Quest

Plus: A Game Hype Showdown – Vampires or Cute Kitties

Analyzing Steam’s descriptive tagging system reveals a distinct performance gap between different thematic aesthetics, specifically comparing the "Vampires" and "Cats" tags.

• Steam games tagged 'Vampires' significantly outperform those tagged 'Cats,' ranking #139 versus #233 in median Hype score and featuring more than double the number of titles with over 5,000 followers.
• Bonelab achieved the second-largest paid VR-only debut in Steam history, reaching approximately 12,000 concurrent users.
• Dome Keeper reached $1 million in gross revenue shortly after its launch, demonstrating strong performance for indie titles alongside space strategy game Terra Invicta.

Plus: We Welcome Our New Steam Chart Overlords

This analysis examines the significant 2022 update to Valve’s Steam charts and provides a comprehensive performance review of recent PC and console game releases.

• Valve’s 2022 Steam chart update now ranks games by total revenue, including DLC and in-game transactions, rather than unit sales, which inherently favors live-service titles like Apex Legends and Destiny 2 over premium releases.
• Slime Rancher 2 achieved strong market performance by selling over 100,000 units within six hours of release and peaking at more than 21,500 concurrent users.
• Established franchises and niche simulators remain high-performing, with Construction Simulator and Return to Monkey Island reaching 17,300 and 15,500 concurrent users respectively.

Clash Quest: An Unofficial Postmortem

The cancellation of Supercell’s Clash Quest after a 16-month soft launch serves as a case study in the challenges of the mobile puzzle genre.

• Supercell cancelled Clash Quest after a 16-month soft launch because the game failed to achieve product-market fit, resulting in low lifetime value that could not offset high customer acquisition costs.
• The game failed to capture a target audience by occupying an ill-defined middle ground: it was too complex for casual puzzle players while lacking the depth and collection mechanics required by midcore puzzle RPG enthusiasts.
• Core engagement was undermined by an over-reliance on luck and the decision to pre-determine troop compositions, which effectively neutralized the collection-based progression systems essential for long-term retention.

Plus: What Upcoming Steam VR Games Are the Hottest?

Analysis of Steam VR market trends reveals a significant disparity between hardware adoption and software enthusiasm on the platform.

• Steam VR software momentum is weak, with only two VR-tagged titles appearing in the top 200 most-hyped unreleased games out of 80,000 analyzed apps.
• The 'VR' tag ranks poorly in industry interest, placing 235th in total hype and 288th in median hype out of 459 total tags.
• Meta Quest 2 users account for nearly 50% of the Steam VR hardware base, yet the Steam ecosystem struggles to convert this hardware adoption into software enthusiasm.

What Do Players Really Want From New Games, Anyhow?

The 2022 PC and Console Insights survey, commissioned by Google for Games, provides a comprehensive analysis of player preferences, discovery habits, and consumption patterns.

• Video platforms and social recommendations are the primary discovery drivers, with 40% of players using YouTube and 38% relying on friends and family, compared to only 16-17% influenced by platform-specific dashboards.
• Gameplay videos are a critical conversion factor, swaying 45% of players to try a new title, while 51% of players are primarily motivated by their preferred genre.
• Player engagement is highly fragmented, as 84% of gamers play multiple titles simultaneously, with 20% managing four or more games at once.

Plus: Super-Dynamic Steam Charts

This analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the global video game market during late August 2022, focusing on sales performance, player engagement, and upcoming release trends across Steam, consoles, and mobile platforms.

• Destiny 2’s premium expansion packs maintained revenue dominance during late August 2022, while Hogwarts Legacy and F1 Manager 2022 generated significant pre-order momentum.
• SD Gundam Battle Alliance achieved a successful $60 debut on Steam, reaching a peak concurrent user (CCU) count of 21.9k.
• Madden NFL 23 and the Saints Row reboot served as the primary volume drivers for the PlayStation and Xbox platforms during August.

Week of the Spider‑Lamb

This analysis examines a significant surge in high-profile Steam releases during August 2022, a period characterized by the rare simultaneous launch of multiple titles with high pre-release anticipation.

• August 2022 saw a surge in high-profile Steam launches, led by Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered with 60,000 concurrent users (CCU) and Cult of the Lamb, which outperformed expectations with over 61,700 CCU.
• Niche and Early Access titles maintained strong market presence, with Farthest Frontier reaching nearly 20,000 CCU and Two Point Campus securing 7,400 CCU despite the crowded release window.
• Free-to-play titles MultiVersus and Rumbleverse emerged as the dominant forces within the console digital store ecosystem.

Aiming Quarterly Securities Report: Q2 Fiscal Year 2022

Aiming Inc. provides this quarterly securities report for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022, covering the period from April 1, 2022, to June 30, 2022.

COLOPL Consolidated Financial Results for the Nine Months Ended June 30, 2022

COLOPL, Inc. reported its consolidated financial results for the nine-month period ending June 30, 2022, reflecting a challenging fiscal environment characterized by decreased net sales and operating profits compared to the same period in the previous year.

Facebook Q2 2021 Results Conference Call

Facebook achieved significant financial growth in the second quarter of 2021, generating $29.1 billion in revenue, which represents a 56% increase compared to the previous year.

Plus: Dinkum, PowerWash Simulator 1.0 Lead Steam Debuts for Week

This analysis examines the state of the global video game market for the week of July 11, 2022, focusing primarily on Steam performance while providing secondary insights into console and VR platforms.

• Stray is the most-wishlisted unreleased game on Steam with over 152,000 followers, currently leading the global sellers list based exclusively on pre-orders.
• PowerWash Simulator’s transition to version 1.0 significantly increased its market visibility, building on a foundation of approximately 50,000 monthly sales during its Early Access phase.
• Thief Simulator VR achieved a strong Meta Quest debut with an estimated 30,000 units sold during its first week.

Plus: Klonoa & Gwent Top a Slow-ish New Steam Week

This analysis examines global video game market performance and upcoming release trends for the week of July 4, 2022.

• Subscription services significantly impacted console charts, with Arcadegeddon leading PlayStation downloads via PlayStation Plus and WIN Reality topping the Meta Quest store.
• New Steam releases saw modest engagement post-Summer Sale, led by Sword and Fairy Inn 2 with 7,000 concurrent users, while Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series and Gwent: Rogue Mage reached 750 and 1,200 concurrent users respectively.
• DLC content proved to be a strong revenue driver, as Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course performed well on both Xbox and Nintendo Switch, while Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak also dominated Switch third-party downloads.