Cynn Smith

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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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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Voodoo's Cup Heroes already scaled to $60K a day 🤑 in IAP only and 100K downloads a day. The game has been constantly growing from its soft-launch in February making probably more than $3 Mil. in last 30 days altogether. This seems as another major Hybridcasual hit for Voodoo, as it already overtook Block Jam 3D and its on its way to catch up to Mob Control. Ironically it has the Mob Control math gates ➗ core built into it, which seems as an obvious choice to iterate upon. 2 months before its launch there was Bag Fight in Voodoo's portfolio, a game that iterated upon the Backpack hero successful Steam game. Cup Heroes took its top visualization and 2 phase core setup and replaced the inventory merging mechanic with the tried and tested Mob Control gates. But don't be fooled, the biggest and the most important iteration is actually the rogue lite skill randomizer. Here skills are picked at the end of each wave as there is no level in the game. You also need to pay the balls currency to get them, in contrast to the usual setup, where these are given for free, each time you level up. This offers a lot of places for ad placements, and I mean a lot 😅, with possibilities to refresh the skills, get a specific skill for and ad, get all 3 skills for an ad, revive, etc. On top of it you also have interstitials popping in your face. The core gameplay itself is also very interesting as the combat happens automatically on top of the screen with no player input. After you kill the enemies and they drop some balls you need to select where do you want to drop them, so that mathematically, they will multiply as much as possible, so you can then buy skills with them in the last 3rd step, then the core repeats. Join us as we talk about all of this with Felix & Matej 🦩 😎. Data based on Sensor Tower, thanks for the support 🤗 📺 Watch on YouTube: Link in the comments 🎧 Listen on Spotify: Link in the comments 🗣 Join the discussion on our slack channel: https://lnkd.in/eZXJ2Une #gamedev #gameindustry #mobilegames #gamedesign  #mobilegaming #mobilegamedevelopment #useracquisition #gameproduction #games #gamedevelopment #mobiledeveloper  #userexperience #hypercasual #hybridcasual

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Check out the latest in GMU Esports news in this week's version of the Weekly Replay!

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Come learn about Xsolla's strategies to improve your mobile games revenue.

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You know what's better than one #NickyHilton game? TWO #NickyHilton games!! 🎮 In today's SECOND "Our Love Language is Bite-Sized, Branded Video Games" post 💖 👗 We created a fan game for Nicky and Kathy Hiltons' Printfresh holiday PJ's collection!! 👚 Join the festive fun with these adorable Christmas pajamas from the exclusive Printfresh x The Hiltons collection. ⚡ The game was created on Breshna.io's template "Bounce Pounce" with no-code and in 45 minutes! Breshna.io (by GRID) Playable game link in comments ⬇ 🎮 CPG brands are using Breshna to create snackable video games for enhanced user engagement, attributable conversion and lead generation. 🎮 Breshna games can be fully customized with brand IP and embedded into social media posts, websites, apps & QR codes on physical products as simple URLs. Hope you're game: Leo Voloshin Amy Voloshin - we're hiring Kristin Weber Eliza Reinhardt Molly McNamara Alayna Giovannitti Perry Zavetz Mo Karimi

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🚀 Is Squad Busters going to hit $70 mil/month 😱 in IAP revenue after the global launch? I think Supercell would start with $250k/day and scale to $500k/1mil and then to $2mil/day based on actual numbers. We don’t know the payback or retention yet, but based on the retention profile from Supercell games, this can reach the current Brawl Stars scale—$70 mil/month IAP revenue. It was quite surprising to everybody when Supercell announced that Squad Busters is going GLOBAL! First of all, there is 0 chance this was decided on day 3 when it was announced. It was already decided before this game went to “soft launch.” This soft launch version is a marketing vehicle to build up hype and maybe fix some last technical issues. There is a really nice synergy effect between all the games to increase pre-registrations and give out nice rewards! #gamedev #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #gameindustry #mobilegames #mobilemarketing #mobileadvertising #userexperiencedesign #userexperience #gamedeveloper #games #gameart #ads #creative #midcore #casual #puzzle #moba

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DECKMATE 2 is players’ best friend at the poker table! Removing shuffling interruptions to gameplay, while significantly improving players’ safety from common cheating techniques, such as shuffle tracking, card swapping or dealer collusion. Shuffle time of just 22 seconds ensures poker game is without interruptions for shuffle breaks. Built-in-timer to “call the clock” is an option to limit time & remove frustration of waiting for slow decisions. Poker players now enjoy unprecedented security with onboard deck verification feature. Display will instantly notify players of incorrect card quantity or deck composition. If the deck has missing, extra or even swapped cards, the game will be stopped instantly. Poker players are protected from shuffle tracking scams and makes dealer-player collusion more difficult.

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Another stack of resources and layoff support compiled by the incredible Mayank Grover! If you need support or have some to offer, connect and boost that vis so every ship can benefit from the tide. 🙌🌊🙌 #gamedev #games #layoff #support #job #resources #mentors

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ESports is a wrong concept unless executed by the publisher or unless a game publisher is ready to become a federation and it is their choice. If there is a federation that exists and is ready to become a publisher, then maybe the esports ecosystem can sustain on its own. If we are expecting a publisher to not earn benefits out of esports, then the expectation is just wrong. They are here to do business and how they do that business is their prerogative.! Sorry to be blunt, but you cannot regulate a business without a regulatory body and that entity cannot exist. #games #esports

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Capcom has released a less-than-positive annual report. There's nothing critical in it; all the declines are tied to a pause in releases. Capcom certainly has a vast catalog of successful franchises for upcoming releases. Resident Evil (RE) stands out distinctly. While Capcom didn't start with RE, it played a crucial role in their history and has had a significant impact on the gaming industry as a whole. Today, RE comprises 32 releases across 33 platforms. These are incredible numbers and a testament to success. Moreover, judging by Metacritic scores, Capcom manages to maintain a high standard of quality. I gathered a timeline of all RE releases on one website (link in the comments). I thoroughly enjoyed watching videos, reading books, reminiscing about my own experiences playing the games, and playing with friends and colleagues. Here are a few interesting facts about RE and Capcom: - Resident Evil 4 was released on 14 platforms. - The first RE took 3 years to develop, instead of the usual 3-6 months for Capcom in 1996. Consultants hired from the U.S. advised shutting down the project when it was almost complete, predicting its failure. - Devil May Cry and Dino Crisis were born while searching for fresh gameplay for RE. - Capcom was one of the first companies to start paying revenue shares to developers, which is particularly noteworthy for Japanese companies. - Toy Story I and RE I were released around the same time. - For a while, music for RE was composed by a well-known Japanese composer who was said to be deaf. It later turned out that he wasn't actually deaf and didn't compose the music himself. PS. In 2026, the series will celebrate its 30th anniversary, and there will likely be a special release or edition. Or perhaps they'll simply release a version with full DualSense support.

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TRACKING RELEASES & TRANSFERS # 1 LIST OF SEPTEMBER, 2024 Hi Mobile Gaming Fanatics! 🤩📲 Today I bring you another edition of our… 💫 Tracking Releases & Transfers 💫 September's first list brings releases and transfers to big publisher accounts between Aug 16 and Sep 21. I've found 157 titles. 💪🔎 I highlight 4️⃣ titles of them. ✅ “Eternal Hero” by Supersonic from Unity A big Israeli publisher 🇮🇱 has released a stunning, high-quality action RPG. ✨ “Eternal Hero” has two standout elements: game art and the deep gameplay. Its highly polished game art, with delightful details such as the excellent jump animation and the battles' SFX. ⚔️ The game’s depth is also a highlight, with a character with dozens of features. Despite this depth, “Eternal” retains the easy gameplay of Hypercasual, with mechanics similar to Idle Arcade, combats that don't kill the player quickly, short dialogs, and an arrow tutorial that remains throughout the game. 👍 There are still some changes to be made, but there's no doubt that “Eternal Hero” is a promising Hybridcasual. 📈 Since August the game has amassed almost US$150k in IAP revenue with 220k downloads. Developed by Rivvy Games, "Eternal Hero" was transferred to Supersonic's account on September 16th. 🗓️ ✅ “Unscrew Pin Jam: Nuts & Bolts” by Supersonic from Unity This thought-provoking puzzle mixes “Screw Jam” by Rollic 🔩 with “Tap Away” by Popcore. ↗️ Developed by EOgames, "Unscrew Pin Jam" was transferred to Supersonic's account on August 29th. 🗓️ 👆 In my opinion, the Hypercasual giant is accelerating in the Hybridcasual race with these two games. 👆 ✅ “HexaCoin Harmony - Merge Tiles” by Voodoo “HexaCoin” is another attempt by the big French publisher 🇫🇷 to launch its version of “Hexa Sort”. With few changes in mechanics, the game's key differential is the AMSR coin sound. 🪙 Developed by Cympl Studios, "HexaCoin Harmony" was transferred to Voodoo's account on August 30th. 🗓️ ✅ “Blossom master: Tile matching” by Lihuhu Games The big Singapore publisher 🇸🇬 (and a Cost Center partner 🥰) released another game in its specialty: Match Tile. “Blossom Master” is a typical Matching tile with a flower theme. 🌺 In addition to its usual visual appeal, the flower theme provides powerful collection features. "Blossom master" was launched by Lihuhu on August 16th. 🗓️ All data from AppMagic. 💯 👇 Swipe through the slides below to see releases & transfers by Zynga, Azur Games , Dmobin Global (Dmobin Studio), SayGames, Vgames Studio, Rollic, Supercent, CrazyLabs, Lion Studios, FreePlay, KAYAC Inc., Kwalee, TapNation, YSO Corp, OVIVO Games, and much more. 👇 - X - Cost Center 🔜 GamesCom Asia offers a BI platform that helps scale up mobile games across UA, Creatives, and Gameplay. 💪 Its portfolio includes amazing clients such as Amanotes and Lihuhu. 🏆 I highly recommend it! 😍 Call my friend Yi Ting Ho. She'll show you a demo. 😉 #innovation #gaming #gamedevelopment #HypercasualByCarlosPereira

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📰 Sony has crushed the launches of Helldivers and Shadow of Erdtree but shut down Concord after two weeks. Valve launched Deadlock without a landing page and has kept its organization under 400 employees for most of its history. Roblox posted 80M DAU and 17B hours of engagement in Q2 2024 and plans to open a marketplace to sell avatar bundles. Microsoft has completed the acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, sold Tango Softworks, and is raising prices on Game Pass. These platforms -- and platforms in the sense that they are marketplaces and suppliers beyond hardware -- have shown resilience and excellence in asymmetric growth and scalability and have an inordinate impact on how the rest of the industry behaves. But what industry diagnostics are exhorting Sony, Microsoft, Valve, and Roblox to build and move against their strategies? More importantly, will it work, and if not, where are the gaps? Ben Feder, Managing Partner at TIRTA Ventures, and Ken Wee, ex-CSO of Activision Blizzard, share their strategic expertise. 🔊 We discuss: Macro trends over the past 3-4 years in the games business. Competition. Entrants. Suppliers. Customers. Substitutes. We like Porter's 5 Forces. 5️⃣ 👊 Microsoft Sony Valve Roblox Deep dives. What are their long-term strategies and are they positioned for success? What notable decisions have these companies made across staffing, investments, acquisitions, divestments, game launches, and partnerships? What would we do differently? That and more! Listen to the full episode on Naavik's Spotify, Apple, or YouTube in the comments.

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80% of users on sports betting apps play for free but don’t win anything – unless they pay. Even after paying, with millions of users and only a few daily rewards, the chances of winning are extremely low – leading to loss of interest and engagement. This is the problem we’re solving with BeBetta. Our users don’t have to spend real money at all. They can earn digital currency on the app and use it to win rewards such as gadgets, luxury items, and experiences. We cater to Gen Z and millennials – a demographic highly sought after by D2C brands. So, most of our rewards come from collaborations with these brands. This model ensures a better user-to-reward ratio and offers partner brands direct access to our 4+ mn users. This month, we’re launching a new bidding model that guarantees every user has a fair chance of winning a reward or coupon. Stay tuned! #sports #entrepreneurship #gaming #startup

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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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📈 Discover how mobile gaming studios are revolutionizing revenue streams! 🚀 As mobile gaming thrives, industry leaders adapt to innovative monetization strategies. The 2024 Unity Gaming Report highlights a pivotal shift: While in-app purchase revenues face hurdles, in-app advertising (IAA) is witnessing remarkable growth. Why should game developers take notice? In-app advertising now outperforms traditional methods, showing a significant 26.7% increase in revenue per active user. Simulation, casual, and puzzle games are particularly beneficial, with up to 41% revenue increases. Moreover, strategies like rewarded videos and offerwalls are not only enhancing player engagement but also boosting session numbers and retention rates. With the proper ad placement and rewards system, games can see a marked increase in daily engagement and longer-term player investment. Keen to know more about how these trends can apply to your game development strategy? Read the full article to uncover actionable insights and real-game examples of successful monetization. #MobileGaming #GameDev #MonetizationStrategies #InAppAdvertising #UnityGamingReport #f2p #casualgames #midcoregames #hybridcasualgames #hypercasualgames #retention #engagement #brandads

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