Like many, I believe Marvel Snap is a magnum opus in CCG design, creating the first true mobile CCG. But the ultimate reality is that revenue collapsed. Thirty-three months after launch, it’s nearly the worst-performing Marvel game by revenue. The hypothesis of a sticky core hasn’t materialized as Sensor Tower estimates that active users have…
Somehow the United States beat the EU at a solution for App Store stangleholds: unlock developer free speech to ease off-platform payment flows and messaging (apps can communicate with users from an email address collected inside the app, and directly link to web payments pre-filled out). The California court ruling has Apple continue to oversee…
Yat Siu, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, steps cast to defend Web3 against @Eric and Phillip Black vigorous skepticism. Christopher Kaczmarczyk-Smith just wants to know why gamers don’t get it. Is Web2 fundamentally incapable of grasping the promise of open markets? What is and should be promised to token holders? We discuss: Listen…
One team had success marketing to Gen Z by going direct. This is another strategy that Lulu Cheng (fmr. Chief Communication Officer ATVI) advocates, but for different aims. One for founders to remain in the driver’s seat of their own story, while another is about great marketing creative that drives authenticity. I rarely see game…
Every game/economy diagram worth its salt contains a +Power ↔ +Action slide. It says something, but usually it’s not enough to understand what the hell is going on. Like traditional economic modeling, diagramming clarifies uncertainty by revealing a game’s internal structure or “wiring.” It forces a simplification of assumptions, and, like the effect of understanding the…
The game needs to go crazier. If game development aligns with an explore-exploit model, Squad Busters must continue exploring. That means covering as much exploration space as possible. Eric Seufert makes similar claims in UA creative testing, and those lessons apply similarly to games. The changes from 2.0 were big, but they need to be…
Squad Busters’ original thesis has been falsified. What once seemed like KPI paradise: hypercasual-esque core, aggregating Supercell’s beloved IPs à la Super Smash Bros., and infinite consumable-based monetization with zero marginal cost, is now unrecognizable. I was brought in, and called it the game with Supercell’s biggest ceiling! Yet, just a year later, the hypercasual core…
Overwatch’s new Stadium mode officially marks the launch* of Overwatch 2, building on the previous release’s perk system. Inside Stadium, there’s one content productivity hack, known previously only to the savviest Steam roguelike indie developers: conditional passives.
Pokémon’s patent of spherical objects throwing of cartoon creatures threatens Palword’s lifeblood, while Tim Sweeney has lifted, at least a percentage point, in total gaming GDP with its injunction success. We premier a new segment: SOLVE that for EQUILIBRIUM. We discuss the marginal monetization effects and debate the benefits of personalization opportunities (hint: there are…
@Blake Robbins and @Mitch Lasky argue in Gamecraft Ep.18, “The Mobile Gaming Duopoly,” that Apple and Google have squeezed innovation out of mobile gaming. Mobile innovation hasn’t vanished; instead, it has splintered. And while it didn’t vanish, it has slowed, but the culprit isn’t IAP or a top-grossing chart—it’s ATT.