Interview

YoYo Games Stuart Poole hopes 2020 will see softer monetisation, more 2D mobile games

Back to source

YoYo Games Stuart Poole hopes 2020 will see softer monetisation, more 2D mobile games

As 2019 begins to fade into memory, we're taking a look back at the events that have dominated the last 12 months in mobile gaming.

As such, we've asked the industry's great and good to give us their take on the year, as well as predicting the trends that will dominate in 2020.

  • Stuart Poole is GM at YoYo Games

PocketGamer.biz: What do you think was the biggest news of 2019?

The launch of Apple Arcade will have the broadest significance for the mobile games industry, particularly with its no ads, no IAP policy.

It’s an indictment on the free-to-play monetization model, and an indication of player weariness with it that Apple has introduced this safe haven that monetises via subscription.

What's the thing you're most proud of during 2019?

It’s been a big year for the business. Commercially, we’ve made GameMaker more accessible and have seen a big take-up in mobile licence sales.

From a GameMaker IDE perspective, we announced code improvements and our new big Sequences functionality, and those reached closed beta in early December.

Finally, GameMaker turning 20 years of age in November was a big landmark too.

Which mobile games have you most played/enjoyed during 2019?

Hyper Light Drifter on the iPad, Apple’s iPad game of the year, made with GameMaker of course!

What do you think will be the biggest trends in 2020?

I’m very hopeful that we’ll see a lot of great quality 2D games being made for mobile.

We have a lot of improvements coming down the line in GameMaker, but I think we’ll generally see a big game engine focus on making great effects more accessible from simplifying their execution in the design process.

If you had one New Year's Resolution for the mobile game industry, what would it be?

The clarity in mobile game monetisation. We need to focus on fun and enjoyment. While game design is proliferating in schools as a means of teaching coding, we don’t want the games industry to become a brand that’s tainted from scandals due to the over-implementation of loot-boxes, ads and IAP.

Mobile games are enjoyed by everyone, I’d like to see more corporate responsibility and a step away from the race to the bottom.

You can check out all our 2019 in Review articles here


Staff Writer

Kayleigh is the Staff Writer for PocketGamer.biz. Besides PGbiz and PCGI she has written as a list writer for Game Rant, rambling about any and all things games related. You can also find her on Twitter talking utter nonsense.