The Game
Game
Documents about The Game
Everywhere
This analysis examines the state of the video game industry as of August 2021, focusing on the centralization of influence, shifting release schedules, and significant corporate developments.
- Apple settled a 2019 class-action lawsuit allowing developers to communicate alternative payment methods to users via email, bypassing the standard 30% App Store commission for those transactions.
- Geoff Keighley has achieved significant industry centralization by managing major events including E3 Judges Week, the Game Critics Awards, The Game Awards, and headline roles at Gamescom.
- The first quarter of 2022 is heavily congested with major releases, including Horizon Forbidden West, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, Sifu, and Saints Row all debuting within a single week in February.
Game Report 2020
The Game Report 2020 serves as a centralized resource for industry data and analysis, specifically highlighting the state of the games sector in Norway.
- The European Games Developer Federation (EGDF) represents over 2,500 game developer studios across 22 European countries.
- Member studios of the EGDF collectively employ more than 40,000 people within the European games industry.
- The EGDF functions as an umbrella organization for 24 national trade associations, including major industry bodies in countries such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy.
Plus: Resident Evil Looms Large, Twitch Trends Galore
Analysis of global gaming trends for late April and early May 2021 reveals significant momentum for major franchises and breakout indie titles across Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Twitch.
- Resident Evil Village is positioned as a major commercial success, supported by over 60,000 Steam followers and an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 wishlists.
- NieR Replicant recovered from initial technical criticism to reach an estimated one million units sold on Steam, demonstrating the resilience of high-profile titles.
- The Naraka Bladepoint Steam beta achieved significant engagement, peaking at over 120,000 concurrent users.
Looking Back at 2020: UK Games Fund
The UK Games Fund’s 2020 retrospective highlights the resilience and growth of the British independent game development sector despite the operational challenges posed by the global pandemic.
- The UK Games Fund achieved its highest volume of new studio additions in a single year during 2020, supported by both the Round 6 grant awardees and four teams graduating from the Tranzfuser program.
- The virtual Tranzfuser showcase, ProtoPlay, attracted nearly 1,400 visitors and provided professional development for 27 participating teams.
- Four specific Tranzfuser teams—Knights of Borria, Wordplay, Offbrand, and Chimera Tales—transitioned into the UK Games Fund portfolio for commercial development support.
Game Developer Resource Kit: Africa
The Game Developer Resource Kit serves as a foundational guide for aspiring and independent game developers across the African continent.
- Independent game developers can access various funding models through platforms like Fig, Kickstarter, Indiegogo, FundedByMe, and Patreon to sustain development beyond self-funding.
- Specialized incubators and accelerators such as the Indie Games Accelerator (Google Play), Carbon, Stugan, GameFounders, and Stadia Ventures provide mentorship, curriculum, and investment for emerging game studios.
- Publishing support for indie titles is available through companies like Avid.Ly for mobile, and Paradox Interactive, Humble Bundle, Annapurna, and Raw Fury for premium PC and console experiences.
Amazon Gaming Has Hit a Rough Patch
Amazon’s internal video game development efforts are currently facing significant challenges, contrasting sharply with the company’s success in film and television.
- Amazon’s internal game development division is struggling to produce hits despite heavy investment, evidenced by the cancellation of Breakaway, poor sales for The Grand Tour Game, and recent developer layoffs.
- Amazon may shift its gaming strategy toward relying on third-party publishers to populate its platforms rather than continuing to prioritize internal development.
- Twitch remains a dominant industry force, recently strengthening its esports and tournament capabilities through the $25 million acquisition of the platform Bebo.
The Game Makers Vlog: Season 1
The Game Makers vlog series, hosted by Joseph Kim, serves as an educational resource for mobile gaming professionals, focusing on the operational, marketing, and creative strategies that drive success in the industry.
- Jam City achieved 40 million installs for the mobile game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery through specific user acquisition strategies and a balance of performance and brand marketing.
- The Game Makers vlog series covers mobile game product management, featuring insights from industry professionals working on titles such as Jurassic World Alive.
- Section Studios, an art production house that has collaborated with Riot Games on League of Legends, provides a look into the operational realities of running a professional game art studio.
Analyzing Free-to-Play Games Development: The Game / Team Clock
The Game/Team Clock serves as a strategic framework for evaluating the viability and execution risks of free-to-play game development.
- The 'Game/Team Clock' framework assesses project viability by mapping 12 player-centric questions—ranging from initial discovery to monetization—against a team's specific areas of expertise.
- Success in free-to-play development requires minimizing the gap between a game's functional requirements and the team's actual execution capabilities across all 12 stages of the player lifecycle.
- Startups often prioritize the early lifecycle stages (Unique Value Proposition, Marketing, and Monetization), while indie developers typically focus on the middle stages (Gameplay, Content, and Platform).
The Game Industry of Finland 2014
The provided material serves as a digital repository entry from the European Games Developer Federation (EGDF) regarding the state of the Finnish game industry in 2014.
- The provided document serves as a website navigation and metadata page for the European Games Developer Federation (EGDF) and does not contain the actual text, statistics, or data regarding the Finnish game industry in 2014.
- The EGDF is a trade organization representing 24 national associations across 22 European countries, encompassing over 2,500 game developer studios.
- Member studios represented by the EGDF collectively employ more than 40,000 people across the European region.
GDC Scheduling Update
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is transitioning its event structure for 2027, moving from a five-day format to a four-day schedule held from March 1 to March 4 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
- GDC 2027 will be condensed from five days to a four-day schedule, running from Monday, March 1, through Thursday, March 4, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
- The Business Hall will operate Monday through Thursday, while the Festival Hall will host activations and community experiences from Tuesday through Thursday.
- Career development programming, including portfolio reviews and workshops, will be integrated across all four days rather than restricted to a single day.
How Ludia Scaled DTC to 26% Wallet Share for Jurassic World: The Game in Weeks
The Montreal-based mobile game studio Ludia successfully implemented a direct-to-consumer (DTC) monetization channel for its flagship title, Jurassic World: The Game, to diversify revenue streams without disrupting existing app store performance.
- Ludia successfully captured 26% of the wallet share for 'Jurassic World: The Game' through a new direct-to-consumer (DTC) monetization channel launched on iOS.
- The DTC channel achieved a 57% repeat purchase rate within the first five weeks, with 11% of buyers completing ten or more transactions.
- Ludia utilized Appcharge Payment Links to deploy the DTC channel in a matter of weeks, bypassing the need for a full web store build to begin generating performance data.
Recap: Game Playtest Night #2: Hamburg
The Game Playtest Night #2, held on June 13, 2024, in Hamburg, served as a collaborative platform designed to bridge the gap between local indie game developers and the gaming community.
- Gamecity Hamburg and Play Bay hosted the second Game Playtest Night on June 13, 2024, to facilitate direct user feedback for local indie developers.
- Six developer teams presented work-in-progress titles to a cohort of 60 test gamers to gather qualitative data on playability and engagement.
- The event featured a diverse range of seven titles, including Bee Welcome, Light of Atlantis, Escape Sector VR, Replicore, ODDADA, Monstersongs VR, and The Patient.
Companies behind it
As the documents state it.