Karol Severin

What Steam Deck, Netflix, Zoom, Peloton and Pro Evolution Soccer tell us about the future of games distribution

Blog post by Karol Severin

23 Jul 2021

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I had to take some time off in the last two weeks. It is never good to have to step away from the buzz of daily games industry developments, but the silver lining…

The esports viewer dossier Q1 2021

Report by Karol Severin

25 Jun 2021

£5,000.00

The esports viewer dossier Q1 2021 covers the following for segmented esports viewers and consumer averages: Demographics and penetration Genre and sports preferences Time and money spent Service usage…

The games industry has changed; E3 needs to do the same if it is to remain relevant

Blog post by Karol Severin

21 Jun 2021

This year’s E3 has experienced mixed reviews, with the consensus largely being that some interesting announcements were made, but they no longer provide an all-encompassing view of what’s going on…

Games video creators can help attract new audiences to esports, if rights holders empower them to

Blog post by Karol Severin

14 Jun 2021

Those who have been following MIDiA’s games coverage for a while will have seen our posts about the growth problem of esports and suggestions around putting focus on the entertainment angle , rather…

Marketing a game? Put enough focus on Discord and TikTok

Blog post by Karol Severin

7 Jun 2021

TikTok and Discord are essential channels for effective gamer targeting. MIDiA’s Q1 2021 survey states that weekly active user penetration of the two services over-indexes among mobile and console gamers…

Games subscriptions
Early market leaders and consumer profiles emerge

Report by Karol Severin

28 May 2021

As games subscriptions grow, understanding gamers through the lens of their subscriptions becomes crucial. Monitoring the growth of games subscription services and the behavioural makeup of segments that…

Why we could see Epic Games gradually turn Fall Guys into free to play?

Blog post by Karol Severin

28 May 2021

Fall Guys characters are venturing out into Super Bomberman’s free-to-play new release. It is the first time a Fall Guys character crosses over to another game. It is an interesting way to market a…

Live streamed concert demand
Ready for prime time

Cover image for Live streamed concert demand

Report by Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin and Kriss Thakrar

21 May 2021

£3,000.00

Virtual concerts went from zero to a hundred at an unprecedented rate during the pandemic-shaped 2020, and the momentum carried through to 2021. But if lockdown years are like dog years, then so too…

Watch out Warzone and Fortnite: Ubisoft is coming after free-to-play

Blog post by Karol Severin

17 May 2021

Ubisoft announced last week that it is adding specific focus on free-to-play, alongside its AAA catalogue. In doing so, it is following a route that has been very successful for Activision with its Warzone…

Quick take: Epic doubles down on expression and creation with the acquisition of ArtStation

Blog post by Karol Severin

10 May 2021

Epic Games embarked on the journey of attracting third-party developers a while ago , but it has now made a significant step towards building up a go-to marketplace and distribution centre for designers…

In-game spending
Cross-entertainment product strategy

Report by Karol Severin

30 Apr 2021

£3,000.00

Games revenue growth is about to slow, with in-game spending the sector set to retain most momentum. Simultaneously, other entertainment sectors will actively seek to monetise digital fandom. Future…

The case for next-generation spectator modes in games

Blog post by Karol Severin

26 Apr 2021

The increasing need for digital expression, co-creation, and managing friction in the saturated attention economy presents a lucrative opportunity to bring the in-game spectating experience to the next…

Monetising Fandom
Unlocking growth beyond games

Report by Karol Severin

23 Apr 2021

Free Report

Beyond gaming to cross-entertainment partnerships webinar slides - 22-04-2021

Music & Gaming
A new way to play

Report by Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin and Keith Jopling

13 Apr 2021

Free Report

In today’s music business, the consumer boom is rapidly leading to a creator bust. For the music industry to untangle itself from this dysfunctional loop, it needs to find new ways of monetizing fandom,…

Gamers: The new frontier of music’s fan-centric growth

Blog post by Karol Severin

13 Apr 2021

Music companies have begun to realise that as their industry has grown, it has also transferred much of its previous fan value into the subscription and song economy. The outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent…

Why games companies need to take Apple’s Arcade expansion seriously

Blog post by Karol Severin

9 Apr 2021

Apple announced a significant expansion of Apple Arcade last week, including more than 180 new games across three new games categories: ‘Timeless Classics’, ‘App Store Greats’ and ‘New Arcade…

Microsoft’s interest in Discord confirms MIDiA’s prediction

Blog post by Karol Severin

31 Mar 2021

In November 2020, we wrote the below in our annual predictions report . “Upping gaming experiences via ‘infrastructural acquisitions’: As non-gaming entertainment increasingly embeds in games, companies…

Why Roblox is well set to withstand the COVID bounce effect

Blog post by Karol Severin

15 Mar 2021

Roblox has launched an initial public offering (IPO) this week. Timing-wise, the twice-delayed IPO aligns with the world getting closer to opening up, and out-of-home competitive pressures returning. This…

Esports’ critical mass challenge: Solutions are beyond games

Blog post by Karol Severin

19 Feb 2021

Esports have been receiving much coverage in recent years – from sold-out arenas, through to record-breaking live streaming events, right up to the formation of news outlets which solely cover esports.…

Driving cross-generational appeal in entertainment universes

Blog post by Karol Severin

8 Feb 2021

Building and maintaining cross-generational appeal in entertainment is hard. A key challenge is in catering to seemingly wildly different consumer segments with the inherent risk of targeting ‘kind of…