📓Creativ Brief: GamesBeat LA and Independent Journalism
Steam stats. Apple and Google Store stats. MAX is HBO MAX. Netflix ad tier users. B2B marketing investments. Outcomes vs. Services.
GamesBeat hosted its first summit since going independent last month.
I was personally pleased to see talented people spin off into an independent publisher as the world needs more independent journalism.
Here’s my biggest takeaways:
78% of the 18k games released on steam fail to make even $5,000. Only 10% of games released on the platform each year are commercially viable.
30% margins taken from the Apple, Google and Steam stores are being severely challenged in both court and through web store creation.
Hardware is increasingly challenging to both market and sell. If a media solution requires additional hardware, it proves challenging. Case in point, Apple's VR headset was a product bust from one of the most established hardware companies in the world. If you’re an advertiser, avoid hardware tie-ins.
New AAA game studios will not get funded in this market. Money is too expensive with the current interest rates and risk associated too high. Established AAA studios will make less games and shrink budgets. Look for emergent studios and publishers to launch AA titles at a fraction of the budget to more niche audiences.
The best quote of the conference came from Eric Goldberg on the crypto gaming space… "Make sure you are the sucky not the sucker."
Scopely highlighted the importance of building technology internally to support the consumer facing business. Playgami is their in-game analytics platform to track in-game metrics and was transformative to Scopely’s success.
Dean’s speech on Tuesday morning was genuinely inspiring. Independent journalism is needed to cover the small up and coming games and companies.
We encourage everyone to read, subscribe, and attend GamesBeat.
3 Stories Shaping the Media and Tech Industries
The original rebrand to “Max” in 2023 aimed to emphasize a broader content offering beyond prestige TV, but it ended up weakening the HBO identity and confusing subscribers.
Why it matters: This is a massive lesson in brand for everyone in the media industry. When you have existing brands with 99% awareness in market, don’t waste hundreds of millions of dollars building a new brand to house them all. No duh.
Netflix's ad-supported tier has reached 94 million global monthly active users. This growth is accompanied by the rollout of Netflix's in-house advertising technology, Netflix Ads Suite, and the introduction of AI-driven ad formats designed to seamlessly integrate advertisements into the viewing experience.
Why it matters: These developments signify Netflix's strategic shift towards becoming a major player in the digital advertising space. It’s also a case study in how multiple tiers, subscription and advertising, can widen your customer base through price discrimination.
Charter Communications and Cox Communications are merging in a multibillion-dollar deal to create the largest cable and broadband provider in the U.S. The agreement gives Charter a majority stake, with Cox retaining about 23%, and aims to combine their regional and national strengths to better compete with streaming and wireless internet providers.
Why it matters: The merger marks a major shift in the cable industry as providers consolidate to survive amid accelerating cord-cutting and the dominance of digital-first platforms.
Creativ Spotlight - MOCEAN in Fastco, Why Indie Agencies Are the Future
CEO of MOCEAN, Michael McIntyre, brings 25 years of perspective to a thoughtful byline in FastComapny, Why Independent Agencies are Built for the Future.
He describes the reasons brands, talent and technologists are turning to independent agencies. A great read for any aspiring entrepreneur, marketer, or agency professional.
Stat of the Week - MarTech Ranks as the Top Investment Priority for B2B marketers
According to eMarketer, Martech is the number one investment B2B marketers are making. This includes Creativ Company as nearly 35% of our business is now focused on the technology space.
We incorporate things like AI into our marketing-technology spends to improve workflows, free up processes, and improve reporting.
One Thing to Know - Sell Outcomes Not Services
Friends of Creativ Howard Moggs at Uncommon had a great article on why agencies should sell outcomes not services.
To quote the article, “clients aren’t paying for creativity. They’re paying for relief from low conversion, brand irrelevance and declining sales. They need solutions, not services. They need substance over style.”
Brands need outcomes, not services. It made me personally rethink the way Creativ Company goes to market.