Quest
Company
Documents about Quest
Plus: A New Way to Estimate Steam Week 1 Sales
This analysis provides a framework for estimating first-week sales on Steam by examining the relationship between concurrent users (CCU) and total units sold.
- First-week Steam sales can be estimated by applying a multiplier of 20x to 40x to a game's peak launch concurrent user (CCU) count.
- Games with high replayability or 'stickiness' typically trend toward the lower end of the 20x multiplier, while shorter titles can reach multipliers as high as 38x.
- The methodology for these sales estimates relies on a synthesis of proprietary GameDiscoverCo data, SteamDB tracking, and public developer disclosures.
Market Analysis: Late March 2024
This analysis examines current market trends and upcoming high-profile releases across the PC and console gaming landscape for late March 2024.
- Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a major market driver, securing the third highest-grossing spot on Steam via pre-orders with over 300,000 units sold before launch.
- The Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection launch was marred by technical issues, resulting in a 19% positive review rating despite an initial 10,000 concurrent user count.
- Helldivers 2 maintains its position as the leading PlayStation sales title in the U.S., while Unicorn Overlord leads third-party paid downloads on the Nintendo Switch eShop.
Making the Grade: First Batch of Quarterly Earnings Yield Mixed Results
The interactive entertainment industry is currently navigating a period of significant volatility, characterized by a sharp contrast between record-breaking software sales and widespread corporate restructuring.
- Sony achieved a 53% year-over-year increase in gaming revenue to $9.7 billion, fueled by an 82% surge in PlayStation 5 hardware sales.
- The industry is undergoing a post-pandemic correction characterized by widespread restructuring, including layoffs at Microsoft and Hasbro and project cancellations at Electronic Arts.
- Microsoft reported a 13% decline in gaming revenue, while Electronic Arts missed earnings expectations due to mobile segment struggles and title delays.
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.
Why Steam's New Daily Deal System Might Help You
Valve has introduced a significant update to the Steam platform by transitioning its Daily Deal system into a self-scheduling beta for eligible developers.
- Valve has transitioned Steam’s Daily Deal system to a self-scheduling beta, replacing manual negotiations with an automated invitation process for developers based on revenue momentum and player interest.
- To qualify for a Daily Deal, developers must typically have generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue in recent months.
- Eligible developers receive a 30-day window to schedule a 24-hour front-page feature within a six-month period, provided they offer a record-low discount lasting seven to 14 days.
What's Q1 2024 Got in Store on Steam?
The first quarter of 2024 is positioned as a high-density period for Steam releases, characterized by a "murderer’s row" of major titles that were delayed from late 2023.
- Q1 2024 is a high-density release period for Steam, featuring 16 of the platform's top 100 most-wishlisted games within the first 90 days.
- Market demand is concentrated in third-person survival and action titles, with high-interest releases including S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Enshrouded, and Palworld.
- The upcoming quarter features 47 titles with over 10,000 Steam followers—a metric typically correlating to more than 100,000 wishlists—and approximately 100 games with at least 3,000 followers.
One Mailman's Quest to Save an Old Game's Reputation
This analysis explores the evolving landscape of video game community management and digital marketing, centered on the case study of a fan-led social media campaign for the 1998 Nintendo 64 title, Quest 64.
- The New York Times has expanded its gaming division to approximately 100 full-time staff, signaling a significant shift in non-traditional entities entering the gaming ecosystem.
- Grassroots fan advocacy, exemplified by the @Quest64Official social media campaign, can successfully challenge long-standing negative critical consensus for legacy titles like the 1998 Nintendo 64 game Quest 64.
- Authentic community-led engagement is emerging as a viable alternative to generic, meme-based corporate marketing strategies for revitalizing interest in older intellectual properties.
Plus: House Flipper 2 Comes Out Swingin' at Year-End
The final 2023 market analysis from GameDiscoverCo examines the performance of late-year video game releases across Steam, consoles, and VR platforms.
- Lego Fortnite achieved a peak of 815,000 concurrent users, demonstrating that Epic Games' internal experiences can significantly outperform most standalone triple-A titles.
- House Flipper 2 exceeded launch expectations by reaching 15,500 peak concurrent users on Steam.
- Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising and Pioneers of Pagonia both secured over 6,000 peak concurrent users during their Steam debuts.
Plus: Here Comes The Day Before, and We're Fascinated!
This analysis examines the state of the global PC and console gaming market during the transition between the 2023 Autumn and Winter sales.
- The Day Before remains a major market focal point with over 255,000 Steam followers despite significant development delays and skepticism.
- Steam's current market landscape is bifurcated between premium niche titles, such as Last Train Home and SteamWorld Build (2,900–4,250 CCU), and low-cost viral hits like HoloParade and My Suika.
- Console markets on PlayStation and Xbox remain dominated by evergreen franchises, specifically EA Sports FC 24, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, and NBA 2K24.
Plus: Risk of Rain Returns, Football Manager Go Out Huge!
This analysis examines the performance of recent video game launches and provides a forward-looking assessment of upcoming releases across major digital platforms, including Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and Meta Quest.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III dominated the market, topping console sales charts and seeing Steam concurrent users (CCU) surge from 40,000 to 180,000 at launch despite mixed critical reviews.
- Football Manager 2024 maintained its annual market dominance with 78,500 CCU, while Risk of Rain Returns achieved a strong debut of 45,000 CCU, driven by a 93.5% player overlap with its predecessor.
- Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name reached a franchise-record 12,500 CCU on Steam during its second week of November 2023 release window.
Cities: Skylines II Builds Its Playerbase Starting Next Week
Analysis of current and upcoming video game market performance reveals a landscape defined by high-profile sequels and a surge in regional hits.
- Cities: Skylines II is launching with significant market anticipation, evidenced by nearly 190,000 Steam followers and over two million wishlists, though developer warnings and mixed reviews indicate potential release volatility.
- Chinese-developed titles including Love Is All Around, Yog-Sothoth’s Yard, and Legendary Creatures 2 are outperforming many Western indie games in peak concurrent users, highlighting the growing influence of the Chinese market and regional pricing strategies.
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has rapidly secured the top position on PlayStation charts, while Madden NFL 24 and Assassin’s Creed Mirage continue to hold strong performance metrics on Xbox.
Life After FIFA: How EA Is Coping with the Loss of Its Brand Partner
Electronic Arts (EA) is navigating a significant strategic pivot following the termination of its nearly 30-year partnership with FIFA.
- The EA Sports soccer franchise accounts for approximately $18 billion of EA’s market capitalization and roughly 50% of its annual income, primarily driven by the Ultimate Team monetization model.
- EA ended its 30-year partnership with FIFA after the organization sought to double its annual licensing fee from $150 million to $300 million.
- By decoupling from FIFA, EA saves $150 million to $180 million in annual royalty payments, which the company is now reinvesting into marketing, technical development, and new non-endemic sponsorships with brands like Nike and PepsiCo.