Library | Game Industry Library

Market Analysis

Japan’s World of Gaming & Influencer Marketing 2025

Japan represents the world’s third-largest gaming market, valued at $26.3 billion in 2024 with projections to exceed $60 billion by 2033. This growth is underpinned by a mature player base of 55.5 million, characterized by the highest average revenue per user globally at approximately $580. While mobile gaming currently commands 75% of consumer spending, the market is undergoing a structural transition. Digital distribution and subscription models are increasingly replacing physical media, while the PC sector exhibits a robust 8.8% annual growth rate. Domestic giants Sony and Nintendo maintain market leadership by leveraging iconic intellectual properties and a cultural preference for narrative-heavy genres such as RPGs and adventure titles. The ecosystem is increasingly defined by the convergence of gaming, live streaming, and broader entertainment. Esports revenue is expected to reach ¥21.8 billion by 2025, supported by a shift in viewership toward platforms like YouTube and Twitch. A unique cultural phenomenon in this space is the dominance of VTubers and virtual influencers, who drive significant engagement among Gen Z and Millennial demographics. Marketing strategies have pivoted toward these creators and nano-influencers to achieve authenticity, particularly as major publishers aim to quadruple the international market for Japanese content by integrating anime aesthetics into global entertainment ecosystems. Technological advancements in 5G, cloud streaming, and augmented reality are further diversifying the landscape, though traditional social dynamics remain influential. While YouTube and X serve as the primary digital hubs for the gaming community, professional networking continues to favor established platforms like Facebook over LinkedIn due to local cultural barriers. As the mobile sector prepares for a projected rebound to $21 billion by 2025, the industry focus remains on cross-platform accessibility and the expansion of "evergreen" franchises within an increasingly digital and interconnected global market.

market-analysis marketing player-behavior+1

NintendoJan 2025

Report

Africa Games Industry Report 2025

The African games industry is undergoing a period of rapid expansion, with total revenues projected to surpass $1 billion in 2024. This growth is primarily fueled by a mobile-first market that accounts for nearly 90% of the sector’s revenue, driven by a young, tech-savvy population and increasing smartphone penetration. While South Africa remains the most lucrative individual market, Nigeria has demonstrated the most significant momentum, with mobile revenues increasing fivefold since 2019. On a global scale, the Middle East and Africa region has emerged as a growth leader, maintaining an 8.9% year-on-year increase despite the historical dominance of North American and Asian markets. The developer ecosystem has matured significantly, expanding from a handful of entities to approximately 250 studios by 2024. West Africa has emerged as the primary regional hub, experiencing a nearly fivefold increase in the number of active studios over the past year. Development is characterized by a youthful, male-majority demographic that favors the Unity engine to create entertainment-focused content for mobile platforms. High-profile international partnerships with brands like Microsoft Xbox, Disney, and Gameloft, alongside the success of global titles like Candy Crush and PUBG Mobile within the region, signal increasing integration into the global gaming economy. Despite these advancements, the industry faces substantial structural and financial hurdles. Infrastructure remains a critical concern, as developers struggle with unstable power and high-speed internet access. Furthermore, a significant performance gap exists in funding and institutional support; only 3% of developers receive government funding, and over half of the continent's developers currently earn no income from their work. This has led to a trend of conservative, small-scale investment. To transition from early-stage prototyping to commercial acceleration, the sector requires a collaborative model focused on building talent pipelines, implementing rebate programs, and establishing localized payment methods to unlock the continent's full economic potential.

market-analysis market-forecast africa

Maliyo GamesJan 2025

Report

Hybrid Casual Games Playbook

Hybridcasual games blend the instant‑on‑tap simplicity of hyper‑casual titles with deeper progression systems that encourage sustained engagement. The playbook outlines the genre’s rise, noting a 3 % download growth in 2022 to 5 billion downloads—up from 4.9 billion in 2021—while hyper‑casual downloads fell 15 %. Revenue has nearly doubled over two years, with ads contributing about 50 % of total earnings and in‑app purchases accounting for the remainder. Session lengths average 372 seconds, a 160‑second increase over hyper‑casual games, and retention rates at day 30 reach 54 % versus 42 % for hyper‑casual titles, with day 60 retention at 9 % versus 1 %. The document surveys sub‑genres such as Arcade Idle, Tower Defense, and Interactive Story, citing successful titles like Aquarium Land, City Defense!, and Fight for America. It highlights how hybrid mechanics—drawing towers, RPG‑style upgrades, or automated idle workers—boost lifetime value by 17–35 % in some cases. Methodology relies on aggregate download and revenue data from 2020‑2022, coupled with in‑house analytics tracking session length, retention, and monetization funnels. Best‑practice guidance centers on marketability, economy tuning, A/B testing, and post‑launch optimization. Case studies of Zombie Defense illustrate how adding narrative layers, social features, and tiered in‑app purchase options can lift LTV to $2+ on day 7. The playbook concludes that sustained success in Hybridcasual hinges on balancing accessibility with meta‑depth, maximizing IAP revenue, and continuously refining content based on player segmentation.

market-analysis game-design monetization+1

Sensor TowerJan 2025

Report

Access for All: Expanding Opportunities for Players and Publishers Worldwide

This analysis explores the strategic shift toward out-of-app monetization in the global gaming industry, with a specific focus on Southeast Asia and China. The primary thesis posits that while Apple and Google have historically dominated distribution, publishers are increasingly adopting alternative channels—including third-party web stores, first-party direct-to-consumer platforms, and alternative app stores—to bypass high "take rates" and better serve unbanked populations in emerging markets. Key findings indicate that out-of-app monetization is already a mature practice in Asia. In Southeast Asia, these channels account for 21% of mobile game revenue, while in China, they represent 53% of the market. Data from 2023 highlights that in the "SEA-6" countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), 40-50% of the adult population remains unbanked, making the credit card-centric models of primary app stores ineffective. Consequently, gamers in these regions prefer e-wallets, carrier billing, and physical vouchers. A case study of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in the Philippines demonstrated that a localized promotion using an e-wallet partner led to a 133% increase in daily purchase volume and a 167% rise in transactions. The scope of the research covers the evolution of digital distribution over the last 15 years, with a forward-looking projection through 2027. It emphasizes the impact of regulatory momentum in the EU, UK, South Korea, and Japan, where new legislation is forcing primary stores to allow alternative payment systems. Methodology relies on Niko Partners’ 2023 market model, gamer surveys, and proprietary data from Coda Payments. The findings conclude that publishers who fail to localize their monetization and discovery strategies risk losing significant market share to regional competitors who offer more flexible, lower-cost payment solutions.

monetization market-analysis global

Niko PartnersJan 2025

Report

Mobile Growth and Monetization Report 2023

The report establishes that mobile game monetization is most effective when focused on early‑stage conversion and strategic ad placement. Analysis of 31 billion in‑app purchase events shows that 77 % of players who convert do so within the first two weeks, with currencies and limited‑time sales accounting for 22–23 % and 15–20 % of revenue respectively. Pricing the first purchase between $1 and $5 maximizes conversion efficiency, while targeting tier‑2 markets and deploying offerwalls can further enhance retention. Rewarded‑ad data, derived from 31 billion monthly impressions and 158 million installs, identifies high‑engagement placements between levels, in the IAP store, and lobby screens. Extra‑reward, currency, and gacha offers drive the greatest engagement. Offerwalls contribute roughly 33 % of total ad revenue, delivering about $4.68 per converted user; multi‑reward offers generate 60–82 % of conversions and can yield up to $68 per completion. These insights suggest that placing high‑visibility rewarded ads and integrating offerwalls can simultaneously boost retention and monetization. Complementary tactics such as custom store pages further improve player engagement. Offerwall conversions can increase day‑7 to day‑120 retention by up to fivefold, especially for high‑engagement segments. Custom store pages allow developers to align in‑game messaging with ad creatives, reducing resource costs and enhancing conversion rates. Targeting genre‑specific markets—sports in Japan or trivia in South Korea—can lift click‑through rates above tier‑2 averages, underscoring the importance of data‑driven audience and creative optimization. Overall, the findings emphasize a focused strategy: early conversion pricing, strategic rewarded‑ad placement, offerwall integration, and tailored store experiences. These combined tactics deliver measurable gains in retention, revenue, and campaign efficiency across iOS and Google Play platforms worldwide.

monetization user-acquisition market-analysis+2

UnityJan 2025

Report

PowerUP: Spelbranschen – en svensk basnäring

Sweden’s video‑game sector is positioned as a culturally driven, “born‑global” industry that, despite generating more than SEK 3.5 billion in revenue and employing over 15 000 staff abroad, remains fragmented and under‑supported at the national level. The analysis maps the ecosystem of roughly 1 000 firms—87 % micro‑enterprises, 42 % with no employees, and only 1 % large companies—highlighting that 97 % of studios rely on regional clusters such as Skövde, Malmö and the northern hub, which suffer from chronic under‑financing and a lack of long‑term planning. The sector’s growth is constrained by low legitimacy, inadequate national financing mechanisms, and regulatory barriers that impede talent recruitment, especially for start‑ups and regional firms. Key findings show a mismatch between the sector’s cultural impact—average player age 32, documented benefits for creativity, problem‑solving, STEM interest and mental health—and the absence of coordinated public‑private structures to translate these gains into economic value. Comparative data reveal Sweden’s early‑stage funding to be far below peer EU nations, while the talent pipeline is strained, with a projected need for 25 000 developers over the next decade and 40 % of the current workforce being foreign‑born. The report recommends establishing a comprehensive national game strategy, a dedicated investment fund modeled on Industrifonden, long‑term financing for regional clusters, and a Swedish games institute to de‑risk commercial projects and retain IP ownership. To secure sustainable growth, the analysis calls for reform of innovation metrics, inclusion of game‑specific occupations in labour policy, expanded vocational and research education, and the separation of cultural and commercial funding streams. By implementing these measures, Sweden could elevate its position from the EU’s fourth‑largest producer to a leading contender alongside France and Germany by 2025.

market-analysis employment sweden

DataspelsbranschenJan 2025

Financial

FY25 Interim Financial Results for the Period 1 June 2024 to 30 November 2024

Frontier Developments achieved a significant financial turnaround during the first half of fiscal year 2025, covering the period from June 1 to November 30, 2024. Revenue reached £47.3 million, representing a 19% increase in underlying sales compared to the previous year. This growth, coupled with a 25% reduction in operating expenses following a strategic restructuring, shifted the company from a £4.9 million loss to an Adjusted EBITDA profit of £4.4 million. The company’s financial health is further evidenced by a gross margin improvement to 70% and a robust cash balance that grew to £30.5 million by December 2024. The recovery is anchored by a refined strategy focusing on the Creative Management Simulation (CMS) genre. The successful launch of Planet Coaster 2 served as a primary catalyst, selling over 400,000 units and generating more than £13 million in revenue within its first two months. This performance was bolstered by a resilient back catalogue and a notable resurgence in Elite Dangerous, where downloadable content revenue more than doubled year-over-year due to enhanced monetization and player engagement. The Jurassic World Evolution franchise also remains a cornerstone of the portfolio, having generated over £261 million in lifetime revenue to date. Looking ahead, the development pipeline is structured to release one major CMS title annually through fiscal year 2027. Key upcoming milestones include a third Jurassic World game scheduled for fiscal year 2026 to align with the theatrical release of Jurassic World Rebirth, followed by an unannounced CMS title in fiscal year 2027. While these forward-looking projections remain subject to market risks and the inherent volatility of the gaming industry, the current trajectory suggests a period of sustained profitability driven by disciplined cost management and a concentrated focus on core genre expertise.

investment market-analysis uk

Frontier DevelopmentsJan 2025

Financial

Global Gaming Report 2025

The Global Gaming Report 2025 portrays the year as a watershed for mergers, acquisitions and capital flows within the industry. Mega‑deals dominated headlines, with EA’s leveraged buyout at $55 billion and Netflix’s $82.7 billion purchase of Warner Bros.’ gaming assets, while Paramount–Skydance launched a hostile $108.4 billion bid. Private financing surged, particularly in mobile and artificial‑intelligence segments; CVC/Blackstone invested $2.5 billion in Dream Games and Luma AI raised $900 million, contributing to a total of 189 announced transactions and a rise in financing rounds from 105 in Q2 to 137 by year‑end. Capital raises were concentrated in high‑profile acquisitions and strategic repositioning. Forty‑three M&A deals totaling $83 billion were announced, with the largest being Netflix’s purchase of Ready Player Me. Private placements reached 137 deals that raised $1.5 billion, led by AI‑focused Luma AI and mobile studio Cypher Games. Publishers restructured or went public, exemplified by Coffee Stain Group’s $615 million IPO and Embracer’s spin‑out of Asmodee. Investor activity skewed toward large venture funds for early rounds and strategic gaming investors such as Tencent, Riot, and Sony for later stages. Valuation multiples varied by segment: mobile developers averaged 5× revenue, while PC/console titles ranged from 7–8× revenue. Public‑market valuations across key regions revealed divergent dynamics. Japanese developers Sony, Nintendo and Capcom traded at EV/EBITDA multiples between 1.8× and 7.2×, reflecting solid profitability. Korean studios NEXON and Netmarble hovered around 1.5–2.8×, whereas Shenzhen‑listed Chinese studios averaged 8.9× EV/EBITDA but displayed higher volatility, with several reporting negative or non‑meaningful EBITDA figures. Looking ahead to 2026, the outlook remains bullish. Buyer activity is expected to intensify from firms such as PIF/Scopely, Netflix, Paramount, Tencent, KRAFTON, NCSoft and Take‑Two. Seed and early‑stage funding will target AI, user‑generated content and technology platforms, driven by the anticipated release of high‑profile titles like GTA 6, Marvel’s Wolverine and Resident Evil: Requiem. Public markets are projected to recover, spurring IPOs from Discord, Animoca Brands and MTG’s SimplePlay. Drake Star’s global footprint—over 500 transactions in 58 countries—underscores the sector’s cross‑border dynamism and continued expansion.

market-analysis mergers-acquisitions investment

Drake Star PartnersJan 2025

Report

State of the Game Industry

The survey of more than 3,000 global developers in 2025 reveals a gaming industry grappling with persistent instability while making modest progress on diversity. Layoffs have risen, with one‑tenth of respondents reporting job losses in the past year and 58 % worried about future cuts. Women and non‑binary developers now account for 32 % of the workforce, up from 29 % in 2024, and LGBTQ+ representation reached 24 %, yet white males still dominate at 66 %. Revenue pressures and market shifts continue to drive restructuring, underscoring the sector’s vulnerability. Generative AI has transitioned from a niche experiment to an integral part of many studios, with 36 % of developers using it personally and 52 % reporting company‑wide adoption. However, enthusiasm has cooled: only nine percent of companies plan to expand AI use, and negative perceptions have climbed to 30 % from 21 %. Ethical concerns, intellectual‑property risks, and fears of job displacement now affect more than half of respondents. Internal AI policies have expanded to 64 % of studios, and optional use has become more common, though a small minority mandate AI tools. Live‑service development remains polarised. While 42 % of studios already produce live titles, only 13 % intend to launch one next year. AAA developers are more inclined (33 %) due to potential financial upside and sustained player engagement, yet worries about market saturation, creative fatigue, predatory monetization, and burnout persist. Media adaptations interest 36 % of AAA studios, whereas internal pitch activity has fallen. Self‑funding remains the dominant financing method (56 %), though success rates vary across funding models. Work‑hour patterns signal growing strain: the share of developers working over 50 hours a week has risen from 8 % to 13 %, and half of respondents now view excess hours as problematic. Union support remains robust at 69 %, with 58 % advocating industry unionisation, yet only 22 % have discussed it in the past year. These findings illustrate a sector negotiating between rapid technological change, creative ambition, and labour‑market pressures across diverse geographic regions and studio sizes.

market-analysis employment ai+1

GDCJan 2025

Financial

Video Game Market Update: Q2 2025

The update presents a comprehensive snapshot of the global video‑game market for Q2 2025, focusing on consumer spend, platform performance, deal activity and capital flows. Consumer spending in mobile gaming has plateaued at roughly $20 bn quarterly, while PC gaming revenue on Steam grew 20% YoY, driven by strong indie releases. Console sales momentum is evident: Nintendo’s Switch 2 achieved record launch sales, and PlayStation reached 120 m MAUs during its most profitable hardware cycle. Deal activity remains heavily weighted toward mobile, with total M&A volume hitting $6.2 bn; notable transactions include Niantic’s sale and a PE‑led round in Dream Games. Private gaming investment fell to a five‑year low of $0.4 bn as late‑stage VC appetite cooled, yet public offerings raised $4.2 bn in Q2 across debt and equity. Valuation trends show a widening spread: PC/console peers trade at 15x+ EBITDA, whereas mobile names lag behind historic lows. Steam’s top releases in Q2 2025 include “Expedition” and “Oblivion Nightreign,” with F2P games generating $3.4 bn in gross IAP revenue and peak concurrent users of 89 m. Console revenues for the year are projected at $25 bn, with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo contributing 5%, 15% and –26% respectively to market share shifts. Capital markets remain active: public listings, debt issuances and PIPEs collectively raised $8.5 bn in H1‑25, while the IPO market recovered from a post‑pandemic drought. Overall, the sector shows resilient growth in consumer spend and platform revenues, but deal activity is consolidating around mobile, and valuation disparities persist across segments.

market-analysis market-forecast investment+1

Aream & CoJan 2025

Report

Interview with Keunkyo Kim, Head of Global Business at NC AI

The interview articulates NC AI’s transformation from a game‑focused research lab into a national industrial‑AI hub, positioning Korea as a global center for “K‑AI.” It outlines the company’s ambition to leverage fourteen years of game‑AI expertise to drive cross‑industry innovation, emphasizing that AI has moved from a supporting role to a core driver of gameplay, content creation, and broader economic competitiveness. NC AI, a subsidiary of NCSoft, has built a proprietary large‑language model called VARCO and the VARCO 3D engine, which can generate near‑realistic, physics‑based 3D environments from text or images. The firm was selected as one of five leaders in Korea’s Independent Foundation Model project and became the first Korean entity to deploy its LLM on AWS. An open‑source release of VARCO Vision 2.0 attracted over 10 000 downloads within ten days, reflecting a strategic push for global adoption and a vibrant developer ecosystem. The company’s real‑time processing and reinforcement‑learning capabilities, honed in massive MMORPG settings, are now applied to digital twins for manufacturing, robotics, smart‑city, and defense sectors. NC AI pursues a dual‑track model—developing a 200‑billion‑parameter LLM while simultaneously creating lightweight, edge‑optimized multimodal diffusion models—to balance scale with field efficiency. Its proprietary safety filter, Safeguard, has been integrated into NCSoft’s NCER chatbot, underscoring a commitment to AI trustworthiness and standards collaboration. Looking ahead, NC AI leads a consortium of 54 organizations to produce industry‑specific AI that validates in real‑world environments, aiming for Korean AI sovereignty and global leadership. By enabling user‑generated content through VARCO 3D, Voice, and animation tools, the firm promotes a “everyone can be a creator” ethos, encouraging young talent to contribute to a vertically integrated AI ecosystem that links industry, government, and academia and positions Korea as a powerhouse in the international AI landscape.

ai south-korea market-analysis+1

KOCCA – Korea Creative Content AgencyJan 2025

Report

Tower Defense Games - Industry Snapshot

Tower Defense games represent a high-performing sub-genre within the casual arcade category, characterized by exceptional monetization and engagement depth. Analysis of 2020 industry data reveals that the top 5% of Tower Defense titles significantly outperform related sub-genres like Idlers, Platformers, and Board Games in financial efficiency. Specifically, these top-tier games achieve a conversion rate of 3.83%, more than double that of their closest competitors, and maintain an Average Revenue Per Daily Active User (ARPDAU) of $1.66. This financial strength is further evidenced by an Average Revenue Per Paying User (ARPPU) of $83, suggesting a highly committed and spending-prone player base. Engagement metrics for the genre are equally robust, with top-performing titles commanding an average daily playtime of 130 minutes. While Day 1 retention sits at 40%, slightly lower than some competing sub-genres, Day 7 retention remains competitive at 15%. Geographic performance varies by metric; Italy leads in Day 7 retention at 39%, while France sees the highest daily playtime at 210 minutes. China stands out as the most lucrative market for conversion, reaching a rate of 8.7%. The success of the genre is attributed to its accessible core mechanics, high replayability, and the ease with which developers can integrate meta-features such as PvP modes, daily challenges, and RPG elements. These features allow for significant meta-game shifts with minimal content overhead. Notable titles entering the market in 2020, such as Rush Royale and Towerlands, exemplify the trend of blending traditional defense mechanics with strategy and role-playing elements to drive long-term player investment. This data is derived from a network of over 134,000 integrated games and 1.8 billion monthly cross-title players.

market-analysis player-behavior tower-defense+2

GameAnalyticsJan 2025

Report

German Games Industry: 2025

The German games industry navigated a period of significant contraction in 2024, with total market revenue falling 6% to €9.4 billion. This downturn, driven by a decline in mobile revenue and console hardware sales, resulted in the first recorded reduction in the number of active companies and industry employees in recent years. Despite these headwinds, Germany maintains its status as the largest games market in Europe and the fifth largest globally. The domestic player base remains robust and increasingly diverse, encompassing 37.5 million individuals with an average age of 39.5 years, reflecting the deep integration of gaming into the national cultural fabric. Strategic instability during this period stemmed largely from restrictive federal funding guidelines and project application freezes, which disproportionately impacted smaller studios. However, the outlook for 2025 is increasingly positive, anchored by a new coalition agreement that pledges to increase federal funding to €125 million annually by 2026 and introduce competitive tax incentives. These policy shifts aim to bolster Germany’s international standing, which industry leaders currently view as suboptimal despite the nation’s strong infrastructure, academic training programs, and successful startup initiatives like the "Press Start" grant. To secure long-term growth, the industry is prioritizing a hybrid funding model, the establishment of a dedicated "Games University," and the expansion of digital cultural heritage projects, such as the AI-driven archiving of over 40,000 titles. Professionalization efforts continue through the *game* association, which represents over 500 members and manages critical networking platforms like gamescom. By integrating esports development, sustainability commitments, and structured career pathways, the German ecosystem is positioning itself to transition from a period of market correction toward a more resilient and internationally competitive future.

market-analysis player-demographics employment+1

game – Verband der deutschen Games-Branche e. V.Jan 2025

Report

Is the Past the Future of Gaming?

Remakes and remasters have become a cornerstone of the video‑game market, now generating roughly two hundred releases each year and projected to reach about thirty titles in 2025. Their commercial performance consistently exceeds that of the original versions, exemplified by the Resident Evil 4 remake, which sold ten million copies within two years of launch, and the continued success of other high‑profile updates such as the Crash series. This growth reflects a broader industry shift toward leveraging established intellectual property to secure reliable revenue streams. A survey of 1,500 gamers identifies nostalgia as the dominant motivator for purchasing these updated titles, with more than eighty percent seeking the emotional comfort of revisiting familiar experiences. Seventy‑one percent view remakes as a means to introduce classic games to younger players, while between sixty‑seven and eighty‑five percent appreciate the opportunity to discover titles they missed originally. Players also demand contemporary enhancements, ranking higher‑resolution textures, smoother animation, improved lighting, remappable controls, and bug fixes as essential. Nevertheless, the audience is split: roughly thirty‑five percent each prefer strict fidelity to the original or the freedom to alter narrative and gameplay, highlighting a tension between preservationist and innovation‑leaning attitudes. Pricing expectations reveal a nuanced market perspective. Nearly half of respondents anticipate remakes to be priced slightly below new releases, while a quarter are comfortable with parity, twenty percent expect a more substantial discount, and a small segment seeks free or bundled options. These preferences shape release strategies, with developers balancing cost, value perception, and the timing of launches to maximize appeal. While nostalgia‑driven updates can boost sales, an overreliance on remakes risks dampening creative innovation. Gamers express a clear desire for a blend of faithful revisions and fresh original IP, suggesting that sustainable growth will depend on integrating modern improvements with new, inventive experiences across the global gaming landscape.

market-analysis player-behavior uk

MTMJan 2025

Report

2025 Mobile Ad Creative Index

The 2025 Mobile Ad Creative Index examines the evolving landscape of mobile advertising, focusing on how artificial intelligence and interactive formats are reshaping user acquisition and engagement. The analysis highlights a significant shift toward AI-enhanced creative production, which has allowed developers to scale asset variety while maintaining lower production costs. Data indicates that playable ads and interactive end cards continue to outperform static formats, particularly within the gaming sector, where they drive higher conversion rates and better long-term user retention. Geographically, the study covers global trends across North America, EMEA, APAC, and LATAM, providing a comprehensive view of regional performance variations throughout the 2024 calendar year. Industry segments analyzed include casual gaming, midcore titles, and non-gaming apps such as e-commerce and finance. Findings suggest that while video remains the dominant medium for initial impressions, the integration of gamified elements within those videos is essential for capturing the shortening attention spans of mobile users. Methodologically, the insights are derived from an extensive dataset encompassing billions of ad impressions and millions of installs across diverse mobile platforms. The results underscore a growing necessity for hyper-personalization, as creatives tailored to specific player motivations—such as competition or social connection—show a marked increase in return on ad spend compared to generic messaging. Ultimately, the transition toward automated creative optimization and immersive ad experiences represents the primary driver for growth in the increasingly competitive mobile marketplace.

market-analysis advertising user-acquisition+2

LiftoffJan 2025

Report

Uppdaterad Statistik för de Kulturella och Kreativa Branscherna: Sverige

Sweden’s cultural and creative economy is quantified through an extensive 2023 update that records more than 140 000 firms employing roughly 250 000 people and generating over SEK 650 billion in turnover. Limited companies account for the bulk of activity (SEK 607 billion from 48 000 entities), while sole traders and other legal forms contribute SEK 16 billion and SEK 30 billion respectively. Revenue per employee averages SEK 2.6 million and intangible assets are valued at SEK 20 billion, underscoring the sector’s high productivity and knowledge intensity. The core thesis asserts that existing SNI‑code classifications markedly under‑represent large and fast‑growing components such as digital platforms, video‑games, furniture design, and numerous craft activities, leading to distorted employment, value‑added and regional statistics. By revising the SNI list, eliminating irrelevant codes, and cross‑checking company accounts, a more accurate database—derived from roughly 73 000 active limited companies and refined to about 40 000 distinct firms—has been assembled. The transition to the 2025 SNI framework introduces five‑digit codes that improve granularity for design, illustration and literary arts, though short‑term classification gaps persist. Turnover concentration is evident in a few dominant markets: music (SEK 11.4 billion, 12 % nominal growth), cultural events (SEK 42.3 billion), design (SEK 78.5 billion) and video‑games (SEK 34.6 billion). Data collection relied on commercial databases because Bolagsverket’s APIs cannot filter by SNI, highlighting a systemic data‑access limitation. The report recommends appointing a lead agency—suggested as Tillväxtverket—to oversee an annual analytical publication and maintain a comprehensive KKB database that integrates cultural VAT, service exports, firm size, region and activity type, ensuring reliable, comparable statistics across Sweden’s cultural and creative sectors.

market-analysis employment sweden

Kreativ SektorJan 2025

Report

The Game Industry of Poland: 2025

Collective work under the direction of dr Jakub Marszałkowski dr Jakub Marszałkowski, Indie Games Poland, Poznan University of Technology (chapters 3, 5, 8, 9) Eryk Rutkowski, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (chapters 2, 4, 6) Wojciech Trusz, Creative Industries Institute (chapters 1) Piotr Milewski, Sirius Game Studio, Gdynia Maritime University (chapters 7) Game Industry Conference team: Olga Matej, Agnieszka Wołoszyn, Kacper Żubryk, Hanna Marszałkowska, Dominik Latos Extra data minin...

market-analysis employment investment+3

Polish Agency for Enterprise DevelopmentJan 2025

Financial

Financial Results for the First Half of the Fiscal Year Ending March 2026

Koei Tecmo experienced a year-on-year decline in financial performance during the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2026, with sales dropping 11.2% and operating profit falling 25.2%. This downturn resulted primarily from a sparse release schedule and lower revenue within the online and mobile segments. However, the company outperformed its internal forecasts due to resilient back-catalog sales and disciplined expense management. Full-year guidance remains unchanged as management anticipates a significant recovery in the second half, driven by a concentrated launch window for major titles such as Dynasty Warriors: Origins. The strategic focus for the remainder of the fiscal year involves a robust pipeline of eleven console and PC titles alongside two mobile releases. By prioritizing high-profile remakes like Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 and Fatal Frame II, the company seeks to secure stable profit margins while transitioning toward a global, digital-first marketing infrastructure. This shift includes a move toward in-house publishing for large-scale projects and a concerted effort to expand market share in North America, Europe, and emerging regions such as the Middle East and North Africa. Long-term objectives are anchored by the Fourth Medium-Term Management Plan, which targets a cumulative three-year operating income of 100 billion yen. To achieve this, the company is balancing the maintenance of established franchises with the development of new intellectual properties and cross-media expansions into anime and merchandise. Furthermore, corporate governance milestones were met through a treasury share offering that increased the tradable share ratio to 37.3%, ensuring continued compliance with Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market listing criteria.

market-analysis investment global+1

Koei TecmoJan 2025

Financial

Consolidated Financial Results Data Appendix: FY2025 1st Quarter

This financial data appendix details the consolidated results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, ending June 30, 2024. The data covers the company’s global operations across Japan, North America, Europe, and Asia, focusing primarily on its Entertainment, Amusement, and Real Estate business segments. The figures provide a year-over-year comparison against FY2024 and historical performance dating back to FY2022. For the first quarter of FY2025, sales reached 14.8 billion yen, a decrease from the 17.6 billion yen reported in the same period the previous year. Operating profit for the quarter stood at 3.57 billion yen with a 24% profit ratio, while ordinary profit reached 8.77 billion yen, bolstered by 5.19 billion yen in non-operating income. Despite the quarterly dip, the full-year forecast remains ambitious, targeting 92 billion yen in sales and 31 billion yen in operating profit. The Entertainment segment remains the primary driver of revenue, contributing 13.58 billion yen to the quarterly total. Geographic data indicates that Japan remains the largest market, accounting for 9.09 billion yen of quarterly sales, followed by Asia and North America. The overseas sales ratio for the quarter was 38.6%, with total software sales units reaching 1.56 million copies. Notably, the digital sales ratio rose significantly to 88.5% for the quarter, up from 75.2% in the prior year’s first quarter. The data also tracks the performance of major intellectual properties. The Dynasty Warriors series leads cumulative lifetime sales at over 23 million units, followed by Nobunaga’s Ambition at over 10 million units. In the mobile sector, long-term operational titles such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Hadou and Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation continue to support the portfolio. Personnel costs have trended upward, with total headcount reaching 2,873 employees by the end of the first quarter.

market-analysis investment global

Koei TecmoJan 2025

Report

Gaming App Insights Report: 2025 Edition

The analysis tracks the state of the global mobile‑gaming market through 2024 and projects its trajectory toward 2025, emphasizing how emerging AI‑driven personalization will shape growth. It establishes that the sector is recovering from the volatility of 2023, with worldwide app installs climbing 4 % year‑over‑year in 2024, even as average session length contracted. Core user engagement metrics, however, show modest decline: day‑1 retention fell from 28 % to 27 % and median revenue per active user dropped from $0.31 to $0.28, indicating pressure on traditional monetization models. In contrast, advertising efficiency improved, reflected in higher installs per mille (IPM) and stronger ad‑performance indicators across major markets. The report’s geographic scope is global, encompassing all major mobile‑gaming regions, and its temporal frame spans the 2023‑2025 period. It integrates data from app stores, ad networks, and cross‑platform measurement tools to deliver a comprehensive view of user acquisition, retention, and revenue trends. The central thesis posits that the next wave of growth will be powered by AI‑enabled, culturally tailored experiences that adapt difficulty, blend monetization formats, and deploy live events to boost lifetime value. Developers and marketers who adopt a metrics‑focused, AI‑augmented approach—identifying pivotal in‑game moments and steering users toward optimal pathways—are projected to achieve the most scalable expansion. Cross‑platform analytics suites are highlighted as essential for delivering the visibility required to implement these strategies effectively.

market-analysis monetization user-acquisition+2

AdjustJan 2025