David Diaz joins Supercell, Peter Vesterbacka spreads his wings, and the key trends changing match-3 games
Last week brought with it the huge news that Tencent had bought all of SoftBank's shares in Supercell for $8.6 billion, and acquired a majority stake in the Finnish developer.
Oh, and the UK voted to leave the EU.
But what caught our reader's attention most of all was the six key trends in match-3 puzzle games, as outlined by Playlab Games' Yevgeniy Maiboroda.
Second on the most read list is Jon Jordan's breakdown of what Tencent's deal actually means for Supercell, and how this makes the world's "least powerful CEO" more powerful than ever.
Eagles sore and charities flourish
Third up is the news that Rovio's Mighty Eagle, Peter Vesterbacka, is leaving his role at the company to establish a new startup.
And finally, Fyber's David Diaz has joined Supercell as its new Media Buyer, and Finnish charity The Me Foundation raised $225 million as part of the Tencent deal.
Click the link below to find out more about the stories that caught our reader's attention over the last week.
#5: Tencent deal sees Supercell-funded charitable foundation raise $225 million
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Tencent deal sees Supercell-funded charitable foundation raise $225 million »A lot of people no doubt made a lot of money in Tencent's acquisition of SoftBank's stake in Supercell.
So it's nice to see that, thanks to the deal, €200 million ($225 million) was also made available for the Me Foundation, a charity set up by three of Supercell's founders.
The Me Foundation was set up to diminish social equality and the exclusion of children, youths, and families in Finland, by supporting ventures that increase equality in Finland.
And the founders will keep their full stakes in Supercell too, as their shares were kept seperate from the ones offered in order to set up the charity.
#4: Ex-Fyber VP David Diaz joins Supercell as Media Buyer
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Ex-Fyber VP David Diaz joins Supercell as Media Buyer »Regular readers might recognise David Diaz for his guest columns, which, while not very regular, have always been insightful and interesting.
When he's not giving us his words, he's also the VP of Developer Relations at Fyber - until June 20, when he became Supercell's new Media Buyer.
Not a bad time to join, it must be said - particularly if he picked up some shares just before Tencent got involved.
In February, he wrote that "game developers will need to master sophisticated marketing strategies as they go beyond mobile media to build their audience."
So he'll probably get a good chance to do just that with Supercell's huge brands and massive amounts of funding.
#3: Rovio's Mighty Eagle Peter Vesterbacka flies the nest to pursue startup
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Rovio's Mighty Eagle Peter Vesterbacka flies the nest to pursue startup »In a move that had journalists rejoicing at the fact they could write an easy pun, Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio's Mighty Eagle, has left his role at the company to establish a new startup.
He'll stay on as a shareholder at Rovio, as well as remaining "very much involved" with the company, but his main efforts will be focused elsewhere.
“It has been my privilege to work alongside incredibly talented and amazing colleagues at Rovio. We have worked very hard together to bring up the Angry Birds flock over the past six years,” said Vesterbacka.
“While I remain a Rovio shareholder - and the biggest Angry Birds fan - I am even more excited about getting back to my startup roots."
#2: Why the world's "least powerful CEO" has never been more powerful
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Why the world's "least powerful CEO" has never been more powerful »Ilkka Paananen may protest that he is the world's "least powerful CEO", but after Supercell's acquisition by Tencent, he may well have a lot more power than he thinks.
At least, that's Jon Jordan's argument, as he breaks down exactly what the acquistion means in terms of the good, the bad, and the neutral.
One particularly good side to the acquisition is that Supercell employees are likely to now be very rich, as their shares have suddenly become very valuable.
"Supercell may be the most enjoyable place to work in the world," he writes, adding "at some stage over the coming months and years the option not to work or work on new projects - maybe projects nothing to do with games: Finland has a wide startup scene - will now be harder to resist."
#1: Key trends that are changing the way match-3 puzzle games play and monetize
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Key trends that are changing the way match-3 puzzle games play and monetize »Love them or loathe them, match-3 games are going to be around for a very, very long time.
But after the launch of the (still) mega-successful Candy Crush Saga, it can be a little difficult to work out if the genre has progressed in any way.
Thankfully, Yevgeniy Maiboroda, executive producer at Playlab Games, has offered up some insights into the six key trends that are changing the match-3 scene.
Among these trends are a new approach to difficulty curves, a focus on improving UX over graphics, and fewer tutorials.
Writing on the latter topic, Maiboroda says "If your day 1 retention is quite low, you might want to check whether you are 'overloading' user with your scripted routine."
