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.
PG Soft, a world-class digital mobile games company, has released its highly infectious video slot, Zombie Outbreak.
The game unfolds within an apocalyptic world where the undead rise on the 5 reels, featuring a layout with 4 rows on reels 1, 3, and 5, and 5 rows on reels 2 and 4.
One of the many electrifying features of Zombie Outbreak is the Expanding Wild symbol, which replaces all symbols aside from the Scatter symbol. These Wild symbols appear exclusively on reels 2 and 4, mutating into Expanding Wild symbols with three multipliers within each symbol.
The multipliers inside the Expanding Wild symbol can range from: x1 x2 x3, x2 x3 x5, x3 x5 x12, x5 x10 x15, or x10 x15 x25. Before winning totals are paid out, the smallest multiplier value from each Expanding Wild symbol is displayed at the foot of the reels. Wins are then multiplied by the collected multiplier value.
The Expanding Wild symbol remains on the reels until the end of the spin or until all three multipliers have been collected.
Players seek out the Free Spins Feature, which is triggered with three hazardous Scatter symbols appearing on screen. Once entering Free Spins, any collected multipliers stay active until the feature’s conclusion. Players have the chance to retrigger free spins. For those hungry to enhance chances of a win, the Feature Buy button offers a direct route into the Free Spins feature.
PG Soft’s spokesperson commented: “The news of Zombie Outbreak’s release will spread fast and we expect a feeding frenzy from players thanks to its stunning gameplay. It is designed to provide an exhilarating experience with its clever features and opportunities for big wins.”
The post PG Soft launches infectious Zombie Outbreak title appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Everygame Poker has just launched a brand-new Chinese slot game from Betsoft in its casino games section. The new Caishen God of Fortune has a Hold & Win bonus feature, Extra Win symbols that increase the values of other symbols, and Stacked Mystery Symbols.
In the new Caishen God of Fortune, Caishen himself grants his generous blessing of good fortune to all who approach. With the popular Hold & Win feature, wins will be plentiful as players navigate the world of the gods.
Six or more Bonus symbols trigger the Hold & Win feature. Three free re-spins begin during which all Bonus symbols stick. If a Collect symbol appears, it collects the values of all visible Bonus symbols. Collecting 15 Bonus symbols wins a Grand Prize.
When Caishen grants an Extra Win symbol during Hold & Win spins, it increases the value of chosen Bonus symbols and transforms itself into a Bonus symbol as well.
Each reel can contain Stacked Mystery symbols that are replaced with one random symbol, filling all Mystery symbols with matching symbols.
Known primarily for its busy poker tables on the Horizon Poker Network, Everygame Poker also has a large and growing casino games section featuring slots and table games from Betsoft, Nucleus Gaming, Worldmatch and Tangente. Players can also use their Everygame Poker account to play at Everygame Casino and Everygame Sportsbook.
The post Everygame Poker Adds Betsoft’s ‘Caishen God of Fortune’ Slot to Casino Collection appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Asia
NODWIN Gaming appoints former TEC Co-Founder Ishaan Arya as Vice President of Sales & Partnerships
NODWIN Gaming, the leading South Asian gaming and Esports company, has appointed Esports veteran Ishaan Arya, as Vice President of Sales and Partnerships to bolster its leadership team.
With over a decade of experience, the former co-founder of The Esports Club has played a pivotal role in spearheading some of the country’s largest gaming and Esports events, including The Arena, India’s premier consumer gaming event. His guidance not only propelled The Esports Club to unprecedented heights but also facilitated its expansion beyond India into the markets of the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
In his new role at NODWIN Gaming, Ishaan will focus on enhancing the value of the company’s existing IPs, such as BGMS, DreamHack India, NODWIN India Premiership, Valorant Challengers South Asia, and Comic Con India, ensuring their sustained growth and global audience engagement. He will be working on new brand partnerships, initiatives and innovating IPs as NODWIN Gaming pushes the boundaries in the gaming, esports, and lifestyle segments.
Sharing his thoughts, Ishaan Arya, Vice-President of Sales and Partnerships at NODWIN Gaming, stated, “I am excited to join NODWIN Gaming to contribute to their massive roster of global gaming, esports, and lifestyle events. As one of the top new-age sports media organizations in the world, NODWIN Gaming’s visionary approach and global roadmap have always been top-notch. Alongside a fantastic team, I am eager to utilize my expertise in large-scale gaming events and publisher partnerships to elevate the company to new heights.”
“At NODWIN, we pride ourselves in encouraging our leaders to take ownership in various aspects of the business. As a founder himself, Ishaan not only brings a wealth of knowledge and experience but will also drive innovation and growth across key verticals of our gaming and entertainment segments,” said Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder and Managing Director of NODWIN Gaming.
Since its inception, NODWIN Gaming has cemented its position as a frontrunner in the global gaming and Esports industry. The company has been making significant strides in venturing beyond Esports, recently acquiring Comic Con India, alongside obtaining a 51% stake in the Singapore-based media company Branded.
With experience working with Comic Con India as well as industry giants like NVIDIA, Intel, LG, Lenovo, Dell, JBL & Amazon, in the past, Ishaan will be a key addition to NODWIN Gaming as they drive innovation and progress in the gaming and Esports sector.
The post NODWIN Gaming appoints former TEC Co-Founder Ishaan Arya as Vice President of Sales & Partnerships appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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