David Edery

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

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Dude Perfect raised $100M for global biz expansion. The deal is getting lots of buzz, but our team’s math signals challenges ahead. Let’s break it down… DEAL DETAILS • $100 - 300M growth capital investment • Led by Highmount Capital • Unclear if 100% invested upfront OR draw down of commitment over time • No previous capital raised USE OF FUNDS • Hire mgmt team to expand biz • More live experiences incl int’l tour, consumer products • Grow content formats, frequency, channels, global localization e.g. animation, TV, movies, streaming • Extend brand beyond 5 founders by building talent network • New HQ in Frisco, TX as prod facility and “family-friendly entertainment destination”: – Retail store, podcasts / gaming / fan UGC spaces, trick shot tower, DP museum, mini golf, restaurants – Original plans for 3-story, 30 acre facility est to cost $100M+, 2 yrs to build COMPANY OVERVIEW: Dude Perfect • Digital-native comedy and sports media brand • Faith-based mission: “We’re about giving back, spreading joy and glorifying Jesus Christ”  • Other YouTube franchises: “Stereotypes,” “Overtime”, “Bucket List”  • Media brand also incl books, mobile games, board games and toys, and merch / retail / food and beverage partnerships • 25 current team members PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS • 60M YouTube Followers, 17B views • Est 2024 revenue: $50M per DP • Est 2023 and 2022 revenue: $25M and $20M per WSJ  • Consumer product partnerships incl Nerf toy line, Columbia Sportswear • Partnered with A Parent Media co to launch a streaming service • ESPN “30 for 30” doc premiering at Dallas Int’l film festival • TV series on CMT in 2016, later aired on Nickelodeon • Alternate broadcasts for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football • 4 live nationwide tours as of 2023 ORIGIN STORY • Founded 2009 by 5 friends at Texas A&M • Cofounders = twins Coby Cotton and Cory Cotton, Tyler Toney, Cody Jones, Garrett Hilbert • Started as YT channel featuring trick shot videos INVESTOR OVERVIEW: Highmount Capital • Growth stage and middle mkt PE fund for tech, media, healthcare • Founded in 2023 by jason illian and David Hawkins • 4 team members on website + advisor • 3 team members have faith-based ties per bios • No other investments listed on website other than DP My takeaway... I really like and support the trend of increased investment into YouTubers and digital-native media brands. But as I wrote about in my 2024 State of Creator x Media capital markets reports (will link them below), investment must match market and opportunity size. To ensure good ROI, and to set good precedent for future investment into our space. The DP bet is exciting, but could be overly optimistic based on our prelim math. My colleague Michael Booth's post breaks the math down (link below). More analysis to come in my Friday newsletter. —- I’m the founder of RockWater Industries. We do m&a and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My dm’s are open. #media #agency #creatoreconomy

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Our latest jobs update 👇

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My Apple Vision delay rumor take: After Meta's Orion revealed, there is a chance Apple recognized a longer term adjust was needed. It isn't just that there is a delay but I suspect leadership changed alongside AI incorporation alongside pointing toward a different product altogether. That M5 chip might have Apple Intelligence implications. We can see with Meta that there is a shift toward App Store models. If Android XR arrives in 2025 there will be two Android based storefronts fighting for the market. Meta and Google. Vision OS as a platform will remain but the M5 rumored model will possibly have local AI assistive capabilities. Meaning it works regardless of connectivity. In a world where Apple can know that two competitors will battle for market they might watch and build. This is very on brand. I hate that the cheaper model delay rumor has hit, but the overall business strategy unfortunately makes sense to me. Vision Pro is my favorite headset. I love it. But it had major issues... - Way too expensive - Comfort and weight - Interactive gaming oversight This put the Quest market at such a high value proposition in comparison. To Meta's huge credit! And fostering a gaming platform that works well for games has allowed for technological innovation and proven so many concepts. Meta did this very well. For Apple to catch up in gaming, it would take at least a year or two giving funds to devs to port because they would need to focus their IP for hand tracking use on a platform that is very small. This puts us in unrealistic territory. The push to 2027 makes sense if we see them going back toward a puck compute design. My suspicion is Orion hype's impact on financial industry was noted. We are seeing down wind shifts of these tactical adjustments. For developers, this means being realistic. Apple Vision Pro is amazing tech but look toward Meta XR and perhaps the incoming Android XR likely coming in 2025. Familiarity in all XR platforms is key. 🫡

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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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Entertainment Strategy Guy is usually a blog that I respect for its analysis. He has a 7 point plan to "save" Hollywood....and its terrible. Basically its a government takeover of the industry to save sclerotic, poorly run entities from getting their comeuppance in the marketplace. We don't need muscular anti-trust because the market is already driving divestment and downsizing. Freezing M&A will only limit the industry's ability to restructure - if you're selling an asset, someone has to buy it, right? (You might get me there on breaking up Big Tech which is a real monopoly, however.) But if any industry needs - nee deserves - capitalism to happen to it, its Hollywood. What I think this article highlights is Hollywood's deep anxiety about having to actually compete. They've been propped up by cable subscriptions for so long that they don't know how to make content cost effectively or actually market and distribute it, especially on social platforms. And frankly, YouTube and Tiktok creators are just way, way better at it with a fraction of the scale. Make Hollywood compete and it may actually have to make stuff people want to see!!

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Today I want to tell a story. I've been holding onto it for a specific circumstance, but in case that doesn't happen, forgive the rough edges. For the longest time, I wanted to be a games journalist. I've known how to play games and deconstruct their mechanics ever since I spent many school summer holidays playing the same Playstation games over and over. I would be the kid that would read games magazines, mostly for the cheat codes, on occasion spotting an article about the next Pokemon game that I just had to tell my friends about. I was never taught or told that being a "critic" or "journalist" was a career, let alone in games. Media Studies wasn't even a subject my high school taught until sixth form options, so I'd have to get by with learning how to deconstruct the written word - often Shakespeare or "Of Mice and Men" - in English Literature class. Jump forward to 2014/5. I was in University, with the freedom to learn about "the media" and online video (YouTube) as I had experienced through college. Despite being on a TV Production course, and though we students all knew the influence social media was going to play in our careers, games were still part of my plan. Through friendships and unsuccessfully trying out for the Student Union's monthly news series as a "games correspondent", I was able to work on a project with a criminology student who also liked games. He ran his own YouTube channel, as I had done under many brands and guises over the years, but he was more consistent. I came on board as his camera operator during EGX Rezzed and we made a few interview videos together. One of which I want to bring to the attention of Hyper Luminal Games. Yes, happy birthday Hyper Luminal! 🎉 We've both changed since this video about Big Crown Showdown! Congrats on releasing Pine Hearts - a wholesome cosy game that is a love letter to the simple life in Scotland. I can't wait to play the full thing - Melissa kindly showed me it at WASD this year, it really was charming! Things have a weird way of coming back around. I don't believe in karma, but I've been watching the work of many studios that I admire and wondered where I fit, thinking maybe there are some answers in my previous work. So, this little story is tale of never forgetting your roots, and celebrating them where you can! Also, if I may be a bit cheeky: If you ever have the availability Hyper Luminal, I would love the chance to join your team! I can assure you my on-screen presence and ability to manage events & communities is far better than what I could manage 10 years ago. I'm happy to work on a relocation plan up to Dundee, be that to work for the core studio under Melissa's expert & bubbly guidance, or having the opportunity to scout for Little Nook's next great wholesome story to share. Here's to both our next chapters! Video:

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Burns people out, no watercooler moments, no cultural staying power "What's the best way to experience the major water-cooler shows commonly considered to be "appointment viewing"? Is the binge model popularized by Netflix the way to approach things, in which viewers are able to spend a whole weekend devouring every episode of an entire season all in one go? Or is it better to exercise a little patience and release episodes one at a time in weekly installments, allowing word-of-mouth momentum to build while keeping the entire production at the center of the cultural conversation for much, much longer? (Or, perhaps, we can have the best of both worlds through "Hacks.")

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So sorry to hear about layoffs at Modern Wolf, with 6 staff members being affected. The news broke last night, with my former CA colleague George Willard posting the news, as well as providing information about those also laid off to support re-hiring as quickly as possible. You can find that here: https://lnkd.in/eEXWSgNQ To those impacted by these layoffs, please find a comprehensive list of resources, below: 🥇First, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past weeks I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines: 🎨 Art, Animation, VFX and UI: This resource contains around 1,200 jobs worldwide across all links. Link: https://lnkd.in/eu2bjadW ⚙ Engineering and Programming This resource lists just over 1,900 jobs worldwide across all links. It also talks about interview tips and questions to practice. Link: https://lnkd.in/etPj22BE 🕹 Quality Assurance: This resource lists over 450 QA jobs worldwide. This post also talks about the craft of QA and contains tips and interview practice. Link: https://lnkd.in/dwwVjZuc 📑 Game Production: This resource lists around 400 jobs worldwide. It also contains info about game production as a whole and GDC talks. Link: https://lnkd.in/gxDvFM-Z 📢 Marketing & Community: This resource lists around 400 jobs worldwide. It also gives an intro into game marketing and community management. Link: https://lnkd.in/e5MuViug 🎶 Audio and Sound Design: This resource lists around 190 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/eSkPSsWf 📠 Studio Support, HR, Recruitment and BizDev: This resource lists around 290 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/ePG57_7v ⚙ IT, Helpdesk and DevOps: This resource lists around 140 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/e8ZsuiZh 🎮 Game Design: This resource lists around 480 jobs worldwide. https://lnkd.in/dCv_hQXv 🥈 Second, 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/ 🥉 Third, If you have worked in publishing, please message me. I am looking for quite a few roles right now! ⬅ 🎖 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 ❤️ #layoffs #gamesindustry #jobsingames #modernwolf

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Calling Investors: Invest in the original Xbox “Duke” controller… I am working with a new gaming peripherals company set to take the world by storm and they are looking for investors to join the team. Founded by Duke Schnepf, son of gaming visionary, and Xbox founder, Brett Schnepf, backed by multiple founding fathers of the Xbox, this company is pushing the boundaries of the gaming peripherals sector. Their journey began with Brett Schnepf, a luminary whose contributions to gaming history are etched in stone. As a founding member of the Xbox console team, Brett's design prowess shaped modern gaming, with iconic creations like the Sidewinder PC controller and the legendary Duke controller. Today, Duke Schnepf carries forth his father's legacy. Upside and a half! In late 2024, a major streaming platform will release a series chronicling the founding of a pioneering gaming console (can you guess which one) and the launch of Duke's ground-breaking products, offering an intimate look at the visionary minds behind this revolution. Looking for investments of $10K, $20K, $50K, $100K, $250, $500K, and $1M. Higher investments with equity shares are available for discussion. We foresee full returns and profits delivered within 1 year. If you're interested in being part of this exciting journey, please get in touch to set up a call ASAP. #Gaming #InvestmentOpportunity #Innovation #GamingPeripherals #TechInvestments #gamedev #investors #angelinvestors #gameinvestor #PEinvestment #AngelInvestment

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Are you a PR rep, media, or content creator in games? I wanna get some feedback from you as we dig into Terminals.io improvements. When it comes to platforms for key requests and distribution, newsletter/press release distribution (and reception), online press kits, etc. what are your major pain points? TLDR: In the coming months we're going to put some more polish on our Terminals.io platform (if you haven't checked it out yet, do!), and we're looking for some input. What can we do better? What are we missing? What do none of the tools you use/encounter do that you wish they did? Any insight is helpful!

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Simon Pulman is dead right on this. Variety isn't really doing any journalism or soul searching here. They are just repeating the same old contemptuous bullshit for the audience and conflating the worst actors (and there are bad actors on all sides of every issue) with regular fans who just don't like what these studios are doing. And I do think there is a fair conversation to be had about how the studios have been pursuing diversity and whether its the best approach or whether there is a different tonality that doesn't alienate so many people. But rather than have that conversation, its more smears on the fans. If Variety is reflecting the zeitgeist of the Hollywood hive mind, then its time for a sea change because the sanctimonious smug attitude is a bad business. This is just a recipe for failure. "It is incredibly bad business to alienate consumers by tarring the entirety of a fandom with the same brush. If Hollywood is going to solve this issue, it has to take a more nuanced and sophisticated approach. In particular, it must stop attacking its consumers. A starting point would be to retire the term “toxic” altogether...It represents fandom as a problem to be solved by (or perhaps avoided by) Hollywood, instead of what it actually is - its consumers, and the people who determine what succeeds and what fails."

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Look what I found for sale on a game assets website: If you're going to sell your terrible AI assets, can you at least remove the EXTRA LEGS first??? 😂 As obvious as *these* assets are, there were plenty of assets on that site that were NOT so obvious. It's going to be increasingly difficult for creators to know if assets they purchase/license/download are made with AI or not. This is why I'm uncomfortable with AI "tags" and "bans" being imposed on games...especially without guidance or context. I don't want to see some indie team have to take down the dream game they've worked on for 5 years because the asset store sold them an art pack that may have included AI-generated textures. 😰 #gamedev, #gamedesign, #art, #AI

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Sony's VP Sadahiko Hayakawa recently noted, "single-player titles remain a strength due to predictability in hits, while live-service games bring a higher upside but also increased release risk." This is where everyone's headed. We've all had the publisher conversations in which they're look to derisk their portfolios. There is more DLC coming out. Newer IP needs to be much further along in production (your risk) and market tested (their job). Having medium budgets is the right choice. It's not all doom and gloom though. Building IP will make future success let's "hits driven". Sequels make more money. Just look at Nintendo. So, with the next game you're making - ask yourself: "Will this be a franchise?" https://lnkd.in/dW6ENays

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I just left a video call with yet another game studio executive trying to navigate having secured initial funding and now running out of cash with a potential closure of their studio looming. In addition to sadness, I can’t help feeling as though both the investors and the studio headed down an unnecessarily dangerous path from the start. Investors can play a critical role in the success of a game studio by providing capital and expertise. However, applying traditional investment models may cause developers to pivot from best practices in order to secure the investment. The unintended consequence is that risks can be added instead of mitigated, and it is important for both parties to navigate together carefully to avoid common pitfalls. Examples of these risks include making a game larger to increase potential returns, hiring a big internal team to maximize enterprise value, setting unmovable deadlines to keep the dates of future returns in place and, as faced by the studio I just spoke with, providing only initial funding. These decisions may lead to a riskier project to manage and one that is not attuned to the challenging reality that finding fun cannot be promised by a given date. Starting full production too soon is a recipe for the studio to risk cost overruns while piloting a battleship when the agility of a speedboat is still required. Without a clear funding path, a studio can end up burning investment capital intended for development on pitching and demos. Games are not well suited to ‘build ten things fast, expect nine to fail and one to skyrocket’. They need to be nurtured by oversight which advances step by step towards success. This doesn’t mean a game should be finished at all costs, it just allows the investor and developer to pull the plug on a project that is not coming together before full production, so that the team can focus on the next opportunity while there is money left in the bank. The good news is that digital games sell forever, and game franchises are strong platforms to build upon with sequels and additional content. For investors open to long term cash generation, games are a great match. If a fund has a maturation date, successful IP can be sold based on future revenues. Fundamentally, rather than pressing for a quick home run, the most consistent returns come from supporting quality studios making games iterated through feedback from the team, testing with consumers and learnings from the industry. This approach lays the groundwork for developing “singles and doubles” into powerhouse franchises. The greatest investor impact comes from adapting fund structures and return models to account for development best practices. Success hinges on a strong partnership of developers and investors together forging new ground that is aligned to the unique dynamics of the game industry.

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Progress Update: Learn, Earn, Play, SLAY 📚 🚀 Five months ago, Stemuli was a team of 4 FTEs and a handful of contractors. Today, with 25+ FTEs, we’ve established full Product, AI/ML, Gaming, and L&D departments. Our Stemuletes have been clearing hurdles to roll out the game to 100k+ new students next year. Witnessing their rapid progress as each team dove into product and brand building is nothing short of energizing. ⭐ The Highlights ⭐ - Overhauled the game’s art direction and UX/UI. - Produced 3 new environments. - Developed a mini-game within the main game to serve as a knowledge check. - Generated curriculum identifiers for common core standards across 56 courses. - Ingested thousands of pages of educational content with at least 99.5% accuracy. - Developed an educational quest generator. - Introduced our Career Discovery tool in the game. How it Transforms the Experience ⤵️ 📚 Learn: understand the role math has in suggested career paths related to the student’s interests. 💰 Earn: awarding in-game currencies for completing quests and mini-games. 👾 Play: equipping the core game with personalized generated quests and mini-games. 🚀 Slay: spend accumulated currency to customize personal spaces. Our AI is manufacturing time: unlocking new parameters and turbocharging our development speed—something that seemed unimaginable just six months ago. It's driving our go-to-market efficiency, slashing costs to a tiny fraction of what others are burning. Thanks Day 1’s for pushing our boundaries. Let’s educate the world, change the future.

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Broadcasters out there, useful second screen experience to call out from last nights live broadcast of the US VP's candidates debate. CBS News and Stations used QR codes to tackle the supposedly prickly topic of moderator fact checking. The VP's were encouraged to fact check each other to avoid any perceived bias from the moderators, users could scan the QR Code and go straight to a CBS live blog where fact checking was happening in real time. “The goal of the debate is to facilitate a good debate between the candidates, and the moderators will give them the opportunity to fact-check each other in real time" Claudia Milne, senior vice president for standards and practices at CBS News. Great example of using QR codes creatively for live events! Great spot Tim McParland! Source image: https://lnkd.in/dcwin9H8

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