Europe reports and market data
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The industry is still learning about F2P says PlayHaven's Ville Heijari
The free-to-play business model represents a significant evolution in game accessibility, shifting the industry toward a framework that prioritizes user engagement and lifetime value maximization.
- The free-to-play model functions by segmenting users into non-paying players and high-value spenders, allowing developers to sustain operations through tiered engagement strategies like ad-supported gameplay or optional purchases.
- While industry leaders such as Supercell, Gung-Ho, and King have achieved significant commercial success, the broader development community is still in a formative learning phase regarding sustainable monetization.
- The primary challenge for developers is moving beyond simple revenue extraction to creating high-quality game experiences where monetization is integrated naturally into the gameplay.
The Finnish Games Industry: 2008
The Finnish games industry emerged by 2008 as a primary cultural export sector, generating a total turnover of €87 million.
- The Finnish games industry generated €87 million in total turnover in 2008, with 87 percent of revenue derived from international markets.
- Public funding was critical to innovation, with Tekes subsidies covering nearly 30 percent of the €22 million invested in research and development during 2007.
- The sector employed over 1,100 people across 32 active development firms, including established entities such as Remedy Entertainment and Sulake Corporation.
CEO of DeNA West Clive Downie talks about why it's focused on fun not money
DeNA West prioritizes user engagement and the creation of high-quality content over immediate monetization strategies within the mobile gaming sector.
- DeNA West prioritizes user engagement and long-term retention over immediate monetization, operating on the premise that high-quality content naturally drives sustainable revenue.
- The company manages the Mobage platform, which hosts a portfolio of over 100 first- and third-party mobile game titles.
- DeNA West maintains a workforce of over 300 employees, focusing on internal culture and developer satisfaction to ensure the production of high-quality, engaging gaming experiences.
CEO of Aeria Games Europe Pascal Zuta explains why mobile is important
Aeria Games is strategically pivoting from its established foundation in client-based PC and browser gaming toward a robust expansion into the mobile market.
- Aeria Games is shifting its strategic focus from client-based PC and browser gaming to mobile expansion to overcome market saturation and stagnant revenue growth in the traditional PC sector.
- The company leverages a global workforce of over 600 employees across five international offices, supported by a merger with Japanese firm Gamepot to facilitate its mobile transition.
- Aeria Games maintains a competitive advantage by applying its expertise in localizing Asian-developed titles for Western markets, focusing on specific adjustments to artwork, in-game events, and item economies.
Head of mobile Manuel Figeac explains the Aeria Games' philosophy
Aeria Games Europe is prioritizing a localized live operations strategy to expand its mobile gaming footprint across European territories throughout 2013.
- Aeria Games Europe is prioritizing a localized live operations strategy throughout 2013, treating each regional version as a unique product rather than relying on simple linguistic translation.
- The company maintains separate teams for different languages to tailor in-game events, schedules, and community management to specific cultural preferences in markets like France and Germany.
- The card game 'Monster Paradise' achieved top 20 grossing status in France by utilizing deep localization, outperforming its English-language counterpart in that region.
Appsfire CEO Ouriel Ohayon tells us about why he's focused on iOS
Appsfire functions as an application discovery and promotion service designed to accelerate growth for mobile developers through daily curated recommendations.
- Appsfire prioritizes the iOS ecosystem over Android because of significantly higher monetization potential, which enables developers to reinvest more aggressively in user acquisition.
- The platform has surpassed 10 million downloads and functions as a marketing channel that drives distribution by highlighting one curated application per day.
- The company maintains a lean team of 20 employees, necessitating a strategic focus on the most profitable market segments to ensure sustainable growth.
Biodroid's Ricardo Flores Santos on Billabong Surf Trip 2, MegaRamp and MegaRamp Championship
Biodroid, a Portuguese game developer specializing in action sports titles, is expanding its portfolio through strategic partnerships with major sports brands and athletes.
- Biodroid is launching 'MegaRamp Championship,' a new title that integrates directly with the X Games global tour to synchronize virtual gameplay with real-world professional athletic circuits.
- The studio employs a location-based strategy for the MegaRamp franchise, featuring in-game structures that mirror the specific cities hosting the real-world tour.
- Biodroid maintains a consistent mobile gaming presence by balancing seasonal releases, such as the Billabong Surf Trip series for summer and year-round extreme sports titles.
2012 Country Games Market Summary Report: Spain
The 2012 Spanish Games Market Summary Report provides a comprehensive analysis of the gaming landscape in Spain, focusing on consumer behavior, platform usage, and market growth.
- The Spanish gaming market reached 1.9 billion euros in 2012, marking a 17% year-on-year increase in total consumer spending.
- The active gamer population grew by 13% year-on-year to 17 million people, with 9 million of those identified as paying users.
- Consoles remain the primary revenue driver at 41% of total market share, though the industry is shifting toward online and mobile ecosystems which now account for 61% of total game time.
The Dutch Games Market: 2012 Summary Report
The 2012 Dutch Games Market report provides a comprehensive analysis of the gaming landscape in the Netherlands, focusing on consumer behavior, platform usage, and market growth indicators.
- The Dutch gaming market consists of 8 million active gamers, representing 45% of the total population, with 3.5 million of these individuals identified as paying customers.
- Casual and social websites dominate engagement, accounting for 65% of reach and 37% of total daily gaming time.
- Console gaming reaches 58% of the market and captures 19% of daily gaming time, while mobile devices reach 55% of the market and capture 16% of daily time.
Nordic Game Sales 2012
The Nordic video game market experienced a notable contraction in 2012, with retail sales declining by 13.5 percent.
- Nordic retail video game sales contracted by 13.5 percent in 2012, primarily due to a structural shift toward digital distribution channels not captured in traditional tracking.
- The market was dominated by three core genres: action titles (16.15 percent), sports games (13.63 percent), and shooters (10.40 percent).
- Major franchises like FIFA 13 and Call of Duty: Black Ops II maintained robust commercial performance despite the overall retail downturn.
European Online Game Survey 2012
The European Online Game Survey 2012 provides a comprehensive analysis of the European game development landscape, focusing on industry trends, technical infrastructure, and gamer behavior.
- 58% of surveyed European studios have worked on a Massive Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) within their three most recent projects, signaling a strong industry focus on the genre.
- Nearly 50% of European game studios are small-to-medium enterprises employing fewer than 10 people.
- Developers are increasingly adopting peer-to-peer architectures and in-game graphical insertion technology to integrate social features without the need for expensive central server infrastructure or extensive code modifications.
Gamesmonitor '12: Gamesindustrie Onderzocht
The Dutch games industry, as of 2011, functions as a dynamic yet maturing ecosystem comprising approximately 330 companies and 3,000 professionals.
- Amsterdam remains the leading city for the games industry in the Netherlands, with nearly 800 jobs in 2011, followed by Hilversum (over 500 jobs) and Utrecht (270 jobs).
- The traditional computer games industry, dominated by US and Japanese platforms like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, is seeing limited growth (2% annually for console gaming) and a shrinking market for PC games, due to the rise of casual games.
- Mobile apps, particularly for iOS (iPhone 63%, iPad 60%) and Android (Phone 60%, Tablet 44%), are highly popular platforms in the Dutch games industry.