🚀 Toby Allen

Forgive me, I want to repost this Games London update to do a classic LinkedIn 'reflect and tease' post. But hear me out. For just over eight years our Accelerator and other programmes (like the Pitch Training Bootcamp of old and now Game Changer) have supported new games businesses with workshops, mentoring and more. Today we pass another milestone as we kickstart the second Game Changer cohort with their first workshop, hosted at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly - fittingly the location for our first bootcamp back in 2017! - we've supported over 150 games studios with these programmes, giving them fast-track insight and connections. Well done again to the 2024 Accelerator cohort and thanks to our speakers, mentors and partners. Giving promising new businesses access and learning is so crucial to ensure emerging games studios can be sustainable and successful. Good luck to the Game Changer cohort who start their journey today (we'll be officially unveiling the cohort next week) - you're another ambitious and promising cohort. That said... there's now a bit of an oversupply in these programmes, we've got to admit. After we debuted the Accelerator in 2020, there's now similar programmes up and down the country. Brilliant! But there's nothing in the market to help studio start-ups convert to their first successful release, right? Publishers and investors faced with industry turmoil (or at least the perception of it!) are increasingly demanding that prospective developer partners have released at least one game on their own stead before starting a conversation. So now we're cooking something up to help businesses go from 'accelerator graduate' to successful debut launch. More news in Sept. Watch this space.

26

1 Comment

Turbo Charge ChatGPT Pro Tip Go to: Settings > Customise ChatGPT > How Would You Like ChatGPT to respond? <COPY> and <PASTE> what is below the line ... and watch the magic unfold ... __________________________________________________ VERBOSITY: I may use V=[0-5] to set response detail: - V=0 one line - V=1 concise - V=2 brief - V=3 normal - V=4 detailed with examples - V=5 comprehensive, with as much length, detail, and nuance as possible 1. Start response with: |Attribute|Description| |--:|:--| |Domain > Expert|{the broad academic or study DOMAIN the question falls under} > {within the DOMAIN, the specific EXPERT role most closely associated with the context or nuance of the question}| |Keywords|{ CSV list of 6 topics, technical terms, or jargon most associated with the DOMAIN, EXPERT}| |Goal|{ qualitative description of current assistant objective and VERBOSITY }| |Assumptions|{ assistant assumptions about user question, intent, and context}| |Methodology|{any specific methodology assistant will incorporate}| 2. Return your response, and remember to incorporate: - Assistant Rules and Output Format - embedded, inline HYPERLINKS as **Google search links** { varied emoji related to terms} [text to link](https://lnkd.in/et38W9yP) as needed - step-by-step reasoning if needed 3. End response with: > _See also:_ [2-3 related searches] > { varied emoji related to terms} [text to link](https://lnkd.in/et38W9yP) > _You may also enjoy:_ [2-3 tangential, unusual, or fun related topics] > { varied emoji related to terms} [text to link](https://lnkd.in/et38W9yP)

8

Really enjoyable Strategy workshop with the Ukie team today at our Team Quarterly. A great opportunity to explore the trends and uncertainties shaping the video game and interactive entertainment industry and how we can support our members businesses to succeed. Discussions took in the huge changes happening in platforms and hardware, how players will find and play games 5-10 years from now and the importance of maintaining diverse and plural revenue streams across developers and publishers. Fascinating questions around AI, streaming and whether the stage is finally set for convergence to deliver The Oasis (Ready Player One reference for the non-games people out there!) Play and creativity are as old as humanity, but the new capabilities of creativity and tech are opening entirely new frontiers for interactive storytelling and experiences. The central question seems to be how to maintain sufficient diversity and accessibility in the video game ecosystem to encourage risk-taking and new ideas. Lots more to cover in a future post (recognition, regulation and revenue, to name but a few) but lots to think about for today!

19

A top FIVE trend in #startup ecosystems right now

6

This week's Video Games Industry Memo - sponsored by Sumo Digital Ltd - hit over 2000 inboxes earlier today with an article exploring the economic impact of Roblox creators on the American economy. Between 2017 and 2023, experience makers have added $1.2bn in GDP, supported nearly 18,000 full time equivalents (jobs) and contributed more than $300m in tax. But while the headline figures may be a little less impressive than they sound, the trends driving those figures suggest the UGC economy could be a force for genuine economic value in the years to come. Along with the deep dive into Roblox, VGIM also contained: 📰 News about Russian intelligence agents targeting US gamers for misinformation campaigns 💼 All the big job moves and some great open roles at major games companies 📅 Forthcoming conferences including Nexus in Dublin, Tokyo Game Show and Game Connect Asia Pacific in Melbourne 🎮 Funko Pop Fusion heading up the round-up of the week's releases You can read Video Games Industry Memo now by searching for it on Substack, Google or by clicking the Newsletter link in my LinkedIn profile. And if you're not subscribed, make sure to sign up ahead of next Thursday's edition where we'll take a look inside a building described as the Large Hadron Collider for the Mind...

21

Founders who pitch to VCs think they have it hard when getting rejected, led along or outright ghosted. Little do they know that VCs have it at least ten times harder. All a founder needs to do is close one or two good investors. Meanwhile a VC has to close tens of LPs (investors) to even get each of their funds off the ground. In other words, it ain’t easier on the other side of the fence. Just an observation from spending time around both founders and VCs.

61

27 Comments

Lets talk about Sidus fundamentals and discuss reasons, as to why you should keep an eye on us in the next 6 months... There will be a series of posts over the next days, highlighting some major points about our project for those who joined us recently. 🥇 Sidus Team At its core, Sidus Heroes strength lies in our talented team members , amazing community and a culture grounded in innovation mindset. At Sidus, we try to ensure that work environments and workplace services reflect a culture that fosters collaboration, creativity and inspiration. As a 3 years old team, we survived the longest bearish market in crypto history and became stronger like never before. We were able to build an amazing infrastructure, optimise our spendings, establish efficient KPI targets for employees, create a clear list of development priorities which users can check at any point of time, collect and work with a valuable feedback from our precious community, learn from the mistakes and be transparent! We are a team of professionals supported by the giants like Mr Beast, Animoca, Hashkey, Alex Becker and we strive to deliver the best for our community. Our team works hard to deliver amazing updates in the next 6 months for all of our products including Battler 2.0 for Telegram, Xenna RTS, Tembazar on UE5, Mazes, Module economy and much more. We will cover it all in our next posts. You can find a lot of information about us via sidusheroes.com Sidus team welcomes all of you to join this amazing journey and become a part of the #Sidus #Metaverse 🔥

29

1 Comment

How to analyze mobile trends in just a few minutes. Here's a step-by-step guide using ChatGPT and AppMagic:  1. Go to AppMagic   • Use this link [https://lnkd.in/eNY3ynXE] for temporary premium access 2. Find “Top Trending”   • In the Apps section, choose “Top Trending.”  3. Set the Right Tags   • Choose “Gainers”   • Select "Games"   • Filter by "New Only"   • Use Tier-1 West markets   • Pick “Top Free” or “Top Grossing”  4. Download the CSV   • Click "Download CSV" and save the file to your device.  5. Go to ChatGPT   • Log in at [https://chatgpt.com].  6. Upload the CSV   • Attach the downloaded file in the ChatGPT text box.  7. Use the Prompt   • Grab the specific prompt here - https://lnkd.in/eEViDE2Q  8. Type “Continue”   • The analysis takes time, so repeat "continue" until results are complete.  9. Get the Insights   • Discover patterns, trends, genres, top publishers, and visual data like charts.  This workflow helps uncover what’s driving success in mobile games fast and efficiently.  Have you tried trend analysis for your games?  What insights have surprised you?  Share below! 👇

308

22 Comments

"When Giants Step Back: The Startup Opportunity in Mixed Reality Gaming" This is the title of my future SXSW London panel (if it gets accepted). And, to get it accepted, can you, please, vote for it? 🙏 It might ask you to create an account, just so you know. The link to the submission is in the comments below.

35

6 Comments

AI agents have become all the rage for those that have been paying attention in crypto but 90% of these are glorified Chat GPT wrapper vaporware using a handful of frameworks. So why are people interested? Every project needs distribution and funding. Some developers working on these projects that have been successful and have found both in crypto. Crypto has always been full of speculators and underneath that there are some real builders with potentially viable products for the long term which is why I think it's a big mistake to dismiss everything that happening right now. It's important that consider why things get hot in crypto. As someone that has been in crypto since 2017 I've seen a lot of cycles. The ICO/Altcoin boom, DeFi Summer, NFTs, L2's/L3's, meme coins, and we are now in an AI Agent cycle. In all of these scenarios tokens were used to get funding and distribution to different people. DeFi: Finance folks that were tired of centralized finance limitations. NFTs: Creators/Artists, Brands, Games, anyone with an audience. L2/L3's: Networks looking for speed, low costs, and perhaps have more control over how a network operates and what's built on it. Meme Coins: Attention tokens that are silly or fun. Many cycles were fueled by speculators mostly retail and some institutional players. Recently there's been a shift and retail has mostly not been there except for some on the meme coin side. It's been mostly institutional investors and crypto natives in the mix. In the end it's all about distribution and volume in crypto. That's where users flock to. I think this bodes really well for AI agents. I imagine it might be more difficult to convince a large institutional player to get in the mix with meme coins than it is for them to get in the mix with AI agents. AI agents or AI related crypto projects is something the general AI/Tech crowd might find more palatable and can be a new audience. The cycle has just started. I expect it will go for at least several months. There are some gems being built if you know where to look: - The top AI agent for crypto market analysis has already been capturing more mindshare than some of the top so called KOLs in the crypto space on X. - I talked to a smart founder Jonah Blake building a B2B advertising business with their AI agent. - I also talked to iAgent Protocol that has a visual learning model that can train AI agents to copy a gamers playstyle in video games. This could be used in e-sports to train against your toughest competitor. You could also use that to copy your friends playstyle and play video games with their agent when they aren't around. We've also seen some smarter players building platforms like Cookie3 with their AI Agent Index. Crazy to see how they've grown and how they continue to adapt. I'm excited for the future and will be looking to work with true builders in this area this cycle. If you think that's you, DM me. #AI #AIAgents #web3 #crypto

17

2 Comments

Don't Confuse the FUN with DIFFICULTY When designing Roblox experiences that include mini-games alongside core gameplay like Tycoon or RPG, it’s crucial to strike the right balance between fun and difficulty. Mini-games are meant to break up the main game, offering short bursts of entertainment and rewards. However, if they’re too difficult or time-consuming, they can overshadow the main theme and pull players away from the core objectives. As GIANTY has been developing a few Roblox games, we suggest that the ratio for planning upfront time spent in each part of the game: 70% of the time should be focused on the core gameplay (Tycoon or RPG). 20% of the time should be spent on engaging mini-games. 10% of the time for progression, customization, or upgrades. Let’s take Shrek’s Swamp Tycoon from DreamWorks Animation as an example. The core of the game is about building and expanding Shrek’s swamp, which takes up 70% of the player’s time. Mini-games like Donkey’s Dash (a short race to collect waffles) and Puss in Boots’ Duel (a quick sword-fighting challenge) take up 20%, offering fun and rewards that contribute to the swamp-building process. The remaining 10% is spent on customization and upgrading Shrek’s swamp and assets, creating a personalized experience. This balance ensures that mini-games enhance the core gameplay without overshadowing it. So, I created this checklist to avoid overwhelming players with mini-games: ✅ Define the Core Goal of Your Experience: Whether it’s building in a Tycoon or progressing in an RPG, ensure mini-games support this goal. ✅ Set Clear Objectives for Mini-Games: Mini-games should be optional, providing short, rewarding activities without distracting from the main game. ✅ Limit Mini-Game Playtime: Keep sessions 2-5 minutes, with no more than 30% of the player's time in mini-games. ✅ Balance Difficulty Levels: Provide easy-to-moderate difficulty for casual players, with optional harder challenges for those seeking more rewards. ✅ Make Rewards Meaningful but Balanced: Ensure rewards from mini-games are useful but don’t make them necessary for core progression. ✅ Ensure Fun Comes First: Test mini-games for fun, ensuring they feel like bonuses rather than chores. ✅ Monitor Player Feedback: Use feedback and analytics to adjust mini-game difficulty and engagement based on player behavior. By sticking to this 70-20-10 ratio and using mini-games as short, enjoyable breaks from the main gameplay, you can create a balanced Roblox experience that keeps players engaged without overwhelming them. Mini-games should complement the core experience, offering fun and rewards that support progression, without pulling too much focus away from the main objective of the game. Happy making games in Roblox! 😎

11

2 Comments

Biotechs - 5-year projection in your pitch deck? I agree that "mature companies can barely forecast one quarter ahead," so how should a startup know? But apparently, Biotech companies in Europe are asked for these 5-year projections. Check the comments below. There are some interesting discussions about the topic, also from people in the biotech world. P.S.: My company, Life Science Animation, did well and grew without any long-term planning.

16

3 Comments

If you're building a game, we're deploying $30M over the next 30 days and we want you to be one of those startups. Here's what we're looking for in game studios: 1. The meta has changed. The game studio market has returned to rationality from its COVID-induced highs, and there's a focus on lean, fast development. Have a strong thesis about what you want to build and execute against it quickly. The more you can show, the better. If you think this is AAA, think again. VC is about aligning interests based on equity outcomes, not cash. Startups need to move fast to get to signal as quickly as possible. The reality is the budget for shipping certain games doesn't always align with fundraising realities. You're also competing in global markets, and there's lots of talented, hungry developers in Israel, Turkey, China, Singapore, India, etc. that have the labor market to their advantage. 2. The team's assembled. Successful games are a creative, technical, and business miracle, and you'll need to best talent from across all those fields to have a shot. Ideally folks that have already worked together and have the culture and ways of working built in. 3. Intrinsic qualities. These are founder traits that we look for in all the startups we fund. Intelligence. Strong opinions. Hunger. Natural attractors of talent. A dogged pursuit of the truth. These might seem like platitudes but I subscribe to the theory that humans default to the path of least resistance (laziness). And it takes a strong will to inspire yourself and the team to do a really hard thing, over and over again. Day on day, year on year. 4. Taste and thesis. We're looking for people who deeply understand the audience and who they're building for, and are pushing the boundaries for how we interact with an experience and each other. You should be teaching us about how we should think about a game and why your approach is the best one. Being a deep player and student of the genre that you're building in is a must. Games are a million subjective and objective calls, and you want to maximize the amount of right decisions with good process and judgment. 5. GTM. Besides product, do you have a rock solid approach to getting people to care? A lot of folks will throw around the standard strategies of Steam featuring, working with creators, using paid ads, etc. but there should be sophistication in why your GTM strategy wins. Which channels are you going to use? What pieces of creative resonate with audiences? What are the CPI/CPM tradeoffs? Why would a creator want to work with you? How much traffic will they drive? If this resonates with you, apply to SPEEDRUN! Link in the comments below

198

27 Comments

gamescom latam was a blast. However, one week of discussions with game developers from Latin America and around the globe spotlighted the weaknesses of the European digital trade promotion policy. First of all, the Chinese and Indians were visible at the event, but the EU was missing. The trade consulates of EU countries still see each other as their main competitors, but our main competitors are non-EU giants like the USA, China, and India. Only by collaborating, finding synergies, and pooling resources will the EU member states be able to challenge the global visibility of American, Chinese, and Indian trade promotion activities. Secondly, we might be too focused on talent attraction and outsourcing opportunities. Do not get me wrong; both are critical topics for the growth of the European game industry, and we must continue working with them. However, we should not be blinded by those goals. Brazilian game dev studios are rapidly expanding, and the largest of them are already starting to open their local studios in the EU. It is time to broaden our focus and begin promoting the EU more as an investment location and an ideal sport for co-productions. Thirdly, the EU parades itself as the forerunner and trendsetter of digital regulation. As Brazilian efforts to build a GDPR-adequate privacy policy framework and their plans to regulate gatekeeper platforms demonstrate, Brussels's effect is true. However, if the EU does not take a more active role in aligning digital policies inspired by it, we will face a significant risk of deepening global regulatory market fragmentation. It is clear that trade agreements are not an instrument that is agile enough to address this challenge. Instead, the EU should focus on building joint guidelines with third countries on how to align regulatory requirements. In practice, we need joint guidelines between, for example, European and Brazilian data protection authorities addressing the potential conflicts between the EU and Brazilian data protection frameworks. Thank you so much for the invite, great hospitality and enabling the trip Eliana Russi 🔜 gamescom latam , congrants for successful event Stefan Heikhaus 🔜 gamescom latam and thank you for all the help Alessandra Leone.

94

4 Comments

Code Coven is among the British Film Institute (BFI) National Lottery Innovation Challenge Fund recipients!  Aurora will empower game developers by providing them with the resources, mentorship, and support they need to bring their creative visions to life. A massive thank you to the BFI and National Lottery for believing in our mission to create a secure and sustainable games industry. Together, we’re taking significant steps toward a more equitable future for all creators. We’re honoured to be in the company of other innovative projects making waves in the industry, including Into Games with the Games Insights Database, OKRE with the UK Video Games Econometrics project, and London Games Festival with the Access to Market: Games Publishing Toolkit. Congratulations to all the recipients—together, we’re shaping the future of gaming! Fun facts: 💸  Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams are 25% more likely to have above-average profitability. 📈  Organizations with ethnically diverse leadership teams are 36% more likely to outperform their peers. Resulting in innovation and success within the industry. 🫖 So, if all studios had diverse leadership teams, what would the next lever for competitive advantage be? ☕ We’re hyped to be working towards this answer with Aurora! The journey ahead is exciting, and we invite you to talk to us about partnerships and sponsorships that will amplify our impact. If you’re passionate about supporting the games industry and want to be part of this transformative movement, let’s connect! Join us in shaping the future of gaming.

48

3 Comments

Very clear regarding VC fund economics

3

Don't do LinkedIn this way I was that tech founder who: Built VR apps for big brands Working on a sports XR IP With an impressive portfolio and an engaging newsletter. But I only showed up on LinkedIn to drop my XR newsletter. Then disappeared (Sound familiar?) I told myself: "My work speaks for itself" "I'm too busy building" "I'll post when I have big updates" I didn't know any better. Even then, something interesting happened: XR was relatively new territory Weekly DMs kept coming in People wanted to chat But that was it. I didn't send out DMs or reach out to others. Then 2020 hit. Pandemic changed everything. All inquiries dried up in weeks. We winged it on Upwork for 6 months Even scored a 4.5 + rating on all projects But that didn't help. I shut down the agency.  And I pivoted: Back to the role of consultant & SME - I designed game courses for an online school - Consulted a Fortune 500 on content marketing - And I helped startups validate their business model I had the skills, the experience and the expertise What I sorely missed was a developed network aand leads. But persistence pays on LinkedIn: A virtual events platform reached out to me I understood the tech and had a lot of questions We recorded an hour long, Q&A session with the CEO Video was cut into small clips and distributed on LinkedIn. The results were amazing: - The videos found their intended ICP - New users discovered the virtual platform - 100's logged in for the inaugural virtual music show The videos had ZERO visual appeal, but it solved a problem. What's the secret to generate ROI on Linkedin? - The ideas you take for granted are novel to others - Your products and services that solve their problems - What you call "just work", Is the expertise they dont have. The best part is: It's all stacked in your favor Because, - You're already doing the work - You're already solving problems - You're already helping others All you need to do is: - Share your work - Engage more often - Show up more often Do you want to stop taking your valuable expertise for granted ? Do you want to start telling your stories ? PS- Ready to stop letting your expertise go unnoticed? Let’s schedule a 15-minute consultation where I’ll give you tailored LinkedIn growth strategies

2

1 Comment

Big Update from Chat GPT Have you ever seen the movie Her (with Joaquin Phoenix)? This new GPT-4o is giving the movie "Her" vibes 10000%. This new GPT model has voice-to-voice capability. Copiloting coding, data analysis, or anything you could show it, you could ask questions about. Could you imagine this as a standard in any car with Apple Carplay or Android mobile? I used to think about this as a kid who had long commutes to school, what it would be like to have a computer in the car that could tell me trivia about where I was going, give me food recommendations, and give me a themed playlist. All of that is now possible. What would you use the voice-to-voice capability for?

1