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Hyper-Casual Trend Digest #19

#freeplay #hypercasualdigest #marketing #trends
June 12, 2024

Hi everyone! This time, we’re excited to welcome you to a month full of announcements. It seems that most big companies are seizing the opportunity to create their own game stores, new ad platforms, and more. As usual, we’ve gathered all the most important details to share with you in a nutshell. Also, don’t miss our “Food for Thought” section, where you’ll find an interesting marketing case.

HYPER NEWS 🗞

🔗 YouTube’s free games catalog ‘Playables’ rolls out to all users

YouTube is expanding its free games collection, “Playables,” to all users via the app and Home page. With over 75 titles, including popular games like Angry Birds Showdown, these games aim to keep users engaged.

🔗Google don’t like Epic’s proposals (and want everyone to know about it)

Daniel Griffiths, Editor at PocketGamer.biz, explains what is happening between the two companies and offers a different perspective on the conflict.

🔗 Netflix to take on Google and Amazon by building its own ad server

Netflix announced it’s launching its own advertising technology platform, taking on industry giants like Google, Amazon, and Comcast. Originally partnering with Microsoft to enter the ad space quickly, Netflix is now bringing ad tech in-house to gain full control over its advertising strategy. This move aims to create personalized ad experiences for its 270 million subscribers.

🔗 Subscrible raises $300,000 to launch ad-free mobile games platform

Available on Google Play, the app acts as a free discovery hub and has over 15,000 users. Subscrible partners with Xsolla and features games like Archero and Asphalt. Unlike other platforms, Subscrible is completely free and uses an ‘offerwall’ monetisation tool to enhance user experience and lower acquisition costs. By reducing intrusive ads, Subscrible aims to significantly boost game developers’ profit margins.

🔗Microsoft is launching its mobile game store in July

Xbox president Sarah Bond stated the store will feature first-party titles like Candy Crush and Minecraft, and will eventually open to other publishers, starting on the web to bypass the 30% fees charged by Apple and Google. This move follows Microsoft’s long-term strategy to expand its mobile gaming presence, which began with its 2022 acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

🔗Roblox launches video ads, partnering with IAS to deliver transparent metrics

Roblox has partnered with Integral Ad Science (IAS) to enhance ad campaign transparency in its metaverse. Starting May 1st, Roblox opened video ad space to advertisers via PubMatic, targeting users over 13. With 71.5 million daily active users, Roblox offers vast reach, especially among Gen Z. IAS tools will be available later this year to monitor ad performance and ensure real user engagement, building trust with advertisers.

And some fresh stats for you 👀 :

– 65% of Gen Z gamers spend over 3 hours a day playing video games

HYPER TRENDS 📱

Time for movies and TV series

One of the most anticipated releases of May for fans of romantic series was the new season of Bridgerton. Expect plenty of drama as usual!

“Civil War” met the expectations of cinephiles with an 81% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie follows a team of military-embedded journalists on a journey across a dystopian future America, racing to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.

The brilliant spin-off of the Mad Max story, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth, has received high reviews from both critics and audiences. However, despite the positive reception, the movie has underperformed at the box office and is likely to be loss-making.

The new movie in the Apes universe has performed well at the box office and garnered positive reviews. Watch it if you’re a fan of the series.

For kids this month, there’s The Garfield Movie. While it has received low reviews from critics and hasn’t made a big splash on social media, it has still managed a decent box office performance.

Most anticipated premiers of June

What about this month’s new releases? There are plenty, and all of them have big chances to become trends on social media and gain significant reach. So, keep an eye on these:

Trends on YouTube, TikTok, Imgur, etc.

May is the month of graduations, whether it’s school, university, or kindergarten, and there’s a ton of content about it!

linda.richards05 | jessicaargueta | idjrock

AI masks are always creating new popular trends. This one uses your photo to create a video of you dancing. Sometimes even your cat, dog, or child can dance 🙂

_aubreyhowell | emory.yancey | pll

We’ve all done something silly for a crush at some point. What sets Gen Z apart is that their mistakes are often captured thanks to their digital footprint. Are you brave enough to share your cringy moments with the world? They are!

lusimann123 | victoria_win1 | arlynieweenie

This trend plays on ruining your expectations, and it usually works:

josh.sundquist | ohmymarky | lamonjadepomona

New TikTok effects

Check out these three new TikTok effects that are trending right now:

itsjustleigha | wayudance | newwyyork

Trend-based projects

And here are some new games for trend lovers.

Bravestars Publishing | Hapiga Studio | ABI Games Studio

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 🤔

This time, we decided to discuss a topic that was buzzing all over social media in May. Of course, we’re talking about Billie Eilish’s new album.

“Hit Me Hard and Soft” had a big promo, as expected from one of the biggest pop stars right now, but what really exploded on Gen Z’s social media was Billie adding all her IG followers to her Close Friends list to announce the release.

Why was this so impressive? Because with this move, she achieved several marketing milestones simultaneously:

  • She informed her audience about the new album and achieved massive engagement. A large percentage of her followers posted screenshots in their IG stories, TikTok, and Snapchat, showing that they were “close” with the pop star.
  • She increased her audience from 100M followers to 107M in just two days, thanks to all the reposts she received.
  • She got everyone talking about Instagram’s Close Friends feature.

The marketing community speculates that this campaign was orchestrated by Instagram’s PR department because it seems impossible to add such a large audience to Close Friends without communication with Instagram’s office. In the end, it’s not clear who benefited more from this activity, Billie or Instagram.

What do you think about this case? Are there any possibilities to use this strategy in your social media campaigns?

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