Dmitriy Byshonkov’s Post

📊 Games & Numbers (12.06.24 - 25.06.24) 🎮 PC/console games ▪️From Software announced just days before the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC that Elden Ring has surpassed 25 million copies sold. In February of this year, the company reported 23 million sales. https://t.ly/cgI5s ▪️Activision Blizzard boasted that their Crash N. Sane Trilogy has been purchased over 20 million times. https://t.ly/_xf8t ▪️Sales of Resident Evil Village have exceeded 10 million copies, taking 3 years to achieve this milestone. Total sales of the series have surpassed 157 million copies, with the best-selling game being the Resident Evil 2 remake, which sold 13.9 million copies. https://t.ly/uFglV ▪️The VR game Gorilla Tag has earned over $100 million since 2021. The game has been bought more than 10 million times, with an average session time of 60 minutes. https://t.ly/ozY4A ▪️According to GameDiscoverCo, Black Myth: Wukong has over 4 million wishlists on Steam, with 60-70% of them coming from China. During the 2024 Summer Game Fest, the game has been added to wishlists 854,000 times. https://t.ly/Otl1r ▪️The meditative building simulator Tiny Glade has garnered over a million wishlists. The developers shared their joy on social media. https://t.ly/oXn4Z 📱Mobile games ▪️Sensor Tower reports that Chinese users spent a staggering $270 million on Dungeon & Fighter Mobile in a month, excluding Android stores. Niko Partners revised their forecast for the project, increasing it from $1 billion to nearly $2.5 billion annually. In its first month in China, the game earned more than it did in over two years in Korea ($180 million). The game’s launch was even better than Monopoly GO!, and it’s only available in two markets. https://shorturl.at/dJDAz ▪️Summoners War: Sky Arena has earned over $3 billion in ten years. The game reached its 1st billion in August 2017, the 2nd in August 2020, and the third in June 2024. Over 90% of its revenue has come from outside South Korea. https://t.ly/gMxs6 ▪️Sensor Tower reports that Squad Busters has surpassed 44.3 million downloads and $28 million in revenue, though actual figures are likely higher. https://shorturl.at/1KdA2 ▪️Wuthering Waves has been downloaded more than 30 million times, according to its developer, Kuro Games (https://t.ly/6p72Z). AppMagic reports a figure three times lower but doesn’t account for alternative platforms. The Chinese portal GameLook estimated that the game earned $137.8 million in its first month. https://t.ly/CEIKm ▪️Zenless Zone Zero has broken the record for pre-registrations held by Squad Busters. In a month and a half, the project has attracted over 41.5 million users. At launch, Honkai: Star Rail had 31 million users and Genshin Impact had 21 million. https://t.ly/IEeeQ ▪️According to Sensor Tower, Solo Leveling: Arise has earned over $70 million in its first month. Of this revenue, 39.4% came from South Korea, 16.9% from the USA, and 15.6% from Japan. https://shorturl.at/wJCJs

📊 Games & Numbers (29.05.24 - 11.06.24) 🎮 PC/console games ▪️ Star Citizen fundraising has surpassed $700 million, with more than 5.2 million donations. In August 2023, the news broke that $600 million had been raised. https://shorturl.at/XuONK ▪️ Blizzard Entertainment boasted that over 100 million people have played games from the Diablo series. https://lnkd.in/dPDsH_Px ▪️ Dragon’s Dogma 2 sales have reached 3 million copies. The first 2.5 million copies were sold within 2 weeks of release (the game was released on March 22 this year). https://lnkd.in/dei96Wyp ▪️ Content Warning has sold 2.2 million copies in 2 months. The total number of players has exceeded 8.8 million (the game was initially distributed for free). https://lnkd.in/dxfMx345 ▪️ Marvel Rivals already has over a million wishlists on Steam and EGS. https://lnkd.in/dZktsvVx ▪️ The Octopath Traveler series has surpassed 4 million copies sold. Both parts of the game were recently launched on Xbox Game Pass. https://lnkd.in/dUigFRr9 ▪️ Fallout 76 has reached 20 million users. In December last year, the number of players was 17 million. The DAU for Fallout games has soared by 600% following the success of the TV series. Todd Howard said he had never seen such a growth before. https://lnkd.in/d6rWbc6t ▪️ MultiVersus successfully returned to Steam with 153,000 concurrent users at launch. Now, the CCU has stabilized at 17,000. https://shorturl.at/feeTB 📱Mobile games ▪️ Rise of Kingdoms revenue has exceeded $3.5 billion. 25.6% of all money came from the USA; 14.4% from China; 12.6% from South Korea. South Korea is the leader in RPD (revenue per download) ($142) and ARPDAU (average revenue per daily active user) ($5). Following are China (RPD - $6; ARPDAU - $4.6) and the USA (RPD - $62; ARPDAU - $3.3). https://lnkd.in/dbx2FCUh ▪️ Dungeon & Fighter Mobile successfully launched in China. In the first week starting from May 21, the game earned $66 million on iOS alone, and revenue from both platforms exceeded $140 million (according to Niko Partners); the game was downloaded by 2.4 million users. In South Korea, the game has been available since March 2022, and in just over two years, it has earned more than $185.6 million. https://shorturl.at/gyxgb ▪️ Squad Busters earned $1.1 million on its first day (data from Sensor Tower). On the same day, the game was downloaded 8.8 million times. According to AppMagic, in the first week, the game earned $10.66 million (excluding platform fees and taxes). Yet, Eric Seufert doesn't believe those numbers are real pointing out that Squad Busters had 40M+ pre-regs. https://shorturl.at/iCeUL

In the ever-evolving world of gaming, live-service titles have proven that adaptation and consistent updates are the keys to maintaining player satisfaction. These games thrive on delivering fresh content, engaging experiences, and vibrant communities. Here’s a look at TheGamer.com (TheGamer) released the 16 live-service games that are shining examples of how developers can successfully adapt and evolve. Here are the key takeaways: ✨ Adapting to Players' Needs Games like Destiny 2 and Apex Legends shine by consistently adding fresh content, keeping their communities engaged for years. ✨ Second Chances and Redemption Titles such as No Man’s Sky and Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn prove that even rocky launches can lead to triumphs with the right updates and dedication. ✨ A Dynamic Gaming Experience These games thrive on innovations, seasonal updates, and listening to their player base, evolving far beyond their initial visions. See the full list and more here: https://lnkd.in/eh37ehTh #Gaming #LiveServiceGames #Destiny2 #ApexLegends #Valorant #GameDevelopment #InnovationInGaming

Is the market for turn based games bigger than we realize, and could that be due to online discourse? Probably not. That said since there isn’t data to support or dispute this, I choose to believe that it is the case. I asked several people who I suspect have an online argument addiction and their favorite video games, by far, are turn-based games such as XCOM and the like. Turn-based games have maintained their popularity across different age groups across the decades. The recent success of Baldur’s Gate 3, a turn-based RPG, winning Game of the Year in 2023, demonstrates that there is still a significant audience for this genre. Other popular turn-based franchises like Pokémon, Civilization, and XCOM have also contributed to the ongoing appeal of turn-based gameplay. Who knows, perhaps soon we will see an explosion in demand for turn based games in the market once people realize that enemies stay defeated in games, when that isn’t always the case in online arguments, minus the block feature.

Video gaming is having a tough time, and it's starting to show how prioritising profits over CX can be a burden on the bottom line. Sony is shutting down and offering full refunds on its latest game, Concrod, just 2 weeks after it launched. Reports suggest the game only sold 25,000 units and peaked at just 700 players on Steam WORLDWIDE. Concord took 8 years to develop and most likely had a budget of millions of dollars. It was meant to be the "next big franchise" in gaming. But there's been a fair amount of controversy surrounding the launch of Concrod, most notably from supposedly forcing a "woke" agenda, to the general look and feel of the game characters being "too ugly". But at the core, the problems with Concord seem to boil down to 2 main points: 1 - Genre saturation Concrod is a late-entrant into the first-person hero shooter genre, where games like Overwatch, Apex Legends, Fortnite and Destiny already own most of the market. The problem is nobody was asking for a new hero shooter and Concrod didn't present anything new, unique or exciting to lure players from the games that are already enjoying mass adoption. 2 - Live Service fatigue Live services can be hugely profitable over time as players engage in micro-transactions for cosmetics and perks with real money. Players are encouraged to keep coming back to see what's new and are tempted to spend money on skins, loot packs or battle passes that ensure an annuity income for the game studio. Live services have, unfortunately, not lived up to the expectations of players and often left players disappointed, especially when you've paid R1,000+ for the base game. To date, very few live service games have proven to be successful, and players are getting fed up with broken promises. Ubisoft recently also took a hit, with its share price dropping to its lowest level since 2015, based on low sales of its new property, Star Wars Outlaws. While a relatively fun game to play, it's dogged with technical and quality issues that don't justify the asking price. That, and the fact that Ubisoft chose to hide standard gameplay features and early access behind a paywall by releasing multiple versions of the game ranging up to over R2,000 at the top-end, which left a terrible taste in gamers' mouths. This is in stark contrast to news that Black Myth: Wukong, a narrative-driven single-player game with no Live Service, became the top-selling game of 2024, garnering a peak player count of 3 million players on all platforms and selling over 18 million copies. The difference? Black Myth focussed on quality and what gamers have been asking for, while Concrod and Star Wars Outlaws looked and felt like another cash-grab. Nobody said making a profit was bad. This is business after all and we have shareholders to satisfy. But there's something to be said about taking time to understand the market needs and building a quality product rather than chasing money-making trends that might already be on the way out.

📊 Games & Numbers (07.08.24 - 23.08.24) In case you missed the latest sales updates during the Gamescom buzz, here’s a comprehensive roundup: 🎮 PC/Console Games Black Myth: Wukong has shattered records with over 10 million copies sold and a peak simultaneous player count exceeding 3 million across all platforms. On Steam alone, the peak concurrent users hit 2.41 million—these figures are verified and not approximations. Mortal Kombat 1 from Warner Bros. Discovery and NetherRealm Studios (WB Games) has sold 4 million copies since its September 19, 2023 release. Enshrouded has attracted over 3 million players since its early access launch on January 24, 2024. It reached its first million players within just four days and doubled that figure by the end of the first month. Balatro has been acquired by 2 million gamers, with a major gameplay update slated for release in 2025. Abiotic Factor saw 600,000 sales in its first three months. The game hit 250,000 sales within 8 days of launch, with the USA and China being the top markets. Another Crab’s Treasure crossed 500,000 copies sold in just 3.5 months. Cataclismo, which entered Early Access at the end of July, has already sold 120,000 copies. The game is published by Hooded Horse Inc. Hunt: Showdown achieved a new peak concurrent user record on Steam five years post-release, hitting 60,000 users thanks to a compelling new update. Delta Force: Hawk Ops has garnered over a million wishlists, although the game’s release date remains unannounced. 📱 Mobile Games The Battle Cats from Japan has amassed over $700 million in revenue, with 68% of earnings coming from Japan, 11% from the USA, and 8% from South Korea. It boasts over 78.3 million installs and has maintained over 1 million monthly active users since June 2021. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery has generated over $500 million since its April 2018 launch. The bulk of revenue is from the USA, Germany, the UK, and France. Dice Dreams has surpassed $400 million in revenue. Before MONOPOLY GO!’s release, it earned $125 million; the remaining $275 million came post-launch. The USA is the primary market for the game. AFK Journey launched in China and generated $5.1 million in its first 5 days, representing 7% of its total revenue of $78.8 million. Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney has estimated the financial impact of Fortnite’s removal from the App Store and Google Play at $1 billion, but views it as a "small price for freedom." #GameSales #GamingStats #GameIndustry#GamingNews #VideoGameSales #GamingTrends #BlackMythWukong #MortalKombat1 #EnshroudedGame #BalatroGame #AbioticFactor #AnotherCrabsTreasure #CataclismoGame #HuntShowdown #DeltaForceHawkOps #TheBattleCats #HarryPotterHogwartsMystery #DiceDreams #AFKJourney #FortniteImpact

📊 Games & Numbers (16.10.24 - 29.10.24) 🎮 PC/console games ◾️Bohemia Interactive games have sold over 47 million copies, with almost 41 million sold on Steam. ◾️It Takes Two has been purchased more than 20 million times. ◾️Over 10 million people have played Dead Island 2, though this includes users from subscription services, not only direct sales. ◾️Total sales for the Resident Evil 4 remake have exceeded 8 million copies, achieving this in a year and a half. ◾️Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero sold 3 million copies within 24 hours of its October 7 release. ◾️Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II has surpassed 4.5 million copies sold. The id Software veterans who led the development reported this as their most successful launch. ◾️Silent Hill 2 sold over 1 million copies in its first week, with higher sales in Europe than The Callisto Protocol and Alan Wake 2. In European countries, 78% of sales were for the PS5 version. ◾️According to Insider Gaming, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown sold around one million copies, below management’s expectations. Rumor has it that the development team faces layoffs. ◾️The indie boxing game Undisputed, created by a team with no prior video game experience, has sold over 1 million copies. ◾️Sonic x Shadow Generations sold more than 1 million copies since its release, counting both physical and digital copies. ◾️The indie horror game Crow Country sold 100,000 copies. ◾️Peak CCU for the indie project Liar’s Bar exceeded 100,000 players. 📱Mobile games ◾️According to Sensor Tower, Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! has generated over $800 million in revenue over four years, contributing more than 50% of SEGA’s mobile revenue. The iPad version alone accounts for a significant 18% of total revenue. ◾️In its two years, Marvel Snap has earned over $275 million solely on mobile devices, though its second-year revenue dropped by 40% from the first. ◾️Racing Master by NetEase, launched in Japan in August, has already surpassed $100 million in revenue. It ranks as NetEase’s top-downloaded game in Japan but remains below top revenue records. ◾️Trickcal Re: VIVE, initially launched in 2021 and re-released in 2023, shows promise in the Squad RPG market. The game has generated over $15 million in South Korea alone, with $4.5 million (30% of its total revenue) earned between September 26 and October 15. BiliBili is currently working on an international version. All the links to the sources (and some graphs) are here: https://lnkd.in/d2BXN5N4

Let’s talk about the consistency of one game, or multiple games by one company, over the last 12 years (almost). Even though I have not played Counter-Strike 2 a whole lot…I was diving into the data for the game at: https://lnkd.in/gVQuUZG9 out of curiosity at what steam games are doing very well at this time! Counter-Strike being #1 by a landslide. What is just beyond impressive is the track record that this beautiful game has had through time, and following a hard to beat Counter-Strike: Source. Let’s face the music that Valve, on the whole, is one of the most consistent game publishing and producing companies of all time, time and time again. In 2023, to put into perspective, Counter-Strike has had a whopping ~879,000 players per day with a peak player count of 1,802,853 in a single day. What I think is even more fascinating is just how durable this series is though because if you date it back to its core in 2012 - a whopping 932 players per day in July. I mean…to see year over year that this game has kept consistently growing in player count averages is just incredible over the last 12 years (almost) with minor ebbs and flows. Furthermore, I don’t think people realize sometimes how hard this is to do. In fact, Valve has done it time and time again with several of its staple game franchises! And now that this “Aha moment” and excitement are both done, here are some of the many Valve games that come to mind and that I have enjoyed through time: Garry’s Mod - just vintage and still one of my favorites personally…just freaking hilarious! Portal Series - if you want an interesting story, read this one when you have time as to what led to this game being created! Team Fortress - one of my favorites and taught me grenade and bunny hopping! The Half-Life Series - Loveeee this series! Half Life: Alyx - to this day, I have heard that this is the best VR game of all time (need to play it) Left 4 Dead - what a fantastic and memorable series and fun coop game this was growing up Defense of the Ancients series - let us not forget this classic multiplayer battle arena game that’s again stood the test of time! What is your favorite game produced by Valve if you mind me asking? Please share in the comments below! Image found here: https://lnkd.in/gSV2t2ue #videogaming #videogames #success #datadive #valve #trends

📊 Games & Numbers (18.09.24 - 01.10.24) 🎮 PC/console games ◾️According to Video Game Insights estimates, Black Myth: Wukong is the best-selling game on Steam in 2024, with over 20 million copies sold. ◾️More than 14 million people have played Football Manager 24. This number reflects player counts, not sales, as the game was available through subscription services. ◾️The total sales of Ghost of Tsushima exceed 13 million copies. Recently, Sucker Punch announced a sequel to the series: Ghost of Yōtei. ◾️Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is the second most successful new release in the European market in 2024. According to GSD, only Helldivers II performed better. ◾️The meditative platformer GRIS, published by Devolver Digital, has been purchased over 3 million times since its release in December 2018. ◾️Manor Lords has sold over 2.5 million copies since its release on April 16, 2024. ◾️Revenue from the VR shooter Ghosts of Tabor has surpassed $20 million, as reported by the developers themselves. ◾️In the first 3 days of sales, Frostpunk 2 sold 350,000 copies. ◾️Sales of Dragon Age: Inquisition has exceeded 12 million copies. While many considered the game a "commercial failure," the studio disagrees. ◾️Ampere Analysis estimates that Star Wars: Outlaws sold 800,000 copies in its release week. Ubisoft has not officially disclosed the numbers. ◾️More than 40 million people have played Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi franchise. These numbers reflect player counts, not sales, as the series' games have appeared in subscription services. 📱Mobile games ◾️On September 28, Genshin Impact celebrated its 4th anniversary. According to AppMagic, the game has generated $6.3 billion in revenue on mobile platforms. In its last year, it earned $931.4 million, the lowest annual revenue to date. However, this does not account for some users who may be migrating to PCs and consoles. ◾️Dungeon & Fighter: Mobile earned over $808.9 million in China alone and only on iOS, according to AppMagic. On its best revenue day (June 22, 2024), the game made $9.9 million. In September, the game averaged $5 million per day. ◾️Total revenue for Pixel Gun 3D on all platforms since its launch in 2013 has reached $210 million, with over 220 million downloads. ◾️Revenue for AFK Journey in less than six months has amounted to $158.3 million, according to AppMagic. Most of the revenue (over 70%) now comes from Asian regions, and in the first four months after launching in the West, the game earned $71 million. ◾️Pokemon Sleep generated $120 million in revenue over 14 months. 74% of all revenue comes from Japan, and 13% from the US. 📲 Platforms ◾️The mobile version of the Epic Games Store has been downloaded more than 10 million times. It was released in August 2024. All the links to sources are stored here: https://lnkd.in/gRM_n7rK