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 Steam users
A valuable gamer niche

Karol Severin

April 2023

YouTube

Amazon

Netflix

For two decades now, Steam has been one of the go-to digital game distributors, particularly for computer gamers and developers. Yet, its weekly active audience does not quite reflect a fully representative...

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Four themes that affect you, no matter what kind of games company you are

Karol Severin

23 Mar 2023

distribution

Gamers

cost of living

Even without the disruptive events of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the cost-of-living crisis, navigating the constantly evolving business dynamics in the games industry has...

min read

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Rebooting video fandom
Games as a video streaming genre

Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin and Ben Woods

March 2023

Apple

Apple TV

Netflix

With gamers being mainstream, video streaming services and their content offerings can benefit by increasing focus on the preferences of gamers. Crucially, this enables subscription video on demand (SVOD)...

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The Witcher
Netflix’s appeal to gamer fandom

Case Study

Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin and Ben Woods

March 2023

Video

Games

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Has IOC missed the point with its esports initiative?

Karol Severin

3 Mar 2023

Olympics

IOC

esports

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced details of the Olympic Esports Series 2023, a global virtual and simulated sports competition created by the IOC. Amateur and professional players...

min read

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Digital advertising reception of gamers, Q4 2022

Karol Severin

March 2023

Audience Insight

This report presents a Q4 2022 snapshot of gamers’ reception to various types of digital advertisements. It covers: Display / banner advertisements Video advertisements Video advertisements in mobile...

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Why the ‘Game Pass cannibalising games sales’ story does not change anything

Karol Severin

16 Feb 2023

games subscriptions

xbox game pass

regulation

This week it has been reported that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report includes Microsoft sharing that its “ internal analysis shows a decline in base game sales following 12 months of...

min read

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Year of change
Themes that will shape entertainment in 2023

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin, Ben Woods and Srishti Das

February 2023

Spotify

YouTube

Amazon

This report deep dives into the themes identified in MIDiA’s 2023 predictions report. These themes will drive innovation in the digital entertainment landscape in 2023 across music, video, games, audio,...

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Tipping point
How in-game spending will eat the games world

Karol Severin

February 2023

steam

Ubisoft

FIFA

Though parts of the games industry still stigmatise in-game purchases, the business model is a fundamental part of a successful and sustainable growth formula for games companies. The current macroeconomic...

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Games companies turn to defence as recession looms

Karol Severin

12 Jan 2023

recession

Games industry

business planning

The beginning of 2023 has seen several games companies show prudent caution, highlighting warning signs as to what lies ahead. Ubisoft cancelled three games in development. Wizards of the Coast reportedly...

min read

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Pivot point
MIDiA 2023 predictions

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston and Ben Woods

January 2023

Free Report

Business Strategy

MIDiA analysts dive into our 2023 predictions, and why we believe it will be the ' pivot point '. Watch the webinareither on YouTube or LinkedIn ....

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Games subscriber profiles Q3 2022

Karol Severin

January 2023

games subscriptions

Audience Insight

esports audiences

This report presents a snapshot of behaviours and demographic data on weekly active users (WAUs) of key games subscription services. It includes the following games subscription service segments: Apple...

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2023 MIDiA predictions
Pivot point

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Srishti Das, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin, Kazia Rothwell and Ben Woods

December 2022

Apple

YouTube

Amazon

In this report, MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech across music, video, games, marketing, audio and cultural trends in 2023 and...

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Esports bundle
Available for a limited time

Karol Severin and Samuel Griffin

December 2022

Games

esports

Sports

This bundle contains three of our most recent esports reports, providing you with a wide selection of insights and content from our analysts. Take this opportunity to get some of our most recent data at...

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The next challenge for esports
Striking the balance between creators and athletes

Karol Severin and Samuel Griffin

December 2022

Call of Duty

Business Strategy

Games industry

Esports organisations are past the initial ‘hype stage’. They are now in a phase where they need to make their business models work commercially. The ongoing adverse macroeconomic climate only exacerbates...

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Games report bundle offer – the less you can afford research, the more you probably need it

Karol Severin

2 Dec 2022

gamer insight

games strategy

games production

Part of the festive period is about reflection and new aspirations. I, for one, am eternally grateful that MIDiA works with some of the most successful companies in entertainment. I love that we get to...

min read

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Games strategy bundle
Available for a limited time

Karol Severin and Samuel Griffin

November 2022

This bundle contains three of our most recent games strategy reports, providing you with a wide selection of insights and content from our analysts. Take this opportunity to get some of our most recent...

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Games marketing bundle
Available for a limited time

Karol Severin and Samuel Griffin

November 2022

This bundle contains three of our most recent games marketing reports, providing you with a wide selection of insights and content from our analysts. Take this opportunity to get some of our most recent...

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Despite declining time spent, Microsoft’s gaming strategy is well and good

Karol Severin

27 Oct 2022

Cloud

Microsoft

xbox

In its Q3 2022 results (FY Q1 2023), Microsoft reported growth in Game Pass subscriptions, but said that Xbox content and services revenue declined 3% year on year, driven by declines in first-party content...

min read

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Entertainment spending by game genre fans Q2 2022

Karol Severin

October 2022

This report presents a snapshot of entertainment spending behaviours by fans of specific games genres. It includes the following games genre fan segments: Action games fans First-person shooter (FPS) fans...

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