Naavik

💡 The Best of Naavik’s Last Quarter With Q3 wrapping up, we figured it would be a great time to highlight some of our best and most popular content from the past quarter. We’ve covered all sorts of fascinating games, companies, and trends – and can’t list them all – so think of this issue as a chance to take in anything you may have missed. See the list here: https://lnkd.in/dqBNEA_k And a very special thanks to our sponsor, Heroic Labs for making this digest issue possible. You can read more about them here: https://lnkd.in/esXzez_4 #gamingnews #gamesindustry

I had a great time at the BITKRAFT Summit over the past two days. It was a real pleasure to open up the Summit alongside two legends, Jens Hilgers and Joost van Dreunen. Congrats to the whole BITKRAFT Ventures team for putting on a phenomenal event with so many amazing people. Thanks for having me!

🎙️ Is Telegram the Next Big Thing in Gaming? 🎮🚀 Distribution is currently the biggest hurdle in gaming. Developers face high user acquisition costs and cut-throat competition for attention on all major gaming platforms. But a new player has entered the game, Telegram. Games like Hamster Kombat are attracting hundreds of millions of players in weeks! 🔥 To find out how and why, Naavik host Niko Vuori speaks to the CEO of Mighty Bear Games, Simon Davis, which grew its own Telegram title, Goat Gaming, to 2 million players in a matter of weeks. They reveal a ton of insights, including: - Telegram gaming : formfactor / gameplay / distribution - What gave rise to gaming on Telegram? - Building on Telegram - Goat Gaming - Monetization - Retention on Telegram - Who are the teams are buliding on Telegram? - Tracking numbers on Telegram - How social works on Telegram - Development of Telegram for Gaming - Impediments to growth - What's the future for Telegram as Gaming platform? - Discovery on Telegram Apple: https://lnkd.in/gGSy-bSj Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gD4FvR5J Youtube: https://lnkd.in/gMjh3SqQ We’d also like to thank nSure.ai for making this episode possible! In the gaming industry, protecting revenue from fraudsters is crucial. That’s where nSure.ai comes in. As a proven industry leader, nSure.ai provides scalable payment fraud prevention that’s effective and tailored specifically to your needs. To learn more, visit https://lnkd.in/eBdt8guX

💰 Exploring New Trends in Rewarded Play Play-to-earn (P2E) games gained prominence post-COVID but quickly nosedived once their economic unsustainability was exposed. While the stain on P2E remains, web3 gaming is far from dead. In fact, new forms of rewarded play are still being tested. And even if you’re not interested in web3 gaming, discovering how these different forms are being tested can offer valuable insights. To explore the field further, we look at one emerging rewarded play business that does things differently: ZBD. To find out more, keep on reading here: https://lnkd.in/ewte8P8Q Thanks for writing, Devin Becker! And a very special thanks to Overwolf for making this digest issue possible. You can learn more about them here: https://lnkd.in/eRkDqpv2 #gamingnews #gamesindustry #web3 #rewardedplay

🚨 BIG ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 The TLDR -- AWS for Games: Allowing your code to respawn faster than your players! 😎 More serious details below, and make sure to check them out here: https://lnkd.in/ggCZnyM

📱 Why Travel Town Dominates Mobile Merge Travel Town first launched in 2020 as ex-Wooga developers’ Magmatic Games Ltd's first entry into the casual puzzle merge 2 space. After the acquisition by Moon Active in 2022, the game started scaling and is now the biggest merge game on mobile by monthly store revenue in 2024, bringing in $117M year-to-date, 231% year-over-year. Travel Town surpasses its biggest competitor, Metacore’s Merge Mansion, in many KPIs like downloads, store revenue, and DAU. But what hides behind its success? To find out our top three product takeaways for casual game developers based on this game’s stellar performance, keep on reading here: https://lnkd.in/eE2jAYWU Thanks for writing, Harshal Karvande! And a special thanks to our sponsor, AWS for Games, for making this digest issue possible! You can learn more about the services and solutions they offer here: https://lnkd.in/ggCZnyM #gamesindustry #gamingnews #mobilegames

🚀 Ubisoft’s Neverending Challenges The floodgates have burst open at Ubisoft. Since the launch of Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft stock (UBI) on the Euronext Paris exchange (UBI) has plummeted by a third, the most dramatic two-week decline in the company’s history. This tumultuous period has sent the company’s stock to its lowest levels since 2014, when revenue was half that of fiscal year 2024, and earnings before taxes were negative, versus €262.4M today, and global industry revenues were materially lower than they are now. But how did Ubisoft get there, and what can be expected in the future? To find out, keep on reading here: https://lnkd.in/ejxR6ieY Thanks for writing, Mario Stefanidis, CFA! This digest issue would not have been possible without our sponsors, Overwolf 🔜 DMEXCO. You can learn more about their platform here: https://lnkd.in/enu-fEYS #gamesindustry #gamingnews

🌟 AppQuantum’s Path to Publishing Success Cyprus-based mobile game publisher AppQuantum is making a name for itself. Over the past three years, it has published a series of successful idle games, including Gold & Goblins, Idle Lumber Empire, and Idle Outpost. Early in 2024, AppQuantum further expanded its portfolio by taking over Legend of Slime from its original developer, LoadComplete. One successful mobile launch in this market is already a job well done; three breakout hits is remarkable. Moreover, AppQuantum is a mobile publisher, not a developer. So when traditional mobile free-to-play wisdom says to self-publish, how are companies such as AppQuantum, SayGames, and Habby all succeeding with a co-development publisher model? To find out, keep on reading here: https://lnkd.in/e6C-zvWA Thanks for writing, Miikka Ahonen! And a very special thanks to nSure.ai for making this digest issue possible! You can learn more about them here: https://lnkd.in/eBdt8guX #gamesindustry #gamingnews #mobilegames #mobilepublishing

🎮 What’s Next for Warner Bros. Games? The last several years have seen Warner Bros. Discovery's gaming division buffeted by change. After the highs of 2023 and the lows of early 2024, we thought it’d be a good time to take stock of one of the largest portfolios of gaming and entertainment franchises in the world. What has been happening at Warner Bros. Games, and what might the future hold for the company? To find out, keep on reading here: https://lnkd.in/eDzZn7-H Thanks for writing, Matthew Dion! And a special thanks to Neon for making this digest issue possible. You can learn more about them here: https://lnkd.in/guaMsPTb #gamesindustry #gamingnews

🎙 Hiber's goal is to make it as easy as possible for anyone to build their own virtual worlds. Its platform, HiberWorld, is powered by its own engine, Hiber3D, and it has already achieved some impressive milestones, reaching 6.5 million worlds created. In this episode your host, Niko Vuori , sits down with Hiber’s Chief Strategy Officer Sean Kauppinen to discuss Hiber’s story, its growth strategies, and what differentiates it from Roblox. - Sean's Background - What is Hiber? - What makes Hiber different from Roblox? - What's the churn in Hiber's worlds? - Content Moderation / Safety - Creator / Developer on mobile - Business model / Brand partnerships - Does Hiber share revenue with creators? - Analytics for creators - UGC - What is the future for Hiber? Apple: https://lnkd.in/gETJURSZ Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gPeRca_p Youtube: https://lnkd.in/gYP8cnbM We’d also like to thank nSure.ai for making this episode possible! In the gaming industry, protecting revenue from fraudsters is crucial. That’s where nSure.ai comes in. As a proven industry leader, nSure.ai provides scalable payment fraud prevention that’s not just effective, but tailored specifically to your needs. To learn more, visit https://lnkd.in/eBdt8guX