Yuta Maeda

"Atlus is one of our most successful acquisition deals to date," says Sega Sammy as Metaphor: ReFantazio posts strong sales. Sega Sammy Holdings highlighted the success of Metaphor: ReFantazio and Sonic X Shadow Generations during a Q2 FY2025 earnings Q&A. Atlus, developer of Metaphor: ReFantazio and the Persona series, was praised as one of Sega’s “most successful M&A deals to date.” Acquired in 2013 for about ~$140m, Atlus has benefited from Sega’s global publishing reach, enabling broader multi-platform launches. “By joining forces with Sega, they have gained the capability to expand their targets,” said Sega Sammy, crediting the partnership and Metaphor’s high quality for its strong debut. Sega picking up Atlus has been pretty good for me. Just getting their games on more platforms has been a huge boon. With so many RPGs becoming less RPG and more action, Atlus is one of the only studios consistently putting out great classic-styled JRPGs with good production values. Atlus was also a great acquisition for Sega from a consumer perspective because it meant Sega could work with Atlus to expand to the ever-growing PC market. Sega made some really great decisions, particulary with Metaphor, and I'm glad to see those decisions paying off. - Going multiplatform from the start - Putting out a great demo that let you experience almost an entire in game cycle without time constraints All of that made possible because they trusted that the game was really strong. I hope this leads to more demos like this. Certainly up there for game of the year, and with Infinite Wealth, glad to see Sega supporting their top studios to do their thing.

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Single-player games are not only amazing, but they can also be incredibly profitable when done right. Looking ahead, the development strategies we see in Asia might offer a more sustainable and successful path forward for the industry. The games from these three regions do some of the same things very well: 1. Start off relatively small (compared to western developers) 2. Focus all resources on creating a well polished experience. 3. Utilize outsourcing effectively. Could we be witnessing a shift back to smaller studios, similar to what we saw in the early 2000s? These teams will be unable to burn through millions on poor decisions but will instead be able to focus solely on creating great games. With the rise of distributed development, this kind of model becomes even more viable and efficient. Note: This approach would also work well for multiplayer, player vs player games. Shout out to David Lesperance for always harping on these areas, they seem to be the trend in development.

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In 3 months we unlocked an entirely new market for a studio based in South Korea. Before approaching UGI they: Had a beautiful original Asian art style. Successfully launched the game in Asia to 1M downloads. Ready to adapt their Tower Defense game to the West. But they: - had a style that didn't fit Western tastes. - had ideas but no clear direction. - had some overwhelm by too many creative options. In the 1st few weeks the product team: - Fully immersed themselves in the game - Researched Western competitors - Generated 3 distinct styles They were a phenomenal partner. Synchronizing our vision to ensure alignment at every step. We didn't just stop at visuals: - 3 unique visions for characters and environments. - considered the influence on overall player UX - Strategies for how they could be marketed So how did we do? - Partner was thrilled with the result. - Opened a new market. - New revenue from the West. All while their art team could focus on their next project. Now they have access to a brand-new market. While focusing on their strengths. Because UGI does the heavy lifting. Yes, it took time and many back-and-forth. But the result was worth it. They went from a vision to: - 3 distinct art styles hand-delivered - full creative and marketing strategy DFY - attracting new players who love the new style. Projects like these remind me why I love what I do. - Transforming visions into reality - Helping our partners reach new heights. We believe that truly understanding the product and goals, before creating a single asset is crucial in art outsourcing. With product expertise and a deep connection to the game We deliver art that doesn't simply meet but exceeds expectations. All within 3 months of working together. TLDR; We get excited about working with studios that bring BIG challenges. P.S If you have a game that needs adapting to new markets who wants it done end-to-end, send me a DM and we'll have a quick chat.

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🚀NetEase just released its Q3 2024 financial results, highlighting the successful comeback of Blizzard games in China! 🎮 On November 14, NetEase released its Q3 2024 financial results, and people have been closely watching the data to see if Blizzard games still capture the interest of Chinese players. 📊 Key highlights: 💰Total revenue reached ¥26.2B ($3.6B), a 2.8% increase from the previous quarter. 🎯Game revenue hit ¥20.2B ($2.8B), with a solid 5% quarter-on-quarter growth. 💫PC game revenue grew by 30% quarter-on-quarter and 29% year-on-year. The strong performance of PC games is widely attributed to the highly anticipated return of Blizzard titles, which, according to NetEase, reignited historic levels of player community enthusiasm. Following the April 2024 announcement, World of Warcraft relaunched in June, and Hearthstone followed in September, achieving remarkable results: 🧙‍♂️World of Warcraft has seen its daily active users surge by over 50% compared to pre-suspension levels. 🃏Hearthstone achieved a stunning 150% increase in daily active users, broke concurrent player records, ranked #1 on App Store downloads and entered the top 5 for revenue. 📹 Related social media content has garnered over 10B views. The data speaks for itself: Blizzard titles still hold a strong appeal in China, contributing notably to NetEase’s game revenue growth.   #NetEase #BlizzardGames #ChinaGame #WorldofWarcraft #Hearthstone

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According to Bilibili's recent data, in Q3 2024, they have achieved: - 348 million monthly active users and 107 million daily active users. - Users spend an average of 106 minutes per day. - The Gaming category has the most active users and the highest daily watch time across all categories. - Over 123 million gaming users spend 60 minutes per day, which is 4 to 7 times higher than other video platforms. - More than 20 million content creators contribute to gaming content, with strong growth in popular creators. No doubt that they continue to be the top choice for game promotion in China! #China #games #chinamarket

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Leading the Way in GameFi Trust and Performance with VPLAY In the fast-paced world of GameFi, trust is everything. As gamers explore the blockchain gaming and play-to-earn (P2E) models, having a reliable platform is crucial. That’s where VPLAY comes in, our commitment to offering an ecosystem that prioritizes security, fairness, and transparency. Building a Foundation of Trust As GameFi grows, so do security, fairness, and transparency. VPLAY started has a clear goal: to create a GameFi insights platform that gamers can genuinely trust. Commitment to Secure Gaming VPLAY helps you steer clear of high-risk environments. This proactive approach means you can game confidently, knowing your rewards and data are secure. More to be revealed soon! Promoting Fair Play Fairness is a core value at VPLAY. We’re committed to creating an environment where everyone has an equal shot at success. Transparency: The Key to Trust Our commitment to transparency is further evident in our Initial Utility phase, which includes DAO capabilities for governance. This allows you to have a say in the platform’s development and management, fostering a strong sense of community and shared ownership. The journey with VPLAY is just beginning. With features like the GameFi Browse Category, helping you find high-reward games, and our subscription and node operator programs offering extra benefits and rewards, we’re constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in GameFi. Our focus on safety, fairness, and transparency isn’t just about meeting standards—it’s about setting them. VPLAY aims to create a GameFi ecosystem where trust is the norm, allowing you to game with confidence and excitement. Best,

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🎮 On this day in gaming history: 44 years ago, Pac-Man was released for arcade machines! Pac-Man, initially called Puck Man in Japan, is a 1980 maze action game developed by Namco for arcades, released in North America by Midway Games Manufacturing. Players control Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots in a maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating "Power Pellets" turns ghosts blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points. Developed in 1979 by Toru Iwatani and his team, the game was designed to appeal to both women and men with its cute and colorful characters. Renamed Pac-Man for its North American release, it became a massive hit, spawning sequels, merchandise, TV shows, and the hit song "Pac-Man Fever" (I still recall that song by Buckner & Garcia). Pac-Man is now Namco Bandai's mascot and remains one of the highest-grossing and most iconic video games ever. Interestingly, it also inspired the nickname of a world-famous boxer from the Philippines. I recall my first time playing Pac-Man on the Atari 2600 console, a gift from my dad. It wasn’t arcade accurate, but the gameplay was sweet and kept me glued to the screen, munching on wafers and avoiding those pesky ghost monsters. I distinctly remember the satisfaction of gobbling up the ghosts after eating Power Pellets, racking up points—it was incredibly fun! 👻 What was your strategy? I used to follow a specific pattern, prioritizing eating all the wafers over chasing ghosts. To me, advancing to a new level was more beneficial than risking being caught by a soon-to-recover ghost. Pac-Man is definitely one of those games I'll never forget. 🕹️ #JBlaze #PacMan #GamingHistory #RetroGames #ArcadeGames #Game #Gamer #Namco #Atari

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Exciting and this makes unbelievable sense! Xsolla is THE leading payment provider in games outside of the App Stores. They are fueling all this webstore growth on mobile already. They have over 150 payment types all over the world in markets that don't monetize with credit cards. They have all the money transfer licenses already. They can be a VERY competitive alternative to players like Moonpay but are in a position to bring blockchain to all their existing clientele of over 2,000 games serving 400m players. Also transaction fees is one of their biggest external costs. And if they bring their existing payments backend onto it, they will have huge volume with next to free USDC transactions around the world, even without web3. Crypto could be their biggest competitive threat, but instead it will be their future. And if they launch a token, it likely will moon. In part because it will have real utility to pay for nodes (which they will also likely sell) and existing volume.

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Be there or be square... And if you want to know how you can engage with your fans, just drop a line and we can talk about how Tradable Bits can help you with your marketing, growth and partnerships' goals See you at SportsPro APAC

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While the approach to building Web3 projects should focus on a unified, global community rather than regional segments, the Korean market stands out for its uniqueness and rapid pace. Understanding Korea's crypto community is beneficial not only for Web3 projects but also for all Web2 content provider, including game developers. #Web3Gaming

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We did a deepdive episode on Wechat minigames with Lemon Choi, who runs a Minigames blog and is an expert on the matter 😎. Some of the facts and numbers that he shared are mind-blowing 😱. The expected MAU of the minigame market will exceed 500 Million 🕹 users in China this year, with an average daily play session of 60 minutes per day per user. These minigames are produced very fast (2-3 months) by small teams from 5-30 people, with the development cost around $140K per 1 minigame 😱. There are multiple dominant genres (nearly all of them being RPGs) that are prevalent in the market, with Loot Box RPG (Nobody's Adventure Chop- Chop 🐷 ) being the biggest genre per revenue share with around 30% of the whole market. This specific sub-genre has also a big impact on design iteration of other genres as seen in the episode. The new promising genre that Lemon showed us is 2D Arcade Idle + 4X (you can see the game "Fingertips Warriors" in the screenshots). Yeah you heard it right, imagine your typical Dreamdale or My Perfect Hotel with a 4X metagame on top 🤑. This game is already making millions in the top 10 charts of Wechat minigames. Thanks again Lemon for coming on the podcast and sharing a lot of insights and valuable knowledge 👍. Join us as we talk about all of this with Matej 🦩 & Felix 😎. 📺 Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ewgiTr4e 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eD_HK2Hi 🗣 Join the discussion in our Slack channel: https://lnkd.in/eZXJ2Une #mobilegames #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #games #gameindustry #China #RPG #userexperience #minigames #wechat

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Happy to meet old and new friends in Taiwan next month! Taiwan is expected to be a favourable market for web3 games due to its high spending on games in relative to low wages. It essentially means Taiwan has a strong demographic of "high quality gamers". CEX's are now shifting their focus from just the sheer number of gamers towards the spending habits of these players. If you have a million gamers, but no expenditure, how can the game sustain itself? I feel the upcoming wave of Web 3 Gaming projects should prioritise creating games that can thrive on their own economy, rather than being solely reliant on VC funds. #Web3Gaming #TBW2024 #buzhidao

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How I'm managing 3 co-dev contracts: Business has been going well. Recently we signed 3 gaming contracts with vastly different requirements. 1. Adapting 2 styles together The 1st contract is an Asian art-style game that has to fit Western markets. We were tasked to make the game globally accessible. Using a Western-like art style, we are refining the game. 2. Scaling stage The 2nd contract is with a game that's got the green light. They want to take their game to the next level. 3. Requiring high-quality development The 3rd contract is with an existing client. Know, like and trust is already built. They need high calibre development, so we keep going. What I enjoy the most about the work we do at UGI: - Flexibility - Adaptability - Variety Because every contract is treated with care. Key to managing multiple projects is genuinely understanding. Understanding beyond the onboarding call. Constant pulse checks to ensure aligned visions. Wearing our adapt-hats to fit our client needs. Feeling stuck? A conversation may be all you need. PS. Curious, how often do you sync with your developers?

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SteamOS is expanding beyond Valve's hardware, starting with Lenovo’s Legion Go S. Why you should care: This appears to be an attempt to compete with incumbents through OS distribution, providing an alternative for gamers fatigued with the current state of affairs. Announced at CES 2025, the “Powered by SteamOS” Legion Go S will feature the same operating system designed for Steam Deck users, offering a smooth interface for gamers with large Steam libraries. Valve also confirmed a beta version of SteamOS will soon be available for other handheld gaming PCs, allowing users to download and test it themselves.

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NEW GAME TRENDING SUPERMARKET SIMULATOR (ROUND 2) In April, I published a post about the new trend of supermarket simulators 🛒 in the games industry. There I mentioned that this trend emerged on Steam (by Valve corporation) under the title "Supermarket Simulator", developed by Nokta Games. The trend quickly spread to the mobile market and spawned some hits, such as "Supermarket Manager Simulator" by Polish studio Digital Melody Games. 🇵🇱 At that time, the games that took advantage of this trend reached around 35MM downloads and US$512k in IAP revenue. What has happened since then? 🤔 Well… some gaming studios have read my post 🤣 and launched their versions of supermarket simulators. And studios that had already developed supermarket simulators, either in a different version to Nokta's game, also took advantage of the trend. 📈 (This is the case with "Hypermarket 3D", a Hypercasual simlutator published by Sunday and developed by Suji Games) The trend is still hot! 🔥 "Manage Supermarket Simulator" by Zego Studio has jumped to the top of the charts in recent weeks. 🔝 According to AppMagic, since March the supermarket trend has generated around 69MM downloads and US$1.1MM in IAP revenue in the mobile gaming market. Here's a list of the five most downloaded mobile games (from March to June 12th): 🥇 “Supermarket Manager Simulator” by Digital Melody Games. 🥈 "Hypermarket 3D" published by Sunday and developed by Suji Games. 🥉 “Manage Supermarket Simulator” by Zego Studio (iKame Global). 4º - “Retail Store Simulator” by Kosin Games. 5º - “Supermarket Simulator Game 3D” by Emir Tarek (Peace Games Studio). 👇 Scroll through the slides below to see some details about these games. 👇 - X - I've put together a list of the 30 most downloaded market simulator games in recent months. Interested in it? 🤔 Then follow the step-by-step instructions in the comments and access my private AppMagic dashboard. - X - This research was supported by Cost Center. Cost Center is a tech company that offers a powerful suite of tools for Mobile Publishers to optimize UA campaigns. 💪 Its portfolio includes amazing clients such as Amanotes and Lihuhu. 🏆 Do you like it? 🤩 Call my friend Yi Ting Ho She'll show you a demo. 😉 #gaming #gamedevelopment #HypercasualByCarlosPereira

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Highlighting: "Pico is launching an on-device video editing app that supports editing 3D spatial videos and publishing them to TikTok." ----- UploadVR: "Pico 4 Ultra Launches In China With Specs Superior To Quest 3 "ByteDance officially announced and opened preorders for its new headset, Pico 4 Ultra, in China. Pico 4 Ultra is a refresh of Pico 4 with upgraded chipset, RAM, passthrough cameras, sensor suite, battery, Wi-Fi, and controllers. The lenses, displays, and overall design of Pico 4 Ultra remain almost identical to the original. (specs table here) Pico 4 Ultra uses the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset as Meta Quest 3. But whereas Quest 3 pairs it with 8GB of RAM, Pico 4 Ultra has 12GB. This could make it superior for on-device multitasking, and potentially allow game developers to use higher-resolution textures and more details. The monocular passthrough camera of the original Pico 4 has been replaced with two 32-megapixel cameras which the company says are used to deliver perspective-correct passthrough with low distortion. Passthrough only samples the cameras at 8 megapixels though. The system combines each block of four pixels into one, a technique known as pixel binning which is used by many modern smartphones. ByteDance claims the angular resolution of Pico 4 Ultra's passthrough is 20.6 pixels per degree (PPD), compared to the 18 PPD Meta claims for Quest 3's passthrough. The color cameras are also used for 3D video capture, up to 2048×1536 at 60 FPS. Additionally, ByteDance says Pico 4 Ultra can natively decode Apple spatial videos captured by iPhones and Vision Pro. Between the two color cameras is what Pico describes as a time-of-flight sensor which is used for 3D environment meshing, similar to the purpose of Quest 3's depth projector. Pico 4 Ultra is the first headset to support the new Wi-Fi 7 standard, which could enable more stable PC VR streaming for those who have a Wi-Fi 7 router. Finally, on the hardware side, Pico 4's distinctive arc controllers have been replaced with new ringless controllers that weigh only half as much. The default rendering resolution for immersive apps has been increased to 1920×1920, up from around 1500×1500 on the original Pico 4. And as with Apple's visionOS and now Meta's Horizon OS, Pico OS will soon let you freely position windows in space. These can be browser windows, system panels, or Android apps. ByteDance is launching its own 2D Android app store on Pico, in China at least, which will include some of the country's most popular apps. This will include Douyin (TikTok) and iQIYI, China's equivalent of Netflix. In China Pico 4 Ultra is available to preorder for ¥4300, which equates to around $600. Shipping is set to begin on September 2. ByteDance hasn't yet announced which other countries the headset will launch in, though it was recently certified by a South Korean regulator." UploadVR: https://lnkd.in/gA3AgKSQ

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