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Last week, Evolution spent €5 million to acquire the startup Livespins. Despite the low price tag, it's a move that could give the company new momentum in the US. Alex Weldon's reporting continues: Livespins told Bonus that its product is "built for the US market" and it intends to focus its efforts there. Livespins is unlike previous efforts to blend live dealer games with slots, in that it builds off of a community experience similar to video game streams. Participants watch through their online casino app and can "bet behind" the streamer's spins. Livespins expects this to synergize with US operators' affinity for celebrity ambassadors and live entertainment events at retail casinos. Special streaming events could soon allow players the chance to play and interact with some of these personalities in real time. https://lnkd.in/eMMD99_v #onlinecasino #livestreaminggamblers #igaming

The Pride Fall: Overhyped Games Gaming has become a major part of our culture, enjoyed by people of all ages. According to a study by DFC Intelligence, over 40% of the global population engages in some form of gaming. However, the gaming industry, while thriving, is not without its pitfalls. Overhyped games often fail to deliver, leading to mass disappointment and sometimes, the collapse of entire franchises. Let’s explore how this phenomenon plays out. The Impact of Gaming • Gaming has both positive and negative effects on players. • Educational games help people learn new things, while others with violent content may lead to negative behavior. • With the industry evolving, the impact of games continues to be controversial. Overhyped Games: The Great Disappointment Many major game developers create huge hype before releasing a game to boost sales. Unfortunately, not all games live up to the expectations, leading to: • Frustrated gamers who feel misled by the marketing. • Negative reviews that tarnish a game’s reputation. • Companies facing backlash, and in some cases, seeing their sales plummet. Franchise Killers: When a Game Destroys a Legacy Some of the most beloved franchises have been devastated by poorly received games. Examples include: • Hotel Mario (1994) – A disappointing game in the iconic Mario series that almost ruined its reputation. • Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) – A game with terrible controls, awkward character dynamics, and creepy storylines, which hurt the franchise’s legacy. • Cyberpunk 2077 – Released after 5 years of anticipation, this game faced severe backlash due to glitches, poor graphics, and buggy mechanics, damaging the reputation of CD Projekt. The Fallen Fathers: Effort Isn’t Always Enough Developing a game is a massive undertaking that can take years, sometimes even a decade. Despite the developers’ best efforts, these games often fall victim to: • Greedy marketing strategies that over-promise and under-deliver. • Games that don’t meet the hype end up becoming an embarrassment for the company. The Rise of the Fallen: Comebacks in the Industry Some companies have managed to bounce back from their failures and regain their reputation. Despite their overhyped flops, these companies learned from their mistakes and went on to create: • High-quality games that made players forget about their earlier failures. • A lasting presence in the gaming industry, showing that it’s possible to rise from the ashes. While some companies may not recover from the Pride Fall of overhyped games, others manage to turn things around. Gaming remains a complex industry, filled with great potential but also risky pitfalls for companies that let hype outpace substance.

Step into the Future of Gaming with Bet59.xyz – Your Premier Betting Domain Are you ready to revolutionize the online betting landscape? Bet59.xyz is the perfect domain for innovative gaming platforms, sportsbooks, or any venture focused on the exciting world of online betting. This unique domain offers you a distinct online presence that captures the essence of modern gaming. Why Choose Bet59.xyz? Catchy and Memorable: The name Bet59 is concise and easy to remember, making it an ideal choice for attracting users in the competitive betting market. Modern Extension: The .xyz domain extension is fresh and trendy, appealing to a younger audience and setting your brand apart from traditional betting sites. Versatile Applications: Whether you're launching a sports betting platform, a casino website, or a gaming app, Bet59.xyz is adaptable for various applications within the gaming industry. Success Stories Numerous brands have thrived by utilizing catchy and relevant domains like Bet59.xyz to build strong identities in the gaming sector. You could join their ranks and capitalize on the growing online betting market! Expanding Digital Landscape As online betting continues to gain traction, having a memorable domain like Bet59.xyz positions your brand for success in a rapidly evolving industry. Are you ready to explore the exciting potential of Bet59.xyz for your business? Let’s connect and discuss how this domain can enhance your gaming venture! #DomainNames #OnlineBetting #GamingIndustry #Startup #DigitalAssets #XYZDomains #Entrepreneurship

As an investor, one of the main criteria for investing in a business/sector is understanding the #businessmodel i.e. how the company is making money. What are the key metrics one should track based on which one can make their #investment decision? While the traditional business #metrics for evaluating a startup like CAC, LTV, DAU, MAU, and other Retention metrics, are important to track - however, the revenue models of #gaming are much more diverse. Network effects, user-generated content and more importantly In-Game Items / In-App Purchases are major drivers of revenue for gaming companies. Over the years the monetization model of such companies has evolved from one-time fees to monthly subscriptions to completely free games.  --- 💿One-Time Fee - The Packaged Goods Era As the years have gone games have evolved from shiny CD-ROMs to online distribution platforms; from a one-time $60 fee to free to download with monthly subscriptions and eventually to F2P with in-game monetization. 🔫Free to Play - with Expansion Packs / Monthly Subscriptions DOOM - the First Person Shooter game widely considered the first modern video game thanks to its innovative distribution policy could be considered the pioneer of the F2P Business Model - where the founders decided to publish the first few levels of the game for free. However, you had to shell out money to buy expansion packs to unlock all the levels to play the game. 🆓Free to Play - In-Game Monetization However, over the last couple of years, the Free to Play Model has taken the industry by storm with massive tailwinds from platform-based games like Fortnite, and League of Legends - which are completely free to play with in-game monetization. The gamers need to spend money only on in-game items, whereas the game can be downloaded for free. --- These virtual economies can get quite complex and definitely warrant a different LinkedIn post of its own. However, to put this into context, Per a Business Insider Report, "Counter-Strike" - a Free to Play FPS shooter made nearly $1bn from loot boxes alone last year. It is hard to believe that an F2P game (~Before 2018, you had to pay a one-time fee to buy it) would generate such monstrous numbers from in-game items which are merely differentiated by colour/pattern type and do not give any specific advantage in-game against your opponents. #monetization #startups #oaksprouts

The Pride Fall: Overhyped Games Gaming has become a major part of our culture, enjoyed by people of all ages. According to a study by DFC Intelligence, over 40% of the global population engages in some form of gaming. However, the gaming industry, while thriving, is not without its pitfalls. Overhyped games often fail to deliver, leading to mass disappointment and sometimes, the collapse of entire franchises. Let’s explore how this phenomenon plays out. The Impact of Gaming • Gaming has both positive and negative effects on players. • Educational games help people learn new things, while others with violent content may lead to negative behavior. • With the industry evolving, the impact of games continues to be controversial. Overhyped Games: The Great Disappointment Many major game developers create huge hype before releasing a game to boost sales. Unfortunately, not all games live up to the expectations, leading to: • Frustrated gamers who feel misled by the marketing. • Negative reviews that tarnish a game’s reputation. • Companies facing backlash, and in some cases, seeing their sales plummet. Franchise Killers: When a Game Destroys a Legacy Some of the most beloved franchises have been devastated by poorly received games. Examples include: • Hotel Mario (1994) – A disappointing game in the iconic Mario series that almost ruined its reputation. • Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) – A game with terrible controls, awkward character dynamics, and creepy storylines, which hurt the franchise’s legacy. • Cyberpunk 2077 – Released after 5 years of anticipation, this game faced severe backlash due to glitches, poor graphics, and buggy mechanics, damaging the reputation of CD Projekt. The Fallen Fathers: Effort Isn’t Always Enough Developing a game is a massive undertaking that can take years, sometimes even a decade. Despite the developers’ best efforts, these games often fall victim to: • Greedy marketing strategies that over-promise and under-deliver. • Games that don’t meet the hype end up becoming an embarrassment for the company. The Rise of the Fallen: Comebacks in the Industry Some companies have managed to bounce back from their failures and regain their reputation. Despite their overhyped flops, these companies learned from their mistakes and went on to create: • High-quality games that made players forget about their earlier failures. • A lasting presence in the gaming industry, showing that it’s possible to rise from the ashes. While some companies may not recover from the Pride Fall of overhyped games, others manage to turn things around. Gaming remains a complex industry, filled with great potential but also risky pitfalls for companies that let hype outpace substance.

A23-parent Head Digital Works rolls out ESOP buyback worth $3 Mn: Head Digital Works, the parent company of skill gaming platform A23, has announced the completion of its first-ever employee stock options (ESOP) buyback program worth $3 million.  Among the eligible ESOP holders, 97% opted to sell a portion of their vested ESOPs as part of the program. In total, nearly half of the company's current employee base of over 500 benefited from the buyback. Founded in 2006 by Deepak Gullapalli, Head Digital Works is an online gambling and fantasy gaming platform that has developed various platforms, including A23, an online rummy platform, and Fanfight and Cricket.com, which focus on fantasy gaming. The company offers features such as various payment options to enhance user convenience. Currently, it has over 70 million registered users across its brands. Head Digital Works claims to be the first website to launch classical Indian Rummy, aiming to promote Rummy as a professional game and foster a community of skilled gamers. To date, the company has raised $91 million. Recently, AppsForBharat announced its first ESOP buyback for 25 employees. In 2024, nearly 20 startups have implemented ESOP buyback, liquidity, and payout programs worth more than $190 million. #startupnews #startups

Curious about the cost of a white label casino? We've got the answers! 🧐 https://lnkd.in/gEgTGrFM  #casino #gaming #investment #whitelabel #money #whitelabelcasino #onlinegaming #gambling #business #entrepreneurship

Thanks to Scott Longley and team for the Kutt writeup in today's Earnings+More newsletter. Stay tuned for more updates over the coming weeks! #kuttit #socialbetting #gaming #sbc #igaming #thesocialbettingplatform #startup #sportsbetting #sportsbusiness #gamingindustry James Tice Charles Bernard

From playing poker in college to building a ₹200 crore+ poker business, we've all heard of this business on Shark Tank a million times - PokerBaazi. 1/ Five friends namely Navkiran Singh, Puneet Singh, Anirudh Chaudhry, Varun Ganjoo, and Avneet Rana launched their startup Baazi Games in 2014. Their flagship product ‘Poker Baazi’ was also launched in the same year. 2/ Once, Navkiran Singh visited Las Vegas during his college days and there he got to know the potential of poker games. After coming back to India, he along with his four friends decided to grow a homegrown poker brand and that’s how Poker Baazi came into being. 3/ However, their path was not a bed of roses. They faced numerous challenges like: + Social Stigma + Technological Complexity + Legal and Regulatory Hurdles 4/ But, with a zeal to break the social stigma related to poker and to build a homegrown brand— these challenges never stopped them. Today, Poker Baazi is the largest platform to play poker games in India. 5/ Some feathers they added to their cap since 2014: 🪶The company also expanded into two other segments of online games — fantasy sports with BalleBaazi in 2018 (now known as SportsBaazi) and online rummy with RummyBaazi in 2019. 🪶In 2019, the company raised a funding of $4 million from a private equity firm. 🪶Earlier in 2020, they raised a funding of $2 million from Udtara Ventures. 🪶In 2022, Baazi games crossed 1 billion players combined across all the segments. 🪶In 2022, Poker Baazi won the ‘Brand Disruption Award’ in the online gaming category. 🪶Founder Navkiran Singh was mentioned in the Fortune 40 under 40 entrepreneur list in 2022. 🪶For the FY ending in March 2023, Baazi Games reported a revenue of ₹232 crores which is approximately a 2.8X increase from the previous year’s revenue of ₹83 crore. From a humble college pastime to the biggest poker-playing startup in India, Baazi Games has defied the odds and shattered stereotypes. What are your thoughts on PokerBaazi’s journey thus far?

Every business hits a digital wall. 🧗♀️ But, what if you could climb over it? At The Launch Girl Kat, we've got the gear to elevate your online presence. Think custom quizzes, games, and strategies that not only engage but convert. 🚀 Ready to see numbers soar? Let's chat! Book a call and let's strategize your next big move. 📈 #DigitalMarketing #OnlineEngagement #MarketingStrategy #brandingstrategy, #onlinequizzes, #quizzes, #games, #marketingstrategy #consultation, #marketing, #ecommerce #amazon #startups