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Top 10 Games by First Week Hours Watched: May 2022–2023
Live streaming performance for major video game releases between May 2022 and May 2023 demonstrates a clear dominance of established franchises.
- Overwatch 2 was the most-watched gaming debut in live streaming over the past year, reaching the #3 spot in its first week and attracting 249,000 unique streaming channels.
- Sequels dominate top-performing debuts, with sequel titles generating an average of 30 million more hours watched during their launch week compared to their prequels' performance the week prior.
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom generated over 26.6 million hours watched in its first week, ranking as the 9th most-watched video game debut in live streaming history.
Plus: Who's Dominating Steam Debuts in May?
This analysis examines the performance of video game debuts on Steam and other major platforms during May 2023.
- The Outlast Trials led May 2023 Steam debuts with 500,000 units sold in its first week, while Starship Troopers: Extermination, Darkest Dungeon II, and Age of Wonders 4 each reached approximately 250,000 players.
- High-profile release The Lord of the Rings: Gollum failed to gain market traction, peaking at only 800 concurrent users due to poor critical reception.
- Highly engaging titles like Starship Troopers: Extermination can defy standard sales-to-review multipliers because players are more likely to evangelize surprising gameplay.
Wildfrost, Boundary Go Big in Their Launch Week
This analysis evaluates the commercial performance and market trends of video games during the mid-April 2023 period, focusing on Steam debuts, upcoming releases, and cross-platform console charts.
- Boundary achieved a strong Steam debut of 25,000 concurrent users (CCU), significantly bolstered by the Chinese market.
- Wartales reached 16,700 CCU during its 1.0 launch, while Wildfrost hit 5,800 CCU and is projected to sell over 100,000 units in its first week despite mixed reviews.
- Minecraft Legends leads upcoming Steam releases with over 13,700 followers, outpacing Survival: Fountain of Youth and Coffee Talk Episode 2.
Pitching to Game Publishers: Lessons From an In-progress Deal
This analysis examines the strategic process of pitching a video game sequel to publishers and investors, using the development of Gremlins, Inc. 2 by studio Charlie Oscar as a primary case study.
- Modern publishers prioritize audience alignment over product quality, specifically evaluating how a game's geographic and demographic reach complements their existing portfolio.
- Pitching established intellectual property requires data-heavy presentations that leverage existing player statistics to mitigate perceived investment risk.
- Securing equity investment for a studio stake is currently easier than obtaining traditional publishing deals due to public companies' desire for immediate growth through ownership.
What’s the Best Day to Release an Indie Game?
Selecting an optimal release date for indie games is often over-analyzed, as long-term success is primarily determined by a game's genre and art style rather than its specific launch day.
- Monday is the optimal day to launch an indie game on Steam, as it allows the title to accumulate wishlists through the following weekend if it gains traction on the 'Popular Upcoming' list.
- Developers should avoid launching during Steam Next Fest (February, June, October) and major seasonal sales (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn) because these events dominate the platform's visibility.
- To appear on the 'Popular Upcoming' widget, a game generally requires 6,000 to 7,000 wishlists to generate sufficient velocity.
Payers Behaviour in Mobile Midcore & Hardcore Games
Effective marketing for mid-core and hardcore mobile gaming apps relies on strategic audience segmentation and targeted re-engagement to maximize lifetime value.
- 97% of in-app revenue in hardcore and mid-core mobile games comes from repeat purchases, while single purchases from 36% of targeted users only generate 3% of revenue.
- Users who have already made a purchase are highly likely to make a second one, with the majority of first-time purchasers becoming repeat payers.
- Targeting payers (especially within 1-14 days), lapsed payers, and new installers are key strategies for retargeting in mid-core and hardcore gaming apps.
Plus: FFVII, Chivalry, Turtles Top Big Steam Week
This analysis provides a comprehensive overview of performance trends across major PC and console gaming platforms for the third week of June 2022.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge debuted on Steam with 12,000 concurrent users and secured a top position on the Nintendo eShop during the third week of June 2022.
- Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade achieved a successful Steam launch despite its premium pricing and prior availability on the Epic Games Store and PlayStation.
- The Quarry emerged as a dominant title on both PlayStation and Xbox download charts in the U.S. market.
How TABS Creator Landfall Got Discovery Right!
Landfall Games, the Swedish developer behind Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (TABS), achieves significant market discovery by prioritizing visual legibility, user-generated content, and unconventional release strategies.
- Landfall Games successfully kickstarts multiplayer player bases by offering titles for free during the first 24 to 100 hours, resulting in three million downloads for Totally Accurate Battlegrounds and one million for Knightfall.
- Visual legibility and physics-based interactions are critical for market discovery, as they allow games to go viral easily through short-form video content like GIFs and YouTube clips.
- Sandbox and survival genres provide smaller development teams more flexibility than AAA genres because players prioritize creative experimentation over the high-polish standards required for competitive shooters or MOBAs.
Star Burst
The delay of Bethesda’s Starfield and Redfall from 2022 to the first half of 2023 highlights a significant shift in the development expectations for Microsoft’s first-party studios.
- Bethesda has delayed the release of both Starfield and Redfall from 2022 to the first half of 2023.
- The delay leaves Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass with a lack of major first-party titles for the remainder of 2022, highlighting a continued reliance on third-party content to sustain the service.
- While Microsoft's acquisition strategy provides developers with a financial safety net and reduced pressure to meet traditional Q4 release windows, it simultaneously increases expectations for technical quality and stability from studios like Bethesda.
Hybrid-Casual Games: Recipe for Long-Term Engagement
Hybrid-casual games represent a strategic evolution in mobile gaming, bridging the gap between the immediate accessibility of hyper-casual titles and the depth of mid-core experiences.
- Hybrid-casual games combine simple hyper-casual or casual core gameplay with mid-core meta layers to significantly improve retention beyond the 7-day mark typical of hyper-casual titles.
- Hybrid-casual games demonstrate superior engagement metrics compared to hyper-casual titles, with players spending nearly double the amount of time in-session.
- The genre enables higher monetization potential, with publishers like Voodoo projecting one-year lifetime values (LTV) of approximately $3 per user through a combination of in-app ads and in-app purchases.
2022’s Blockchain Games Release Slate
The 2022 blockchain games release slate provides an analytical overview of the industry landscape, focusing on over 42 titles scheduled for launch throughout the remainder of 2022.
- The 2022 blockchain gaming slate included over 40 titles, with PC/Web serving as the primary development platform due to fewer regulatory restrictions compared to mobile and console storefronts.
- Upcoming blockchain titles showed significant community engagement, averaging 73,000 Twitter followers and 52,000 Discord members per game, with leaders including Illuvium, Mobland, Fota, and Guild of Guardians.
- Only 7 of the 42 tracked games originated from existing franchises, such as Wildlife Studios' Castle Crush, which utilized its 1.5 million monthly active users to test the integration of blockchain features into established engagement loops.
Episode 2: What’s Wrong With Your Publishing Contract?
Game publishing contracts frequently contain lopsided terms that favor the publisher, necessitating careful negotiation to protect developer interests.
- Publishing contracts are negotiable; developers should reject claims that terms are 'standard' or non-negotiable, as these are often used to pressure developers into unfavorable agreements.
- Ensure all verbal promises made by a publisher are explicitly written into the contract, as standard 'entire agreement' clauses will invalidate any previous oral or written communications.
- Define specific, time-bound obligations for the publisher, such as a mandatory release date and a requirement to launch on all agreed-upon platforms, to prevent the publisher from indefinitely delaying or shelving the game.