The dead are so very, very loud. And yet, lying is not in their nature. – Saburo Arasaka

Hey there!

It is Wednesday and there’s all we have to say about it.

Unity announced payment tiers for developers and the gaming world is melting down.

Cyberpunk’s update will forge the cooling systems and the CPUs, it seems. Forza Motorsport will have Blind Driving Assist and Mario Kart Tour will have no more updates.

Don’t miss The Chronicles, today we learn about mobile gaming, generative AI and user acquisition.

Let’s hit the play button.

Welcome to The Power-Up #1

Round-up of the day

😱 Was 2023 truly a horrible gaming year? Why? Especially in a year with such amazing launches as BG3, Starfield, Tears of the Kingdom? And upcoming SpiderMan 2, among others?

🔫 XDefiant, Ubisoft's free-to-play first-person shooter with factions from Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, and The Division was delayed after failing Xbox and PlayStation certification. 

🏴‍☠️ The Monkey Island-inspired point-and-click game, Foolish Mortals, was delayed to 2024, creator David Younger announced in a blog post, along with some improvements for the final version of the game. You can try a demo version on Steam, if you want.

🏎️ Starting October, Mario Kart Tour will have no more content updates, potentially so Nintendo can concentrate on developing Mario Kart 9. But current tours will still be available to play.

🕹️ And speaking of Nintendo, they filed a new patent for a new controller that won’t suffer from joystick drift. The upcoming controller will utilize a "magnetorheological fluid" that alters its viscosity in response to a magnetic field.

♨️ Steam is 20 years old and goes green. Literally. How old is your Steam account, by the way? I’m just a kid, at only 11 years since I started my Steam account.

📲 Since Apple announced that new iPhones will have USB-C, Backbone updated their USB-C Android controller to work with iPhone 15 as well.

🤬 We live in a world where gaming events get shut down because of security threats. Roblox awards were canceled and a developer was arrested after “security concerns”.

Biz Reel

📈 Unity announced new plan pricing and packaging updates and everyone went crazy, even advising devs not to use Unity because “it’s dead”. Unity reacted and tried to add more details in this post on Twitter (now X).

📈 It seems there’s something going on with game development engines, because Godot enters the subscription service game so it can bring on more staff and "make the best possible Godot Engine."

📈 And gaming as an industry only seems to go up in terms of number of gamers. 4 out of 5 Australians are gamers. I wonder if the ratio is the same in the other markets (at least Western ones).

📈 Embracer Group may be selling Borderlands developer Gearbox, according to a report from Reuters.

📈 However, Dan Hewitt, chief communication officer at Gearbox, addressed the rumors: “there are many options under consideration, including Gearbox’s transfer, taking Gearbox independent and others”.

📈 It’s clear Embracer is going through major changes, with additional layoffs at Rainbow Studios, the makers of MX vs ATV Legends.

📈 Microsoft is partnering with Mastercard to launch an official Xbox credit card, initially exclusive to Xbox Insiders in the US. The reward-based card offers points for everyday purchases and bonus points for purchases made at the Microsoft Store and with certain partners, with accrued points redeemable for games and add-ons.

📈 The Chinese mobile gaming markets generated $3 billions in July 2023, while Coin Master takes the… coin(!) in the European markets.

📈 Phoenix Labs CEO and co-founder Jesse Houston and COO Jeanne-Marie Owens are stepping down, transitioning to advisory roles, while VP Ian Johnson takes over as COO. Phoenix Labs second release, Fae Farm, launched on Friday on Switch and PC.

📈 While not strictly gaming, Sensor Tower fires 40 stuff, including execs (CMO, CPO, CFO). It really looks like a big reshuffle happening there and I wonder if they’re connected to the privacy issues regarding data collection. I mean, firing your Chief Product Officer shows an issue with the product, right?

📈 I have to say that blockchain gaming still surprises me. Now with big seed investment rounds: GamePhilos raised $8 million to put towards a new free-to-play mobile/PC strategy game called Age of Dino. Of course, when you find out the founders are veterans from studios like Zynga, FunPlus and NetEase, the financing might make sense.

📈 Still on the web3/blockchain gaming side of news, Web3 game Pixels will migrate from Polygon to Ronin blockchain network. Pixels is the top game on Polygon, so this is big news.

Game Central

🎮 Forza Motorsport is coming soon, and it is coming with assist features for visually impaired gamers. The Blind Driving Assist function is engineered to aid players with blindness or low vision by offering auditory signals for easier track navigation.

🎮 Also, Forza Motorsport will have ray-tracing with dynamic 4K and 60FPS on Xbox Series X.

🎮 Cyberpunk’s Lead Scene Programmer, Filip Pierściński has cautioned PC gamers to check their cooling systems prior to the game's major update set to be released later this month. “We use all what you have, so workload on CPU 90% on 8 core is expected”, Filip said on Twitter.

🎮 Yesterday Apple announced iPhone 15. This in not gaming news in itself, but Apple announced NATIVE versions of Assassin’s Creed Mirage at the same time as the console and PC launch. Also, Death Stranding, Resident Evil Village and RE4 Remake come to the iPhone natively, as well.

🎮 While Apple announces these games, Netflix is going under the radar, snatching a title from Apple Arcade: Football Manager goes to Netflix cloud. This raises the question: is Netflix gonna dominate the cloud gaming market? At least on mobile?

The Power-Up Chronicles

After initially finding success in PC and console gaming, Canada-based Hothead Games shifted its focus to mobile gaming in 2011 and has weathered numerous challenges, including failed projects, legal disputes, and the increased costs of game development. CEO Ian Wilkinson attributes the company's resilience to a "no retreat, no surrender" philosophy, emphasizing the importance of focus, hard work, and strategic decision-making in navigating the volatile gaming market.

➡️ Read the story on Mobilegamer

Generative AI is set to transform gaming by assisting in dynamic storytelling, world-building, and serving as a player's "copilot". Future gaming experiences could feature real-time AI 'Directors' adapting levels and challenges based on player behavior. AI can also guide players through complex game environments and even collaborate with them. While challenges such as legal issues and consistency remain, this technology has the potential to create entirely new kinds of AI-first games and enhance current gaming experiences.

➡️ An article by Jonathan Lai on A16Z.

User Acquisition (UA) is a double-edged sword for independent game studios, capable of either propelling a mobile game to success or leading a studio to financial ruin. Misconceptions about iOS attribution, improper budget allocation, unrealistic expectations, reliance on misleading metrics from networks, and lack of control over service providers are pitfalls that can jeopardize a game's profitability. To succeed, studios need to adopt a nuanced approach to UA, focusing on accurate metrics and strategic budgeting rather than blindly increasing spend.

➡️ A very useful guide by Justin Stolzenberg, CPO and co-founder at Phoenix Games. You can read it on GamesIndustry.biz

That’s it for today. Thank you for reading. Stay powered-up until next time.

Bobby & Andrei