Mobile Gaming Today: New Games & New Money
Hey Fam,
My buddy, Andre, prepared a cool Gaming Recruitment Survey.
Both for Founders & Employees. Let’s support our industry. 🤟🏻
👌🏻 Top Gaming Content
Mini games have become the secret sauce for keeping players hooked.
While strong core loops get things rolling and long-term motivation keeps them around, it’s mini games that fill the gap, offering variety, quick fun, and a break from the grind. Hits like Royal Match, Toon Blast, and Monopoly GO are leading the charge, using them to boost retention and bust boredom.
As LiveOps takes center stage, expect mini-games to level up, be built into calendars, be tailored to genres, and be optimized for engagement. What started as ad bait is now baked into the core. Might swing back to UA with richer, interactive playables.
Full circle, full throttle, Mini Games are here to grow your game. Full article 🤟🏻
👾 Game of the Week
Casual Puzzle lovers, it’s time to pay attention: New Soft Launch by Agave Games.
Agave Games just dropped a new title into soft launch, and if you’ve been following their recent $18M investment, you know the industry has its eyes on them.
The game? What the Hex!—a mix of color-sorting puzzles with a Monopoly GO! style town-building meta. I played it, and here’s the scoop on what it’s all about, how it plays, and why people are curious about Agave’s next move.
Full Article » What the Hex! is Going On?
💵 Game Investments
SekGames was selected for support under the Startup Qatar Investment Program, earning a spot among the 11 selected startups.
Revolutionizing digital engagement by integrating its vast mini-game library into “Super Apps,” driving Higher Revenue & User Retention.
Sensor Tower has been expanding fast even after 2024 Data.ai Acquisition, and this latest move cements them as the go-to source for Gaming Intelligence.
Bengaluru-based Qila Games has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to supercharge its mission of redefining hybrid-casual gaming in India.
Immersive games and experiences where players can converse with genuinely thoughtful, lifelike AI characters that forge lasting emotional connections.
Under 25 with ideas? No prior education / funding necessary.
More » InvestGame
🤟🏻 Industry Highlights
The mobile gaming market remains one of the largest segments in interactive entertainment, with AP generating ~$60B in 2024.
However, the industry has undergone a significant transformation over the past five years, shifting from a high-growth expansion to a mature market characterized by operational efficiency, financial discipline, and single-digit growth.
Our survival is married to the US Economy.
If you’re European, you need the U.S. economy to grow. Canadian? Need the U.S. economy to grow. This sobering reality underscores nearly every Western mobile development hub today: for mobile gaming to grow, the U.S. needs to grow.
🦄 Mobile Game Marketing
You can’t play unless you’ve received an invite.
This growth hack is a masterclass in product marketing and might just be a groundbreaking way to launch a game globally while reaching a massive audience.
Block Blast continues to scale past 1,2M downloads a day. More?
#11 on all of the stores and #2 after Garena FF for last month. On the other side Color Block Jam by Rollic did $12M in IAP revenue last month.
Gossip Harbor is a masterclass in Live Ops execution.
In 2024 alone: 20 new events, 5 new offers + Significant revenue growth
Admob can sometimes be confusing and clunky to use, so here’s how I optimize placement networks there.
This Chinese Mobile games company, specializing in 4X titles is killing it. Not only do they have the #1 grossing game in the genre, but also Top 4, 6, 11, 12 spots. 🤯
Last week they raised $23M from Menlo Ventures & Akin (Arcadia Gaming Partners) so there is definitely potential and money for UA 😎
In this case, our core audience was 35+ Men. After setting up the initial campaigns in Meta, I started experimenting with the creatives as I usually do.
Monetization should enhance the game, not ruin it. Keep it fair, and players will stay.
🐐 Podcast Time?
Kudos to 2.5 Gamers, thanks for inviting! 🦄
Challenges faced by the industry, including the pressure on devs and marketers are real. Do we need a shift back to the core values of gaming?
I talked about the importance of a human-centric approach that prioritizes creativity, joy, and connection over mere revenue generation. Wdyt?
🌿 Game Jobs
⚡️ Jobs of The Week, Help & Hope for the industry folks.
Thanks for reading! Sharing is caring ¯\_(ツ)_/¯