Gaming
Winners unveiled for the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2023
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22 businesses and individuals were highlighted and celebrated in a night to remember for the global mobile games industry
This year’s Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards winners were announced during an exclusive ceremony on April 20th at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, London. The global games industry gathered for an evening of celebration to highlight and champion the very best business and individuals who are driving the $90 billion mobile games industry forward.
The Steel Media team is pleased to announce the winners and recipients of the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2023:
Pocket Gamer People’s Choice sponsored by AppGallery – Disney Mirrorverse (Kabam)
Best Advertising & UA Service sponsored by Enthusiast Gaming [JOINT WINNERS] – Unity Ads & AppLovin
Best Analytics / Data Tool – AppsFlyer
Best Developer sponsored by Coherence.io – Tripledot Studios
Best GAAS Tools & Tech – Photon
Best Audio / Visual Accomplishment – Candy Crush Saga (King)
Best Game Engine / Platform – Unity
Best Storytelling – Star Trek: Lower Decks (East Side Games)
Rising Star – Philippa Layburn
Best Tools Provider – Unity Gaming Services
Best Service Provider – Xsolla
Best Live Ops – Stumble Guys (Scopely)
Best QA & Localisation Service Provider – TransPerfect Gaming Solutions
Best Indie Developer sponsored by PocketGamer – Rusty Lake
Best PR / Marketing Team sponsored by PocketGamer.biz – King (Candy Crush Saga ’10 Years of Fun’ campaign)
Best Alternative App Store – AppGallery
Investment Fund of the Year – Play Ventures
Best Publisher sponsored by Pingle – Scopely
Most Promising AI Games Tech sponsored by Beyond Games – Solsten
Most Impactful Web3 Company sponsored by Raptor PR – ZEBEDEE
Game of the Year sponsored by Tilting Point [JOINT WINNERS] – Marvel Snap (Nuverse) & Subway Surfers Tag (Sybo)
Mobile Legend – Nour Khrais (Maysalward)
This year’s Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards winners were announced during an exclusive ceremony on April 20th at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, London. The global games industry gathered for an evening of celebration to highlight and champion the very best business and individuals who are driving the $90 billion mobile games industry forward.
Steel Media CEO Chris James presented a total of 22 categories throughout the evening and was understandably excited and enthused about the current state of the mobile games industry:
“This is always one of my absolute favourite nights of the year – and 2023’s edition certainly didn’t disappoint! I really love the chance to connect with friends old and new and celebrate the incredible achievements of these companies and individuals in this amazing mobile games industry – the only shame is that we can’t give everyone a prize!
Whilst there’s been a little doom and gloom from some quarters after the games industry’s first contraction in 2022, tonight showed the mobile industry is actually stronger than ever and showcased the spirit, enthusiasm, creativity and raw talent that will ensure our future is very bright (and we’ll break the $100 billion barrier very soon!”.
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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.
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