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The Hiring Shift No One’s Talking About with an Executive Headhunter, Miklos Blasko
The executive hiring landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation, moving away from traditional full-time employment toward a modular, fractional leadership model.
- The executive hiring market is shifting from permanent full-time roles toward a modular, fractional leadership model driven by remote work normalization and a scarcity of niche talent.
- Fractional executives function as 'insider-outsiders' who prioritize high-impact, results-oriented execution and objective problem-solving over long-term cultural integration.
- To ensure success, organizations must categorize engagements into three distinct tiers: low-commitment advisors, KPI-driven fractional leaders, or full-time interim executives.
Digital Market Index: Q2 2025
Sensor Tower's Q2 2025 Digital Market Index tracks global mobile app performance and US digital advertising, with additional coverage of retail media.
- In Q2 2025, non-gaming applications surpassed mobile games for the first time, accounting for 52% of the record $40 billion in total in-app purchase revenue.
- Global mobile gaming downloads contracted by 6.8% year-over-year, while Strategy titles replaced RPGs as the highest-grossing gaming category with a 23% increase.
- ChatGPT became the fastest application to reach one billion downloads and secured a top-five position in global revenue, signaling a major shift toward AI-driven utility.
Week in Mobile Games E63 - The Esports World Cup unpacked and lightning strikes twice for Supercell
The global mobile gaming landscape is currently defined by a strategic shift toward long-term player retention and the professionalization of esports.
- AppLovin maintains a dominant market position in mobile monetization, reporting a 77% year-over-year revenue increase as it competes with Unity’s new Vector AI ad platform.
- The Saudi Arabian gaming market is projected to reach $6.8 billion in consumption by 2030, driven by government-backed initiatives and the professionalization of mobile esports.
- Supercell’s Clash Royale achieved its most lucrative month in nearly eight years, highlighting the continued revenue potential of revitalizing established intellectual property.
Are guitar games coming back? The story of RedOctane's return
The gaming industry is currently undergoing a period of significant structural transformation, characterized by both corporate consolidation and a strategic pivot toward sustainable, community-driven development models.
- Embracer Group is reviving the RedOctane brand by merging original staff with open-source rhythm game developers to move away from the annual release model that previously caused market oversaturation.
- The new rhythm game strategy shifts toward a 'forever game' model, prioritizing long-term content updates and direct-to-consumer engagement over traditional retail cycles.
- Publishers are increasingly utilizing game bundles as a strategic tool to extend the lifecycle and reach of titles after initial launch momentum declines.
TWIG #343: Match Villains' Monster Raise, Roblox's New Numbers, and the Lost A of AAA
The gaming industry is currently undergoing a structural transition characterized by a retreat from bloated AAA production cycles and a reevaluation of capital allocation strategies.
- The gaming industry is shifting away from bloated AAA production cycles toward smaller, agile development models as the 'aggregator' business strategy fails.
- Roblox has reached 112 million daily active users, demonstrating the effectiveness of aggressive live-ops and influencer-led marketing over traditional celebrity campaigns.
- A U.S. court ruling against Google mandates the opening of Android app distribution and payment systems, potentially forcing platform holders to lower commission fees.
🚁 How War Drone 3D Hits $65K/day mainly with Organics, not UA. Warfare drone game from Miniclip!
War Drone 3D has emerged as a significant success within the mobile gaming market, scaling to approximately 500,000 daily active users and generating daily revenues reaching $65,000.
- War Drone 3D generates over $65,000 in daily revenue, driven primarily by heavy rewarded ad monetization and a gacha-based progression system.
- The game achieved peak scaling of over 300,000 installs per day in July 2024, maintaining a strong baseline of 150,000 daily downloads shortly thereafter.
- Over 50% of the game's total downloads are organic, fueled by an immersive 'news media' aesthetic that mimics realistic drone footage.
Casual Games Report H1 2025: Three Genres Generating 80% of Revenue
The "Casual Games Report H1 2025" analyzes the global casual games market's performance during the first half of 2025, identifying key revenue drivers and emerging trends.
- The casual games market generated $12 billion in net in-app purchase revenue in H1 2025, with 80% of total earnings concentrated in the Puzzle, Casino, and Simulation genres.
- Puzzle games remain the primary growth engine with a 13% year-over-year revenue increase, driven largely by a 94% surge in the Merge-2 with Complex Meta subgenre.
- The Casual Casino sector saw a 33% revenue contraction in H1 2025, primarily due to the scaling back of major titles like Monopoly GO!.
EA Mobile is Suddenly Worth Watching Again
Electronic Arts is currently experiencing a resurgence in its mobile gaming portfolio, driven primarily by the sustained performance of EA Sports FC Mobile.
- EA Sports FC Mobile is currently generating approximately $20 million in monthly revenue, marking a record high for the company's mobile division.
- EA has shifted its mobile development strategy by outsourcing product management to specialized teams in China, a move that has proven more effective at monetization than previous North American-led efforts.
- The company is testing the expansion of its sports IP through spin-offs like EA Sports FC Tactical, which integrates squad RPG mechanics into the Ultimate Team framework.
The Walled Garden Stack: Why no new Mediation platform has Survived Since 2017 by Felix Braberg
The mobile ad monetization landscape in 2025 is defined by a rigid, consolidated mediation market and a strategic shift among top publishers toward in-app purchase (IAP) revenue.
- The mobile mediation market is a closed ecosystem dominated by AppLovin MAX, Unity LevelPlay, and Google AdMob, with no successful new entrants since 2017 due to high barriers to accessing essential bidding demand.
- Top studios like Habby and Rollic are shifting toward IAP-first monetization, with ad revenue now accounting for as little as 11% to 20% of total earnings in recent titles.
- Effective cost-per-mille (eCPM) rates have declined by approximately 20% from pandemic-era peaks due to privacy-related targeting limitations, market corrections, and the transition to automated bidding.
Final Summer Q&A session
Successful game marketing hinges on clear genre communication and product quality rather than abstract concepts like momentum.
- Game success is driven by core design, trailer quality, and market fit rather than promotional reach or momentum; paid advertising cannot compensate for a product that lacks organic appeal.
- Developers must prioritize aligning capsule art, store pages, and game titles with specific genre expectations to ensure visibility and audience resonance.
- Steam remains the most viable platform for independent creators, provided they track performance through concrete metrics like wishlist growth and strategic marketing beats.
Major AAA start-up ProbablyMonsters has revealed its first games… and none of them are AAA
ProbablyMonsters is fundamentally restructuring its operations after nine years, moving away from a primary focus on AAA development to embrace a more agile, diversified business model.
- ProbablyMonsters is abandoning its original AAA-centric business model after nine years to pivot toward a more agile, diversified strategy.
- The company is shifting its development focus to a mix of short, mid, and long-term projects to mitigate the financial risks associated with long, high-budget development cycles.
- The studio's new portfolio includes a roguelike action game for Nintendo Switch and a psychological horror title for PC, marking a clear departure from large-scale AAA productions.
Slow-Motion Slump in Scopely’s Portfolio
The mobile gaming portfolio of Scopely is currently experiencing a significant, broad-based decline across key performance indicators.
- Scopely’s portfolio is experiencing a broad decline, marked by a 28% drop in topline revenue, a 24% decrease in monthly active users, and a 34% reduction in downloads between 2024 and 2025.
- Monopoly Go, which accounts for 60% to 65% of total portfolio earnings, has suffered a 36% year-over-year revenue decline.
- Revenue concentration has intensified, with Monopoly Go and the recently acquired Pokémon Go now generating over 90% of the company's total revenue.
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