GDC wrappedThere wasn't really a big theme or singular moment this year, so here are some slightly frazzled thoughts in bullet point form instead, posted from the airport.Support my work directly – upgrade to a paid subscription: Ideally, there’d be handy, singular theme from GDC 2024 that I could use to cleverly package up this newsletter, but honestly, there really wasn’t one. In 2022, the chatter was all about blockchain/web3/metaverse, believe it or not – that makes it feel like a very long time ago. In 2023, a couple of terrific Marvel Snap talks, the on-off Rovio sale and some beefy Netflix announcements grabbed the headlines. But the biggest news for the mobile business kind of happened outside San Francisco’s Moscone Center this week. There was Sensor Tower’s surprise acquisition of Data.ai, for one, and then the beginnings of the US government’s legal action against Apple, which could go on to have huge ramifications for our business – after it all plays out in court, that is. So after a slightly disjointed week of news, here’s a slightly disjointed grab-bag of thoughts from the tail end of GDC, brought to you by airport wifi:
Mobilegamer.biz passed its second birthday last week. I have many more grey hairs than in the mugshot at the top of this email now, but it’s going well. There’s a brief update on how it’s going here, for those interested. As ever: if you like the site and want to support my work directly, the simplest way to do that is to chuck in a few quid a month here: This week on mobilegamer.bizNew games now: Warzone Mobile, Hades, Balatro, Zenless Zone Zero, Miniclip’s new battler, FunPlus’ Foundation and moreAll of this week's notable new releases, soft launches, release dates and more, all in one spot. Jenova Chen explains why there’s no teabagging in Sky: Children of the LightThatgamecompany’s CEO on how the social MMO has been designed to minimise toxic behaviour. The US government has accused Apple of maintaining an illegal monopoly, blocking competition, thwarting innovation and moreApple is to be dragged through the courts once again on antitrust charges, this time by the US Justice Department. Widespread layoffs at Data.ai after Sensor Tower buyoutRumours suggest up to 200 Data.ai staff have been let go, but Sensor Tower told us it "cannot confirm the number of data.ai staff impacted by the acquisition”. Epic Games Store is coming to iOS and Android this year“Epic is fighting the good fight on behalf of all of us,” said the Games Store’s general manager Steve Allison. Data digest: hybridcasual stats, hypercasual ad spend, Huuuge profits and morePlus: Unity’s annual report, a live service game survey and new numbers from Asia and LatAm. The “embarrassing mistake” that birthed Monopoly GoScopely’s product VP and Monopoly Go GM Massimo Maietti said at GDC that he is still “not happy” with the $2bn hit. The year in free to play games: Monopoly Go, LastWar, Eggy Party, merge’s malaise and match 3DMobile game veterans Steve Meretzky (PeopleFun) and Dave Rohrl (Mobile Game Doctor) take a look at the trends from the last year. Sensor Tower has acquired rival Data.aiThe deal has been done for an undisclosed amount and brings two major competitors under one roof. Mobilegamer.biz is two: how it’s goingThis website is now two years old. It attracts over 35k visitors per month, and the newsletter goes out to 7,923 subscribers, at the time of writing. Don't miss our original reporting and insights – follow us on X and LinkedIn. If you find this newsletter useful, consider supporting mobilegamer.biz with monthly or annual payment. |
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