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#218: Get the Papers
This industry update provides a comprehensive overview of major developments in the gaming sector as of July 2023.
- Microsoft and Activision have extended their merger deadline to October 18, 2023, following the FTC's decision to drop its administrative challenge to the deal.
- Activision Blizzard reported a 34% revenue increase for the first half of 2023, driven by the success of Diablo IV, which helped Blizzard achieve its first billion-dollar quarter.
- Sony has signed a ten-year binding agreement to keep the Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation platforms.
Which Games Got Most Steam Hyped for the Rest of 2023?
Anticipation for the remainder of 2023 on Steam is dominated by a mix of high-budget sequels and viral multiplayer titles.
- Starfield, Payday 3, and Party Animals are the most anticipated upcoming Steam releases for the remainder of 2023, based on a proprietary Hype score derived from over 16,000 unreleased titles.
- Sea of Stars and Payday 3 are demonstrating the highest wishlist velocity, indicating stronger pre-launch momentum than games relying solely on follower counts.
- Market trends show a divergence where AAA action titles like Lies of P and Lords of the Fallen are positioned for PC and console crossover, while simulation and roguelite games like Cities: Skylines II and Endless Dungeon remain PC-centric.
Plus: What's Grossing the Best in Steam's Summer Sale?
This analysis examines the performance of PC and console games during the 2023 Steam Summer Sale, focusing on how seasonal discounting affects global top-grossing charts.
- Major Steam sales disproportionately benefit established AAA titles and 'long-tail' evergreens that are rarely discounted, such as Elden Ring and Dark Souls III.
- Launching new titles during major Steam sale windows is strategically disadvantageous, as the competitive environment makes it difficult for new releases to gain traction.
- Despite the crowded sale environment in late June 2023, BattleBit Remastered and Dave the Diver successfully maintained high concurrent user counts.
News Mash-Up - Week #24
The weekly roundup highlights key industry movements and releases for the week beginning 19 June 2023.
- Embracer Group’s share price dropped 40% following the collapse of a $2 billion partnership deal and the subsequent need to restructure due to a $1.5 billion debt burden.
- Ubisoft utilized its 90-minute 'UbiSoft Forward' event to debut Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and announce a new portfolio of mobile titles.
- Square Enix released Final Fantasy XVI as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, marking a major mid-2023 launch for the platform.
BattleBit Remastered: A 254-Player Indie Shooter Win?
BattleBit Remastered has emerged as a significant breakout success in the competitive multiplayer shooter market.
- BattleBit Remastered, a three-person indie project, achieved over 31,000 concurrent users in its first week by successfully supporting 254-player matches.
- Diablo IV continues to lead console sales on PlayStation and Xbox as of June 2023, maintaining top-grossing status alongside evergreen titles like Street Fighter 6 and Hogwarts Legacy.
- The success of BattleBit Remastered is attributed to a $15–$33 price point and strong pre-release community engagement, though long-term viability faces challenges from high server costs.
Sale of the Century
The Summer Game Fest, established as a successor to the E3 trade show, is criticized as a commercialized venture that prioritizes corporate monetization over industry curation and journalistic value.
- Summer Game Fest has transitioned into a heavily commercialized event, characterized by intrusive brand partnerships with companies like Samsung, Porsche, and DoorDash rather than a focus on game industry curation.
- The event's shift toward a pay-to-play model for developers and publishers has resulted in a showcase that prioritizes revenue over the quality and relevance of the games presented.
- Despite the decline of E3, Summer Game Fest failed to provide a cohesive industry showcase, with major platform holders like Nintendo being absent and others like Microsoft and Sony having minimal or ineffective presence.
Is a Supermarket Simulator Revolution Coming From Turkey?
The emergence of Turkish development studios marks a significant shift in the PC simulator genre, challenging the long-standing dominance of Polish publisher PlayWay.
- Turkish development studios, led by Nokta Games, are disrupting the PC simulator market by applying hypercasual mobile development speed to titles like Supermarket Simulator, which peaked at 23,000 concurrent Steam users.
- Car For Sale Simulator 2023 has demonstrated the financial viability of this new wave of simulators, generating approximately $5 million in gross revenue.
- Established simulator publisher PlayWay is losing its market dominance as recent releases like Builders of Greece struggle with technical polish and 'Mixed' user reviews.
Plus: Jedi Survivor Lightsabers Its Way to Big Hype!
This analysis evaluates the commercial performance and market anticipation of PC and console titles for the late April 2023 period.
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the primary market driver for late April 2023, supported by nearly 70,000 Steam followers and the 26-million-player reach of its predecessor.
- Volcano Princess emerged as a viral outlier, achieving 11,000 concurrent users (CCU) on Steam at launch.
- The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story saw a strong debut with 6,300 CCU and positive player sentiment, while Minecraft Legends reached 5,300 CCU despite criticism regarding its monetization.
Awesome Games Done Quick 2023
The 2023 iteration of Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) served as a week-long charity marathon broadcast live on Twitch from January 8 to January 15.
- Awesome Games Done Quick 2023 raised $2.6 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation during its week-long charity marathon from January 8 to January 15.
- The event generated 9.3 million hours watched on Twitch, marking the first time since the pandemic that the marathon failed to reach the 10 million hours watched threshold.
- The broadcast achieved a peak viewership of 90,000 concurrent viewers during the seven-day event.
Dwarf Fortress and Ixion Debut Analysis
The early December 2022 period highlights a significant trend on Steam where deep, complex strategy and simulation titles are dominating player interest and driving high Day 1 revenue.
- Dwarf Fortress achieved over 160,000 units sold within 24 hours of its early December 2022 release, peaking at over 22,000 concurrent users.
- Complex simulation titles are seeing high market demand, evidenced by Ixion reaching 16,000 concurrent users despite reported game balancing issues.
- New release performance is highly polarized; while Choo-Choo Charles saw strong engagement, Hello Neighbor 2 underperformed with fewer than 700 concurrent users.
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review November 2022
The mobile gaming market in November 2022 was characterized by a surge in high-profile brand collaborations and seasonal event integration, particularly surrounding the FIFA World Cup.
- Major mobile titles including Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang leveraged the November 2022 World Cup to drive engagement through athlete-themed character skins and in-game events.
- Goddess of Victory: Nikke achieved significant international success, ranking in the top 30 grossing in the US and the top 5 in Japan following its early November launch.
- My Singing Monsters, a title released in 2012, returned to the top 50 grossing charts in November 2022, driven primarily by viral popularity on TikTok.
Plus: Age of Wonders 4 Goes Huge on Steam
This analysis examines the commercial performance and market trends of video game releases for the first half of May 2023, focusing primarily on Steam while providing secondary coverage of PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and Epic Games Store (EGS).
- Age of Wonders 4 emerged as a top performer in early May 2023, peaking at 38,000 concurrent users on Steam with over 2,800 positive reviews.
- Redfall underperformed significantly, recording a maximum of 6,100 concurrent users and a 31% positive review rating, indicating poor long-term commercial viability.
- Darkest Dungeon II transitioned to a full Steam release following a successful exclusivity period on the Epic Games Store, where it sold 300,000 units.
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