Start your week right, with our quick take on the stories that are impacting the mobile industry right now.
To help get you primed and ready for another week in mobile gaming, we’ve curated the biggest stories you need to know from the last seven days.
1) Unity reveals Unity 6 and their AI-powered future of games development
Unity's heavyweight AI implementation just got real at Unity Unite 2023, with three main new initiatives announced including a whole host of AI-powered features, the debut of the Unity Cloud collaboration service and the all-new Unity 6 package.
In fact, these new initiatives mark another move away from a gaming focus, with Unity pitching itself as "the world’s leading platform for creating and growing real-time 3D (RT3D) content".
2) Monopoly Go changes the game with a record-breaking $1 billion in seven months
Scopely announced that 2023’s rising star Monopoly Go has officially surpassed $1 billion in lifetime revenue, achieved in record-breaking time for a casual mobile game by doing so in seven months since launch.
Monopoly Go utilises Hasbro’s famous IP, and players have passed "go" more than 40 billion times in the mobile game so far. Spend is now over $200 million per month in-game, with the milestone having come at the perfect time too, just in advance of National Play Monopoly Day.
3) 68% of UK games developers are suffering from skill shortages
Findings from the TIGA Skills Report 2023 show that 68% of game development studios are struggling to fill workforce vacancies in the UK and 59% feel company growth is being hindered due to this. The job role most affected is programming, with 24% of businesses unable to find suitable employees for this field.
64% of developers have had a greater need for outsourcing work and a huge 73% have had to increase the workload put upon pre-established staff members.
4) June’s Journey’s $1billion revenue makes German gaming history
Berlin-based Wooga has reached a new milestone with its flagship game June’s Journey, officially reaching the mighty $1 billion revenue mark. In just over six years, June’s Journey is the first German mobile game to do this and has proven a huge success for the Playtika subsidiary.
It’s also the highest-grossing hidden object game on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, with success attributed to its focus on mature women gamers.
5) Supercell opens up Creator Program to up-and-coming influencers
Supercell’s Creator Program has opened up to more up-and-coming influencers with newly lowered thresholds to enter the initiative, meaning a growing number of members can now access game assets, new game updates and merchandise.
Notably, this also opens up the Creator Academy to even more people, providing insights into how to create videos and grow a channel. Overall, Supercell has updated its Creator Program over 20 times in the past year.
