Gaming
Gaming Apps Score High on AppGallery during Global Game Fest Campaign
Working in partnership with 13 of the world’s most forward- thinking game developers – including much-loved household names such as Playrix, Com2us, Gameloft, and FunPlus – Huawei launched its inaugural Game Fest campaign. Game Fest sought to inspire AppGallery users to explore a new generation of play on the platform, offering them a host of exclusive benefits including cashback promotions and generous gift packages.
Through close collaboration, Huawei worked with its participating partners and developers to champion their games and reach new audiences across the globe. Spanning six genres – ranging from RPG, Action, and Adventure, to Casual, Simulation, and Strategy games – the campaign ran for six weeks in total, spanning 12 markets across five geographic regions. Game Fest generated more than 600 million digital impressions for the titles, and a 90% increase in average daily downloads.
Huawei delivered growth for its Game Fest partners in markets globally, spanning multiple regions
In addition to generating almost a billion in global PR reach for partners, Game Fest drove strong growth for the titles across different geographic regions. Demonstrating the power of AppGallery’s wide-reaching audience, partners saw their daily download figures increase not only during the campaign itself, but post-campaign as well. The results below showcase how total daily downloads increased both during the campaign and for the 6-week period post-campaign compared to pre-campaign figures.
- Asphalt 9 (by Gameloft): In Mexico, Asphalt 9 saw a 93% increase in total downloads during the campaign, with daily downloads spiking by 137% post-campaign compared to pre-campaign data.
- State of Survival (by KingsGroup Holdings): In France, State of Survival saw a 383% increase in total downloads during Game Fest, with daily downloads also up by 155% post-campaign compared to pre-campaign figures.
- Standoff 2 (by Axlebolt): In Italy, Standoff 2 experienced a 141% increase in total downloads during the campaign, remaining up 15% post-campaign, compared to pre-campaign download numbers.
- Summoners War (by Com2us): In the Philippines, Summoners War enjoyed a 171% increase in total downloads during the campaign, and an increase in daily downloads of 9% post-campaign, compared to pre-campaign levels.
- Pascal’s Wager (by Giant Network): In Russia, Pascal’s Wager saw a 340% increase in total downloads during the campaign, with post-campaign momentum reflecting a 92% increase in daily downloads compared to pre-campaign data.
- World of Tanks Blitz MMO (by Wargaming): The game was particularly well-received by Turkish AppGallery users, seeing a staggering 825% increase in total downloads during the campaign, while daily downloads enjoyed a boost of 141% post-campaign, compared with pre-campaign figures.
Huawei provides high-touch, local support for its partners
The launch of Game Fest demonstrated AppGallery’s commitment to the success of its partners and reinforced its standing as a platform that offers unwavering and full-spectrum support to developers. This support includes providing high touch, locally tailored technical, business development and growth marketing services to help maximize their success on the platform.
AppGallery collaborated intimately with its 13 Game Fest partners to develop the best locally relevant plans and unique campaign assets, including key visuals, social videos, exclusive face filters on Facebook and Instagram, as well as individual campaign landing pages. The AppGallery team also adjusted its speed of engagement to educate developer partners on promotional opportunities, and in some cases accelerate go-to market plans to meet their needs.
Further tailoring the campaign, Game Fest partners also contributed a cumulative total of 160,000 exclusive gift packages, which contained valuable in-game items significant to game progression, to AppGallery users who downloaded the titles during the campaign.
Speaking of its participation in the campaign, Krystic Cong, Lead of Business Development, Perfect World said: “It’s been an honour to release our game on AppGallery, which is a great platform for gaming developers. This is a win-win relationship as proved-since the “Perfect World Mobile” released on AppGallery there has seen increasing active users and revenue. The Game Fest campaign enhanced our brand awareness as well as user base in LATAM. We look forward to strengthening our partnerships with AppGallery, which has become one of the most important channels, and look forward to offering our latest games to a wide range of overseas customers.”
Ilya Fedotov, Head of Global Partnerships & Eco-Development Communication, Huawei Consumer Business Group, added: “AppGallery seeks to be the definitive app marketplace that offers consumers more choice and provides developers with the innovative technology they need to imagine new possibilities. Encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive results of Game Fest, we will continue to work with developers to bring them new, creative ways to promote their games, as well as enable Huawei customers to have more ways to play than ever before.”
Gaming
Nolimit City revisits the brutal factory life in Outsourced: Slash Game
Nolimit City takes you back to the grind with its latest release, Outsourced: Slash Game. For those who thought their consumerist cravings were a safe indulgence, think again. Following in the footsteps of Outsourced, this new addition pulls back the curtain on the sweat and sacrifice lurking behind those everyday luxuries—this time with a dash of danger. Outsourced: Slash Game is the studio’s second venture into crash-style gameplay, the first being xCrash™ in Skate or Die – but this time it’s a standalone crash game!
In Slash Game, players have to make some cutthroat decisions as a laser traces the outline of their hand, increasing the multiplier with every pass. Players hit “stop” to cash out, locking in the multiplier when they feel the timing is right. After which, they will be shown the potential winnings if they wouldn’t have stopped. But here’s the catch: if players hesitate a second too long and the laser slips, all the winnings are lost. A live scoreboard displays the Top Win, Top Miss and Last Round, so that players can keep track of their previous rounds.
Outsourced: Slash Game is not a familiar Nolimit City slot to some players but could cause some excitement with an increasing multiplier and a maximum payout of 1,500x the base bet. Outsourced: Slash Game, unlike Nolimit City’s high-volatility slots, is rated as ‘Medium Volatility’ but don’t let that fool you as it still includes the risk of losing your hand.
Per Lindheimer, Head of Product at Nolimit City, said: “Get back to work, will you? We’re bringing players back to the unrelenting factory floor of Outsourced with an all-new twist. Slash Game is a standalone take on our crash-style games, and it’s packed with plenty of heart-stopping moments (and maybe a few hand-stopping ones, too). We’re thrilled with how it turned out and we hope that our fans will be too!“
‘Outsourced: Slash Game’ will be available to all Nolimit City partners on November 5th, 2024.
Gaming
The mobile gaming market is growing and attracting new companies. GAMIVO is the latest example
Usually, consoles and PCs come to mind when discussing the gaming industry. The mobile sector is often treated as a child of a lesser god, even though it generates almost as much revenue as console and PC combined. Some companies can see this potential. For instance, the e-commerce platform GAMIVO has recently entered the mobile market, allowing players to buy in-game items cheaper.
Back on course
The entire video game industry has evolved incredibly, but the most spectacular has been the growth of the mobile sector. It expanded from 36.9 million dollars in 2016 to 93.2 billion in 2021. Unfortunately, the gaming market suffered from a decline that stemmed from the overoptimism of the pandemic era. As a result, the mobile gaming industry revenues dropped to 92.2 billion in 2022 and to 90.5 billion in 2023. Recent information has indicated this was a necessary correction rather than a long-term trend.
The latest Newzoo report, issued in August 2024, shows that the industry is on the right track again. According to analysts, the mobile sector will generate revenues of $92.6 billion, representing +3.0% growth year-on-year. It’s nearly half of the entire gaming industry.
Billions of players
Revenues are crucial, but they only show part of the story. To fully understand the size and potential of mobile gaming, it’s necessary to consider the number of players, which constantly grew even when revenues dropped. Newzoo estimates that it will reach 2.8 billion in 2024. It means that almost twice as many people play on mobile devices than on PCs and consoles combined. Currently, every third person on Earth plays on mobile devices, and there’s still space for further growth.
“There are emerging markets where smartphones and mobile networks can expand, providing new potential players. Furthermore, this type of entertainment has a low entry barrier because most popular games are free and don’t require high-end devices,” explains Mateusz Śmieżewski, the CEO at GAMIVO.
One hobby, different habits
GAMIVO is an example of a company that has recently joined the party to get a piece of the mobile pie. “We examined the mobile market for a very long time, trying to find a suitable place for us. It’s essential to understand that mobile gaming and mobile gamers differ from their PC or console counterparts. You can’t do the same things you do with PC and consoles and hope to replicate your success,” said Mateusz Śmieżewski.
Studies confirm this observation. Average PC and console players spend about 2.1 hours a day in virtual worlds. It’s half an hour more than mobile gamers. However, things get interesting when we take a look at playtime per week, which is the same for mobile and console (5.4 hours) and slightly longer for PC (5.7 hours). Moreover, typical PC and console owners play 2.6 and 2.7 days a week, respectively, while mobile players play 3.4 days per week.
Those statistics prove that PC and console players are more dedicated, spending more time in games’ worlds once they enter them. However, mobile gamers prefer shorter but more frequent sessions. They play while commuting or have a short amount of free time.
“Mobile players are more willing to uninstall games and give another title a chance. Hence, the gameplay has to be captivating and designed to provide quick but intense sessions.
Furthermore, even though the average weekly playtime is identical to PC players, many mobile players don’t think of themselves as gamers,” clarifies Mateusz Śmieżewski.
Another major difference regards the way in which revenue is generated. PC and console games traditionally represent the premium model, where players buy the game. Most popular mobile releases are free and generate revenue with microtransactions. Almost all titles allow players to spend their real money on virtual coins, crystals, and other items that can be used to unlock additional content or reduce cooldowns.
Entering the mobile market
Those contrasts and nuances scare most companies from the mobile market. Let’s see how GAMIVO has coped with this.
“We decided to launch a new product category dedicated to mobile gamers. Our model allows them to top up in-game accounts cheaply. As a result, they can save up to 30% on buying virtual items, upgrades, and other content. The GAMIVO offer includes the most popular mobile titles, such as Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile, and still extends,” describes Mateusz Śmieżewski.
“We dedicated a lot of time to research and analyses. Also, the development process required a lot of work to provide GAMIVO customers with safe transactions and a user-friendly environment. The first reactions are very positive, confirming our belief that our decision was right and there is still more space in the mobile game market,” concludes the GAMIVO CEO.
Gaming
AI Gives Horses for Courses True Meaning in ‘Owners Club’ Racing Game
Invincible GG, a groundbreaking competitive gaming platform and technology company, has outlined the latest AI developments of its interactive mobile horse racing game, Owners Club, which is set to provide a new injection of interest into the ancient sports of kings.
Following a successful game launch in Q3 2024 and activations at the Doncaster St. Leger and York Ebor festivals, thousands of Owners Club players have started to formulate an expansive game world that gives the masses the true feeling of horse ownership, breeding, and racing experiences.
Being founded on the latest in AI and Web3 technologies allows the game to evolve with more nuance over time, with the former being implemented to enhance users’ strategic horse development and create developing traits and performance benefits that can lead to further self-training opportunities in-game.
Each horse has its own unique, nuanced genetics and racing traits. These can be trained via evolving in-game activity—which will include collaborative intelligence in future releases and passed on to future colts and fillies to create racing dynasties that will stand the test of time while also bringing in lucrative in-game winnings and potential syndicate stud earnings.
Further features include an AI-powered event simulation engine (instead of predetermined RNGs), and sophisticated algorithms that factor in horse health, jockey decisions, and environmental factors that ensure Owners Club races maintain tension and excitement throughout, just as racing fans in the real world would experience from the grandstand.
Jonathan Strause, Invincible GG CEO, said: “Gamers of today want more than static, insular game worlds. They’re looking for immersive experiences in evolving ecosystems, multiplayer competition, and the feeling that they’re fully integrated into the game. Owners Club is offering just that for both current racing enthusiasts and the next generation of racing fans.
“With unrivaled AI integration into the theoretically unlimited stable of in-game horses, combined with back-end Web3 technology that empowers players to easily realize what true thoroughbred ownership and training feels like, Owners Club players can forge their own relationship with horse racing via the gamification of training, racing, and trading in the app, which can only help the future engagement of this ancient pastime.”
Owners Club will be showcased to its biggest live audience yet at the QIPCO British Champions Day on 19th October, 2024, with live races broadcasted as-live to screens around Ascot, with various prizes on offer for the winning owners.
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