Stern
Company
3 documents in the library are about Stern, from writers such as GameDiscoverCo, Shannon Liao and The Esports Advocate. Each has a summary and key insights with the page they come from.
Connections
The documents about Stern on the inner ring, the other games and companies they name on the outer one. Select a cover to see it up close and open it in a new tab; drag to move, pinch or Ctrl + scroll to zoom.
Documents about Stern
Who Won October 2026’s Steam Next Fest?
The October 2026 Steam Next Fest analysis evaluates the performance of game demos during the event, concluding that the festival functions primarily as a hype amplifier for titles with existing momentum rather than a primary source of discovery.
- The October 2026 Steam Next Fest saw a 66.6% surge in demo volume to over 7,300 titles, yet the median wishlist increase for top-tier games dropped 44% compared to the June 2026 event.
- Performance metrics for Next Fest participants declined significantly, with a game in the top 10% of performers adding only 63 followers, a 48% decrease from June 2026 and a 64% drop from October 2025.
- Steam Next Fest is increasingly functioning as a hype amplifier for games with established pre-event momentum rather than an originator of new interest, as evidenced by top-performing titles like 'Ebbtide' and 'Probably Stolen'.
Joost van Dreunen Joins ELO Agency as a Strategic Advisor
London-based ELO Agency has appointed industry economist Joost van Dreunen as a strategic advisor to bolster its business operations and venture activities.
- Games industry economist Joost van Dreunen has joined London-based ELO Agency as a strategic advisor to support the firm's venture and agency activities.
- Van Dreunen will focus on providing game studio clients with data-driven insights regarding the impact of community empowerment and new publishing models.
- The appointment comes as the $220 billion global games market faces pressure from stalled growth and cost-cutting measures by publishers.
After Reporting on Layoffs, I'm Getting Laid Off
This analysis examines the wave of layoffs across the technology, media, and gaming sectors in early 2023, contextualizing these workforce reductions within broader macroeconomic trends.
- Despite widespread layoffs at major firms including Microsoft, Google, and Electronic Arts in Q1 2023, the broader U.S. labor market remained resilient with an unemployment rate of 3.5%.
- Corporate workforce reductions are often driven by a desire to maintain investor profitability and a tendency to mimic industry-wide trends rather than immediate financial insolvency.
- The gaming and tech sectors face heightened volatility due to their heavy reliance on consumer disposable income, which is currently pressured by macroeconomic headwinds.