Source: https://lnkd.in/ggxPsdpe

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🚨 Can Nostalgia create a path back to games industry growth? 🚨 💡 ⤵ I went to watch Inside Out 2 with my daughter on Saturday (well worth a watch!) and one of the new emotions was Nostalgia. Whilst only playing a minor role for 13 year old Riley in the film, it is an emotion increasingly being felt by publishers and gamers. Whether it be big scale returns of old PC classics or emulator apps cropping up on mobile, it is clear that many players are looking for a Nostalgia hit! But Why? Well for me retro gaming scratches a number of intrinsic needs; 1. Familiarity - An old pair of slippers, moulded to you, is just more comfortable than a shiny pair of Air 1s. 2. Mastery - No one likes being a noob. If players can skip learning and get straight to the fun, they will. 3. Community - Who doesn't love getting the old gang back together... Reminiscing. Laughing. Smiling. From a publisher perspective it makes a lot of sense too. Large amounts of the initial development costs have been sunk already, you have a clear target audience to go after and you have the opportunity to turn back the clock and learn from last time. Nostalgia doesn't have to stunt innovation. In Old School RuneScape we have worked with our community to create entirely new quests, game modes and map expansions whilst staying true to the retro vibe players are looking for. And there are more games coming.... I saw today a 2005 server save of Habbo Hotel is being dusted off and relaunched tomorrow with a community-led voting approach.... sounds familiar 🤔 Good luck Sulake. Hope the launch goes well. So we have Old School RuneScape and now Old School Habbo... Come on Lance Priebe lets get the band back together with some Old School Club Penguin! 🐧 🐧 🐧 What other retro games do we need next? #nostalgia #gaming #mmo #gamesindustry #insight

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A bit of UK market data news. Fallout 4 was comfortably the UK's best-selling game in April (GSD figures), and was one of three Fallout games in the Top Ten. Overall UK game sales in April were down 7% year-on-year, but there was a lack of new releases (in 2023, we had Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Dead Island 2), so that seems like a pretty good result. There were no new games in the Top Ten for April, with PlayStation's Stellar Blade coming in at No.12. The action game was only on sale for one week when this data was counted. The console market continues to have a horrible year (GfK figures). Sales of games machines are down 30% in the UK this year. Xbox Series console sales are down just under 25%, PS5 sales are down just over 25%, and Switch sales are down 38%. Elsewhere, 530,000 accessories were sold over April, a drop of 28% over March but up 7% over April last year.

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Fallout 4 launched in 2015. Today, it's the #1 game in Europe. To achieve that, it had to hit a 7,500% week over week gain. There were also THREE other Fallout games in the top 10. Transmedia, FTW. #1 - Fallout 4 #2 - Helldivers 2 #3 - EA Sports FC 24 #4 - GTA V #5 - CoD MW3 #6 - Red Dead 2 #7 - Hogwarts Legacy #8 - Fallout 76 (2018) #9 - Fallout: New Vegas (2010) #10 - Fallout 3 (2008) ...people who were born when Fallout 3 came out...are driving now. ...and, not to be overlooked: Fallout Shelter (mobile, 2015) hit #7 on the US iOS free games chart (highest ranking since 2018)...and showed dramatic increases: Revenue: $80,000/day (up from $20,000 pre-TV series) Downloads: 60,000/day (up from 20,000 pre-TV series) Quick History: One of the many reasons that transmedia didn't work so well in the past, is because all too often, there was a belief that the game and the movie/show needed to be released at the same time in order to maximize impact. That's not what happened. What happened: The movie/show had a hard, immovable premier date. Someone printed posters...therefore, it was locked. This was often way sooner than a good game could be built...so either an existing game would get re-skinned, the scope of the game was massively reduced, or the game got launched before it was fully baked...and you got runny brownies. The most recent (full) Fallout game was launched in 2018...yet here we are. Last of Us 2 came out in 2020...but HBO's brilliant series launched in 2023. League of Legends came out in 2009...Netflix posted Arcane in 2021. Btw...lest anyone forget, Arcane's first two episodes premiered on Twitch...to over 7MM viewers. Over 5,000 channels co-streamed it. Transmedia done right...is not about tying day-and-date launches. It's about ensuring quality production at both ends, knowing (and truly caring about) your source content...and knowing (and truly caring about) your audience. Congrats to Prime Video & Amazon Studios...congrats to Bethesda Game Studios...congrats to gamers and viewers. Now...when is Season 2...and when is Fallout 5? ...hopefully, not the same day. https://lnkd.in/gqw-PnKY

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The experts' guide to mobile games monetisation: Part one

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A little blog post I wrote on how we do flexible working at Netspeak Games - always keen to hear what other companies do! Comment in the thread below 👇 https://lnkd.in/eJY8FXwd #flexibleworking #gamesindustry #blog

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The official unofficial Live ops team theme song. Since releasing our latest game Torque Drift 2 into Early access in October last year we've released over 10 updates. Each and every one of them building towards the full release, and our vision for the game alongside the communities feedback. Our latest update 𝟎.𝟗.𝟎 was a banger, and contained a lot of foundational work for the new updates we are working on now.  𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 - The games first game mode, compete against the clock drifting through clipping points for points 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 - ToFu, short for Torque Funds, earn-able and spendable in the shop. 𝐈𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 - Set in a fictional Japanese car expo 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 - Compete for podium position across 2 tracks for weekly rewards 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 - We've released our internal custom built road tool so players can build their own mods with it 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬 - Nissan R33, Toyota Chaser JZX100, Toyota MK4 Supra, Honda S2000 and the Honda Civic Type R And we're not done! Update 0.10.0 is cooking with even more awesome features and updates ready for next month. https://lnkd.in/daC37vTM

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🚨15 MINUTES🚨 on the main stage! Talking about the state of toxicity in games and how to combat it! come, come! Reboot Develop

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How visible are SGF24 and Xbox Showcase titles on console stores? Could this outline the ultimate success index for those games that appeared in the streams? 👀 Any thoughts if stream appearance and store presence should be simultaneous? 👉 Keep up to date with #GamesIndustry insights ▶ https://shorturl.at/krEN4

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An update in the Embracer Group saga (complete with an efficient, if slightly brutal image from GamesIndustry.Biz). This savvy trisection results in some cleverly-named studio consortiums that I hope NEVER change. Go on... "Asmodee Group" - This isn't one of the cleverly-named co-ops mentioned above, but it's a powerhouse in the tabletop gaming world. Did you know that Settlers of Catan has sold about 35MM copies? I'm pretty sure that makes it the most successful modern TT IP...but it still pales to the old schoolers, like Hasbro's Monopoly (+275MM), and CLUE (+150MM)...but Catan is just 30 years old. A mere tween in the world of board games. Give it time. Asmodee also has interest in Exploding Kittens, Inc., one of the most underrated games to play with your kids. It's a great graduation from Mattel, Inc.'s UNO (which, btw...can be found in 80% of US homes - wow). "Coffee Stain & Friends"...and..."Middle-Earth Enterprises & Friends" ...Now, Embracer has said that these groups will be given new names soon. But I implore you, Lars Wingefors...please consider keeping these. They are fantastic...original, irreverent, and frankly...convey a lightness that I think would be appreciated by the gaming masses. Coffee Stain & Friends will be divided into two units: Premium - THQ Nordic, Amplifier Game Invest, Ghost Ship Games, etc. Free-to-Play - Easybrain, CrazyLabs, Cryptic Studios, etc. Middle-Earth Enterprises & Friends...big IP here: Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider, Dead Island, etc. Here you'll find Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Vertigo Games, and more. Side Note: I know we've seen a lot of zombie shows/movies...but HBO Max proved with Last Of Us that innovation in the genre is not only possible - but that there are rich veins yet to even be tapped. So...just sayin': Dead Island? Maybe? I mean...even if you just spent a season to play out what might be the single greatest game trailer ever: https://lnkd.in/gMPk69Zx WARNING - that trailer is not at all safe for work, or probably...home. This is of course, unless you work in the games business...in which case, enjoy this treasure with your coffee: Alright - the next phase of Embracer begins...will be interesting to follow. https://lnkd.in/gYGdGc8C

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Assassin Creed Brotherhood Mission 16 Guardian Of Forli 100% #REDHEADGAMINGSTUDIOS #SKULLpturedGaming #PS4 #Ps4Pro #PS5Share #PS5 #gaming #xbox #gamers #playstation #videogaming #xboxone #walkthroughs #videogames #videogame #youtube #youtubegaming #Pc #Pcgame #pcgaming #Pcgamer

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Back from seeing a lot of great people at Develop Brighton, which was busy enough to distract me from doing the usual daily recaps. Let's continue, shall we? Today on GamesIndustry.biz... (Thursday, July 11th 2024) 1. Your must read is Chris' opinion piece on yesterday's Xbox Game Pass price hike announcement, exploring how the move reflects the need for profitability, the strength of Xbox's first-party line-up, and how determined Microsoft is to make Game Pass work https://lnkd.in/e5-rqs5R 2. In the news, Shift Up - the South Korean developer behind Stellar Blade - raised $320m with its IPO, which was the largest for a games company from that nation since 2021 https://lnkd.in/eUQzGTNf 3. Splash Damage is the latest studio to face layoffs, with the studio telling us a "small number of roles" will potentially be made redundant following a review of the business. These are said to be mostly operational roles, with development largely unaffected https://lnkd.in/ejA-f6Ri 4. GAME has reportedly dropped yet another part of its offering. After ditching pre-owned, its loyalty scheme, and Xbox All Access, the retailer will now apparently stop taking in-store pre-orders from August 1. The reason? According to staff, it's because the tills have to cope with too much so parent company Frasers Group is making it so GAME stores (or rather concessions) can only sell and refund products https://lnkd.in/ehMY4sg3 5. Tencent is shutting down free-to-play shooter Synced after just one year of it being available to play https://lnkd.in/e4r3C-kP 6. And Embracer has secured a new €600m ($652m) revolving credit facility with a two-year tenor, replacing the existing €420m ($456m) one, due in May 2025 https://lnkd.in/eGNwZC3g There's more news over at www.gamesindustry.biz and make sure you're signed up to the GI Daily to get it all delivered to your inbox: https://lnkd.in/eAkx_zen

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Shout out to all those #gameDev not going to #gamescom what will you be doing instead of attending? Don’t worry the games industry doesn’t stop, people don’t stop playing games and the world still spins 😎 I wrote some alternative #marketing and planning tips to take advantage of during this long period of let’s meet up posts. Share your plans Avoid Gamescom FOMO https://lnkd.in/eK74Mj3s

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If you're worried you missed anything during today's Xbox showcase, here's a roundup of all the biggest news

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Another games jobs cut situation today at CI Games as reported by Game Developer's Christopher Kerr and confirmed by the company, saying "This restructure affects approximately 30 roles across production" https://lnkd.in/eHmMFztw Here's where this puts us. I will start exposing these statistics regularly as a reminder of the human cost of these decisions: 100+ games layoffs in 2024 One games layoff situation on average every 1.3 days in 2024 (apologies for getting this inverted in the picture) Over 10,000 games layoffs in 2024 YTD Within 500 cuts of hitting 2023's games layoff number...in May If you were in fact affected by these cuts, I have no words to express my feelings. However, our community has three resource "homes" built to help you: HOME 1 - 🔗 AMIRSATVAT.COM: Our hub offering 15 resources to help you find work, including a fully updated design. - 🔗 Games Org Support Posts: Find a template at AMIRSATVAT.COM (Category 4, Resource 10). If you can provide information from your team (with their consent), I’ll help edit and disseminate the final product, reaching 100,000+ people. These posts are highly effective in increasing visibility and we have done 96 of them. HOME 2 - 🔗 Please visit discord.gg/amirsatvat to join our Discord, a live extension of our community resources. With over 2,700 members, we are in an open-join phase. HOME 3 - 🔗 LinkedIn: Our community here includes over 86,000 members, with 1-3 daily posts offering support and career assistance in the games industry. To our broader community, your involvement makes a difference. Here’s how you can help: - Spread the word: Reshares and comments on this post amplify the visibility of these resources. - Offer support: Utilize the 13 ways listed on AMIRSATVAT.COM under "How You Can Help" to assist, or simply lend an ear or advice on our Discord server. - Join our movement: Volunteer with us at AMIRSATVAT.COM to support our colleagues in the games industry. Our network has facilitated over 1,800 jobs and 33,000 coaching conversations to date and has been visited by over 3,000,000 gamers lifetime. We're committed to providing daily encouragement and support during these challenging times. We will never stop fighting for you!

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Interesting report from Nielsen and Take This, Inc. - The impact of hate and harassment on player retention and in-game purchases Interesting takeaways for me: 🎮 80% of players believe it is important to feel safe from hate and harassment in games. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 1 in 10 players feel unsafe in gaming spaces, with younger players feeling more unsafe than older players. ⌛ 21% of players spend less time in games with toxic communities. 💰 19% of players refuse to spend money in games where they experience harassment. ❌ 3 out of 10 players leave game lobbies when they encounter insults. 🎙 4 out of 10 players turn off voice chat to avoid hate and harassment in gaming spaces. 🤔 Question: what do you do to keep your community safe? Source: https://lnkd.in/eRfx_pkw

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