Brendan Stock

Are video games the future of entertainment? Yes, but... Also the NOW of entertainment. ◾ $57 Billion in US revenue ◾ $200 Billion in global revenue ◾ 3.09 Billion active videogame players ◾ Bigger than movies & music, combined. [Chart below from article on Sherwood News]

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BR1: INFINITE is a real money shooting game based in USD. Pay $1 to spawn and earn $1 for every elimination in-game, servers range from $0 - $10, (i.e. if you play in the $0.25 game mode it costs $0.25 per spawn and you earn $0.25 per elimination). Think about it as the overlap of the 'ante up' nature of poker, crossed with traditional shooting games. Functions are designed not just for gamers, but for game investors who will never play the game but instead manage athletes. - Stake athletes entries in games and automatically get a fixed % of their earnings. - Rent out in-game assets that give players an increased earnings bonus in-game. Here's a sneak peak from the beta, what do you think? 👇

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Exciting news from Runway! They've just introduced Advanced Camera Control for their Gen-3 Alpha Turbo model, enhancing our ability to direct AI-generated videos with greater precision. 🎥✨ This new feature allows creators to specify both the direction and intensity of camera movements within their scenes, enabling more intentional and dynamic shots. Whether you want to execute horizontal pans to arc around subjects or apply zoom effects to unveil new contexts or narratives, the control is now in your hands. Plus, you can combine various camera movements and adjust speeds to create truly engaging and customized video outputs. Keep in mind, Advanced Camera Control is exclusive to the Gen-3 Alpha Turbo model. To access this feature, you'll need a subscription to Runway's Standard plan, priced at $12 per month. This is a game-changer for anyone looking to elevate their AI-generated content! 🚀

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I really enjoyed this conversation with fellow Zynga alum Michael Martinez, founder & CEO of casual mobile studio FunCraft. In this episode of the Naavik podcast, we discuss how Michael built a $35 million revenue run rate company with not one, not 2, but now 3 hit games in the highly competitive casual word game genre on mobile. Some great lessons for any gaming entrepreneur, including: - Bigger is not always better: Funcraft's team size will surprise you! - Speed is of the essence: this is one advantage startups have over larger incumbents - Ad monetization works: Funcraft generates impressive ARPDAUs from ads alone and is able to do LTV-positive UA against them - Remote culture can be an asset: it opens up hiring globally - Failure provides valuable learnings: Michael talks candidly about the failure of his prior gaming startup, Juicebox Games, and what he's doing differently this time around Real talk, with lots of real metrics to benchmark against.

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Very interesting. Is Valve following in the footsteps of Riot, or is this a step towards a more organized ecosystem. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Q3 2024 Video Game Confidence Survey Summary is Now Live! Curious about the latest trends shaping the video game industry? Dive into our Q3 2024 Game Confidence Index, where we unpack the highs, lows, and everything in between from July to September. Key Insights: Shifts in economic sentiment and profitability expectations Rising development costs and intensified market competition Evolving funding strategies amid a tightening financial landscape Read the full analysis to see how industry leaders are responding to these trends and positioning for Q4: Q3 2024... Stay ahead with the insights that matter for navigating this rapidly changing industry! #VideoGames #GamingIndustry #GameDevelopment #MarketInsights #Q32024

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X’s New Monetization Model: Less Money for Creators and More Clickbait & Engagement Farming. Here’s a closer look at the changes and their implications: X will no longer share advertising revenue with creators, instead incentivizing engagement by focusing on interactions from Premium subscribers. 1. X Will No Longer Share Advertising Revenue with Creators: This hasn’t been mentioned enough in the articles I’ve read on the subject. By shifting from ad-based to subscription-based monetization, X will now retain all advertising revenue, keeping creators entirely out of the ad revenue loop. 2. Creators Will Earn Based on Engagement, Not Ad Views: By paying creators based solely on Premium user interactions—likes, replies, and reposts—X is moving away from ad-driven monetization. But how does this lead to better content? For creators, the push for engagement could incentivize more clickbait, not necessarily higher-quality content. 3. Only X Premium Subscribers Contribute to Creator Earnings: This model limits monetization to interactions from Premium subscribers, who pay $8 per month. While this encourages Premium user engagement, it also restricts earning potential, as free users are entirely excluded from this equation. 4. Creator Payouts Are Capped at 25% of Premium Subscription Revenue: X has set a limit of up to 25% of Premium subscription revenue for creators—a figure significantly lower than ad splits offered on other platforms. This is in addition to the already smaller payout pool of subscription revenue compared to advertising revenue. 5. Declining Advertiser Interest is Driving the Change: Since Musk took over, advertisers are leaving the platform. Following a 40% decline in ad revenue due to controversial content—and Elon Musk publicly telling advertisers “F*** You”—X is struggling to generate revenue for itself and its creators. 6. Concerns Over Engagement Farming and Content Quality: By tying payouts to engagement, X may inadvertently promote sensationalist or low-quality content. Engagement farming could thrive under this model, and I’m already seeing a large number of Premium accounts being set up to game the system. What are your thoughts on this shift? Will it lead to more meaningful engagement, or is it a recipe for more clickbait and lower earnings? Share your insights below. #SocialMedia #Creators #X

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When I started Combat Waffle Studios I didn’t have a roadmap, just a vision and a relentless drive to make it a reality. I raised $1.2M from a single investor—non-ownership shares—and got to work. Two years later, we’ve turned that into $20M in sales, and I still own 100% of my company. Call this cliche; but success isn’t about taking the easiest route. It’s about betting on yourself when no one else will. It’s about refusing to sell your soul for the promise of “easy money.” Stop taking “dumb money” from investors looking for a quick buck in a rising industry. I’ve turned down two acquisition offers for insane amounts of money because I refuse to let someone else dictate my future. I didn’t work this hard to build someone else’s dream—I built mine. If you’re grinding right now, wondering if you’ll ever break through, let me tell you this: keep going. The path isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. The reward isn’t just in the money or the numbers; it’s in knowing you stayed true to yourself, your vision, and your values. Be your own boss. Write your own story. Take the risks that matter and stop selling your soul to people who don’t understand your worth. Whether you succeed or fail, make sure the story is yours. No one else can live your dream but you. You’ve got this. Keep pushing. #Motivation #BetOnYourself #Entrepreneurship #BeYourOwnBoss

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Painfully long is right. 😲 It look 8 years to build Concord and about 2 weeks for Sony to axe it. This is a strong example of what's wrong with the games industry, especially in the AAA space. How can a game remain relevant and feel innovative to audiences when it takes that many years to develop? And exactly how high of a bar do you have to hit in terms of quality and scope to meet player expectations after that length of time?! Indie studios can continue to lead the way in demonstrating 'what good looks like' for an industry that desperately needs a re-write. I firmly believe we can deliver outstanding experiences for our audiences by combining sustainable development with scalable growth strategies. In summary, we need to be embracing shorter, iterative and more cost effective development times, and identify scalable strategies to maintain Live Services. #indiegames #gamedevelopment #gamedev #innovation Sony Simply Sweet Games #gameindustry #videogames

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Dear Stretch Network Partners, Please allow me to inform you about additional changes that will take place in the global network on July 8. 🍀 All Heads-up tables will be removed 🍀 Badugi cash tables will be removed 🍀 Sonic cash tables will become 6-max 🍀 The minimum buy-in for Sonic Omaha cash tables will be 20 BB 🍀 Sonic Omaha 7 card cash tables will be added These changes apply only to cash tables and only to our Global Network. In your local networks, you decide your product strategy, but we would be happy to assist you in managing your local networks as well. If you need our help, please contact us. The above-mentioned changes are part of the new strategy for the Stretch Network Global Network, which prioritizes the comfort of novice players and casual traffic to maintain the proper balance of our ecosystem between amateurs and professionals. Caring for the ecosystem of the Global Network is our priority. The changes we are implementing now and will continue to implement will significantly improve the user experience for your players, extend their LTV, ARPU, and, of course, Revenue.

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More bad news today with GAMURS Group (the owners of major publications including Dot Esports, Destructoid Video Game News, and Twinfinite LLC) has seemingly cut a number of jobs without warning, with an unknown number of staff affected. Gamurs Group previously made redundancies in July, with teams from the above publications also seemingly affected. To those impacted please check them out here: 🥇First, reach out to us at People Can Fly Studio, we have many roles open right now in Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe, please check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eWpV5PbA 🥈Next, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past months I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines, and I would urge you to check them out, if anything just to see what would be available to you: https://lnkd.in/ePywd2kq You can find over 6,000 jobs there. 🥉 Third, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ I urge you to check out the areas in particular about CV support and mentoring, as these will help you no matter what industry you are hailing from or are looking into going next. 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #gamursgroup #twinfinite #dotesports #destructoid #layoffs

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Is there another video game crash incoming? Highly improbable in my opinion. That said, we may be at a time of reckoning when it comes to AAA gaming, as 40% of AAA games released in 2024 thus far have not met expectations. A 40% flop rate for AAA games in 2024 thus far is significantly higher than what we typically see in the video game industry. Historically, the flop rate for AAA games has been estimated to be around 20-25% in most years. During the 1983 video game crash, U.S. video game revenue plummeted from $3.2 billion to just $100 million. At that time, Atari held a monopoly on the home console market. The current industry is far different. Today, there are three major console manufacturers (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) and a robust PC market with strong competition among numerous publishers. Up until the late 90s there was one single revenue stream for games: brick and mortar stores. If a game failed there that was it. Today, there are far more ways to profit from a game beyond traditional retail sales. Revenue streams and business models like live services, microtransactions, crowdfunding, and digital distribution across multiple platforms offer developers multiple avenues for success. Gaming is also no longer a niche hobby; today, almost everyone engages with games in some form, even if it's just a mobile title. The AAA market is struggling, but the rest of the gaming industry—indies, gacha games, MMOs, and mobile games—is thriving and making plenty of money. If (and that's a big IF) another crash were to happen, it would mainly affect major publishers, as you would still still have games like Stardew Valley made by developers in their spare time. Game development is just too accessible for the industry to fail. While we're not seeing a crash like in 1983, the AAA gaming industry faces issues like mass layoffs, canceled projects, rising costs, and the success of smaller games like Palworld, Helldivers II and Animal Well. In the past, major game releases were almost guaranteed to succeed. Now, not so much. It's not even that sales of the games are particularly bad in most cases, it's that they cost too much to make and the days of bloated single player games that don't have the words Grand, Theft, and Auto in the title selling tens of millions of copies at release are long gone. We must significantly reduce development budgets and production cycles if this part of the industry is to survive. The next "crash" isn't people not buying games (that isn't why it crashed originally either) but by developers and publishers not wanting to make specific games due to how costly it is.

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Are gamers willing to pay $100 for 3 days of early access to a game? Over 2.2 million people were willing to pay the 60% higher price for College Football 2025 Kamila Gora, head of marketing and community with ZTX, said “I actually don't mind this. I think out of all the quote unquote extractionary accusatory systems that we've seen and are seeing, this is actually a really good compromise because to be frank, you're just extending the ability to the true fans to dive in earlier. I'm getting a finalized, polished product and I'm happy to jump in earlier, versus [beta] participation in unfinished testing which usually goes the other way around where people are sometimes incentivized. So I think this is fair.” Wills Spangler, who manages user acquisition at Stardust, stated that “releasing a game 3 days early is not innovation. That's not like a revolutionary thing that nobody's tried. The only reason it works is because not everybody does it and it's capitalizing on the market hype for these games. Where we want to see innovation is how funds from an event like this are actually benefiting the community and the people who built the game. I think that's where real innovation is, not in releasing it 3 days early.” What’s your opinion?

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