Press Releases
Top-Tier Mobile Game Publishers Spend $21 Million on Custom Tech
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:
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$138,864 is the average salary of an employee working on internal tech at major publishers in the United States
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52 is the average number of employees working predominantly in internal tech
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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:
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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%)
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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.
The post Top-Tier Mobile Game Publishers Spend $21 Million on Custom Tech appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Press Releases
VIDEOSLOTS to become Immense Group
Videoslots, an award-winning regulated online casino founded in 2011, has successfully grown into a multibranded operator, currently representing four online casinos and one sportsbet casino. To pave the way for future growth, the company and its affiliated entities are consolidating all its consumer brands under the Immense Group umbrella in Malta.
The strategic rationale behind this transformation underscores Videoslots’ journey as a dynamic and expanding organisation, now managing a portfolio of five in-house-built, consumer-facing brands. The company believes its multi-brand strategy, focused on regulated markets, has been highly successful and it intends to continue along this path. Adopting a distinct Group name, separate from its consumer brands, is expected to help the company unlock the full potential of each brand within the portfolio.
“Videoslots Group has an impressive track record in a fast growing, rapidly changing industry. Adopting the Immense Group name reflects our ambition to continue driving progress and fostering growth for each individual brand “, says Alexander Stevendahl, CEO and co-founder of Videoslots.
Impact on Consumer Brands
The name change to Immense Group will not impact the customer-facing brands, including Videoslots, Mr Vegas, Kungaslottet, Mega Riches, and DBET. These brands will continue to operate under the new structure, delivering the same exceptional gaming experiences.
The meaning behind the name
The chosen name, “Immense,” reflects something that inspires awe and admiration. Videoslots is immensely proud of its strong culture, talented people, and long-term success in online gaming.
New formation of Immense Group AB
Conditional upon regulatory approval, Videoslots and all other brands in the portfolio will form part of Immense Group AB, a newly established holding company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.
Leadership
Immense Group AB has appointed Jesper Kärrbrink as CEO. With over 20 years in the iGaming industry, Mr. Kärrbrink has held pivotal leadership roles, including CEO positions at Mr. Green Ltd. and Svenska Spel, as well as serving as Chairman of Pariplay Ltd, CEGO A/S and Internet Vikings AB. His strategic leadership at these organizations highlights his capability to scale businesses, navigate regulatory landscapes, and drive success in highly competitive environments.
“The Videoslots journey is a true success story. With four additional brands and a new corporate structure, now is the perfect time to introduce a new umbrella brand that carries the strong Videoslots culture into its next chapter,” says Jesper Kärrbrink, CEO of Immense Group AB.
The post VIDEOSLOTS to become Immense Group appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Press Releases
Push Gaming ignites the reels with 10 Flaming Bisons
Push Gaming’s latest release, 10 Flaming Bisons, brings the American Frontier to life, featuring the provider’s innovative Push-up mechanic and thrilling jackpots that enhance excitement.
Played initially across 5×3 reels, various native American characters must form a matched combination across 20 paylines to award a win.
Focusing on risk and reward factors and gameplay preferences, players can increase the gameboard’s size via the Push Up mechanic, up to 5×4 or 5×5 in size, fostering a sense of strategy.
Regular symbols are joined by wilds in the base game, which aid players in unlocking a win. These are joined by Bison symbols, with four or more needed to grant an instant cash prize up to 1,000x.
Each additional Bison Symbol increases the position on an incrementally increasing prize ladder. They can also grant jackpot awards, including mini, minor, major and mega jackpots up to 5,000x, boosting replayability.
At least three scatters are needed to enter the bonus, where players will collect additional scatters to reveal an enhanced gameboard. Every four scatters collected unlock an extra row and grant more spins up to a maximum of a 5×7 grid home to 60 paylines, increasing win potential.
Prioritising individual playstyles and blending the Push Up mechanic with jackpot prizes, 10 Flaming Bisons follows the successes of other recent Push Gaming titles, including Jaguar Drop, Cats of Olympuss and Big Bam-Book.
Ihor Lozynskyi, Head of Studio at Push Gaming, said: “10 Flaming Bisons is a thrilling evolution of last year’s 10 Swords. We have evolved this concept by combining beloved mechanics with pioneering new features like Push Up to captivate both seasoned players and newcomers.
“We are excited to see the numerous playstyles our fans will implement via these mechanics and look forward to them enjoying the progressive bonus game upon release.”
The post Push Gaming ignites the reels with 10 Flaming Bisons appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Press Releases
Thunderkick diversifies ancient mythology game collection with Ways of Athena
Expanding pay ways unlock 25,000x win potential
Independent slots studio Thunderkick has launched Ways of Athena, a Greek mythology-themed title where matching mystery symbols reveal up to 43,923 ways to win.
The goddess of wisdom and warfare reigns supreme in the 3×5 slot, where helmets, shields, amphoras, and lyres line the reels. Matching mystery symbols land on reels two to five and enhance base game action, transforming into double symbols and mirroring an icon on reel one to increase the number of pay ways and boost wins.
Landing three scatters triggers the bonus round with an initial eight free spins, with each additional scatter awarding two extra spins. When mystery symbols match a scatter on reel one, they will also split into double symbols, providing the potential for 44 free spins.
During the bonus feature, matching mystery orbs are accumulated in a meter beneath the grid. For every five orbs collected, the number of pay ways assigned to mystery symbols increases up to five, and two additional spins are awarded, paving the way for 25,000x maximum wins.
Ways of Athena is the latest addition to Thunderkick’s diverse portfolio of class-leading content and supplements its ancient mythology offering that includes Sword of Khans, Odin’s Gamble, and Midas Golden Touch 1 and 2.
Johannes Polbring, Game Product Owner at Thunderkick, said: “Ways of Athena introduces matching mystery symbols which split two, three, or five ways, increasing the number of total pay ways up to a maximum of 43,923. This not only generates bigger wins but also provides the opportunity to trigger up to 44 free spins, enriching the player experience.
“This exciting concept, coupled with the popular Greek mythology theme and crisp visuals, delivers engaging gameplay that further strengthens Thunderkick’s offering on behalf of our global operator partners.”
The post Thunderkick diversifies ancient mythology game collection with Ways of Athena appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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