Interview

Speaker Spotlight: Hyper Hippo Games' Luke Gorman on maximising APRU

Pocket Gamer Connects: Helsinki Digital will take place on September 14th - 18th

Speaker Spotlight: Hyper Hippo Games' Luke Gorman on maximising APRU

Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Digital is around the corner, taking place on September 14th - 18th. To give you a taste of what to expect, we'll regularly be publishing interviews with the speakers at the show.

The conference spans across five days and will feature a broad selection of tracks, talks and speakers, as well as various fringe events and a new and improved meeting system. For more details on PGC Helsinki Digital and to book a ticket, head to the website.

Today's speaker spotlight is on Luke Gorman, senior growth lead at Hyper Hippo Games. Gorman currently heads up ad monetisation efforts for the company's two titles, and he'll be heading to PGC Helsinki Digital to talk about maximizing APRU through a hybrid monetisation and UA Approach.

Pocketgamer.biz: Tell us a bit about your company?

Luke Gorman: Hyper Hippo is an award-winning entertainment studio, driven to entertain, connect, and inspire billions of fans around the world.

It was founded in 2012, by the creator of Club Penguin, Lance Priebe, and we're behind the smash-hit idle game, AdVenture Capitalist (with 50+ million players), and AdVenture Communist, a cult mobile hit.

Hyper Hippo is headquartered in Canada, with offices in Kelowna, Vancouver, and Seattle, and we have an exceptionally creative team that are relentlessly focused on innovating and exploring new forms of entertainment. 

What does your role entail?

I lead Ad Monetization, UA on SDK networks, and soft launch strategy across our portfolio.

Why did you want to work in the games industry?

It's a global community that breaks down borders and allows perspective from multiple cultures.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into the space?

Don't get lost in the numbers, take a step back from time-to-time to enjoy a fast-paced, entertainment-oriented industry, but always stay agile and hungry to grow.

What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?

Par for the course - the industry has been steady and stable during the Covid-19 pandemic, as we are lucky enough to provide entertainment for those looking for it, but has also gone through another yearly cycle of changes and updates where the industry becomes less recognizable to the year before.

What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?

Game design and monetisation changes - primarily developers shifting to a heavy focus on top of funnel events and monetization points.

How has the games industry changed since you first started?

Aside from new networks and publishers entering and exiting the market, and the carousel of defining user-level targeting and privacy-first updates, the whole industry is constantly in motion. Month-to-month we see a range of changes, whether that be small changes such as dashboard updates, or defining changes such GDPR and iOS14.

Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?

Global Trends - my favorite part of the industry is the global community. Every year I'm interested in tracking global trends to see improvements and changes from each region and the influence that gaming can have across the world.

Check out the full schedule to see the complete range of impressive speakers attending. You can also check out our other track rundowns and coverage of previous Pocket Gamer Connects conferences ahead of the event itself.

There's still time to register for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Digital here.