Rise
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Documents about Rise
Top Steam Games Debuting in Q3 2022
This analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the Steam marketplace and broader console landscape for the third quarter of 2022.
- Major DLC releases are currently outperforming new standalone titles in player engagement, evidenced by Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak peaking at 209,000 concurrent users.
- Stray emerged as the highest-momentum Q3 2022 debut on Steam, driven by rapid wishlist velocity despite having fewer total followers than Party Animals.
- Developer-led in-game review prompts on platforms like Meta Quest and Apple Arcade are inflating review counts by up to fifteen-fold, rendering traditional review-to-sales metrics unreliable.
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review June 2022
The mobile game market in June 2022 was characterized by a notable trend toward cross-genre integration, with developers increasingly incorporating minigame modes and RPG elements into established titles to drive engagement.
- The global launch of Diablo Immortal in June 2022 propelled the title into the top 10 grossing games in the US market.
- RPG elements are increasingly being integrated into non-RPG titles, as seen in Rise of Kingdoms' narrative-driven 'Words of Eternity' event and the introduction of minigame mechanics in titles like Game of Sultans.
- Anniversary events served as major revenue drivers in June, notably causing significant spikes for The Seven Deadly Sins and Dragon Ball Legends.
Plus: The Steam Summer Sale Hasn't Deterred Tiny Tina
The Steam Summer Sale has not significantly hindered the performance of new releases and major transitions, as evidenced by the successful Steam debut of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands following its three-month exclusivity period on the Epic Games Store.
- Major Steam releases remain resilient during the Steam Summer Sale, evidenced by Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands reaching over 7,000 concurrent users immediately following its Epic Games Store exclusivity period.
- Raft experienced a significant performance surge to 80,000 concurrent users upon its 1.0 release in late June 2022.
- Chivalry 2 achieved 300,000 units sold within its first ten days on the Steam platform.
Ubisoft Sees Its Stock Rise Following Report on Potential Takeover by Buyout Funds
Ubisoft has experienced significant volatility in its market valuation over recent years, driven by speculation regarding potential acquisitions and shifting financial performance.
- Ubisoft’s share price dropped 14.18% to €4.73 following the release of Q1 fiscal year 2027 results, which showed a 13.7% year-over-year revenue decline to €268.2 million.
- Net bookings for the April–June 2026 period fell 9.2% to €255.8 million, driven by a lack of major new releases and a high base effect from the prior year.
- Digital sales and back-catalog revenue, which represent 86.4% of total income, both experienced double-digit percentage decreases in the first quarter of fiscal year 2027.
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review January 2022
The global mobile gaming landscape in January 2022 was defined by a strategic reliance on seasonal content and limited-time engagement mechanics.
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang experienced a significant revenue spike in January 2022 following the launch of its 'Aspirants Unite' event, which featured exclusive, high-profile gacha skins.
- The music/rhythm game Beatstar successfully scaled its performance in the US market, reaching a peak top-grossing rank of 43 after implementing its 'Tour Pass' battle pass system.
- Match-3 games are increasingly adopting light PvP competitive events, such as the 'Showdown' event in which players compete to use the most bombs within a set timeframe to win boosters.
Plus: God of War's Perfect PC Transition
The primary objective of this analysis is to evaluate the commercial performance and market trends of recent video game releases across major PC and console platforms during January 2022.
- Sony’s strategy of releasing polished console exclusives on PC years after their original launch is commercially validated by God of War, which reached 46,000 concurrent users (CCUs) at launch.
- Monster Hunter Rise demonstrated strong market demand for PC ports by surpassing 100,000 CCUs on Steam.
- Streamer-driven engagement can sustain high player counts for niche titles, as evidenced by the success of Internet Cafe Simulator 2 despite mixed critical reviews.
Plus: Q1 on Steam - Let's Witness the Hotness
This analysis provides a comprehensive outlook on the Steam and console gaming markets for the first quarter of 2022.
- Steam's Q1 2022 market was defined by high-profile releases including Elden Ring, God of War, and Monster Hunter Rise, alongside the successful Western launch of the MMO Lost Ark.
- The tactical shooter Ready Or Not emerged as a significant sleeper hit in late 2021, achieving a 94% positive review rating despite low pre-launch visibility.
- Indie developers face a 'Game Pass or bust' environment on Xbox, where paid download charts are dominated by viral hits like Among Us rather than traditional indie titles.
The Rise of Game Subscription Services & Infinite Browsing Mode
Subscription services like Xbox Game Pass and Apple Arcade are fundamentally altering player behavior and game discovery through a phenomenon termed Infinite Browsing Mode.
- Subscription services like Xbox Game Pass and Apple Arcade trigger 'Infinite Browsing Mode,' where the paradox of choice and lack of individual financial investment lead to higher player abandonment rates, especially for games with slow starts.
- The success of the subscription model is evidenced by Forza Horizon 5, which achieved 4.5 million players at launch, highlighting the massive scale and rapid adoption potential for titles on these platforms.
- UX research on next-gen consoles reveals a trade-off between efficiency and cognitive load: the Xbox Series X interface requires 30% fewer button presses for common tasks, while the PlayStation 5 interface features 19% fewer significant screen changes.
The Rise of the Cookie Run: Kingdom – How the Game Managed to Multiply Its Daily Revenue by 10 in a Month
Cookie Run: Kingdom, a mobile title developed by Devsisters, experienced a significant financial transformation in September 2021, shifting from a mid-tier performer to a top-10 grossing game in the United States.
- Cookie Run: Kingdom achieved a 10x increase in daily revenue on iOS in the US during September 2021, moving from approximately $20k to $200k per day.
- The primary driver of the revenue and download surge was a targeted marketing campaign featuring English voice actors, which launched on September 2, 2021.
- The developer, Devsisters, leveraged the social media reach of voice actors by having them share content, review fan art, and participate in interviews to build community engagement.
Microsoft Paid $100 Million for Rise of the Tomb Raider Timed Exclusive
The financial terms of the 2015 timed exclusivity agreement for the video game Rise of the Tomb Raider have surfaced, revealing that Microsoft paid $100 million to secure the title for the Xbox platform.
- Microsoft reportedly paid $100 million to secure a one-year timed exclusivity deal for the 2015 release of Rise of the Tomb Raider on Xbox.
- The financial detail was revealed on the LinkedIn profile of Fabien Rossini, the former director of strategic planning at Square Enix, before being removed.
- Rise of the Tomb Raider sold over 1 million units within its first two months of release.
Nintendo Switch: The State of Player Discovery
The Nintendo Switch ecosystem is characterized by a broadening of player libraries and a continued dominance of first-party software.
- Nintendo Switch users significantly expanded their libraries in 2022, with the median number of owned games rising to 35 titles, up from 20 in 2021.
- First-party Nintendo titles dominate the ecosystem, with ownership rates for major releases like Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Metroid Dread reaching between 39% and 50% among the core demographic.
- Physical media remains a strong force on the Switch, accounting for nearly 47% of user libraries due to collector interest and the perceived value of premium-priced software.
Analyzing Game Updates to Build Even Better Content for Your Game
Analyzing the update history of competing titles serves as a strategic method for developers to identify successful content trends and monetization mechanics.
- Analyzing competitor update histories provides actionable insights into content strategy and monetization mechanics regardless of a game's specific genre.
- The 'Lanterns of Togetherness' event in Rise of Kingdoms utilized a multi-layered 'mini Battle Pass' structure, including a third tier that required a premium currency purchase to unlock.
- While the premium currency required for event tiers in Rise of Kingdoms is obtainable for free-to-play users, it requires approximately two months of gameplay, creating a strong incentive for players to purchase currency via in-app purchases (IAPs).