Mobile Mavens’ highlights and lowlights of 2024 part two: “The competitive UA landscape has been particularly intense”

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As soon as once more it is that point of yr the place all of us begin feeling reflective and look again on the yr simply gone.

So to that finish, we thought we might ask our Cell Experts – a group of video games business consultants – just a few questions concerning the yr passed by, and what lies forward in 2025. Right here we requested:

What have been the highlights and lowlights for you and your online business in 2024?

You possibly can learn half one in every of this text right here.

For me, 2024 was all about Utmost Video games — a yr of devoted effort in constructing the corporate and investing in gifted studios and groups.

One standout success has been High App Video games and their hit Ludus, which achieved exceptional outcomes (over $2 million in month-to-month income and three million downloads) and have become a supply of real delight.

I’d like to focus on one other one in every of my investments: Digital Vortex Leisure, a writer targeted on PC and console video games. I attempt to take a complete view of the business, and for me, this space is simply as vital as cell gaming. Each sectors have immense potential, and I’m dedicated to supporting innovation and development throughout all the gaming panorama.

Earlier than diving into this new chapter, I took a while to relaxation and recalibrate. In 2023, I stepped down from my function as CEO of My.Video games and targeted on my household for some time. Now, my vitality is totally directed towards rising Utmost Video games and supporting studios and publishers worldwide.

This help goes past mere investments. It’s about sharing experience and providing tailor-made steering. Totally different groups have completely different wants — whether or not it’s strategic recommendation, operational insights, or inventive path — and I’m at all times keen to assist them thrive.

The highlights are too many to rely! We hit each firm KPI by mid-November: from income, to DAU and ARPDAU. So an exceptional yr from a enterprise standpoint.

We additionally entered a brand new vertical: buying rewards. US-based ZBD app customers can now earn rewards by buying on-line and in-person at a whole lot of shops. 

Lately, we additionally turned the primary firm to get accredited for an EU MiCAR license! Meaning we’re licensed to carry out a variety of crypto companies, together with change, throughout the EU.

No actual lowlights, apart from some lengthy work weeks, however that’s par for the course in a startup.

2024 has been a really transformative yr for Metaplay. We launched the primary public model of our SDK at PGC London in January and have been busy rising all side of our enterprise.

We’ve got onboarded extra recreation studios to make use of Metaplay than all earlier years mixed and saved up delivery giant characteristic updates that instantly tackle the most important challenges our clients face in creating their initiatives.

Particularly, I’m seeing us tackle a extra energetic function and stronger opinions on how our clients ought to function their reside video games.

For instance, we at the moment are internet hosting scalable manufacturing environments along with providing a path to self-hosting and have overtly printed our ever-growing LiveOps Dashboard design system that makes it simpler to construct inside instruments on high of Metaplay’s present dashboards.

Our newest launch 31 (from earlier this week as I’m penning this) even launched the very first sneak peeks of built-in enterprise KPIs and a visible timeline view of LiveOps occasions that can develop subsequent yr to be a very new, no-code approach for giant groups to handle their recreation server content material.

The vital nuance in all the above is that whereas it was all beforehand potential and huge studios have constructed their customized tooling on high of Metaplay, we at the moment are more and more assured in declaring sure workflows as business finest practices and making them everlasting additions to our product.

My lowlight for the yr is simply the ever-continuing stream of layoffs and studio closures. The availability shock continues to be ongoing and challenge (or “content material”) funding continues to be few and much between for all that expertise to start out new issues. Fortunately, the development appears to be slowly rebounding on the optimistic in direction of 2025.

2024 marked a pivotal yr for Goodville. Among the many highlights: we turned worthwhile, had 80% income development and vital consumer development. We additionally efficiently relaunched our psychological wellness marketing campaign in collaboration with WHO and launched Sarah, a wise AI useful resource assistant for psychological well being and wellbeing.

Moreover, the introduction of recent reside ops options garnered glorious suggestions, strengthening our gamers’ engagement. 

On the draw back, the surging prices of consumer acquisition in an more and more aggressive cell market, and significantly farm journey video games, posed challenges, prompting us to innovate with inventive methods and partnerships to maintain our development.

The yr 2024 was extremely dynamic for each me and my firm. On a private degree, I celebrated the delivery of my son and took on a brand new function because the CEO of High App Video games — each of which have been undoubtedly probably the most vital milestones of the yr for me.

For High App Video games, it was a yr of transformation. What began as a small startup has grown right into a thriving worldwide firm with an workplace in Cyprus and month-to-month income nearing $3 million.

And but, I imagine that is solely the start — our ambitions attain far past. We’re attracting new groups and creating a number of initiatives throughout genres, with one upcoming title providing a twist on style fusion that we’re desirous to unveil as quickly because it’s prepared.

On the draw back, the aggressive panorama in visitors acquisition has been significantly intense. Our consumer acquisition workforce has needed to discover progressive approaches to product promotion. For example, we have began experimenting with broader media visitors channels along with efficiency advertising and marketing.

Spotlight: Extra recreation studios realising the potential of rewarded UA and reaching out to us with a purpose to scale their UA. Additionally rising the advert budgets from our long-standing clients, by rising high quality step-by-step with data-driven product and marketing campaign enhancements.

Lowlight: Robust restrictions by the App Retailer and Google Play, no differentiation between excessive and low high quality UA apps. So Freecash continues to be being generalised and perceived as doubtful by Apple and Google, regardless of hundreds of optimistic opinions by players and customers.

This yr, Sweet Crush Saga’s Music Season was a standout spotlight for each gamers and the workforce.

There’s one thing concerning the mixture of sweet and music that simply works, and this season captured that completely. From the catchy songs to the inventive candified music movies, the expertise was properly balanced for our gamers.

Considered one of my private favorite touches was the metallic look of the Candies, it was an sudden and playful twist that added to the joy of the season.

Every of the 100 developer-driven product updates and launches we launched this yr marked standout moments for our workforce; giving us the chance to help and empower our unbelievable video games group.

With our community-focus growth, ByteBrew has emerged as one of many largest product footprints on the app shops for video games in 2024. What we’ve achieved over the past yr is a testomony to our passionate and progressive workforce. 

Nonetheless, as an business, 2024 introduced vital challenges for studios who needed to adapt to shifting market circumstances and tighter margins. Because the business shifts round them, studios can depend on ByteBrew to offer the options groups must navigate and thrive.