Hyper-Casual Trend Digest #12

#freeplay #hypercasualdigest #marketing #trends

November 15, 2023

No extra words—let’s dive into summaries of all the important gaming news from last month.

HYPER NEWS 🗞

🔗 Disney CEO Bob Iger is considering the acquisition of a major publisher

Disney CEO Bob Iger is thinking about buying a major games publisher, considering past struggles in the gaming industry. Potential targets include Square Enix and Electronic Arts, with EA having a strong partnership with Disney and a presence in mobile gaming.

🔗 Samsung set to launch its game streaming service

Samsung is introducing cloud gaming for mobile games, aiming to simplify user acquisition by eliminating downloads. Despite financial challenges and competition from Apple, Samsung is focusing on mobile gaming through streaming.

🔗 Meta to offer ad-free subscription in Europe in bid to keep tracking other users

Meta plans to offer an ad-free subscription for Facebook and Instagram in the EU, EEA, and Switzerland starting next month. The move follows privacy concerns and legal challenges. Users can opt for a subscription priced at €9.99/month (web) or €12.99/month (iOS/Android) per linked account.

🔗Netflix plans to win “The Big Prize” of gaming

Games are seen as an addition to their core content, with plans to scale up and expand the gaming service. They are testing streaming games on TVs using phones as controllers. Also, there are initial indications and hints that Netflix is in talks with Rockstar, the developer, to bring GTA to their gaming platform.

🔗It’s official: Microsoft closes Activision Blizzard acquisition as UK approves restructured deal

Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision gets UK regulatory approval. Ubisoft will take Activision’s cloud-streaming rights outside the European Economic Area, preventing a Microsoft monopoly in cloud gaming.

🔗Unity’s Runtime Fee debacle caused 15% of its US advertisers to jump ship

Unity’s announcement of the Runtime Fee led to a 15% decline in US advertisers on its network, followed by an 8% drop the next week. The situation improved after Unity revised its terms and apologized, with a 5% increase in advertisers. Despite fluctuations, the month ended with a 9% month-on-month increase in total US advertisers for September.

🔗 AppLovin may make a second attempt at buying Unity, rumors suggest

After the Unity Runtime Fee controversy, there are rumors of AppLovin considering acquiring Unity, with shares down by 40%. The recent strife with Unity has developers turning to AppLovin for support, with AppLovin releasing a free AI tool to migrate projects away from Unity.

And some fresh stats for you 👀 :

HYPER TRENDS 📱

Time for movies and TV series

Carol Danvers gets her powers entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe.

A 20-something Toronto indie rocker’s adventures in getting and keeping jobs, avoiding being kicked out of his apartment, and surviving encounters with the seven evil exes of the new girl in town on whom he has a crush.

To secure their fortune (and future), two ruthless siblings build a family dynasty that begins to crumble when their heirs mysteriously die, one by one.

Trends on YouTube, TikTok, Imgur, etc.

The Halloween theme doesn’t let us go, so of course there will be a lot of videos and different effects with pumpkins, skeletons and ghosts in this selection. Boo! 👻

davidbeck | PrestonYT | TwoInchesOfFun

And we couldn’t miss the satisfying art mechanics, of course 🎨

maria_ponce_l | TwoInchesOfFun | doodlejamzhq

Board games and and some sort of logic challenges are good because you can get inspiration from reviews on them and look for cool new mechanics or mix old familiar ones.

games4two | games4two | larrika_

CapCut once again surprises with new trending templates. This time viral templates became with characters from popular movie projects and funny animals.

frenchsheis | allhallowsmemes | slipknotman223

New TikTok effects

In this selection we have a lot of different effects and each one stands out with some familiar theme and mechanics.

bethcochrantyler | __natalietaylor | mmmjoemele

munchie.michelle | munchie.michelle | bartel_games

Trend-based projects

The big trend with colored cans and bottles was still active in projects in October. But in this selection, we also thought we’d show projects which trends and themes we from time to time show in the digest, but games not so often 💡