2015
Company
Documents about 2015
Cloud9 Finalizing Deal With New York Subliners
North American esports organization Cloud9 is in the process of finalizing a partnership with the Call of Duty League (CDL) team, the New York Subliners.
- Cloud9 is finalizing a partnership with the Call of Duty League (CDL) team New York Subliners to represent the organization at the Esports World Cup in August.
- The partnership focuses on the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III competition, with reports suggesting Cloud9 may consider a full acquisition of the team in the future.
- Cloud9’s interest in the roster is driven by financial incentives provided through the Esports World Cup Club Support Program, which rewards clubs for signing teams to compete in the multi-title event.
Tournament Operator Epulze Announces Layoffs
Epulze, a Sweden-based tournament organizer and esports platform, has initiated a round of layoffs as part of a broader organizational restructuring.
- Tournament operator and platform provider Epulze has initiated company-wide layoffs as part of a strategic restructuring effort.
- The layoffs are intended to extend the company's financial runway while it navigates a delayed fundraising process caused by a slow financial market in 2023.
- Epulze is shifting its corporate focus toward achieving profitability in response to the current funding challenges.
Gamers Have Become Less Interested in Strategic Thinking and Planning
A longitudinal analysis of 1.57 million gamers between 2015 and 2024 reveals a persistent, 67% decline in player preference for long-term strategic thinking and complex planning.
- Player preference for long-term strategic thinking and complex planning has declined by 67% between 2015 and 2024.
- This shift is a fundamental change in behavior observed consistently across all genders and geographic regions.
- The decline is driven by external cognitive fatigue from social media and reduced leisure time, alongside industry-wide shifts toward impulsive, short-term monetization models.
ProGuides Will Shut Down at the End of May
ProGuides, an esports coaching platform, is set to cease operations at the end of May 2024.
- The esports coaching platform ProGuides is scheduled to wind down operations at the end of May 2024.
- Parent company Statespace, which acquired ProGuides in November 2022, has not provided official comment regarding the closure.
- Founded in 2015, ProGuides raised approximately $7.4 million in funding across three rounds prior to its acquisition.
Doppelherz Sponsors JingDong Gaming
German supplement brand Doppelherz has entered into a sponsorship agreement with the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) team JingDong Gaming (JDG).
- German supplement brand Doppelherz has signed a sponsorship deal with the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) team JingDong Gaming (JDG).
- The partnership includes branding placement on the left shoulder of the team's official jerseys.
- Financial terms and the specific duration of the sponsorship agreement were not disclosed.
Riot Promotes David Mulhall Global Head of Esports Partnerships and Business Development
Riot Games has promoted David Mulhall to the position of Global Head of Esports Partnerships and Business Development.
- Riot Games has promoted David Mulhall to Global Head of Esports Partnerships and Business Development to oversee sponsorship strategy across its global and regional esports ecosystems.
- Mulhall will lead partnership efforts for Riot's primary titles, including League of Legends Esports, Valorant Champions Tour, and Teamfight Tactics Esports.
- Since joining Riot in 2020, Mulhall has been instrumental in securing and expanding partnerships with major brands including Mastercard, Red Bull, AWS, HP, OMEN, and HyperX, which have collectively generated hundreds of millions in revenue.
State of the PC and Console Games Market
The global PC and console gaming market is experiencing a period of decelerated growth and shifting engagement patterns, characterized by a significant decline in average playtime and intense competition from established, evergreen titles.
- The PC and console market reached $93.5 billion in 2023, representing a modest 2.6% year-over-year growth that signals the end of the rapid expansion period seen between 2015 and 2021.
- Average quarterly playtime on PC and console has plummeted by 26% since early 2021, reflecting a broad contraction in user engagement across nearly all gaming genres.
- Market dominance is heavily skewed toward legacy titles, with games released over six years ago accounting for 61% of total playtime in 2023.
Bouncing into Fun: Pinball/Brick Breaker Sub-genre Unveiled
The Pinball and Brick Breaker mobile gaming sub-genre represents a mature market segment that has accumulated 948 million worldwide downloads to date.
- The Pinball/Brick Breaker sub-genre is a mature market with 948 million all-time worldwide downloads, though overall growth rates have recently slowed.
- Hybridcasual monetization models dominate the top-performing games in both revenue and downloads, with four of the top-ranked titles utilizing hybrid strategies.
- Bricks Breaker Quest leads in long-term user retention, maintaining a 10% retention rate at Day 60 by prioritizing organic download sources through strong ASO keyword ranking.
GameAddik Acquires Elusive Talent Agency
GameAddik, a Quebec-based marketing and ad-tech firm, has acquired Elusive Talent Agency to bolster its influencer marketing capabilities.
- Quebec-based marketing firm GameAddik has acquired Elusive Talent Agency for an undisclosed amount to expand its influencer marketing capabilities.
- Elusive Talent Agency, founded in 2018, represents over 100 creators with a collective audience of 20 million and 100 million monthly YouTube views.
- As part of the acquisition, Elusive founder and CEO Kieran John will join GameAddik as the new vice president of talent.
Interactive Digital Narratives and Counter-Narratives: Systematising Knowledge to Derive Clusters as Lenses of Observation
This special-issue study examines how interactive digital narratives (IDNs) can function as counter-narratives, asking whether these works can challenge dominant discourses and give voice to marginalised groups.
- IDNs are not inherently counter-hegemonic by medium; their capacity to challenge dominant narratives depends largely on curation, design choices, and the author's personal investment.
- The field's fragmented terminology was consolidated into the umbrella concept 'Interactive Digital Narrative' by Koenitz in 2015, with eight dominant IDN definitions reorganised into three clusters (dramatic experience, fusion of artistic vision and technology, expressive narrative form), with procedural rhetoric as a cross-cutting concern.
- Counter-narrative scholarship was mapped across 13 definitions into clusters centred on narrative inquiry, resistance to hegemonic narratives, and empowerment and agency, and counter-narratives remain shaped by existing power structures.
Elena Grigorian on My.Games: Strengths, Challenges, and Future
This analysis examines the strategic outlook of My.Games under the leadership of CEO Elena Grigorian, drawing on insights from a 2024 industry interview.
- My.Games experienced tenfold business growth between 2015 and 2022, currently managing a workforce of 1,500 employees and a pipeline of over 50 titles.
- CEO Elena Grigorian identifies a period of industry stagnation and advocates for a strategic shift toward the retention and monetization of mass, non-targeted audiences to restore double-digit growth.
- The company operates a diversified business model spanning PC, mobile, and console platforms, supported by a recent international expansion into hubs in Armenia, Georgia, Abu Dhabi, and Serbia.
Narrative Selfies and Player-Character Intimacy in Interface Games
This paper examines how selfies function within "interface games," narrative titles staged inside simulated computer, smartphone, or app environments, and how these images negotiate intimacy between player and character while constraining player agency.
- Selfies in interface games (narrative titles staged inside simulated computers, phones, or apps) act as a negotiation of intimacy between player and character, which the paper describes as a fragile tension between privacy and publicness.
- The paper applies Faimau's three frameworks (self-presentation, communication, and social critique) to three case studies: Cibele (2015), Bury Me, My Love, and A Normal Lost Phone.
- In Cibele, the curated desktop casts the player as a voyeur, a position partly excused by the autobiographical consent behind the work, and its restricted agency and linear structure are presented as purposeful rather than a design failure.