Latest News

Top-Tier Mobile Game Publishers Spend $21 Million on Custom Tech

Published

6 months ago

May 22, 2024

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Top-tier mobile game publishers are investing more than $21 million to build and maintain internal technology and tooling. That’s the startling headline of new research from mobile game development company, Metaplay, which also dives into the hidden, human costs of game programmers who are diverted to work on tech instead of gaming content.

Based on a survey of 125 senior executives at large mobile game development companies in the United States, the data shows that large publishers are spending an average of $21,662,784 to build and maintain their backend tech. Respondents, all of whom are C-level execs or tech team leads at companies with at least 50 staff, were asked questions relating to the size of their tech teams, how long they had been working on internal tools, and their teams’ remuneration. They said:

$138,864 is the average salary of an employee working on internal tech at major publishers in the United States
52 is the average number of employees working predominantly in internal tech
36 months is the average number of months the companies surveyed had been building internal tech (just over three years)

Beyond the hard numbers, there are human costs associated with the in-house development of backend tech. Almost three-quarters (74%) of respondents said their game programmers had been impacted by being redeployed to work on internal tech as opposed to gaming content. Of those who had redeployed staff, 41% said that doing so had slowed the game development process, 34% said it had increased ‘crunch’ working practices, and 34% said this led to higher employee turnover.

Teemu Haila, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Metaplay, commented:

“As a company which has spent almost four years focused entirely on building backend tech for mobile games, even we had to do a double-take when we saw these stats. Shipping a long-lasting hit game was already very challenging, but the current state of the mobile gaming market means investment at this level without any guarantee of success is incredibly risky. We’re trying to fix the binary choice of ‘build vs buy’ when it comes to backend tech – where ‘build’ means expensive and ‘buy’ means unscalable, so mobile devs can focus on making great content.”

Matt Wilson, mobile gaming advisor and investor, said:

“This research shows that building internal tech is becoming prohibitively expensive as well as distracting game-makers from their day jobs. As an investor, I generally want to see as much capital as possible to go towards developing the product. Many companies still suffer from an ‘if it’s not built here, it’s not good enough’ mentality but, while that may have been true in the past, it’s certainly not always the case now.”

Further key findings from the research:

Top-tier game studios in the US are most likely to be developing strategy games (58%) and shooters (57%). They’re least likely to be working on hypercasual (22%) and card-collecting games (18%)
Respondents’ companies are most likely to outsource or use third-party tooling for security and compliance (43%), multiplayer and/or matchmaking (42%), and game logic server hosting (41%). They’re least likely to outsource observability tooling (26%), and data pipelines (14%)

As well as being available as a whitepaper here, the research has today been released as a hard copy book which is available at Nordic Game Conference stand D6, or on request from Metaplay.

eSports

Rootz Announces First Wildz Invitational Esports Tournament

Published

31 mins ago

November 18, 2024

Adrienn Sarkany

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wildz is proud to officially announce our entry into the Counter-Strike 2 community by hosting the Wildz Invitational tournament, featuring a substantial prize pool of €25,000. This tournament, organized in partnership with Alliance and Challengermode, is open to all teams across Europe in the coming month of December.

Wildz Invitational tournament structure:

Invited Teams: 4 teams will be directly invited to compete in the playoffs stage

Open Qualifiers: Two online qualifiers, where the top 2 teams from each qualifier will secure spots in the playoffs

Playoffs: All 8 teams will face off over an intense 2 day battle
Format: All matches will be played online on the Challengermode platform to ensure accessibility for all participants.

We invite all EU teams to showcase their skills and compete for the title of being the first Wildz Champions, with a first-place prize of €16,250. Sign up now!

Open to all European teams

Qualifiers will be played as a single-elimination bracket. All matches will be BO1.

Playoffs information:

Playoffs Day #1: 21st Dec, start from 15:00 CET
Playoffs Day #2: 22nd Dec, start from 15:00 CET

Playoffs will be played as a single-elimination bracket. All matches will be BO3.

Total prize pool of €25,000 distribution:
1st place: €16,250
2nd place: €6,250
3rd place: €2,500

“We at Wildz have been huge fans of Counter-Strike for many years. When the opportunity arose, everyone at Wildz jumped at the idea of being able to sponsor and host a tournament to showcase Europe’s top CS teams,” shares Nathan Bonello, Esports Specialist at Wildz. “This is just the first of many Wildz esports activities to come, we hope that the CS players and fans worldwide can enjoy our first-ever Wildz Invitational tournament together. May the best team win!”

Greece

HIGHLIGHT GAMES ANNOUNCES GREEK RIGHTS EXTENSION

Published

36 mins ago

November 18, 2024

Adrienn Sarkany

Reading Time: < 1 minute

London-based video virtuals and instant win games specialist Highlight Games Limited today announces that it has secured a significant extension to its exclusive rights agreement to use archive Greek Super League footage in its betting products.

Highlight’s Greek SOCCERBET game includes archive footage from some of the Greek Super League’s most famous and iconic clubs including: AEK Athens, Aris Thessaloniki, Asteras T, Atromitos, Giannina, Olympiakos, Levadiakos, Panathinaikos, Panionios, PAOK Salonika, Platanias and Xanti.

Steven Holmes, CEO, Highlight Games said: ‘I’m delighted to announce yet another exclusive rights extension for Highlight Games. Our Greek SOCCERBET game has proven to be incredibly popular with players and it’s a testament to our ongoing relationships and quality product portfolio that we’re able to continue to deliver this exclusive content to our valued customers.’

Asia

DreamHack x Hyderabad Comic Con 2024 Day 2: Wagh Suyog crowned champion of Rapid Chess tournament; Karan Kanchan steals the show with electrifying DJ set

Published

39 mins ago

November 18, 2024

Adrienn Sarkany

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The second day of DreamHack 2024 x Hyderabad Comic Con, India’s largest celebration of gaming and pop culture, delivered thrilling esports action, landmark achievements, and unforgettable moments as fans turned out in large numbers at the Hitex Exhibition Centre.

Hosted by NODWIN Gaming, a leader in new-age youth entertainment, gaming, and esports this year marks the fifth anniversary of India’s biggest gaming festival. DreamHack’s legendary BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Zone reached an unprecedented milestone, with tickets selling out for the first time ever. Gamers from across the country brought their own setups to compete and compete in titles including eFootball, THE FINALS, World Cricket Championship 3 (WCC 3), Brawlhalla, Counter-Strike 2, Spectre Divide, and many more, making the zone a hub of energy and camaraderie throughout the day.

After intense semi-final matches, Team LFO, Team Cheems, Team Payback, and AMIGOS Esports qualified for the grand finals of the OMEN VALORANT Campus Quest Season 2. Each team demonstrated exceptional strategy and team play, keeping fans on the edge of their seats.

Meanwhile, Wagh Suyog showcased remarkable talent and focus,`outmaneuvering a field of skilled competitors to win the Rapid Chess tournament and take home the INR 3 Lakh prize pool championship. His/her victory was celebrated with roaring applause, highlighting the growing appeal of chess as part of DreamHack’s diverse lineup.

In other esports action, GodLike Esports, Vibrance Esports, XLR8, and Anthem showcased their dominance on Day 2 of the Snapdragon Pro Series (Call of Duty: Mobile), while Aditya ‘The Dark Lord’ Verma emerged victorious in the Street Fighter 6 segment of KO Fight Night.

Much to the attendees’ delight KO Fight Night delivered electrifying matches in Tekken 8 and Super Mario Bros Ultimate. Players also turned out in large numbers to participate in the Retro and Board Games tournaments, adding to the vibrant gaming atmosphere.

Following suit to the electric atmosphere of DreamHack, the second day of Hyderabad Comic Con was a vibrant celebration of creativity, fandom, and entertainment. Fans were enthralled by special sessions from Maruti Suzuki Arena, Crunchyroll, and Yamaha Racing, each offering unique insights and experiences for attendees.

Attendees were also treated to comic book debuts, including The Warrior God and Abba Aari (the sequel to Mard Bann), alongside the cover launch of Weapons of Mass Extinction: Stage 1 – Blood of The Last Asuran.

On the other hand, music enthusiasts danced to an electrifying DJ set by Karan Kanchan, while rising comedy star Ravi Gupta (a.k.a. Shudh Desi Comic) had audiences in splits with his witty, desi humour.

The Meet & Greet Zone today featured 8Bit Creatives’ popular gaming personalities, such as Raj Varma (Snax), Payal Dhare (Payal Gaming), Parv Singh (Regaltos), Salman Ahmad (8bit Mamba), Monika Jeph (Sherlock Live), Nishant Williams (Willy Gamingg), Mithul Nayak (Binks), Dhwani Bhatt (Pinkcess), and Dhruv Sangwan (Dhruv), who connected with fans through their stories, popular slangs and gaming insights.

Just like yesterday, the Hyderabad Comic Con Cosplay Contest stole the show, with hundreds of cosplayers competing for a prize pool exceeding INR 5 Lakhs, including a daily grand cash prize of INR 50,000. The city’s best cosplayers battled it out to represent Hyderabad at the Indian Championship of Cosplay 2025 Qualifiers, aiming for a daily reward of INR 1.25 Lakhs.

Day 3 of DreamHack 2024 x Hyderabad Comic Con is set to be a spectacular finale, packed with more comic book launches, special sessions, and engaging fireside chats. As the event reaches its climax, SPS, OMEN Campus Quest Season 2, PAN FEST, KO Fight Night, Blitz Chess tournament, and the BYOD and retro tournaments will all wrap up with their much-anticipated grand finals.

Two critically acclaimed stand-up comedy stars, Syed Bashaar, and Harsh Gujral, will bring the laughs, while Geek Fruit will take everyone on a nostalgic journey with iconic theme songs.

For further updates and information regarding DreamHack x Hyderabad Comic Con 2024, follow NODWIN Gaming & DreamHack India on social media. Get your tickets now to experience the best of both worlds and experience the excitement of DreamHack India 2024 x Hyderabad Comic Con firsthand!