Uri Levanon

Friday read for you: What’s next for Europe’s gaming consolidators? Over the past few years, Embracer Group, Stillfront, EG7, Modern Times Group MTG AB, Focus Entertainment, and others have reshaped the European gaming market with bold acquisitions. But what happens now that the M&A frenzy has cooled? The latest InvestGame analysis explores: 🎮 The landmark deals that defined this era of consolidation. 📊 The financial impact of these acquisitions and market trends. 📉 How stock performance has reflected the challenges of integration. 💡 Lessons learned for the future of gaming M&A. Whether you’re a developer, publisher, or industry watcher, this deep dive offers critical insights into the evolving strategies of Europe’s gaming leaders. 👉 Check it out here through the link in the first comment. Then, let me know what you think—what’s your take on Europe’s M&A boom and its future? #gamingindustry #investgame #embracer #stillfront #MTG #mergersandacquisitions

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Less than a week to go until I attend Brand Licensing Europe in London. 📆 Really looking forward to it, as it offers an opportunity to meet with those brand & IP holders who know they definitely need to "do something in games" but are not sure exactly what! 🤔   It you are a brand, an IP holder or simply a "games-curious" company, there are DEFINITELY great opportunities out there in the video games world to grow your audience, deepen brand affinity and even add major new revenue streams. 🎮   There is also the chance to mess it all up very badly, waste money and destroy brand equity by going into this very complex, fast evolving business without an experienced guide... 📉 Player One Consulting have helped many companies navigate this world, identifying & sizing opportunities, setting up partnerships and advising on successful execution. Having seen what happens when companies try to enter the games world without this advice, we realise that it is a valuable service we're providing! 🚀   I'll be making myself available at #ble24 next week to advise companies on the gaming market, helping them to optimise their licencing decisions, set up great partnerships and (very importantly) avoiding the very expensive & damaging missteps that can occur! 😎   If you'd like to have a conversation with me next week, drop me a comment below or ping over a DM.   Looking forward to seeing you there!   #ble #brandlicencing #gaming #videogames #licensing

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Great article about our latest game launch!

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“The Future of Gaming - UGC is Changing Everything,” is just one of the burning topics we will be delving into with Gamefam at Slush2024. Ping me for more info on how to join our event! Angela Dalton, Nicholas Douzinas, Keshav Holani, Karen Bader, Signum Growth Dot Play

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Epulze (esports), as per CSO and Co-Founder Markus Lövgren, said today, "Due to some organizational restructuring, we unfortunately have to let some of our valued team members go." If your role was affected by this action, our community is here to offer support through our three homes: Home 1 - 🔗 AMIRSATVAT.COM: Our main hub provides 15 resources to assist you in finding work, featuring a fully updated design. - 🔗 Games Org Support Posts: Find a template at AMIRSATVAT.COM (Category 4, Resource 10). If you can provide information from your team (with their consent), I’ll help edit and disseminate the final product, reaching 100,000+ people. These posts are highly effective in increasing visibility, and we've done 98 of them. Home 2 - 🔗 Discord: Join us at discord.gg/amirsatvat, our live extension of community resources. With nearly 3,600 members, we are currently in an open-join phase. Home 3 - 🔗 LinkedIn: Our community here includes nearly 89,000 members, with 1-3 daily posts offering support and career assistance in the games industry. How the Broader Community Can Help: - Spread the Word: Reshares and comments on this post amplify the visibility of these resources. - Offer Support: Utilize the 13 ways listed on AMIRSATVAT.COM under "How You Can Help" to assist, or simply lend an ear or advice on our Discord server. - Join Our Movement: Volunteer with us at AMIRSATVAT.COM to support our colleagues in the games industry. Our network has facilitated over 2,000 jobs and 35,000 coaching conversations to date, the largest impact of any games organization on earth, and has been visited by millions of gamers lifetime.

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Interesting report from VG Insights giving some hard numbers on the extra opportunity for building and growing game IPs through other types of media, be they TV, movies, books and more. Too often, game companies are only looking at the direct business opportunities of transmedia projects to determine whether they want to engage into it or not, but the real opportunity is indirect, it is through the engagement of new and existing players, and extra sales of existing games, even with very little is done on older titles. We've seen this on The Witcher, on The Last of Us, now on Fallout, and many more.

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Sustainable Game Growth and Revenue Optimization. (Sounds pretty easy!) 1. Growth: • Increase Daily Active Users (DAU): Focus on boosting your DAU as it’s directly tied to your game’s daily revenue. • Optimize Acquisition Channels: Regularly monitor your acquisition sources and refine your strategies to reduce Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) while maximizing your marketing budget efficiency. 2. Retention: • Prioritize Retention Rates: High retention rates are essential for the long-term success of your game. • Measure at Key Intervals: Track user retention at critical points (e.g., Day 1, Day 7, Day 30) to identify trends and areas for improvement. • Enhance New User Retention: Develop strategies to keep new players engaged and coming back, building a loyal player base. 3. Engagement: • Track Monthly Active Days: Monitor how many days per month your players are active to gauge overall engagement levels. • Foster Core User Engagement: Ensure your core players are deeply engaged, as they are more likely to make repeated transactions and contribute to higher Lifetime Value (LTV). 4. Monetization: • Focus on Conversions: Work on converting new players into paying users and encourage existing users to make repeated purchases. • Optimize Transaction Values: Increase the average value of each transaction and boost the number of transactions to maximize revenue. 5. Comprehensive Metrics: • Combine DAU with ARPU: Track both DAU and Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) to understand your game’s revenue potential and make data-driven decisions. • Focus on LTV: Use Lifetime Value (LTV) as your guiding metric for long-term planning, ensuring each player brings maximum value over their lifecycle. By balancing efforts across acquisition, retention, engagement, and monetization, you can ensure your game achieves sustainable growth and reaches its full revenue potential.

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I'm quite interested to see if CTV becomes a significant UA channel for gaming any time soon. I am not 100% sure, there are few things are not so reassuring to me: > No OS targeting > Household level targeting only > Tracking via IP adress & timestamp between time of the ad and time of the download seems a bit approximative to me > Incremental analysis & impact on other channels, hum yeah but. > Premium supply not available via open auction On the positive side, it's indeed US centric which is our fav market in gaming (majority of CTV inventory in Europe is dominated by broadcaster, no open market there, so higher prices / IO basis). It seems really only relevant for large apps & pubs who have maxed out their current UA channels, so they can seek a new audience (although overlap of CTV watchers and smartphone owners should be 90%), so let's just stay a different context. For smaller pubs & apps, I don't see CTV providing the level of performance & ROI today compared to usual channels. Any gaming pubs who have seen success so far? More than happy to be proven wrong as we all need new UA avenues to circumvante the CPI Wall! Arthur ✌️ Querou 🦩 Matej Lancaric Adam Smart Luc Dumont Vibe.co Madhive Alexandre Pham Luis de la Cámara Vincent Février Maxim Kozhnov Luka Rade Mark Beck Andre Kempe David Philippson John Wright Stepan Frolov Jean-Christophe Lavocat 52 Entertainment Tom Collard Nimrod Klinger 🇮🇱 Niels Beenen Alexis Lejeune Paul Gubbins Olivier Comte Gabriel Fossorier George Boychev Iskren Yordanov Nicolas Cellier #useracquisition #mobilegaming https://lnkd.in/eitcTmvN

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Goodbye Slush 2024: as usual, you were great. Did a lot of demos of our forthcoming (Discord-platform defining? 🤞) game - read on for 🚀 feedback - and have some opinions/takeaways on tech, games, and Mojiworks part in the Venn-diagram overlap of the two. I think AI is more likely to become an API for unbundling of specific behaviours & workflows, than a do-everything tool. The LLM training arms-race will commodify them, and there will be lots of interesting startups solving niche-but-big problems with domain-specific expertise sitting on top of LLM APIs. Why? Benedict Evan's great (as usual) presentation https://lnkd.in/eAmK2iA9 has a ton of analysis - and classic Jobsian quotes - that (IMO) points in that direction, plus startups like Finch / Pamela Nunez Wallgren doing super interesting work that's unlocking more creativity by enabling faster experimentation & iteration. The tech industry is bouncing back from the doldrums; the games industry has lagged that by 12-18 months so is near the bottom of the curve, so this wasn't a big games year at Slush. I reckon next year will be on an uptick - the cycle does what it does. Most of the games conversation was about gen-AI. See above. Our game? “It’s so intuitive to play” “This is running in Discord?!” “I love the art style!” “This is going to be huge” The work continues (soon to soft launch). See you next year, Slush! I love you. Big thanks to London Games Festival for including us in their cohort, and Lifeline Ventures Petteri Koponen Accel for the meeting tent/food/coffee/etc!

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The games industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation today. With news of layoffs and team restructuring dominating our channels almost every other day, the question I often get - 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠? The normalization of unprecedented gains during COVID, overestimated future demand, inflation, challenges in user acquisition post-IDFA/privacy changes, an overcrowded market, rising costs, and the complexity of game production and live services are all contributing factors. Additionally, Gen AI forces everyone to rethink production to stay competitive. 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 Over the years, the risk-to-reward ratio for new game launches has been shifting unfavorably. Increasing costs, red ocean markets, and the complexity of live services make capturing, engaging, and retaining players to achieve profitable outcomes incredibly challenging. Efficiently translating game ideas/IPs into successful games is tough. Highly experienced teams equipped with cutting edge technology and tools are more likely to create great games. In contrast, inexperienced teams often end up over-iterating, learning on the go, stretching timelines, and/or diluting quality. Great talent is essential today and in the future to build great games. Period. 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 & 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐀𝐌  This is a safer, more predictable, and an incremental risk path for companies with successful games. Doubling down on existing games is a no-brainer part of every company's strategy. However, due to talent bandwidth constraints, companies often focus on their top games while many high-potential games in their portfolio are deprioritized and forced to die a slow death. In my years of experience in the industry, this is a massive untapped opportunity highly worth leveraging! Expanding TAM (Total Addressable Market) can provide significant gains for successful games. This complex task depends on a deep understanding of market differences and motivations that drive engagement and monetization behaviors, applying these insights to game and live services operations to unlock growth. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 This is undoubtedly a massive event on the games industry timeline. But time will reshape how games are designed, produced, and shipped to global audiences in meaningful ways. Gen AI and other technologies will make game production more efficient, high-quality, and predictable. 𝑃𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑤, 𝑢𝑝𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠, 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒!

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Over the next 3-5 years, the gaming universe is going to be rocked by Roblox, Epic Games, and other UGC platforms. Player tastes are changing, new franchises are capturing hearts and wallets, and the economics is... well, that's a story unto itself. How are you going to navigate and grow with the change driven by UGC gaming? That's what this incredible #Slush2024 event is all about... Registration is now live for a gaming event that every publisher, IP owner, and investor should attend - “The Future of Gaming - UGC is Changing Everything” Speaker announcements coming in the next few weeks but I can confirm it will include power players from the gaming, IP, and VC world, as well as some of the freshest voices creating hit UGC games! Register here:  https://lnkd.in/gMfi_EHc We’re excited to host with Angela Dalton and our friends at Signum Growth!  Drop a comment below if we’ll see you there! #Slush2024 #UGCGaming #Gaming #VideoGames #Roblox #Fortnite #Metaverse

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Spotify HiFi is still nowhere to be found! 😫 Is Spotify ever going to release lossless audio? 🤔 Read more to find out what's going on with Spotify HiFi and why it's taking so long. 🎶 #SpotifyHiFi #LosslessAudio #MusicStreaming #TechNews #Spotify

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Next episode. Let’s go! 🚀

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Punktid Technologies AS is looking for a strategic partner! 🤝 In connection with the changes in the market and the evaluation of the perspectives of the company's future development, the supervisory board of Punktid Technologies AS has made a decision to find new strategic opportunities for attracting investments, which may include the partial or complete sale of the listed holding company or the entire group. Despite the challenges encountered during the previous two years, the Punktid project has reached a stable phase, having managed to balance the decline in the Baltic market with sales from outside markets. However, in order to realize future growth opportunities, we need to explore new directions. The goal is to ensure the sustainability of the company, increase the value of investors and ensure competitiveness in a rapidly changing business environment. At the moment, an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) has already been signed with two foreign interested parties, with whom negotiations are also open. However, no contracts have yet been signed, so we remain open to new potential partners. The company's board of directors invites anyone who sees synergy, commonality or value in our IPO to contact us to discuss possible cooperation opportunities. Read more on latest stock news where you can also find direct contact information:

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🧑🏽‍💻 Curious about how AI will transform our society? Don't miss Nikolas Badminton with his conferences on: "𝘌𝘟𝘗𝘖𝘕𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘐𝘈𝘓 𝘏𝘜𝘔𝘈𝘕𝘐𝘛𝘠 – 𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘐." 👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/eEUTc5Fe 🎙️ Dive into a fascinating journey where Nikolas will reveal the evolution of AI over time and its future impact. Discover how our world and industries are being revolutionized by AI, and learn the essential skills needed to stay at the forefront of this transformation. 🚀 Get ready to be inspired and explore new perspectives! #adn #conferences #AI #Society

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Apple is up to their monopolistic tricks again. I have no idea how this isn’t anticompetitive. More importantly, why does Apple continue to penalize mobile app advertisers by making iOS advertising even more inefficient. Why don’t they launch a functional and scalable ad network that is advertiser friendly and double blind to protect consumer’s privacy while allowing for robust tracking and targeting? As of July 1st, when businesses use the Facebook or Instagram app on their iPhone or iPad to boost a post, advertisers will have to pay a 30% additional fee that goes to Apple. This fee isn't charged by Meta, but by Apple due to their in-app payment rules.

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🔋⚡️Calling all gaming & entertainment website owners! Big news at Overwolf today as we announce the acquisition of industry-leading gaming ad tech company Nitro (formally Nitropay), bringing unprecedented net-7 payouts to all website publishers on our platform. As part of our aligned vision with the Nitro team to revolutionize the ad tech industry, we’re offering website publishers unparalleled opportunities for monetization including: 🏆Net-7 payouts ⚡️Lightning fast ad loading ☎️Same-day support 📈More demand for ad inventory Prior to the acquisition, Overwolf was already ranked by Comscore, Inc. as a Top 10 US Game Publisher, with our unique proprietary solution allowing advertisers to reach over 45 million monthly gamers across premium game titles like Minecraft, Fortnite and League of Legends. Our partners include global powerhouse brands and media agencies such as P&G, Pringles, KFC, Intel, Monster Energy, Dentsu, WPP, Havas and more. Today, we more than double our reach to 100M unique gamers monthly across a rich ecosystem of desktop apps, mods, private servers and now over 500 premium websites - becoming a simple marketing buy for anyone looking to advertise to gamers at scale. A big welcome to Cody Bye and the Nitro team joining our growing pack of wolves. Read more about the acquisition here: https://lnkd.in/dRs_MzKN If you’re a gaming/entertainment website owner interested in net-7 payouts and increased demand for your ad inventory reach out to our Nitro team via the website: https://lnkd.in/dAxtkU5V #Publishers | #GamingIndustry | #GamingAds | #Monetization | #AdTech

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