August
Company
Documents about August
Carry1st Africa Cup Announced: Call of Duty: Mobile Tournament
Carry1st, an Africa-based mobile games publisher, has announced the launch of the Carry1st Africa Cup, a regional esports tournament featuring Call of Duty: Mobile.
- Carry1st has announced the 'Carry1st Africa Cup,' a Call of Duty: Mobile tournament featuring a total prize pool of $15,000 USD.
- The competition is open to players and teams from six African nations: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa.
- Registration for the tournament opens on May 27, 2024, via the official Carry1st website, with teams consisting of five players each.
PGL Details Counter-Strike 2 Tournament Schedule for 2025 & 2026
PGL has announced a comprehensive schedule for 11 Counter-Strike 2 tournaments spanning 2025 and 2026.
- PGL will host 11 Counter-Strike 2 tournaments across 2025 and 2026, marking its expansion as an independent tournament organizer.
- New Valve licensing rules effective January 1, 2025, prohibit tournament organizers from partnering with teams, effectively ending the previous monopoly in the competitive ecosystem.
- The 2025 schedule includes five events: Feb. 10-24, March 31–April 14, May 3-19, Sept. 29–Oct. 13, and Oct. 18–Nov. 3.
Plus: Next Week Is Massive on Steam, Folks!
The second week of August 2022 represents a significant period for the PC gaming market, marking the first time in the year that three titles with a GameDiscoverCo "Hype" score exceeding 10,000 launched simultaneously.
- The second week of August 2022 marked a record for the year, featuring three simultaneous game launches with GameDiscoverCo 'Hype' scores exceeding 10,000.
- Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered is projected to reach 5 to 10 million units in long-term PC sales, highlighting the strong market potential for high-quality console-to-PC conversions.
- MultiVersus is currently leading engagement across PlayStation, Xbox, and the Epic Games Store, with revenue primarily driven by the sale of paid character packs.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Revenue Impact: Hasbro 2023 Financial Results
Hasbro’s 2023 financial results highlight a significant divergence between the company’s struggling core business and its high-performing digital gaming segment.
- Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment grew 10% to $1.45 billion in 2023, serving as a critical offset to the company’s 15% decline in total net revenue.
- Baldur’s Gate 3 contributed approximately $90 million in licensing revenue to Hasbro between its August 2023 launch and the end of the year.
- The licensing of Monopoly Go! to Scopely has become a core revenue stream, with the game generating over $800 million in global revenue for its developer in Q4 2023 alone.
Discord Cuts 17% of Workforce
Discord announced a significant reduction in its global workforce in January 2024, cutting approximately 17% of its staff, which equates to roughly 170 employees.
- Discord has laid off 17% of its global workforce, affecting approximately 170 employees.
- CEO Jason Citron attributed the layoffs to rapid expansion, noting that the company's staff grew 5x since 2020, which led to project bloat and operational inefficiency.
- This reduction follows a smaller round of layoffs in August 2023, which saw the company cut approximately 4% of its staff.
Guild Esports Renews With Subway for 2024
Guild Esports, a London-based, publicly traded esports organization, has officially renewed its partnership with the UK division of the quick-service restaurant chain Subway.
- Guild Esports has renewed its partnership with the UK division of Subway for an additional year, effective January 1, 2024.
- Under the renewed agreement, Subway will maintain front-of-shirt branding on all Guild Esports professional and academy team jerseys.
- The original partnership between Guild Esports and Subway was first established in March 2021 as a two-year deal.
Gfinity Sells Esports Division to Ingenuity Loop Limited
Gfinity has finalized the sale of its esports solutions division to Ingenuity Loop Limited, marking a definitive exit from the competitive gaming sector.
- Gfinity has sold its remaining esports solutions division assets to Ingenuity Loop Limited, finalizing its strategic pivot away from esports operations to focus on its media division.
- The deal includes a £15,000 ($16,200 USD) down payment to cover costs incurred by the division since August 2023 and grants Gfinity a 15% equity interest in Ingenuity Loop.
- Ingenuity Loop holds an option to buy out Gfinity’s 15% equity stake for £200,000 ($216,000 USD) in cash within the first 12 months of the deal's completion.
Millions of Germans Tune in to Esports
Esports has established itself as a significant media and participation phenomenon within Germany, experiencing substantial growth in both viewership and active engagement.
- Approximately 16 million Germans have watched esports tournaments, representing a growth of over 4 million viewers since 2020.
- Public awareness of esports in Germany has risen to 77 percent of the population, up from 71 percent in 2020.
- Active participation in esports has increased, with 23 percent of all German gamers—roughly 10 million people—having competed in tournaments or leagues, compared to 18 percent in 2020.
Global Mobile Games in August: August 2023
The August 2023 snapshot of the global mobile gaming market highlights a mix of sustained franchise performance and emerging titles. In revenue, MONOPOLY GO! dominated the U.S.
- MONOPOLY GO! led the U.S. App Store in August 2023 with $72.5 million in revenue, marking a 67% increase over July.
- Casual and idle games saw massive download spikes, led by My Perfect Hotel with 5.3 million iOS downloads (a 10x increase) and Football League 2023 with 16.5 million Google Play downloads (a 180% MoM increase).
- High-end titles maintained strong revenue, with Fate/Grand Order surpassing $7 billion in lifetime earnings and MiHoYo’s Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact generating $47.2 million and $17.8 million respectively.
AppLovin May Try to Buy Unity Again: Engine Maker’s Shares Fell 40% Since Last Year’s Offer
Market analysts are speculating that AppLovin may revisit a potential acquisition of Unity, driven by significant shifts in the engine maker’s market valuation and leadership.
- Market analysts speculate that AppLovin may renew acquisition efforts for Unity, which is now valued at approximately $11.43 billion, down significantly from the $17.5 billion offer rejected in August 2022.
- Unity’s share price has fallen roughly 40% since the initial 2022 acquisition attempt, driven by developer backlash over new runtime fees and the resignation of CEO John Riccitiello.
- AppLovin has seen its own stock price surge nearly 270% year-to-date, providing it with a stronger financial position to potentially pursue a merger compared to its previous attempt.
Remnant II Performance and Metrics
This analysis examines the commercial performance and player engagement metrics of the video game Remnant II during August 2023.
- Remnant II was the fourth highest-grossing premium game in the US and UK during August 2023 and the second highest-grossing RPG behind Baldur’s Gate 3.
- The game achieved a global ranking of 28th in monthly active users, with the US and Germany identified as the primary markets.
- Players logged an average of 30.4 hours in the game, placing it seventh in playtime across all tracked titles.
Mobile Game Market Trends: South Korea
The South Korean mobile gaming market is characterized by a unique dominance of the role-playing game (RPG) genre, which accounts for approximately 60% of total mobile game revenue.
- RPG games account for approximately 60% of mobile game revenue in South Korea, making it the leading country among major nations in this regard. Globally, RPGs are the highest-grossing mobile game genre, contributing 25.1% of total revenue from January 1 to August 31, 2023.
- While MMORPGs still dominate the South Korean mobile RPG market, their share decreased from 77% in 2019 to 69.5% in 2023. Conversely, Squad RPGs and Idle RPGs have shown significant growth.
- Squad RPGs increased their market share from 12.7% in 2019 to 17.7% in 2023, securing the second-highest share among RPG subgenres. Games like "Goddess of Victory: Nikke" and "Cookie Run: Kingdom" are key contributors.