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Brutally Honest #226
This industry analysis provides a mid-2026 update on mobile game user acquisition (UA) strategies, emphasizing the shift toward playable ads and the dominance of specific ad networks.
- AppLovin has overtaken Meta as the primary source of iOS ad spend, capturing 40% of respondent budgets compared to Meta's 33%.
- Playable ads have transitioned from a secondary format to the core of UA strategy, now accounting for 40–60% of creative budgets for the largest teams.
- Meta's Reels inventory is increasingly shifting toward interactive formats, making vertical MRAID playable builds a critical priority for gaming advertisers.
August 2026’s Top New PC & Console Games
This analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the PC and console gaming market for August 2026, focusing on top-performing titles, industry trends, and platform-specific developments.
- In August 2026, the top-selling new PC games by units on Steam included 'How To Fish' (over 6.3 million units at $5-$7) and 'Big Walk' (over 1.6 million units at $15-$20).
- Steam's overall revenue for August 2026 was dominated by free-to-play titles, with Counter-Strike 2 at $131 million, Apex Legends at $89 million, and DOTA 2 at $61 million.
- Notable indie standouts in August 2026 on Steam were 'Iron Nest' (650k units at $15-$20) and 'ReStory' (almost 500k units at $18-$20).
NewGen Studio Drops First Gameplay Trailer for Gone Digging
Tunisian indie developer NewGen Studio has released the inaugural gameplay trailer for its upcoming title, Gone Digging.
- Tunisian developer NewGen Studio has released the first gameplay trailer for its upcoming 1–4 player co-op survival horror game, Gone Digging.
- The game features a core loop of daytime resource gathering and cave exploration followed by survival-horror challenges at night.
- Gone Digging will launch into Steam Early Access with a planned development phase of 9 to 12 months to incorporate community feedback.
Gamescom 2026 insights and Sony Music's shock Puzzle & Dragons investment | Week in Mobile Games
The global gaming industry is currently navigating a period of strategic realignment, characterized by shifting developer allegiances, significant capital movements, and a renewed focus on core gameplay experiences.
- Sony Music has acquired a 23.29% stake in GungHo Online Entertainment, the developer behind the mobile hit Puzzle & Dragons.
- Godot is gaining significant market share as an open-source alternative to established engines, becoming the most-used engine in the GMTK Game Jam with 47% usage compared to 39% the previous year.
- W4 Games, a company supporting the Godot engine ecosystem, has secured $18 million in new investment.
Opening Night Live 2026: A Disappointing Night for Fans
The 2026 Opening Night Live (ONL) showcase at Gamescom in Cologne is characterized as a disappointing experience for attendees, failing to justify the significant time investment required for the event.
- Opening Night Live 2026 was widely perceived as a disappointment due to a lack of significant new game reveals and a heavily padded two-and-a-half-hour runtime.
- The showcase's headline announcements relied heavily on established IP, specifically a Gears of War prequel, a Final Fantasy VII: Revelation reboot, and a remaster of The Witcher 3.
- New game reveals included the open-world adventure Ananta from NetEase (January 2027 release), the co-op title Age Twisters, and the action game 1001: Threads of Mizan funded by MBC.
'Advance Access' games - why should you pay more?
Publishers are increasingly monetizing early entry to highly anticipated titles through formal advance access programs, typically charging a premium of ten to fifteen dollars.
- GDC 2027 has restructured its format to a Monday–Friday schedule, moving the festival hall to Tuesday–Thursday and introducing a new Business Hall at Moscone West to centralize networking and mitigate the logistical challenges of the San Francisco venue.
- Advance Access for games like 'Mortal Shell II'—which achieved 23,000 concurrent users—is increasingly being monetized through premium editions that charge a $10–$15 surcharge for early play, effectively creating a market for artificial scarcity and FOMO.
- PlayStation has begun de-listing publishers associated with 'shovelware' or low-effort games designed primarily for easy Platinum trophy farming, though the platform's enforcement remains inconsistent and subject to reversal.
The Week of the Golden Age: How Many Dudes?
The current landscape for independent game development favors smaller, highly replayable titles, marking a period of significant opportunity for studios willing to pivot away from long-term, large-scale projects.
- Steam’s algorithmic visibility widgets, such as 'New & Trending Free,' are the primary drivers of long-term wishlist growth, significantly outperforming social media marketing.
- Launching a demo during low-competition periods, such as the Christmas-to-New-Year window, can secure front-page visibility for weeks, as seen with 'How Many Dudes' gaining 36,946 wishlists during a 24-day period on the front page.
- Early-stage wishlist performance is not a reliable indicator of final success; 'How Many Dudes' earned fewer than 500 wishlists in its first two weeks before eventually reaching 308,000 at launch.
The Week of the Golden Age: July 2026
The analysis of the incremental game Bills Must Be Paid serves as a case study for successful independent game marketing on Steam during the summer of 2026.
- The game 'Bills Must Be Paid' achieved significant commercial success with 330,000 units sold in 20 days and $163,842 in revenue within the first 24 hours.
- A demo launch is a critical inflection point for marketing, as evidenced by the game's growth from 500 wishlists after 65 days of pre-demo marketing to over 61,000 wishlists by the time of full release.
- Setting a Steam launch date early is essential to maximize visibility on the Personal Calendar tool, which remained a significant driver of wishlists even when removed from the front page during the 2026 Summer Sale.
My Five Year Indie Game Launched. My Mind Is Blown
The launch of the indie title Twisted Tower, a five-year development project, has achieved significant commercial and critical success upon its release.
- After five years of development, the indie game 'Twisted Tower' achieved significant commercial success, reaching the Steam front page and the top of the platform's charts.
- The game currently maintains a 95% positive review rating on Steam.
- Community-driven beta testing was instrumental in the final 23-day launch sprint, with testers actively identifying and reporting bugs to stabilize the build.
Egyptian Studio Gilded Games Reveals Fantasy Souls-Like Boss Rush Crown’s Trial
Egyptian indie developer Gilded Games has announced its debut commercial project, Crown’s Trial, a fantasy-themed boss rush game.
- Egyptian indie studio Gilded Games is developing 'Crown’s Trial,' a fantasy Souls-like boss rush game scheduled for a Q4 2026 release on PC via Steam.
- The game features a non-linear structure that allows players to choose the order in which they challenge bosses, with each encounter set in a unique world with distinct mechanics and abilities.
- 'Crown’s Trial' is the debut commercial project from the two-brother development team behind Gilded Games.
2026 GDC Trends Report: 5 Insights on the Future of Game Development
The 2026 GDC Trends Report provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolving landscape of the global game development industry.
- Studios are increasingly relying on co-development models to manage the resource and staffing demands required for modern game production.
- Mobile game developers are shifting toward dual monetization strategies, prioritizing long-term user retention over new user acquisition, particularly as the Vietnamese hyper-casual market grows.
- Generative AI has reached a level of maturity where assistive tools are easily accessible, shifting the industry focus from technical feasibility to the ethics and implementation strategies of AI in development workflows.
The Man Behind Most Gaming Deals | Affan Butt, Aream & Co.
Successful gaming mergers and acquisitions are fundamentally driven by long-term relationship building rather than transactional, high-pressure sales tactics.
- Successful gaming M&A is driven by long-term relationship building rather than transactional tactics, as evidenced by a track record of over 110 deals totaling $40 billion in value.
- Founders should prioritize meticulous data hygiene and financial validation to ensure deal certainty within a typical six-month timeline, as aggressive, unsuccessful outreach can permanently damage a studio’s reputation.
- Advisors often recommend delaying sales if internal metrics or market conditions are suboptimal, prioritizing the studio's long-term health over immediate transaction fees.