The most important thing is to be where the gamers are- Bo Daly, founder and CEO, Bazooka Tango

Hey there!

🎉 But we have so much more:

Lots of funding rounds.

Bazooka Tango secured $5 million in funding for developing Shardbound, Embracer Group has laid off 900 employees and the newly released PlayStation Portal handheld sold out quickly. 

But Bobby has it! 😊 (I do! 😄 )

Let’s go:

Welcome to The Power-Up #26

Biz-Up

📉 AppsFlyer reports a 20% decrease in mobile marketing budgets for Q3 2023, largely due to economic downturns and Apple's privacy policies, alongside increased uncertainty from privacy-driven measurement fragmentation. 

🥳 Wooga's flagship game June's Journey, marking its sixth anniversary, has reached $1 billion in revenue, becoming the first German mobile game to do so, and is the highest-grossing hidden object game on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

💰 Bazooka Tango, co-founded by former Rockstar and Riot developers, secured $5 million in funding for developing Shardbound, a tactical collectible card game featuring trading card elements and digital collectibles.

💰 Layer AI, an AI-focused startup, raised $1.8 million to develop an AI-powered tool for game art production, aiming to enhance art creation processes in the gaming industry. 

🎉 Monopoly Go, developed by Scopely, surpassed $1 billion in revenue and 100 million downloads in just seven months since its April launch, making it the fastest-ever casual game to reach this milestone. 

💰 Replai, a SaaS company, has developed AI technology to automate and enhance video ad creation for mobile games, raising a total of $8 million in funding. Their innovative AI tool processes over $5 billion in annual ad spend, generating thousands of video ads each month. 

💰Bezi, a collaborative 3D design tool, secured $13 million in funding led by Benchmark to democratize 3D content creation, making it more accessible and user-friendly than traditional tools like Unity or Unreal.

6️⃣ Unity is transitioning to a number-based naming convention with its upcoming Unity 6, set for release in 2024, moving away from the "LTS" format. Unity 6 will feature significant updates including the introduction of Unity Cloud and early access to generative AI tools like Unity Muse and Unity Sentis, alongside a new revenue-based fee structure for high-earning developers. 

Industry Level-Up

🤝 Annapurna Interactive has strategically acquired 24 Bit Games, a leading South African game studio, to enhance its global presence in the gaming industry and expand its interactive division.

🤝 Nordcurrent, known for mobile games like Happy Clinic and Ocean's Heart, has acquired River End Games, a move that marks its strategic expansion into the console and PC gaming market.

🪧 Sega faces an unfair labour practice complaint from the Communications Workers of America for allegedly threatening layoffs to its unionized workers, specifically temporary employees, by February 2024.

😔 Embracer Group, despite a 13% increase in net sales to $170.5 million, has laid off 900 employees, about 5% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring program aimed at transforming the company into a more cash flow generative business.

🚀 NetEase has launched a new Vancouver-based studio, Worlds Untold, led by former BioWare veteran Mac Walters, who played a significant role in developing the narratives of popular games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

Round-Up

📈 'My Coloring Book Free' has surged to the top of the iOS game charts in several major western markets, including the US, Australia, UK, and Italy, driven by a TikTok trend where users download the game, color scenes, and share their results.

🎮 The newly released PlayStation Portal handheld sold out quickly, leaving many players frustrated and unable to purchase due to limited stock availability and scalpers reselling at higher prices. Sony has advised customers to check back in early December for more stock, but there are concerns that this restock, too, might fall prey to scalpers, reflecting the ongoing challenge of limited availability for high-demand gaming products.

🎮 I (Bobby) got the PlayStation Portal on Wednesday, but I pre-ordered it the moment it was available.

🎶 PS5 owners have the opportunity to get 6 months of Apple Music for free, a deal available until November 15, 2024. To take advantage of this offer, users need a PS5, a PlayStation account, and an Apple account, and must redeem the offer directly on their PS5.

🏆 Neil Druckmann, co-president of Naughty Dog, will be honored with the Andrew Yoon Legend Award at the 13th annual New York Game Awards on January 23, 2024, recognizing his significant contributions to the gaming industry.

Game-Up

💿 Baldur's Gate 3 is set to release a Deluxe Edition for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC in early 2024, featuring a range of physical and digital extras. The physical Deluxe Edition includes the game, original soundtrack CDs, a double-sided map, patches, a mind flayer poster, stickers, and more, all packaged in a box styled after the first two Baldur's Gate games. 

🥷 In December, Ubisoft will release a free update for Assassin’s Creed Mirage, introducing New Game+ and a challenging 'Permadeath Mode'.

🗡️ Monolith Productions' Wonder Woman game, first announced as a single-player, open-world action title, might evolve into a live service game, as indicated by a recent job listing seeking someone with experience in maintaining live software products.

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

Bobby & Andrei