Underdog’s Post

At FanDuel, we believe that empowering our customers with tools to manage their gaming habits is essential to fostering a safe and enjoyable experience. That’s why we’re proud to launch My Spend, a new tool designed to give FanDuel customers greater visibility into their gaming habits. This personalized dashboard offers insights into spending patterns and play stats, helping users stay in control of their engagement and budgeting habits. #ResponsibleGaming is a priority at FanDuel, and My Spend is another step in our effort to provide meaningful, practical tools that empower our customers to make informed decisions. Learn more about how My Spend supports a balanced approach to gaming: https://lnkd.in/eEsJzYD5 #Innovation #CustomerSupport #CustomerExperience 

At WINGS, we are doing the last bit of planning before attending gamescom next week! Here are some of our thoughts on the event & some tips to get the most it for indie devs... --- About Gamescom⭐️ Indie developers at Gamescom get the best of both worlds. You get both the consumer section & the business section. No matter where you are in the life cycle of your game, there's business for you to do there! Most people use Meet to Match to expand their network 📢 Make sure you have a reason for going! 📒✅ FOMO can be so real in the games industry, but if you're not pitching or showcasing your game right now, sometimes it's better to stay home and stay focused on development! Tips for Booking Meetings 🗓️ Remember to include a link to your pitch deck or trailer when reaching out to publishers & investors so they see what kind of game you're pitching. Sadly, meeting requests without this kind of information are very often declined! 🚫 Show up to the Meeting Prepared! 📚 Meeting slots are usually ~30 mins long, BUT many of the people you’re meeting with will have back-to-back meetings scheduled & will need 5-10 minutes to move to their next meeting Meaning you only have ~20 mins. Make it count & come prepared! Business + Partying = 🙅♀️ We’ve heard some weird advice before that “business deals are made at parties” but in our experience this is not true. What IS often made at parties are hangovers 🤢 Parties are fun & can be a great way to meet people, but they shouldn’t be top priority. Take care of yourself (and please be safe!) so you’ll feel healthy and prepared for your business meetings! --- We hope you will have a lot of fun at Gamescom and that you will do great business for your game! Maybe we’ll even see you there! 💜 Questions? Leave them in the comments! We’d also love to hear any tips you might have for Gamescom! 🤔 #gamescom2024 #indiedevs #indiegames

We're all about proving that great games come from anywhere! After years of watching indie developers struggle to get the support they needed, our Founder and CEO, Ben Kvalo, returned to his roots here in the Midwest to foster more opportunities. With your support we're excited to see how far we can go together! A big thanks to VentureBeat and GamesBeat for sharing our story! Check out the full article below ⬇ https://lnkd.in/gcAjsu56

🎮 Scaling Mobile Games: Insights from my colleagues Nikita Matsokin and Polina Kozhanova📱 The mobile gaming industry is evolving (duh!), and scaling successfully means adapting to new challenges. As Nikita and Polina highlight in their discussion with TechIsland®: ✅ Monetization needs flexibility. Players expect more than in-app purchases, so balancing ads, subscriptions, and creative monetization models is key. ✅ Data is the foundation – Understanding player behavior through real-time analytics drives engagement and retention. ✅ Think global, act local. Expanding into new markets requires localization and cultural relevance to connect with players truly. ✅ Sustainability is a priority. Gamers care about social responsibility, and companies that align with these values build stronger loyalty. Combining innovation with market insights is the way forward — learn more about MGVC Publishing by reading the article in the first comment! #MobileGaming #GamingIndustry #MYGAMES #MobilePublishing

Join us tomorrow, November 8th, for a day of gaming and development celebration at MDEV 2024! Midwest Games folks will be hosting some chats and panels so be sure to check them out. The full list of events and where to get your tickets will be posted in the comments! Ben Kvalo - CEO CREATING A GAMES ECOSYSTEM IN THE MIDWEST 8:30AM - Hall A THE PUBLISHER'S PLAYBOOK: BEST PRACTICES FOR INDIE DEVELOPERS 1:30PM - Hall A XSOLLA PITCH COMPETITION 2:30PM - Mendota 7 IGNITING GAME DEVELOPMENT IN THE MIDWEST 3:30PM - Mendota 8 Chris Klimecky - CPO/Head of Production "A GAME PRODUCTION CAREER: HOW TO START AND WHERE IT GOES" 11:30AM - Mendota 3 "'SHE'S UNSTOPPABLE' AND MORE...ACOUSTIC JAMS FOR GAME DEVS!" 12:30PM - Main Stage "GAME AUDIO MILLINERY: WHY SO MANY HATS?" 1:30PM - Mendota 1 Jennifer Corbett - CMO "YOUR GAME MARKETING BLUEPRINT" 12:00PM - Mendota 4 We hope you're able to join us for these and all of the other amazing panels and talks at MDEV. See you there!

🔥 WinZO Games is #1 on Google Play Store! 🎮 We’re thrilled to announce that WinZO Games has claimed the #1 spot in the Top Free Games category on Google Play! With 200+ million users and counting, this milestone underscores our journey as India’s most-loved gaming platform. 🌟 This is just the beginning. Through ZO Games, our publishing arm, we’re empowering game developers with the tools, insights, and resources to achieve chart-topping success: 🎯 Global Reach: Unlock access to millions of players worldwide. 🌎 Localization: Speak to your audience in 12+ languages. 💡 $50M Game Developer Fund: Backing visionary games and studios. 📈 Data-Driven Strategies: Proven playbook for scaling your game. 💥 Are you ready to make it big? Let’s build the next gaming phenomenon together. Publish with ZO Games today: https://zo.games/ #successtogether 🌟 Together, we’re shaping the future of gaming. 🎮✨ #WinZO #GamingSuccess #TopCharts #GooglePlay #InnovationInGaming #GameDev #LetsBuild

At Jam & Tea Studios, loneliness doesn’t stand a chance. With Retail Mage, they reimagined multiplayer gaming—and Solsten was the secret ingredient 🪄. Here’s the magic: 🎯 Spot-on feedback: 70% of playtesters matched Solsten’s golden player personas. 🚀 Next-level engagement: 82% of players said it felt like nothing they’d ever played, and 90% were ready to play again with friends. 🎨 Player-centric design: Solsten helped foster social play, streamline onboarding, and make players feel instantly at home. "Solsten gives me so much language to drive that conversation with my team." – T. Carl Kwoh, CEO 🌟 Curious how Solsten can sprinkle its magic on your next project? Let's chat :)

Casual Games Report 2024: Following 5 Routes to Success Our much-anticipated report, crafted by the AppMagic content team, is now live: https://lnkd.in/em5U9DeK This year, we’re diving into key trends across 5 genres in Tier-1 West: Match-3 with Complex Meta, Merge-2 with Complex Meta, Match 3D, Sort Puzzle, and Casual Casino 🎮 Inside, we’re answering big questions like: — What are today’s hottest genres, and how can you spot the next big one? — Why does market structure matter more than genre growth? — How are UA challenges reshaping monetization strategies? But most importantly, the report highlights that even during the most challenging times, there are opportunities to thrive across genres of all sizes, complexity, and competitiveness. Enjoy the read! 

I believe that games also serve as vital platforms for human interaction. I remembered the sleepless night grinding Wildrift with my friends that are miles away back in uni. I may have circles under my eyes but the memory is precious and worthwhile. Is it addicting? Yes, without moderation it will become addicting Is it giving a sense of satisfaction and belongings? YES It proves that: ↳ A game that can foster the sense of connection and community will have higher chance to grow, not just in Vietnam but in any market. Wildrift has done a great job in retaining gamers with its features like guild, chat channel, invites or in-game voice chat. ↳ A game that can foster a sense of connection and community is a game that leverage best psychological aspects: the fomo, the regret, the bitterness after losing a match,… ↳ If your game successfully attracts a gamer, then it will have a good chance of attracting a friend of that gamer. Believe me, gamers have a high herd mentality. Take me as an example, I want to spend more time with my bro but we’re so far away. We are not even that good at online chatting so messaging is a big no so gaming is the only option. Wildrift offers just the thing that we want. In Vietnam, gamers care deeply about community. They need to chat, to discuss and even swear at each other. That’s why popular game genres in Vietnam are mostly MOBA and MMORPG - genres that promote connections. #mobilegaming #community

Hearthstone is back in Chinese mobile stores to break its own records! 🇨🇳🚀 In January 2023, Blizzard’s games were removed from Chinese stores after their 14-year licensing agreement with NetEase expired. After 20 months, the Blizzard-NetEase agreement is back in place, and so is Hearthstone — one of the most beloved collectible card games (CCG) worldwide. 🃏✨ And Chinese players couldn’t be more excited! Before the exit, Hearthstone was pulling in an impressive $2.4M/month in China during 2021-2022, according to AppMagic. Fast forward to October 2024, and it’s already brought in over $13.5M — and the month isn’t even over yet! 📈🔥 This is yet another great example of how Western games thrive when entering the Chinese market! I wrote about other games with similar success stories in one of my previous posts, check it out as well: https://lnkd.in/dRnXu3Gg