Two and a half gamers exclusive. [music]
Breaking news.
Literally [music] breaking.
Hello, hello. This is two and a half gamers breaking news. A little bit late because it's Saturday, but rather [music] late than never. So, let's get to the news as this week is a little bit short, but still
[music]
worth mentioning on stuff that's happening. So, General intuition, you may have heard this kind of AI startup raised another 220 mil, which values them now at 6.2 billion, which trains AI on gameplay clips. So, these were the guys, if I understand correctly, that turned down big offers from the mainstream AI labs. And CEO Pim de Wit said that this following the previous round of 320 million that they raised. So, they raised now what, [music] 500 40 million
altogether. And what they do is pretty much they train the AI from game clip capture platform called Medal, which have supposedly 17 million monthly active users. And interesting part here is that the firm said that it has no interest in building games, game engines, or asset generation systems as reported by MobileGamer.biz. Yeah, so let's see how this goes. This is quite interesting because uh I guess finally something someone is putting to good use. Even though they shared their demo where they show how how their world models can generate games on the fly, which I guess we'll get to this point anyway, but at least for now they seems kind of modest around this end not like we're going to build this and build GTA out of this. So, let's see how this goes because this company is like very interesting and not overpromising as most of the AI companies. Another news, a plaintiff takes action against Unity over ad quality SDK and
AppLovin is directly seeking restrictions [music] on Unity's collection and use of advertising data. Because it says that they collected data relating to ads, including information creatives, users' devices, revenue engagement. So, basically as we talk about ads business, it's the dirty business. Everybody is collecting everything on everyone and you know, this sounds to me like kind of a rules for thee, not for me. But, yeah, that's what you do. You play hard and you also play with lawyers. So, let's see how this one goes in. Unity, of course, denies and disputes all these claims and argues that it's not responsible. But again, we'll see you in court. That's kind of interesting. Um in the usual layoff section or closure section, fortunately Reigns developer, Nerial, closes after 10 years. If you remember, this was this kind of a Reigns game based on this kind of Tinder mechanic, like cards you swiping left and right and that's affecting your
pretty much kingdom and so on and so forth. And they have like multiple of these games with even spin-offs on Game of Thrones iteration or Witcher iteration or Three Kingdoms. So, they had they spin it off a lot. And of course, small indie company working under the lover, I'm guessing because of the costs of living in being an American company, they didn't make it. Yeah, it's hard there. Um that's there. Next one, Monster Hunter Outlanders launches on mobile on October 29th. And I get can't wait when I'm going to play this and Matey and Felix will be insufferable when we will review this eventually. But, the light at the tunnel is that this is being developed by Timi. Timi being the like pristine best Tencent developer that [music] did like Call of Duty stuff and all these other big games. Keeping in mind Monster Hunter is a very, very big IP
in Asia. Um, which also brings me to the fact that the mainland Chinese version is scheduled to release next year, not this year, so let's see. Uh, but it looks to me it's some kind of a open world style, you know, instead of Pokémon collector, it's just Monster Hunter, basically. But there still should be some crafting, exploration, and I'm guessing even base building or whatnot. And we'll see. Like I I like Monster Hunter. It's pretty interesting. I played it a bit. Don't really like it that much that I would like play it that much, but of course, uh, we'll see by the end of the month definitely review this game and look at it performance.
Okay, real talk before we start. This episode is brought to you by Potensic. And if you're a mobile game publisher tired of leaving money on the table, uh, listen up. Potensic is a premium ad network built by people who have actually been on both sides of this industry. Game publishers, agencies, successful exits. So, they get it. Here's the thing. Potensic has direct
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Um King's Minecraft Blast is backing soft launch. I've been watching this for a while and now they they took it back. This is basically a click-to-match game with Minecraft theme and I guess some base building on top now.
Let's see how this goes. I'm guessing this is part of that Microsoft push that everything needs to make money now and work. I'm being shipped, so let's see. Because again, [music] King is part of Microsoft and Minecraft is Microsoft's IP, so there we go. Uh continuing on the topic, Minecraft itself has released an update uh that they will now release their fourth dimension called Swift, which is fourth dimension basically after Overworld and Nether and End, as it's four dimensions after 14 years. So again, here you can see it clearly that Microsoft is now whipping everybody into work like ship content now. So we'll see. Uh staying with Microsoft, uh also there's this resolution that you may have read about uh especially in Dr. Doom section about King uh the company and its workers trying to strike or threatening to strike
[gasps]
against collective agreement uh and unions and it seems they signed a collective agreement, so the strikers won actually and the agreement should come into force on April 1st, 2027. And this is covering something like uh Engineers of Sweden employees uh which are around 100 people employed across King's Malmö and Stockholm offices uh which all together does 500 people, so I guess those 100 are in this union and they actually [music] had this signed, so let's see. Um Meta unveils Horizon Creator Studio for AI-powered game creation. I don't even know what to think this. Some AI stuff that's help you create some browser-based environment games that you can then use and I don't know even where to distribute. Meta said the discovery is driven by games that are engaging, stable, and culturally relevant with revenue opportunities through in-game monetization in the metaverse. I'm sorry. Like whatever Facebook
touches with games always goes to And this sounds as vague as possible. And like why do we need this? Like what Yeah, I don't know. I don't know, [snorts] but let's see because everything that has slapped Horizon name from Meta or Facebook usually crashes into burning flames. But let's see. Embracer secures 200 million revolving credit facility. So yeah, Embracer is trying to again duck itself out of debt and it's fostering more debt on new debt and so on so forth. But again, I guess if they get the loan, they're doing better. Or at least nobody would give them the loan. So yeah. Uh that was it pretty much for this week. Kind of short one. Not that much is happening in the industry. Let's see. Again, we're happy We'll be very happy to see you in Mobi Dictum next month. Next week, sorry.
[gasps]
Because there we have a lot of stuff planned and me and Felix we're even going to Google App Summit in Barcelona
the week after. So we'll be a lot of traveling and lot of meeting people. Can't wait to see all of you. Have a nice weekend and see you around. Join, subscribe, and write comments. Ciao.
Auto-generated captions from YouTube — names and numbers may be misheard.
The gaming industry is currently navigating a period of significant legal, financial, and creative shifts. A notable development involves AppLovin initiating legal action against Unity, alleging that Unity’s advertising SDK improperly collects and utilizes sensitive data regarding creatives, user devices, and revenue engagement. Unity has formally denied these claims, setting the stage for a high-stakes legal confrontation regarding data privacy and competitive practices in the ad-tech sector.
Financial instability and strategic restructuring remain prevalent across the industry. The developer Nerial, known for the Reigns series, has closed after a decade of operation, highlighting the ongoing challenges indie studios face regarding rising operational costs. Conversely, Embracer Group has secured a 200 million revolving credit facility, a move aimed at managing its existing debt obligations. Meanwhile, labor relations have seen a breakthrough at King, where employees in Sweden successfully negotiated a collective agreement following strike threats, with the terms set to take effect in April 2027.
Technological innovation continues to focus on artificial intelligence, exemplified by a startup raising 220 million to train AI on gameplay clips from the platform Medal. This firm, now valued at 6.2 billion, has explicitly stated it has no intention of building game engines or asset generation systems, focusing instead on world models. In contrast, Meta has introduced the Horizon Creator Studio for AI-powered game creation, though industry reception remains skeptical regarding its utility and distribution potential.
Content expansion and mobile adaptation remain key growth strategies. Tencent’s TiMi Studio Group is set to launch Monster Hunter Outlanders on mobile on October 29, with a mainland Chinese release scheduled for next year. Additionally, Microsoft is intensifying efforts to monetize its IP, evidenced by King’s soft launch of Minecraft Blast and a significant update to Minecraft that introduces a fourth dimension after 14 years of development. These moves reflect a broader industry trend of leveraging established franchises to drive engagement and revenue.
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