Gaming
Miniclip Appoints Saad Choudri to CEO
Saad Choudri who has been with Miniclip since 2011 has taken over the role of CEO from Jurgen Post
Miniclip, a world leader of market-defining mobile game titles, has announced that Chief Strategy Officer, Saad Choudri, who has been with the business since 2011, has been appointed CEO. The move has been welcomed by senior leadership within Miniclip and its majority investors, Tencent.
Saad brings with him over a decade of experience from within Miniclip, and a background working in Sega before starting at Miniclip in 2011. He has worked in numerous roles including VP of Business Affairs, Chief Commercial Officer, and most recently Chief Strategy Officer. He has officially assumed the role in November.
Saad has overseen strategy within Miniclip, where he spearheaded ambitious M&A plans. This included welcoming highly successful new studios to the Miniclip Group, such as Ilyon (Bubble Shooter), Gamebasics (creators of OSM Online Soccer Manager), Green Horse Games (home of Football Rivals) and most recently Puzzling.com.
Rob Small, President, Miniclip, said “Saad has made an enormous contribution to Miniclip’s success over the last decade and I am looking forward to supporting him as Miniclip’s next CEO.”
Saad Choudri, CEO, commented: “Miniclip has a long history of leading in the industry, first to browser, before innovating in mobile. Its strong vision and focus on building quality games that reach billions of people to unleash the gamer in everyone, has always helped define the business and allowed us to find ways to innovate in a crowded and unpredictable marketplace.
“In my new role as CEO, I aim to continue the great work of the leadership team, doubling down on the Miniclip vision which has seen us triple our revenue over the last three years. I will continue to be heavily involved in the strategic direction of the company, supporting M&A to bring in further studios to our family and launch more games next year than ever before, as well as ensuring our culture remains strong and supportive.”
Jurgen Post stepped down as CEO earlier this year for family reasons. Rob Small, the President, had temporarily stepped back into the role of CEO in the company that he founded 20 years ago to ensure that strong leadership remained during this transition.
Regarding Jurgen’s decision to step down to take more time with his family at a difficult time, Rob Small also commented: “I would like to take this opportunity to express my personal gratitude to Jurgen for all that he has contributed to Miniclip during his tenure. We have deep compassion for his situation and wholeheartedly support Jurgen’s decision to focus on his family for the foreseeable future.”
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Gaming
The mobile gaming market is growing and attracting new companies. GAMIVO is the latest example
Usually, consoles and PCs come to mind when discussing the gaming industry. The mobile sector is often treated as a child of a lesser god, even though it generates almost as much revenue as console and PC combined. Some companies can see this potential. For instance, the e-commerce platform GAMIVO has recently entered the mobile market, allowing players to buy in-game items cheaper.
Back on course
The entire video game industry has evolved incredibly, but the most spectacular has been the growth of the mobile sector. It expanded from 36.9 million dollars in 2016 to 93.2 billion in 2021. Unfortunately, the gaming market suffered from a decline that stemmed from the overoptimism of the pandemic era. As a result, the mobile gaming industry revenues dropped to 92.2 billion in 2022 and to 90.5 billion in 2023. Recent information has indicated this was a necessary correction rather than a long-term trend.
The latest Newzoo report, issued in August 2024, shows that the industry is on the right track again. According to analysts, the mobile sector will generate revenues of $92.6 billion, representing +3.0% growth year-on-year. It’s nearly half of the entire gaming industry.
Billions of players
Revenues are crucial, but they only show part of the story. To fully understand the size and potential of mobile gaming, it’s necessary to consider the number of players, which constantly grew even when revenues dropped. Newzoo estimates that it will reach 2.8 billion in 2024. It means that almost twice as many people play on mobile devices than on PCs and consoles combined. Currently, every third person on Earth plays on mobile devices, and there’s still space for further growth.
“There are emerging markets where smartphones and mobile networks can expand, providing new potential players. Furthermore, this type of entertainment has a low entry barrier because most popular games are free and don’t require high-end devices,” explains Mateusz Śmieżewski, the CEO at GAMIVO.
One hobby, different habits
GAMIVO is an example of a company that has recently joined the party to get a piece of the mobile pie. “We examined the mobile market for a very long time, trying to find a suitable place for us. It’s essential to understand that mobile gaming and mobile gamers differ from their PC or console counterparts. You can’t do the same things you do with PC and consoles and hope to replicate your success,” said Mateusz Śmieżewski.
Studies confirm this observation. Average PC and console players spend about 2.1 hours a day in virtual worlds. It’s half an hour more than mobile gamers. However, things get interesting when we take a look at playtime per week, which is the same for mobile and console (5.4 hours) and slightly longer for PC (5.7 hours). Moreover, typical PC and console owners play 2.6 and 2.7 days a week, respectively, while mobile players play 3.4 days per week.
Those statistics prove that PC and console players are more dedicated, spending more time in games’ worlds once they enter them. However, mobile gamers prefer shorter but more frequent sessions. They play while commuting or have a short amount of free time.
“Mobile players are more willing to uninstall games and give another title a chance. Hence, the gameplay has to be captivating and designed to provide quick but intense sessions.
Furthermore, even though the average weekly playtime is identical to PC players, many mobile players don’t think of themselves as gamers,” clarifies Mateusz Śmieżewski.
Another major difference regards the way in which revenue is generated. PC and console games traditionally represent the premium model, where players buy the game. Most popular mobile releases are free and generate revenue with microtransactions. Almost all titles allow players to spend their real money on virtual coins, crystals, and other items that can be used to unlock additional content or reduce cooldowns.
Entering the mobile market
Those contrasts and nuances scare most companies from the mobile market. Let’s see how GAMIVO has coped with this.
“We decided to launch a new product category dedicated to mobile gamers. Our model allows them to top up in-game accounts cheaply. As a result, they can save up to 30% on buying virtual items, upgrades, and other content. The GAMIVO offer includes the most popular mobile titles, such as Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile, and still extends,” describes Mateusz Śmieżewski.
“We dedicated a lot of time to research and analyses. Also, the development process required a lot of work to provide GAMIVO customers with safe transactions and a user-friendly environment. The first reactions are very positive, confirming our belief that our decision was right and there is still more space in the mobile game market,” concludes the GAMIVO CEO.
The post The mobile gaming market is growing and attracting new companies. GAMIVO is the latest example appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
ADG
Arizona Department of Gaming Reports $43.9 Million in Tribal Gaming Contributions for the First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2025
The Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) announced today $43,926,346 in tribal gaming contributions to the Arizona Benefits Fund for the first quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. This amount represents an
approximate 3.6 percent increase when compared to the same quarter of FY 2024.
The Arizona Benefits Fund receives 88 percent of tribal gaming contributions, providing significant dollars to support instructional improvement in schools, trauma and emergency care, tourism, and wildlife conservation throughout the state.
FY 2025 Qtr 1 Total: Tribal Gaming Contributions to the Arizona Benefits Fund.
“We are pleased to report yet another increase in the first quarter of the FY 2025, reflecting steady growth in the state’s tribal gaming industry,’ said Jackie Johnson, Director of ADG. “This growth highlights the continued strengtht
of the partnership between the state and our Arizona tribal partners. Notably, cumulative tribal contributions to the Instructional Improvement Fund have now surpassed $1 billion, demonstrating the significant and ongoing impact of tribal gaming on education and communities across Arizona.
Per the Arizona Tribal-State Gaming Compact, Tribes with casinos also contribute a percentage of their Class gross gaming revenue to cities, towns, and counties. Currently, there are 25 Class Il casinos in Arizona, which ADG
regulates in partnership with Arizona tribes. Since FY 2004, approximately $2.3 billion in cumulative contributions
have been received by the state and its cities, towns, and counties.
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