Announcing: [a]list Live Streams The 1st Annual TwitchCon

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Want to see what’s going down at the first ever TwitchCon happening this Friday and Saturday in San Francisco [a]listdaily will be live streaming coverage of the event, brought to you by ION, the Influencer Orchestration Network.

Tune in for an in-depth look at the biggest video streaming boom the internet has ever seen with one-on-one interviews and coverage.

daniel kayser

Hosted by gaming industry on-air personality Daniel Kayser, on Friday we’ll be focusing on brands and game publishers taking part in TwitchCon with in-depth interviews live from the Twitch Lounge as well as showcasing the best of the showroom floor.

Saturday will be hosted by Ayzenberg‘s own Amanda Schuckman and coverage will focus on Twitch’s biggest broadcasting talent taking part in the show and what they are doing to find and connect with audiences on Twitch as well as how they are approaching brand and advertising relationships.

Some of the people we have confirmed to be interviewed on the stream during the brand day include DayBreak’s Chief Publishing Officer Laura Naviaux, Electronic Arts/Bioware Producer Cory Butler and BandaiNamco Entertainment America’s Cory Maggard. Twitch talent such as Kristen Pickle AKA KittyPlaysGames, Evan Jarvis AKA Gripsed and Fats AKA Warren Blake will be there, too.

The live stream will start at 10:30 am on Friday on the [a]listdaily’s Twitch channel and then we’ll go live at 1:00 pm as well as 3:00 pm PST both Friday and Saturday.

If you want to send us questions that you have about Twitch and the booming video streaming industry and the brands and talent involved, tweet us @alistdaily.

Want to be featured in the stream Contact jbaage@ayzenberg.com.

 

Tencent Takes Over Supercell As #1 In iOS Revenue

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App Annie has released its latest numbers on mobile games for August, with an enormous surprise: Supercell has lost the #1 position on the top-grossing chart, only the second time this has happened in the last 19 months. The new #1 is the world’s largest game company, Tencent, which grabbed the prime position global iOS revenue earner by virtue of two new games: The Legend of Mir 2 and The King of Fighters’ 98 Ultimate Match. App Annie noted that both of these games leverage well-established IP, with the former based on a hugely popular MMORPG from the early 2000s and the latter based on a late 1990s title that was a hit both in arcades and on consoles. Interestingly, both titles are only available in China — which “further demonstrates the growing importance of this market and the impact it has on the worldwide rankings,” App Annie noted.

App Annie also pointed out the difference in the two gaming company’s strategies, “with Supercell focusing more on building and then scaling one smash hit at a time whereas Tencent takes more of a diversified portfolio approach with 200+ games in a variety of subcategories (ranging from puzzle to hardcore).” App Annie’s VP of marketing communications, Fabien Nicolas, spoke with [a]listdaily about the surprising August results and what this means for mobile gaming.

Do you expect Tencent’s position at #1 to continue Why or why not

What’s interesting from a market perspective is that iOS in China is growing very fast. Apple did a communication that July in China was a record month for App Store revenue. A big reason the spike was so high was the growth of China month per month. Tencent has this huge footprint in the Chinese market. We can never say for sure that next month you’re going to see the same trend, but they are on this rocket ship that is the iOS App Store. Whether they stay #1 or not remains to be seen, but they are very well represented in this number one market that’s blowing up. They have a wide portfolio strategy, with several games for different audiences, and as long as they keep at it they will remain very well positioned for the coming months.

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Tencent embodies the portfolio strategy of doing a lot of good games and hoping for some hits, while Supercell does few games but does them very, very well. Is one strategy better than the other

We see some companies focus on fewer hits, like Supercell or Machine Zoneare illustrations of that. King for the longest time had a huge focus on Candy Crush, and then added Soda Saga to it. You have Tencent on the other side — ‘I’m doing games for many audiences’ — and a mix of first-party and third-party as well. Tencent is not just doing their own games, not just doing external games, but a mix of the two. It’s really new to see somebody with this more diversified portfolio approach that’s taking the number spot, versus people who are focused on doing fewer games (and first-party games only). It’s going to be interesting to see how other companies are reacting to that, whether they diversify and add more third-party games or not.

Angry Birds 2 has a great position in terms of downloads, but the revenue for that title hasn’t kept pace. Will that change

It’s always really exciting when you have a franchise like that branching out in terms of entertainment. The key aspect is we’re really focusing on the Top Ten but right now we haven’t seen Angry Birds 2 breaking into the Top Ten for revenue. When we look at the monthly active users, beyond downloads, they were #6 in August, which is good. That means the app is being able to engage users. It remains to be seen whether they are going to be able to monetize at a higher level in the coming months.

Most of the games in the top ten have been there a long time — are we going to see new games break in any time soon

Words With Friends had a major update from Zynga, so it was like a new release. This is what we’re seeing on our usage data for US users of iPhones. We’re seeing many games with staying power, even in the casual segment. It’s definitely not an easy thing to get a new game in the charts — our theme for our talk at Casual Connect was “beating the odds.” We’re closing in on 3 million games in the app stores. Many of those games have very significant marketing investments, so it takes a lot to really break through and stay up there. You can see Happy Wheels, a small independent developer that put a lot of heart and passion into their app and really polished it, getting great traction in terms of downloads and making it to #2 in terms of downloads. It shows there is the possibility of getting great traction worldwide for a small independent developer.

What are you excited about for the next quarter Will the new iPhones have a big impact on mobile games

The new iPhone is always exciting, and you can always see a number of games being put on new iPhones. The other thing that I’m really excited about is the Apple Watch. We’re already seeing over 12,000 apps. I think the number of games available now is really significant. What is essentially a new platform with very strong constraints will force a great deal of innovation. I’m looking forward to seeing more and more people cracking the code, and figuring out how to build either an extension of your core game or full-on new games that leverage the format really well. I’m excited by the extentions for the Apple Watch, and that’s where we’re seeing a lot of traction. This will turbocharge the growth in territories like China.

Tubular Ranks Most Watched Facebook Creators

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With Facebook’s video division continuing to make a big impact on the social scene — and knocking on the door of YouTube’s popularity — Tubular Labs recently released a report of the top ten most watched Facebook compilation creators for the month of August. And it’s safe to say that these creators have managed to amass a huge audience on the site.

The full list of 25 can be found here, but here’s a quick recap of the top ten creators…

First up is Funniest and Craziest Videos. These videos have pleased audiences of all types with their “crazy, funny and amazing videos for everyone,” with a total of 1.1 billion views for the month of August, and 1.3 million followers overall.

Coming up in second is the prank-based comedy channel SoFlo Comedy, which is very popular in its own right with one billion views, as well as over 450,000 new followers. It rose two places from its number four position during July 2015.

Unilad TV may have dropped in the rankings (it was number two last month), but it continues to impress with over a billion views for the month and over 554,000 new followers. Considering it specializes in trending videos, this shouldn’t be a surprise.

In fourth place is StreetFX, a site devoted to Australia’s largest motorsport graphics supplier. With its car-related videos, it’s managed to gain 349,000 new followers and 593 million views for the month.

In fifth, French site Codes de Meufs made an impressive debut on the list, with 546 million views and 369,000 new followers for the month.

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The remaining top ten are below…

6. Young Paperboyz, 505 million views, 346,000 new followers

7. 2! Idol, 416 million views, 825,000 new followers

8. DJ Zant, 412 million views, 478,000 new followers

9. Viechten Met Daan, 408 million views, 927,000 new followers (the best for the month)

10. Top Vines, 398 million views, but actually lost 6,000 followers (the main negative on the list)

As you can see, Facebook’s business is booming within the top 25, and it’s likely to continue in the months ahead as the site invests in new innovations and opportunities for programmers to take advantage of.

Kids Prefer Mobile Devices For Gaming

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While video games as a whole are growing in reach and sales, the format in which they’re preferred is certainly changing and that may be bad news for makers of PC games.

A report from The NPD Group, titled Kids and Gaming 2015, indicates that mobile devices are now the most popular platform for gaming amongst kids aged 2-17, to an estimated 63 percent. That beats out both consoles and PC games.

That means that only 45 percent of kids in that age group are playing on a home computer a 22 percent drop-off from 2013’s statistics. This is the case for all age groups, but is mainly towards the young set, ages 2-5.

Consoles are still popular, but they’re waning a bit as well, with portable platforms (the 3DS and PS Vita) suffering the biggest decline. That said, they still remain popular amongst the 9-11 age group with a 41 percent hold. That’s slightly less than home computer usage.

“The largest and most surprising shift in the 2015 gaming ecosystem was kids move away from the computer,” said Liam Callahan, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “In the past, the computer was considered the entry point for gaming for most kids, but the game has changed now that mobile has moved into that position. This may be related to a change in the behavior of parents that are likely utilizing mobile devices for tasks that were once reserved for computers.”

Kids’ engagement has also picked up quite a bit on mobile devices. 41 percent of those polled said they spend more time on these mobile units than they did in the past year, with the average time spent on them per week reaching around six hours.

And even though consoles have seen a decline in terms of usage, eighth-generation gaming (Xbox One, PlayStation 4) is still doing better than the previous generation (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3).

While overall gaming incidence rates have remained high, shifts in consumer behavior things like growth in time spent gaming — are surprising changes, said Callahan. This type of insight is invaluable to anyone engaged in marketing video games to kids.

The numbers also indicate that physical games continue to do better than digital, with average spending staying somewhere around $27. Compared to that, digital spending averages around $13, although that is an increase of $5 over the previous year. And this is across both genders, male and female.

However, boys seem more likely to spend additional funds, around $54, compared to $36 spent by girls, according to the report. That said, girls are more likely to be gaming on mobile, although the average for spending on that format is about even for both sexes.

To conclude, two out of every ten gamers polled by The NPD Group indicated that they’re spending more on games and microtransactions than they were a year ago, and physical game spending is actually three times more than any other gaming device. Meanwhile, digital games and microtransaction spending in general seems to be on the same level as the previous year.

Game on!

 

Instagram Officially Has 400 Million Users

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Back in December, Instagram was celebrating passing over the 300 million user mark on its site, with a huge audience drawn in with the ability to post photos and videos with ease. But that’s child’s play compared to the record that the Facebook-owned social site just reached.

The company posted via its official blog page today that it has now crossed over the 400 million user point, meaning that it’s managed to amass an impressive 100 million users in just nine months’ time.

“While milestones like this are important, what really excites us is the way that visual communication makes the world feel a little bit smaller to every one of us,” it said in the blog post.

“Our community has evolved to be even more global, with more than 75 percent living outside of the U.S.,” the post continued. “Among the last 100 million to join, more than half life in Europe and Asia. The countries that added the most Instagrammers include Brazil, Japan and Indonesia.”

It also broke down many inspiring moments that have been posted to the site in that time, including the first surface image of Pluto, celebrations in the Champions League, a Namibian ghost town and the white pools of Turkey.

It also noted many of the celebrities that signed up for Instagram, including soccer player David Beckham, transgender heroine Caitlyn Jenner, and a handful of others.

“When Instagram launched nearly five years ago, 400 million seemed like a distant dream. Now, we continue to strive to improve Instagram helping you experience the world through images and connect with others through shared passions,” the post concluded.

Meanwhile, a study reported by Adweek broke down just what kind of usage goes into Instagram posting, based on a study provided by Mavrck. Based on 1.3 million Instagram posts, it deduced that marketers see better engagement from consumers between 6 AM and 12 PM, mainly due to low posting volume during those hours.

The full breakdown of these numbers can be found here.

Mobile’s Domination In Charts

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Usage of mobile devices for web browsing continues to be on the rise, as comScore has provided a number of new statistics showing just how powerful the mobile medium has become as a whole, according to this report from Digiday. 

Numbers indicate that monthly visitors to the top 1,000 mobile websites rose to nine million people on an average – that’s up from the six million reported in 2014.

“Total digital audiences have grown 22 percent year-over-year, which is crazy if you think about it, because desktop has flattened out and it’s driven all by mobile,” said Andrew Lipsman, comScore’s head of marketing and insights. “And really, it’s more about the mobile Web than apps.” 

Overall traffic managed to grow 42 percent for mobile websites, and 21 percent for mobile app usage. That’s not a surprise, considering that more digital publishers are working to create more engagement amongst app users and mobile device owners. “it’s all about the power of habit,” Lipsman added.

There are various charts that break down the results from the study, which you can find below.

chart 12

This first chart gauges the popularity of both mobile apps and mobile web properties, and as you can see, the number for mobile web grew quite a bit, while mobile apps saw their own little increase as well. Both are expected to grow over the next few years as well.

 chart 22

This chart looks at the top 25 mobile apps with unique visitors, and Facebook clearly has a grasp on the lead, while YouTube, Facebook Messenger, Google Search and Google Play are closely behind to round out the top five. Twitter, meanwhile, is much, much lower on the list.

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Brand apps can go a long way as well, as both Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts have proven over the last couple of years. Dunkin’ Donuts rose a whopping 456 percent since 2013, while Starbucks showed a 100 percent increase over that same time frame. Both have a strong amount of visitors that isn’t likely to dwindle anytime soon, based on each of their apps.

 chart 42

Retailers are also playing a big part with app usage, as Wal-Mart, Kohl’s and Target (with its Cartwheel service) have all seen increases in audiences over the past year, with Wal-Mart showing the biggest increase by 402 percent.

 chart 52

Tinder also saw a significant increase in visitors, nearly doubling its numbers to about two million people per day, a big jump over last year’s numbers. It’s also attracting quite the young audience, as four out of five Tinder users are younger than 35 years of age.

chart 6

Millennials were a big part of this report, as their top apps by share of total mobile app time spent were gauged on this cart. Facebook has the biggest individual grasp with 21.2 percent, followed by Pandora Radio and YouTube. Other apps got their share of the pie as well, including Spotify, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat.

chart 7 Finally, the top 20 apps with highest concentration of millennials were measured, and YikYak easily took the lead with 98 percent. Venmo, InstaSize, BuzzFeed and Tinder were closely behind.

More details on this report can be found here.

Epic Games Covers the World of Virtual Reality

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With so many virtual reality devices on the way, some consumers may be overwhelmed by what they have to offer and which one is the best way to go when it comes to a purchase.

Fortunately, Epic Games is here to help. The development studio that worked on such franchises as Gears of War and Unreal Tournament has announced a new documentary series called Sense of Presence, per this report from VentureBeat.

With this mini-series, the company will delve deep into the world of virtual reality, complete with explanation of terms and just what it could do for the market a market, by the way, that’s estimated to reach a whopping $150 billion by 2020, featuring headsets from the likes of HTC, Samsung, and Facebook’s Oculus technology.

The series will feature interviews with a number of key features in the world of virtual reality, including Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey, as well as Epic chief technology officer Kim Libreri, 3D Live chief executive officer Nathan Huber, and Magnopus co-founder Alex Hennig.

The first episode of Sense of Presence while a bit short at just under five minutes, provides a reasonable explanation as to what virtual reality is, as well as what it could do for the market in terms of video games and other experiences. This includes glimpses of forthcoming titles like The Solus Project.

With future chapters in the series, Epic hopes to explain further details on the world of virtual reality, as well as why consumers should be excited for the likes of such technology as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

No word yet on what Epic Games could be working on through the VR front, but considering its impressive Unreal Engine 4 technology, big things are certainly on the horizon. Next year is going to be quite the interesting one as these VR headsets make their way to retailers.

Social Networks Rush To Mobile App Advertising

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Considering the popularity of mobile devices these days, it shouldn’t be any surprise that a lot of companies are looking to invest in mobile app installs, as that can be a real draw for their individual programs and games. But now, social networks are vying to get a bigger piece of the action.

Per Business Insider, a report from BI Intelligence indicates that US mobile app install ad revenue will reach $4.6 billion this year, and extend even further in just a few years’ time, up to $6.8 billion by the time 2019 rolls out. This creates a compound annual growth rate of 14 percent from last year, with mobile app install ads accounting for about 30 percent of overall mobile ad revenue.

chart 10

As you can see from the chart, the increase is steady over each period, starting at $3.6 billion and nearly going double within the five years’ time.

There have been other takeaways from the report as well, including:

  • Mobile app-install ads are becoming quite popular ad units with different app publishers — and not just games.App marketers, including those in eCommerce and brands, feel that these ads are helping increase both downloads and measurable ROI. Social networks also take part, mainly because ads can be sold at a higher rate.
  • Easy-to-measure ROI drives demand. As an app-install ad is downloaded, customers’ activity in the app, including “lifetime customer value,” can be attributed to that ad.
  • Mobile app install ads are higher than standard units on Facebook, mainly due to performance and targeting. The report covers CPM pricing and CTR rates, when compared to the typical Facebook ad.
  • Prices will continue to be steady, while there will be an increase in supply. The mobile install ad has matured quite a bit over the past few years, and supply is becoming much more available through the likes of Twitter and Google. Due to the healthy increase, these aren’t likely to decline.
  • Top mobile publishers and networks will compete for mobile app-install ad dollars, as well as for specific app developers. Twitter and Facebook have been vying for the attention of key app builders in an attempt to increase app installs, complete with tools and analytics to help them get the job done. The ads in general manage to generate one-third of all mobile ad revenue.

The full report can be found here.

iPro Brings Real-Time Football Play Prediction Gaming to Mobile

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The fantasy football industry has become a billion-dollar business, with companies like Draftkings and Fanduel taking a long-time casual game and turning it into an activity shared by millions using apps that let you easily assemble fantasy football teams and bet on the outcomes of your choices. Now, a new mobile gaming technology company, iPro, is taking the whole idea of skill-based competition based on real football games to the next level. Ipro is bringing the more than 40 million players of fantasy sports a new experience play-by-play sports prediction based on dynamic odds with its new app ringit!.

With ringit!, mobile players will be able to make predictions about touchdown or turnover, each and every play and it all happens in real time as NFL games take place. “Real-time, play-by-play predictions with dynamic odds have never been achieved before, but I’m just as excited about the flexibility of this platform,” explains Robert Melendres, founder & CEO of iPro. “Our platform is designed to offer social, fantasy and sports betting gameplay within a single app and with the ability to switch modes automatically based on the user’s location and the laws of that jurisdiction.”

The company has been awarded a patent on the technology, with several more in process. Players will be able to invite and make picks against their friends for fun using virtual chips, or play against the field for cash prizes (in most territories). iPro s exclusive, patented technology can give players more than 15,000 pick opportunities in every NFL game, each with dynamically changing odds based on the game status, team tendencies, players on the field and more.

Tom Goedde, chief marketing officer at iPro, spoke with [a]listdaily about the app and its marketing.

Who’s your target market for Ringit!

Ringit! is aimed at all sports fans and techies who love competition and the action of game day.

How will you market this app

We re marketing ringit! as a sports prediction platform, which is very different from traditional or daily fantasy sports products. Ringit! is built on exclusive, patented technology that enables players to compete alongside live sporting events, in real-time, making picks for each and every play, as odds dynamically change based on the game status, team tendencies, players on the field and more.  You’ve never seen anything like it and I can t wait to share it with the world.

Fantasy football is an enormous market. Do you think Ringit! will not only attract those fans but might supplant some of their fantasy football play time

We think fans of fantasy football are definitely going to be attracted to ringit!, because it offers something no-one else is delivering the opportunity to compete against friends or the field by predicting the next play, drive, or game as you watch live NFL football games, in real-time and where the experience constantly changes based on dynamic odds.  Now, fantasy sports fans have an enticing option where they don t have to wait for the end of the weekend or season to see if they won.

How complex are the legal issues involved with the various modes of gameplay, and how have you dealt with them especially as the laws are different from state to state How does this affect you you market Ringit!  

The laws are complex, and we’ve designed ringit! accordingly. Ringit! is a game of skill, and is therefore legal in nearly every state.  Players will be able to access different modes of play, including social mode, which is a game of skill and legal in every jurisdiction, as it does not award monetary prizes. Fantasy mode is also a game of skill, and legal in all but six states, and doesn’t violate federal rules, including UIGEA. In the future, we’ll also launch a sports betting mode, in territories where permitted, where players can place cash bets on picks.

Our products are designed to comply with all jurisdictional regulations. If you are in a region where gaming is legal, iPro will automatically sense that and turns on certain gaming features. For example, if you fly from Seattle where you can only play in social mode, and land in San Francisco, ringit! automatically senses it, and turns on your fantasy gameplay options.

How are you working with the NFL for this product

We aren’t affiliated directly with the NFL, but we have a relationship with the official stats provider for the NFL.

What’s the future hold for iPro and Ringit! and the technology that you have developed Are other sports a possibility, and what’s the global potential like for this technology

Our proprietary technology is certainly suited to expand to other sports categories, and is definitely in our plans. Right now, our focus is on pro football, but we can keep you posted on expansion news. Same goes for branching out to other markets. We re launching first in the US, Canada & the UK, and have plans to expand to other markets soon

One In Four Americans Plays Games Based On Known IP

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Publishers are increasingly using the brand awareness and popularity of major intellectual properties (IPs) to make their games stand out. By tying their games to popular movies, TV shows or comics, they are hoping to drive user installs and, ultimately, revenues. At the same time, IP owners see games as a way to gain additional consumer revenues. Games based on IP have a history of failure and success, making it crucial to understand what makes an IP game great, and who plays and spends in these games.

Newzoo’s latest service: IP Gaming Report & Data examines 21 of the best performing IP games in depth, providing insights into the most popular titles and the 88 million US gamers, or 27 percent of the total US population in 2015, who are playing them.

Newzoo IP Games Report Simpsons Family Guy V1

In the US, IP Games Perform Better on iPhone than iPad

In July, about 1 in 6 games of the US Top 40 iPhone games were IP franchises, generating more than $11 million in gross revenues that month, or 16 percent of the Top 40’s revenues. MARVEL Contest of Champions performed best, followed by Jurassic World: The Game and the much talked about Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. Interestingly, IP titles do not perform as well on iPad, with only 3 entries in the top 40 in July.

Peter Warman, CEO at Newzoo: “The convergence of games and video content is accelerating and cross-screen engagement is now part of every publisher’s strategy. Not surprisingly, game companies are giving more attention to original and new IP that originates from outside the games space. An IP can undoubtedly provide an enormous marketing boost and potentially save tens of millions in marketing costs. Still, the game itself needs to be stellar to stay up in the charts. Building up IP or using existing IP both have serious pros and cons for game developers. With our recent research, we aim to provide insight into what makes a game based on IP successful and who the most valuable target group is. The report also reflects our objective to do more in-depth reporting on the US market specifically.”

Battle of the Animated Sitcoms: The Simpsons vs. Family Guy

Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff and The Simpsons: Tapped Out have been locked in a monthly battle for the top IP town-building game, with different leaders in the iOS rankings each month. Just like the sitcoms, these titles target a similar audience. This can be seen in the cross-franchise behavior, with Family Guy gamers proving less loyal to the title. Two-thirds of Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff players have also played The Simpsons: Tapped Out, compared to 51 percent of Simpsons gamers having played the rival title.

Profile Your Audience & Competitors

Our IP report and data answer questions such as: How do the most popular IP game franchises perform in terms of awareness, players, recommendation and time and money spent Who are the gamers playing them, who spends money and what aspects do they enjoy the most

The report takes an in-depth look at the IP gamers in the US (based on the players of 21 franchises), examining demographics, game play and spending behavior, platforms used, cross-franchise gaming, engagement and much more.

Along with the report, subscribers get one year access to the Newzoo Data Explorer, where they can cross-analyze the 50+ topics and make custom reports and filters with the support of Newzoo analysts.

The full topic list and the franchises that are included can be found here.