Data.ai Report
Mobile gaming set to reach $108 billion in consumer spend in 2023
The platform continues to be the industry’s top performer
Staff
Lewis Rees
About Lewis Rees is a journalist, author, and escape room enthusiast based in South Wales. He got his degree in Film and Video from the University of Glamorgan. He's been a gamer all his life.
Articles by Lewis Rees
Vc Report
Gaming drew $1.1 billion in VC funding in the second quarter of 2023
110 VC deals were struck across the games industry
Layoffs
East Side Games announces round of layoffs
The company reported significant declines in Q1 following a record 2022
Mobile Moves
Warframe is preparing to invade Apple devices next year
Developer Digital Extremes announced the move at its annual TennoCon Event
Revolutions
How War of Heroes - The PDF Game is funding the revolution in Myanmar
The game has raised more than $508,000 to fund the People’s Defence Forces
Supergames
NetEase go for maximum 'Impact' with new RPG Project Mugen
NetEase is in pursuit of MiHoYo’s 'supergame' throne with two studios working on their new open-world urban RPG
Success In Funding
British developer Scriptic raises $6.2 million in second seed round
The round includes investment from Sony Innovation fund
Helsinki Gaming
Finnish Focus: Supercell's pursuit of perfection
With Floodrush getting the chop after less than three months of release, we take a look at the company that's never afraid to fail
A Legend Returns
Revolution Software announces the return of the Broken Sword series
A sixth game, Parzival’s Stone, is in development for mobile alongside a remaster of the original game
App Stores
Epic Game Store to offer developers 100% of revenue
How long before one of the new wave of alternative mobile app stores follows suit?
Arena Breakout
Arena Breakout surpasses 80 million registered users
The game brings hardcore gaming to mobile platforms
Netease Financials
NetEase generated $3.3 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2023
Mobile continues to dominate the company’s gaming sector
Acquiblizz
Microsoft’s Phil Spencer stresses the importance of mobile in Xbox’s future success
The Xbox boss claims that Xbox needs mobile presence to thrive
Netflix Games
Netflix kicks off Netflix Stories brand with Netflix Stories: Love is Blind
The game is based on the service’s hit dating show
Licensing
The Pokémon Company made $11.6 billion from licensed products in 2022
Pokémon was the fifth most profitable licensed brand in terms of global retail sales
Opening Night Live
Super Evil Megacorp are working on a Rebel Moon game
Zack Snyder’s latest film releases on Netflix in December with SEMC producing a game based upon it
Gaming Market
The gaming industry saw $1.2 billion in investments and M&A in 2023’s first quarter
It's not great news for mergers and acquisitions as investments hit their lowest point since 2018
Stock Buyback
Skillz announces $65 million share repurchase program
The move follows the foundation of a new office in Las Vegas in June
Gambling Games
Google's inconsistent app-store gambling regulations come under fire
Mobile game Luck be a Landlord has been banned in 13 countries, and its developer isn't happy
Acquisition
Behaviour Interactive acquires Dutch developer Codeglue
The acquisition is Behaviour’s third European expansion in the last six months
New Studio
Virtuos expands with introduction of Virtuos Labs - Prague
The Czech studio is dedicated to mobile, networking, user interfaces, and optimisation
New Partnership
Remote Control Productions and AUCTUS Capital Group partner to form Prestiged Gaming Group
The group aims to create a "powerhouse" of established gaming companies with creative independence
Samsung Vs Apple
Samsung has sold over one billion more smartphones than Apple in the past 10 years
However, Apple are fighting back, being the dominant player in the space in July 2023
New Studios
Prytania Media launches two new AAA studios
Dawon Entertainment and Fang and Claw join the company’s growing portfolio
Embracer Financials
Embracer Group drew $131.6 million in net sales from mobile in the latest quarter
Mobile represents just 13.76% of the company’s revenue
Sciplay Financials
SciPlay outperforms social casino genre for sixth consecutive quarter
The company generated $189.9 million in the second quarter of 2023
Alternative App Stores
App subscription service Setapp to launch an alternative app store for iOS
Their new mobile app store will launch in 2024
Artificial Intelligence
Buildbox introduces AI narrative tool StoryGames.AI
The company hopes that the technology will help amateur game developers create visual novel-style games
Interview
Play games, win for real: Tiv CEO Jed Strong outlines the business and benefits of rewarded gaming
Gamers earn from playing the games they love and developers get a new audience and opportunities. What's not to like?
Acquisition
Sega officially welcomes Rovio to its family of studios
However, there are still several stages to go before the deal is finalised
Mobile Data
It's official. Latvians use more mobile data than the residents of any other country
The country’s citizens use an average of 41.76 gigabytes per month. Want to know where your country ranked? The results are surprising…
New Studio
NetEase launches new studio, T-Minus Zero Entertainment
The studio is led by industry veteran Rich Vogel alongside a team of veterans with a huge raft of hits under their belts
Partnership
Gcommerce company Scuti partners with audio tech firm Consumable for audio ads
Brands will be able to advertise their products to users browsing the Scuti marketplace
Tencent Financials
Tencent generated $20.6 billion in the second quarter of 2023
The total represents an 11% increase from the same period of 2022
Partnership
Room 8 Group announces new partnership with Zibra AI
The companies are aiming to revolutionise virtual content creation
Diversity In Gaming
Black Voices in Gaming announces Xperience Excellence Accelerator cohort
The accelerator program is powered by Netflix Games
Acquisition
InMobi acquires consent management platform Quantcast Choice
The acquisition comes amid a growing push for stricter privacy regulations worldwide
Success In Funding
Play Ventures’ Fund I sees 1.5x return in less than four years
The fund has 20 titles in its portfolio
Investments And Acquisitions
Haveli Investments acquires minority share in Match Masters developer Candivore
The acquisition comes at a cost of $100 million
Netflix Games
Netflix launches first public cloud gaming test
Select subscribers in the UK and Canada can access the company’s games on TV and through connected devices
Yokai Watch
Yokai Watch’s 10th anniversary drives the success of its mobile titles
Yokai Watch Punipuni saw a threefold increase in revenue
Ever Crisis
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis gets September 7 release date
The game finally approaches launch following a successful beta
Mobile Monetisation
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick wants to monetise 100% of its audience
The company is currently monetising only 10% of its players
July In Review
July 2023 was a massive month for new releases and crossovers
GameRefinery analyses the performance of the mobile gaming market throughout the month
Chinese Restrictions
China’s game restrictions aren't working
A new study by Nature Human Behaviour has found that players are willing and able to circumvent restrictions
Apple Vs Epic
The US Supreme Court sides with Apple in its ongoing battle with Epic
The court has decided to block a federal injunction that would have forced Apple to change its payment practices
Partnership
Xsolla partners with AppsFlyer to streamline cross-platform data-driven insights
The companies are combining forces in order to better serve their clients
Hybrid Monetisation
In-app purchases are up on both iOS and Android
Tenjin’s latest report highlights a shift towards hybrid monetisation
New Release
Tilting Point and AN Games announce new Avatar: The Last Airbender game
The new mobile game will be launching in 2024
Nexon Financials
Nexon celebrates 12% year-on-year increase in revenue in 2023’s second quarter
However, the company’s net income decreased 7% over the same period