2015
Company
Documents about 2015
Finnish Game Industry: An Interview with Oleg Paliy
Finnish game industry turnover grew from €1.8 billion in 2014 to €2.4 billion in 2015, according to an interview with Oleg Paliy, Senior Business Advisor at KAATO Gaming, published in July 2016.
- The Finnish game industry experienced significant growth, with annual turnover rising from €1.8 billion in 2014 to €2.4 billion in 2015.
- As of 2016, the Finnish gaming ecosystem comprised approximately 290 companies and 2,700 developers, with women accounting for slightly less than 25% of the workforce.
- State funding agency Tekes is a primary driver of industry growth, having invested in major studios including Supercell, Rovio, Remedy, and Seriously to support R&D and innovative monetization models.
Interview with Ricardo Ruiz from 3Ecologias
3Ecologias, a Brazilian company founded by Ricardo Brazileiro and Ricardo Ruiz, develops open-technology solutions for education, culture, and the environment. Its name draws on Félix Guattari's Three Ecologies.
- 3Ecologias, a Brazilian company founded by Ricardo Brazileiro and Ricardo Ruiz with about fifteen employees, builds open-technology solutions for education, culture, and sustainability, named after Félix Guattari's three ecologies of mind, society, and environment.
- Its flagship game Contos de Ifá, in development since 2010 with the Coco de Umbigada Cultural Center in Olinda, Pernambuco, teaches Afro-Brazilian mythology (especially Candomblé) to counter religious prejudice, organizing play around the xirê order of orisha worship starting with Exú.
- As of the interview, the game offered four playable phases dedicated to individual orishas, with two more in development and a stated goal of 256 stories.
Interview with Shailesh Prabhu, Indian Game Designer
Shailesh Prabhu, an Indian game designer, discusses his in-development title Sky Sutra in this 2016 interview published in the journal gamevironments.
- Shailesh Prabhu runs a loosely organized, multicultural team spread across Sweden, France, India, and Copenhagen, and recently took a full-time game design job in Copenhagen while continuing independent work on his project.
- Sky Sutra is a two-player local multiplayer game with asymmetric design: one player steers a flying carpet that leaves a trail, while the other tries to stun and displace them, and it originated from a physics-inspired concept about players occupying different planes.
- Sky Sutra was shown at the Indie Game Shindig in Kerala in 2015 and at Now Play This in London in 2016, with generally positive audience reception.
Mapping Methods: Visualizing Visual Novels Cultural Production in Japan
Fieldwork conducted in East Ikebukuro, Tokyo between 2009 and 2016 shows that a visual novel "game environment" extends well beyond gameplay into an urban cultural network.
- The study maps Otome and Boys' Love visual novel merchandise (acrylic straps, badges, drama CDs) circulating through Ikebukuro, Tokyo, based on fieldwork conducted between 2009 and 2016.
- The author argues the games' cultural production forms a localized "game environment" in which the collecting logic of the games is mirrored in the goods, treating the games as urban phenomena rather than software to analyze.
- Fans navigate a cyclical, interdependent recycling ecosystem of limited-edition releases, recycle shops, fanzine gatherings, and cafés, forming layered walking routes that followed the district's transformation into "Otome-Road" after 2004.
A Gatekeeper Final Boss: An Analysis of MOGAI Representation in Video Games
Video games have historically marginalized individuals with diverse orientations, gender alignments, and intersex identities, with these groups accounting for only one percent of commercial releases between 2010 and 2015.
- Between 2010 and 2015, individuals with diverse orientations, gender alignments, and intersex identities were represented in only one percent of commercial video game releases.
- The industry-wide justification that MOGAI representation lacks market demand or alignment with player demographics is empirically unfounded, as these groups are active participants in the gaming community.
- Localization practices frequently exacerbate systemic underrepresentation by actively censoring or erasing queer identities to conform to perceived market norms.
Launch Round Portfolio Update: UK
The UK Games Fund's July 2016 portfolio update reviews progress among the 24 companies funded in its launch round, roughly nine months after the programme opened in autumn 2015.
- The UK Games Fund has received over 300 applications since its launch in Autumn 2015 and has supported a portfolio of 24 companies in its initial round.
- Tag Games leveraged funding to retain seven staff members and secure interest from publishers including Sega US and Flare Games for its project 'Misfits vs. Monsters'.
- Coatsink utilized grant funding to complete a prototype that led to a full-scale development deal, with a multi-platform release scheduled for 2017.
Apps Aren’t Dying, but Not Everyone Knows How to Make Money on Mobile
Mobile industry analyst Eric Seufert argues in this July 2016 commentary that the "death of the app" narrative is a misreading of the data.
- Global mobile gross revenues are projected to grow 24% year-over-year to $50.9 billion in 2016, with forecasts suggesting this figure will double to $100 billion by 2020.
- The decline in new app installs for established developers is a result of slowing smartphone market penetration rather than a contraction of the overall app economy.
- Monetization capability is the primary driver of success, as evidenced by a 20x difference in revenue generation between average users and paying users.
Why Is Supercell Worth Billions? They’re Better Than Everyone Else
Supercell's rumored sale to Tencent, in which SoftBank would divest its 73% stake at a valuation above $9 billion, frames this June 2016 guest post by mobile marketing executive Michael Velkes.
- Supercell achieved a valuation of approximately $9 billion in 2016, driven by the success of titles like Boom Beach and Clash Royale, representing a $6 billion increase in enterprise value in under three years.
- In 2015, Supercell generated $2.3 billion in revenue and nearly $1 billion in EBIT with a workforce of fewer than 200 employees.
- The company utilizes a 'cell' organizational structure, which decentralizes roles into small, autonomous teams to foster rapid experimentation and the ability to quickly terminate underperforming projects.
Latin America's Video Game Industry Is Booming: Here's Why This Is Good for the Region
Latin America's video game industry is emerging as both a technology and a creative sector, and the region stands to gain economically and culturally from its growth.
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FLEGA Report 2016: Highlights and Conclusions
The 2016 FLEGA report, commissioned by Flemish Minister for Culture and Media Sven Gatz, assesses the state of the Flemish and Belgian games industry and argues for stronger government support.
- The Belgian game industry generated a total turnover of €43.6 million in 2014, representing a 6.63% growth compared to 2012.
- High wage costs in Belgium are a primary barrier to growth, forcing major studios like Larian Studios to expand operations internationally and preventing local companies from hiring permanent staff.
- Belgium has 72 active game studios, with 45 located in Flanders, 23 in Wallonia, and 4 in Brussels.
Mobile Gaming Leaders: May 2016
Slither.io held the top position among free mobile games in the U.S. during May 2016, ranking first on the App Store, Google Play, and the combined chart.
- Slither.io was the most downloaded mobile game in the U.S. during May 2016, achieving nearly 9 million combined downloads on the App Store and Google Play.
- Approximately 70% of Slither.io's total downloads originated from iOS users, contributing to a cumulative U.S. download count exceeding 20 million.
- Ubisoft’s Hungry Shark World ranked as the second most downloaded game overall in May 2016, securing 4.28 million U.S. downloads across both platforms.
Mobile Gaming Leaders: April 2016
Mobile game installs grew year over year in April 2016 even though they dipped from March, following the usual seasonal pattern.
- The indie title 'slither.io' dominated the mobile gaming market in April 2016, securing the No. 1 spot for downloads across both iOS and Google Play with over eight million total installs.
- Worldwide App Store game downloads grew 16.6 percent year-over-year in April 2016, rising from 502 million to 585 million, while U.S. downloads grew by 14.2 percent over the same period.
- Disney successfully captured market share with the launch of 'Disney Crossy Road,' which generated over 3.6 million U.S. installs and ranked as the second most-downloaded game across both platforms.