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How D2C can build personal relationships | Liam Wiltshire from Tebex #PGConnects
Direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategies in the gaming industry are evolving beyond simple fee avoidance, shifting toward building deeper, more sustainable relationships between developers and players.
- Direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategies are shifting from simple fee avoidance to building sustainable, long-term relationships through web-based shops and community portals.
- Developers are increasingly utilizing D2C platforms to bypass in-app purchase limitations, enabling personalized engagement tools like tailored offers and direct communication channels.
- Subscription-based monetization models are replacing one-off microtransactions to provide predictable revenue and support the long-term maintenance of live-service games and modding ecosystems.
Shooter Monthly #4: The World's Biggest Shooter May Surprise & The Thing Highguard Needs to Learn
The global shooter market has reached a state of equilibrium dominated by a duopoly of Battle Royale and tactical genres, creating a challenging environment for new entrants.
- The global shooter market is dominated by mobile-first titles like Free Fire and PUBG Mobile, which command significantly higher monthly active user counts than traditional premium PC and console shooters.
- Modern shooter success is increasingly driven by experiential gameplay and high-frequency engagement loops rather than strictly competitive, high-stakes outcomes.
- The 'shadow drop' launch model is no longer a viable strategy, as modern players have little tolerance for the technical instability and lack of tactical depth seen in recent failures like Highguard.
Highguard’s Character Conundrum, Valve’s New Lawsuit, and Dispatch Censorship | Games For Breakfast
The modern gaming landscape is defined by intense market saturation and significant structural instability, as evidenced by the rapid decline of titles like Highguard.
- Valve is facing a lawsuit in the UK alleging that the company used its dominant position in the PC gaming market to engage in price-fixing, a case that has survived an initial motion to dismiss.
- The hero shooter 'Highguard' has struggled to gain traction following its launch, hampered by a lack of clear character identity and intense competition from titles like 'Deadlock,' which saw 98,000 concurrent players despite being unreleased.
- Highguard’s monetization model includes a 'Warbond' style battle pass that allows players to retain and complete content on their own schedule, alongside a commitment to avoid 'pay-to-win' mechanics.
What's behind the Xsolla rebrand? | Berkley Egenes from Xsolla #PGConnects
The gaming industry is currently undergoing a significant shift toward direct-to-consumer (D2C) models, driven by evolving global regulations that have dismantled traditional walled gardens on mobile platforms.
- The gaming industry is shifting toward direct-to-consumer (D2C) models, allowing developers to bypass mobile app store limitations through web shops and independent monetization strategies.
- Developers are increasingly utilizing third-party partners as merchants of record to manage the technical and legal complexities of global compliance and international taxation.
- Integrating payment systems with social platforms like Discord and Reddit enables developers to foster community-driven experiences that improve player retention and revenue capture.
Live Q&A With Chris Zukowski about Steam Next Fest
Steam Next Fest serves as a critical promotional milestone for indie developers, but its efficacy is fundamentally tethered to the volume of wishlists a game accumulates prior to the event.
- Launch your demo well before Steam Next Fest to build wishlists, as the event itself is highly competitive and favors games that already have significant traction.
- Use median playtime on your demo as the primary metric to evaluate game quality, as it is a more reliable indicator of player engagement than average playtime or subjective feedback from friends.
- If your game consistently ranks in the bronze or silver tiers on Steam benchmarks, it is likely that the core concept is not resonating with the market, and you should consider shipping the project to move on to a new game.
Interview: Highguard developers on dealing with the hostile reception to its ambitious shooter
Wildlight, an independent studio founded by industry veterans from the Apex Legends and Titanfall development teams, recently launched its debut title, Highguard.
- Wildlight, a 100-person studio founded by Apex Legends and Titanfall veterans, is positioning its debut title 'Highguard' as a 'raid shooter' that blends base-raiding, open-world exploration, and tactical combat.
- To mitigate the risks of the saturated live-service market, the studio launched with a full year of content already in development and a pre-planned roadmap.
- The studio utilized a surprise reveal at The Game Awards followed by a six-week quiet period to manage community anticipation and finalize development.
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2026 unwrapped | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The mobile gaming industry is currently experiencing a notable shift toward cautious optimism, marking a departure from the recent period of widespread workforce reductions.
- Direct-to-consumer web stores are gaining traction, with data indicating that 97% of web shop revenue is generated by repeat buyers, and 84% of customers who make three purchases will proceed to a fourth.
- User acquisition (UA) costs remain a persistent industry challenge, forcing developers to shift focus toward retargeting existing players rather than relying solely on expensive new user acquisition.
- The UK games industry continues to struggle with a lack of government support compared to international hubs like Canada, Vietnam, and Israel, prompting the formation of the UK Video Games Council to lobby for better policy alignment.
SayGames’ Kate Dekalenkova on Vietnam’s Rapid Rise and the Shift Toward Hybrid Casual
The Vietnamese mobile gaming ecosystem is undergoing a rapid maturation, transitioning from a hyper-casual foundation toward more complex hybrid-casual and midcore models.
- Vietnam’s mobile game development ecosystem is identified as the fastest-evolving market globally, characterized by a rapid transition from hyper-casual titles toward hybrid-casual and midcore genres.
- SayGames is actively seeking to replicate its success in the Korean market by establishing long-term partnerships with top-tier Vietnamese studios.
- The primary challenge for publishers like SayGames in Vietnam is identifying studios that share a long-term vision and a commitment to high-quality product development rather than short-term ad-based gains.
Pocketpair interview: We’ll keep funding games even if our current titles crash and burn
Pocketpair, the developer behind the 2024 breakout hit Palworld, has established a new publishing division aimed at supporting independent game developers through direct funding and resource sharing.
- Pocketpair has launched a new publishing division to fund independent developers, reinvesting profits from the 2024 hit Palworld, which currently maintains over one million monthly players.
- The publishing arm utilizes a non-predatory revenue-share model that prioritizes developer creative control and financial viability over equity acquisition.
- Pocketpair operates as a hands-off partner, providing milestone-based guidance and leveraging internal expertise in Asian marketing and distribution.
Inside the PC Game Gray Market Economy
The PC gaming industry faces a persistent challenge from a sophisticated gray market that siphons between 20% and 40% of potential revenue from publishers.
- The PC gray market enables revenue leakage of 20% to 40% for publishers, often occurring when keys intended for lower-priced regions are resold in premium markets.
- Regional price arbitrage and promo stockpiling are the two primary mechanisms used by gray market resellers to siphon revenue from publishers.
- Effective mitigation begins with mandatory region-locking of keys, as many developers inadvertently allow worldwide access to keys priced for cheaper territories.
Ubisoft: How to Destroy $15 Billion in Shareholder Value | Pixels & Profits
Ubisoft is currently undergoing a catastrophic collapse in market capitalization, plummeting from a 2018 peak of $16.5 billion to less than $1 billion.
- Ubisoft’s market capitalization has collapsed from a 2018 peak of $16.5 billion to less than $1 billion, despite annual revenue declining by only approximately 20%.
- The company’s revenue-per-employee metric is currently one-fourth that of industry peers like Electronic Arts, highlighting severe operational inefficiencies and a bloated corporate structure.
- Management has consistently diverted resources from core franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six Siege toward underperforming, trend-chasing projects such as Skull and Bones and Star Wars Outlaws.
There is no such thing as a video game industry
The video game sector is currently undergoing a profound structural transformation, characterized by widespread layoffs, shifting corporate priorities, and a fundamental move away from the notion of a monolithic industry.
- The video game sector is no longer a monolithic industry but a fragmented attention economy where games compete directly with social media and streaming platforms.
- Legacy AAA development models are facing diminishing returns due to high production costs and a disconnect between traditional console titles and the preferences of younger demographics.
- Modern audiences are increasingly migrating toward accessible, low-fidelity platforms such as Roblox and Fortnite, necessitating a shift in production strategies toward mobile-first habits.