Karol Severin

Karol is a co-founder and Research Director at MIDiA. With over a decade of experience in consumer research, industry analysis, and consulting, Karol oversees the direction, coverage and quality of all MIDiA’s research output. Prior to co-founding MIDiA, Karol gained experience in TMT market research and consulting, as well as an entertainment industry startup founder. He holds a business management degree from Queen Mary, University of London, with specialisation in strategy, quantitative methods, and entrepreneurship.

Profiling gamers by platform

Karol Severin

December 2023

Audience Insight

This report presents key metrics and consumer insights regarding mobile gamers, console gamers, and computer gamers. It is targeted to help investors, distributors, developers, and publishers understand...

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More games will need to grow time spent in 2024 – what type of research can help do it?

Karol Severin

18 Dec 2023

research

Strategy

time spent

While the new year is usually a time for hope and new beginnings, 2024 may not necessarily be smoother sailing for the global games industry than 2023. Yes, companies have experienced reduced operational...

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MIDiA’s 2024 predictions report
The algorithm is not listening

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Perry Gresham, Kazia Rothwell and Ben Woods

December 2023

Business Strategy

2023 was another year of change and disruption. 2024 will be even more defined by change than the years that preceded it. But much of this change will be defined by reaction more than action. The unintended...

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Games industry returns to growth, but inflationary pressures will make it worse off still

Karol Severin

7 Nov 2023

games forecast

games market

Games

Following over a decade of stellar growth (for an industry that is 50-years-old), the growth pace of the global video games industry has arguably peaked. The grand finale of its growth heyday was artificially...

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MIDiA Research 2023-2030 global games industry forecasts
Life post-peak

Karol Severin and Perry Gresham

October 2023

Business Strategy

This report discusses key drivers, inhibitors, and developments that will affect the games industry throughout the remainder of the decade. It offers investors, rightsholders, and distributors a glimpse...

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Are the ongoing layoffs in games indicative of a wider issue in the games industry?

Karol Severin

6 Oct 2023

Games industry

games forecast

Games

The layoffs wildfire that struck the games industry at the start of 2023 does not seem to be stopping - the most recent being Epic Games last week. Firstly, on a personal level, it has been really sad...

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How you play matters
Profiling solo, team, and couch players

Karol Severin

September 2023

Audience Insight

This report presents MIDiA’s consumer survey data, zooming in on players of specific gamer types. Data includes age, gender, income, time spent across entertainment, money spent on and inside games,...

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Unity’s pricing is a symptom, not the cause of tougher times ahead for the games industry

Karol Severin

14 Sep 2023

Unity

game developers

consolidation

Earlier this week, Unity announced that from 2024 it will start charging developers for the number of downloads / installs of their games. Developers unsurprisingly threw their proverbial toys out of the...

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For Sony's games division, add-on content is the one to watch

Karol Severin

16 Aug 2023

Sony

in-game monetisation

Games

Sony reported its Q1 FY2023 results last week. The Gaming & Network Services (G&NS) segment was up 27.8% on last year. At the same time, however, operating income was down 6.83%. This segment had...

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Competing in the live service games sector is about to get really difficult

Karol Severin

25 Jul 2023

report

live service games

saturated landscape

With the advent of in-game purchases, live service games have gradually become an important fuel of the games industry’s growth. Their sheer success and the appeal of the business model have understandably...

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Tipping point
The coming consolidation of live service games

Karol Severin and Perry Gresham

July 2023

ariana grande

Call of Duty

FIFA

The games industry has become addicted to the promise of lower risk and better ROI from live service games. As a result, there has been a flurry of live service titles released over the last 10 years....

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Microsoft’s big win against the FTC

Karol Severin

13 Jul 2023

Microsoft

m&a

Activision Blizzard

Microsoft has won its case against the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to halt or terminate the deal. There is still an ongoing antitrust case by the FTC against Microsoft, but now the acquisition...

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Games publishers are gradually losing their mojo

Karol Severin

5 Jul 2023

games publishers

Games industry

Games

Similarly to music labels, games publishers 20 years ago had a bona fide hit-making capability. For music, this was the combination of funding, marketing, and an exclusive network to ‘make things happen’...

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Quick Take: Are Wizards of the Coast about to unlock the wider collector market?

Karol Severin

12 Jun 2023

Collectibles

trading cards

collectors

Wizards of the Coast (Wizards), the creator of the trading card game Magic: The Gathering (MTG ), have recently dropped an MTG card set partnered with The Lord of the Rings . Expanding from players to...

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NetEase’s expansion to the West is in full swing

Karol Severin

2 Jun 2023

Netease

acquisitions

expansion

Since the beginning of 2023, NetEase has been rapidly announcing new studios, averaging one per month. These have either been established internally, or acquired. - It acquired SkyBox Labs (Canadian games...

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What Project Q tells us about Sony’s strategic thinking?

Karol Severin

25 May 2023

Project Q

Sony

PlayStation

During Sony’s Showcase event last night, Sony unveiled Project Q – a handheld gaming device. It will come to the market later this year, though Sony did not specify the exact date or price yet. Project...

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Amazon bringing physical product shopping into games is a prime example of monetising fandom

Karol Severin

12 May 2023

Amazon

in-game monetisation

e-commerce

Earlier this week, Amazon announced an initiative called Amazon Anywhere . It enables mobile games to offer consumers the ability to purchase physical products (e.g., toys and merchandise) directly inside...

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Games purchasing by format
Brick and mortar is not dead

Karol Severin

May 2023

Audience Insight

This report presents a Q1 2023 snapshot of US gamers who bought at least one game within a six-month period (between October 2022 and March 2023). This is broken down by physical versus digital format...

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CMA blocking Microsoft from acquiring Activision raises more questions than answers

Karol Severin

27 Apr 2023

Microsoft

m&a

Activision

UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) just announced that it “ prevented Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Activision over concerns the deal would alter the future of the fast-growing cloud...

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Quick take: Can Rovio give Sega wings in mobile and live services?

Karol Severin

20 Apr 2023

acquisition

rovio

sega

Sega is acquiring Rovio, and from my perspective, this deal makes sense for both sides. We are experiencing another step in the games industry’s wider consolidation journey, as cross-platform (i.e.,...

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