Kliuless? Gaming Industry ICYMI #27
Hi, my name is Kenny Liu, and I work in Revenue Strategy at Riot Games. Each week I compile a gaming industry insights newsletter that I share with other Rioters, including Riot’s senior leadership. This edition is the public version that I publish broadly every week as well. Opinions are mine.
See more or subscribe at: https://tinyletter.com/kliuless
Revenue Strategy
- Major game publishers are feeling the impact of peaking attention
- "[E]ngagement has declined throughout the sector, suggesting that the attention economy has peaked. Consumers simply do not have any more free time to allocate to new attention seeking digital entertainment propositions, which means they have to start prioritising between them"
- Google gives Android developers new tools to make money from users who won’t pay
- Parents increased game spending for their kids by 34% in 2018
- Epic plans to add an undo button to Fortnite's in-game store
- Bain: E-commerce in MENA
Multi-Platform / Post-Platform
- Tim Sweeney: "The game business will change more in the next five years than the past ten"
- "The last remnants of the old retail model of gaming are falling apart, and the biggest successes are fast-moving indies and fast-moving big competitors – exemplified by Fortnite and Apex Legends. All of the old decisions need to be revisited"
- Related: The Division 2 will only be purchasable via Epic Games Store or company's own Uplay platform
- Forte and Ripple form $100 million fund for mainstream blockchain games
- Minecraft still has 91 million monthly players as it hits Game Pass
PC/Console
- Nintendo announces VR kit for the Switch
- Brendan Greene stepping away from PUBG to head up new R&D division
Mobile
- Bloomberg: Samsung Working on Two More Foldable Smartphones
- Google launches app campaign features to help mobile game developers grow their business
- "We’re seeing that half the installs come within the first eight weeks of a launch"
- Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent announced for smartphones
China
- China regulator approves 95 new video games, including from Tencent, NetEase
- Discussion of S-1 for Ruhnn, a Chinese social media influencer manager
- Chinese online retailers slash iPhone prices for second time this year
- The Economist: China’s formerly white-hot tech sector is in the doldrums
- China’s economy is 12% smaller than official data say
Tech
- China’s short video app TikTok passes 1bn global downloads, the first Chinese consumer app to become globally viral
- Apple vs Qualcomm: A Dilemma with Chinese Characteristics
- Pew: Social Media Use in 2018
- Google patent application describes notification system for multi-device controller
- Related: Jade Raymond joins Google as VP, boosting its gaming cred
Overtime
- Mark Brown: Why Synergies are the Secret to Slay the Spire’s Fun
- How ‘SimCity’ inspired a generation of city planners
- Konami Aims High With eSports-Dedicated Center In Ginza, Tokyo
See more or subscribe at: https://tinyletter.com/kliuless
Twitter: @kliuless
LinkedIn: @kliuless