Matt Nutt

Two years ago idPair was the first company selected by GuardDog, Underdog’s responsible gaming innovation fund, with the intent of utilizing their technology to create meaningful partnerships that advance safer play. This 50-state rollout is proof of concept of that intent and further establishes that collaboration on safety and protection is critical for our entire industry. Technology and companies that are willing to lead can both further and simplify player protection. Very proud to play a role in this critical program. https://lnkd.in/eQ8gUEgE

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Guild Wars Reforged hasn't just been a fun update for a classic MMO with more than 20 years of play. It's been a hit. "Compared to the weeks leading up to Reforged’s launch, we saw an over 16000% increase in overall unit sales and a 5x increase in concurrent players." - Guild Wars Reforged game director Stephen Clarke-Willson Great game play never dies. The teams at ArenaNet and partner 2weeks made it clear they weren't "remastering" or "remaking" Guild Wars, but wanted to make it more accessible to players, especially newer ones who are used to Steam and like SteamDeck. "We're not going to change the basic gameplay. Guild Wars is unique in the way it mixes skills and skill-building." - Clarke-Willson Part of that accessibility was also offering a real value to players. $20 for newcomers. Free for existing Guild Wars players. "One of the goals for Reforged was to simplify the onboarding experience for new players and reducing the number of potential different starting products to purchase was important to us. At the same time, we wanted to reward existing, loyal players who may not have had all the campaigns by unlocking them for free as part of the migration from Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall to just Reforged. This also made it easier for players to freely join their friends in the core content from other campaigns once they unlock the ability to travel there with their existing characters without needing to purchase another campaign." - Guild Wars Reforged Producer Mike Zadorojny All in all, it's been very fun to see players respond to this update! Thanks to David Jagneaux for this excellent Q&A. (Full link in the comments.)

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Reclaiming the "discovery loop" is the next big battleground for premium streamers and sports rights holders.   In my recent sit-down with Brandon Costa at Sports Video Group (SVG), we discussed why industry leaders are moving the verticalized swipe experience inside their own apps. As we’ve known for a while, verticalized shorts are not a trend; they are a strategic move to reclaim the discovery loop and drive long-form retention. This is exactly what we’re seeing with the recent news of Disney+ ESPN’s Verts launch. By rolling out a dedicated vertical feed, they are meeting Gen Z and Gen Alpha where they already live.   As I discussed with Brandon, here are the operational keys to making this work: ➡️ Bridge the Retention Gap: Short-form is the new "front door." By bringing vertical feeds directly into the O&O environment, broadcasters keep fans within their own ecosystem, using snackable discovery to lead them back to the live game. ➡️ The 60-Second Rule: In a real-time world, velocity is a moat. We’ve leveraged Generative AI and LLM-driven orchestration to shrink the window from "live signal" to "vertical asset" to under 60 seconds. ➡️ Architect for Agility: Don’t get locked into a static AI stack. A Model-Agnostic Orchestration Layer allows you to swap in best-of-breed AI tools as they evolve, ensuring your library remains "liquid" and future-proof.   The future of streaming belongs to those who use AI to make the 6-inch screen the ultimate engine for discovery and monetization.   #StreamingMedia #AIOrchestration #GenerativeAI

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For the first time ever, consumers have spent more in non-gaming apps than in games.  This is a remarkable shift in the app economy.  In 2025, IAP revenue from non-game apps surpassed that from games. Key takeaways:   - Consumers shelled out approximately $85 billion in apps last year.   - This is a colossal 21% yoy increase, and nearly 3x the amount spent just five years ago.   - Generative AI has played a significant role in driving this growth, but it's not the only factor.   - Almost all app genres reported positive IAP revenue growth, indicating a robust monetization landscape that is expanding beyond traditional gaming.  What does this mean for marketers?   - It is a wake up call to rethink your strategies.   - Non-gaming applications are not just add ons, they are pivotal to revenue growth.  As we continue to navigate this evolving space, the possibilities for tapping into this market are immense.  Lets talk about how you are planning to leverage this momentum and ensure your app is part of the non-gaming success story!  

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Setting some baselines for the tabletop gaming industry as we start 2026: 2025 was the best year ever for our industry on crowdfunding platforms. Across all categories on Kickstarter, GameFound and BackerKit, the amount pledged rose from $217m to $280m (a 23% increase). Trading card games had record years. We don't have public data for Pokemon, but the Magic: the Gathering numbers Hasbro has published through Q3 showed a 29% growth year over year from 2024. There's good reason to believe that Pokemon had a similar trajectory. Several other games also performed well - even the next tier of collectible card games probably generated revenue in the hundreds of millions of dollars, collectively. Games Workshop reports results semi-annually so we have a snapshot through June. Revenue adjusted for foreign exchange fluctuations grew from £525.7 to £628.7 (+16%). That's a good proxy for miniatures wargames as a category. The Alliance Distribution and Diamond Comics bankruptcy has been resolved and Universal and its equity partners now have control of the largest wholesaler for games in the US; we expect ongoing litigation involving the windup of Alliance to continue but ongoing operations appear to be returning to normal. Tariffs remain a concern. If, at any time, the China trade can be choked off by tariff policy then the industry needs to spend time & capital developing options outside of China. If tariffs are spiked again in the near term, the downstream effects remain existential for many publishers. The overall North American / European economy which accounts for at least two thirds of the industry's revenue is strong. The US GDP grew at an annualized rate of 4.3% in Q3; for the full year I expect GDP to be 3% or better. The EU GDP will probably have grown by about half that. Headwinds caused by widespread early adoption of AI in tech and entertainment spaces are hitting a demographic who are known to be substantial consumers of games but it is impossible to see that signal in the returns being reported by the public companies in the sector. It may grow large enough in 2026 to be visible but right now, it is not. Anecdotally, 2025 was a down year for mid-range publishers, and many shed jobs and a few ceased operations. Hiring seems to have continued at the top-range publishers (reflective of their overall growth), although it appears many of the jobs are being filled by people from adjacent or technical fields and not from within the industry. Sideways opportunities in the mid-tier appear quite limited. Going into 2026 we appear to have reached a point of temporary stability on tariffs and outward signs of gamer engagement remain high which should mean another good year for the top-range publishes and hopefully a recovering year for the mid-range.

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Sensor Tower's State of Mobile 2026 report dropped at year-end, and the numbers tell a clear story: non-game apps overtook mobile games in revenue for the first time in history. Global IAP revenue hit $167 billion (+10.6% YoY), while games grew just 1.3% to $81.75 billion. The China Factor Here's what often gets overlooked: China iOS alone generated $22.1 billion in 2025, ranking second globally behind the US. But Sensor Tower only tracks iOS revenue for China—the actual market is significantly larger. China has over 100 Android app stores due to Google Play's absence, with major players like Huawei AppGallery, Tencent MyApp, Xiaomi, Baidu, and Vivo controlling the majority. These Android channels contributed more than $75 billion in 2025, and China's total mobile app user spending reached approximately $217 billion, making it the world's largest mobile app market. Chinese developers accounted for 37.8% of the top 100 global mobile game publishers' revenue in January 2026, with 36 companies collectively earning $2.18 billion in a single month. Mobile app publishers really can't afford to not enter China—the doors are open. Look at Duolingo: China became their fastest-growing international market and second-largest market for daily active users after entering in 2018. China is now the largest source of test takers worldwide for their English Test product. They established their first international office in Beijing and continue expanding their local team and product offerings. Their revenue hit $483 million in H1 2025 (up 40% YoY), with China growth accelerated by strategic partnerships like Luckin Coffee, which sold over 10 million Duolingo-branded beverages across 26,000 outlets. US Market Reality Most mobile game genres are hitting saturation points in the US market. Downloads fell 7.2% to 50.41 billion, and growth now depends less on adding users and more on expanding lifetime value from existing bases. Time spent in games grew only 0.9%, while engagement patterns diverged—US time spent rebounded after 2024 declines, but China mainland fell. The Monetization Shift Three apps crossed the $1 billion IAP threshold in 2025: ChatGPT, CapCut, and WeTV. Notably, no games made this list. Hybrid-casual was the only gaming segment showing IAP revenue growth, while strategy games saw a 20% revenue surge to exceed $20 billion, driven by titles like Whiteout Survival and Last War. If you have mobile products—games or apps—that aren't monetizing in China yet, let's talk. I've spent years bringing Western products into Asian markets and can help you replicate the Duolingo model in China. Drop me a DM. https://lnkd.in/ge4adfAW #MobileGaming #ChinaMarket #BusinessDevelopment #GamePublishing #MobileApps #SensorTower #MarketIntelligence #AppMonetization #GlobalExpansion #GamingIndustry

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