Newzoo: Mobile Games Will Generate $36.9B In 2016

Newzoo has released its latest report on the $99.6 billion global gaming industry, covering mobile games to PC and everything in between. The report outlines key trends in global, mobile, PC and console gaming broken down by revenues, segment, region and screen type.

Key Global Trends

Traditional media is now embracing the world of eSports as a way to reach millennials, with brands like ESPN, Yahoo! and Fox Sports engaging audiences through ad spending and strategic partnerships. Mobile games are swiftly becoming a major platform for eSports, with 24 of the top 100 grossing Android games in China organizing events or tournaments in the region. It’s no surprise that virtual reality (VR) is on the rise, but Newzoo states that VR game software revenue will be absorbed into current PC, console and mobile game statistics. The trend of collectible card battle games and character/equipment skins led by Valve and Chinese game companies offers a new layer of interactivity and entertainment, showing how mobile-first countries will take to the idea quickly.

Platform Comparisons: Mobile Games, PC And Console

While console revenue still dominates the industry at $29 billion for 2016, mobile isn’t far behind at $27.1 billion. In fact, Newzoo predicts that mobile games will generate $36.9 billion, or 37 percent of the market in 2016. PC and MMO gaming revenue accounts for 27 percent of total 2016 revenues, which Newzoo attributes to “essential vs. non-essential” device usage. According to Newzoo, 87 percent of console gamers surveyed also play on PC.

“The PC and the mobile are both essential devices where the console isn’t,” says Newzoo. “Mobile devices cannot bring full console experiences to them. With the PC as a device on which players can customize their experiences to suit what they are playing, console games can make the leap to a platform people need to own. PCs make it much easier to share content online. Though consoles do offer streaming services and channels, the ability to run a multi-screen setup, edit videos and release easily onto YouTube or Twitch means that PC has an advantage for players. PC users upgrade more naturally than console users do. The forthcoming PlayStation Neo and the updated Xbox One S have enraged some console fans, who fear they may need to fork out full price. Because many PC gamers regularly update hardware, console developers who shift to PC may have fewer worries about resistance to upgrades.”

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Regional Overview

China is number one for game revenues, generating over $24 million in 2016 followed by the USA, Japan and South Korea with $23.5M, $12.4M and $4M respectively. North America experienced 4.1 percent year-over-year (YoY) growth from 2015 with an estimated demographic of over 198 billion gamers. Western Europe saw a year-over-year growth of 4.4 percent, while the Eastern Europe gaming market is growing at a rate of 7.3 percent year-over-year.

Asia-Pacific saw an increase of 10.7 percent YoY and Latin America nearly doubled that growth at 20.1 percent. However, the most impressive growth comes from the Middle East and Africa, with a year-over-year increase of 26.2 percent, although it accounts for only 3.2 percent of global revenues. In 2016, 58 percent of growth comes from the Asia-Pacific region.

“This year will be another pivotal year for everyone involved in the games business,” says Newzoo CEO and co-founder, Peter Warman, in the report. “ESports and livestreaming are changing the gaming landscape on a global scale and at an unbelievable pace. Consumers are embracing the possibilities that games now offer, to view, create and play on every screen. Managing these communities is at the center of any game company’s strategy. The arrival of VR and AR will ultimately change the world we live in, but impact on the industry will be limited in the near term.”

[a]listdaily Weekly: #PopsiclePants, Dark Social And Oh, SNAPchat

This time on [a]listdaily Weekly, we take a look at marketing based on birthdays, what your audience says behind your back and Snapchat calls out Facebook. Fight!

Know Your Audience, Be Yourself

Don’t you love generation categorization? Well, marketers do! But is this exercise of grabbing an arbitrary slice of say 11-15 birth years any more useful than astrological signs? No generation has been studied as extensively as the current batch of teen-through-early-30’s-aged humans. They are now the largest living generation in the United States, which is why every night in the throes of stress dreams, marketing directors toss and turn, mumbling the word, “millennials” over and over.

While (in most cases) you can’t summarize a human being by their demographic template, knowing the generations helps. Insights like these provide a starting point and smart marketers know that targeting niche audiences within a cohort and working your way out is often the most effective way to see what works. If you’re sick and tired of being lumped into categories defined by when you happened to be born—a word of advice: stop posting the same five monthly hashtags as everyone else. Nothing throws the bots for a loop like an outlier. So, whether it’s right up the middle or completely off the chart, find your true, unique self and just be that. #popsiclepants

Come To The Dark Side (Of Mobile Sharing)

Dark social—it sounds like a coffee klatch for evil sorcerers but for advertisers, it represents something far more sinister: elusive data. And as no one once said, “what you cannot see . . . cannot be factored into a comprehensive marketing strategy.”

In a report titled “The Dark Side of Mobile Sharing,” enterprise advertising platform, RadiumOne says that worldwide, a whopping 84 percent of shares are dark. Stateside, the stats are only slightly less speakeasy, with 79 percent of total shares on American social networks being this sort of off-the-record jabber. Basically, for every bit of consumer chit-chat you overhear, there are four secret conversations you didn’t even know you didn’t know you were missing.

In Your FACE(book)

Is mobile video audio-friendly? That’s the big question this week after we were treated to reports that indicate 85 percent of Facebook video is watched without sound, which might make you wary of Facebook’s stats. Don’t throw any of that kinda shade at Snapchat, or you’re liable to get told.

The image messaging app is putting the world on notice: two-thirds of Snapchat videos are viewed with audio. Bam! The platform is so adamant that we recognize that claim, they’re partnering up with analytics company Moat to back it up with hard data. Quoth the Snapchat: “Advertisers are asking for a clear definition of a video view.”

Oh Snap(chat)!

Coors Light Cracks Open A Can In Virtual Reality

YouTube made a big bet with 360-degree video last year, and brands quickly capitalized by getting creative on the platform with their integrated marketing campaigns. They’ve since introduced a live component, and the ad opportunities have proven to be aplenty since no headset is required to view the premium content.

Brands are quickly recognizing there is a demand for VR and 360-degree video by listening to consumers—and they’re delivering. According to Google data, global search interest for virtual reality on Google has grown nearly four times in the last year.

Enter companies like Coors Light, who are taking a nice cold crack at VR for their new “Climb On” campaign, a three-video series implementing the immersive technology that’s designed to appeal to a millennial’s thirst for adventure.

Each video—which features whitewater kayaking in Queensland, downhill biking in Cairns and big wave surfing in Tasmania—ends with twenty-something adventurers cracking open a cold can of Coors Light. 

Brendan Noonan, marketing director for Coors Light, joined [a]listdaily to discuss what new ideas the beer brand is brewing to broaden its reach.

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What is the “Climb On” campaign designed to accomplish for Coors Light? What’s the message? What prompted Coors Light to begin implementing VR and 360-degree video? 

Coors Light is committed to inspiring people to climb their personal mountains, and to celebrating the perseverance that makes the climb worthwhile. The new virtual reality and 360-video technology struck us as a fun, interesting way to bring that brand purpose to a much wider audience of beer drinkers. We started by creating the virtual reality program aimed at boosting our consumer engagement in bars and restaurants, with our distributors ordering more than 90,000 VR viewers. Extending the program to our social media platforms through 360-video is allowing us inspire our fans online, as well.

What did you learn throughout the production process? How will you measure success?

For these videos, we’ll primarily look at the level of consumer engagement to gauge success. In the on-premise, that means how many people view our VR videos and are then inspired to share their own climb on social media. With the 360-videos online, we’ll be looking at the amount of time people spend viewing the videos and how many times they’re shared.

What is the best way for brands to approach this immersive storytelling format to further engage with consumers?  

Whatever marketing tool you’re using, it works best when it’s clearly in service of your brand positioning. For Coors Light, we believe VR and 360-video is a tool that makes a lot of sense because it’s such a powerful way to bring to life our “Climb On” positioning.

Why do millennials respond better to marketing involving adventure and new experiences?

Much of the reason we’re so excited about the “Climb On” positioning is that it transcends age, gender and ethnicity. It’s about the mindset of embracing new challenges as exciting opportunities rather than daunting challenges, and anyone can have that mindset.

How do you plan on using VR and 360-degree video in the future? 

We’ll see how this initial foray into VR and 360 goes for us, but if the early results are any indication, you can expect to see more on this front from Coors Light in the future.

Follow Manouk Akopyan on Twitter @Manouk_Akopyan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw_DfTjwHgs

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWwnYOsN16w

Understanding The Virtual Reality Demographic

Virtual reality technology is very impressive but remains out of reach for many consumers. That’s why mobile VR, which is more affordable and accessible, seems to be getting more attention lately.

According to a new report published by Slice Intelligence, virtual reality got a huge push at last week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) event in Los Angeles. And while Oculus and Sony got a lot of attention with their showcases, mobile VR also got a great deal of promotion, particularly the Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard viewers.

After surveying over four million US shoppers, the report finds that mobile is the preferred format for virtual reality, with 57 percent of sales since January 2015 belonging to the Google Cardboard.

Samsung Gear VR followed closely behind in second with 30.7 percent, while PlayStation VR pre-orders were at 9.2 percent. Meanwhile, the Oculus and HTC Vive were cobbled with the “other” category, making up a meager 2.7 percent.

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That said, PlayStation VR did have better sales in March, when pre-orders launched, so its popularity could pick up closer to its October 2016 release.

The report also indicates that gamers who purchase virtual reality devices online tend to spend more money on games—approximately ten percent more during the first 90 days from when they first purchase their unit. Furthermore, those who buy both console games and VR products tend to spend the most money—about $194 dollars more annually—which could mean good news for PlayStation VR, which combines both groups.

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The report also compared male and female shoppers and found that the gap between the two groups is rather small. Male shoppers who generally purchase console, mobile and PC games (virtual reality or otherwise) measure in at 55.4 percent, while females are closely behind at 44.6 percent.

However, males have a much bigger lead when it comes to virtual reality, with 85.7 percent showing interest, compared to a much smaller 14.3 percent in the female group.

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The numbers say a lot, indicating that consumers don’t mind a more affordable alternative to virtual reality, though women don’t seem to show as much of an interest as men at this point. That could certainly change over time, as the Oculus becomes more accessible to the market and the PlayStation VR ramps up its promotion.

ArenaNet Invests In ESports With $200,000 ‘Guild Wars 2’ World Championship

NCsoft-owned ArenaNet, creator of the free-to-play Guild Wars massively multiplayer online (MMO) franchise, is doubling down on eSports. Through its partnership with ESL, the game maker will host a $200,000 Guild Wars 2 World Championship on September 17 at ESL Studios in Burbank, CA.

But first up is the June 25 Guild Wars 2 Pro League Season 2 Finals, which is the culmination of seven weeks of competition with 16 teams from Europe and North America. Representing Europe in this Saturday’s event is Season 1 champions Rank Fifty Five Dragons and The Civilized Gentlemen. Astral Authority and Team PZ will represent North America in the finals. These four teams will compete for $100,000 at the ESL Studios in front of a live studio audience and on Twitch.

Joshua Davis, associate global brand manager at ArenaNet, talks to [a]listdaily about the expanding Guild Wars 2 eSports business.

What has eSports opened up for Guild Wars 2, which wasn’t created originally for competitive play?

PAX 2013 was our first foray into eSports. There was a $100,000 tournament for Guild Wars Factions back in the day before eSports took off.

We’ve had a very active competitive player base for a long time, and they’ve been asking us to scale this up. We’ve done the Cups in 2014 through ESL and then tournament standalone mini-major events. We’re constantly engaged with our player base to make sure there’s something to aspire towards. We’ve recently increased playing time for player vs. player combat, for example. ESports is interesting in that you can accomplish a lot of things with one swoop.

How has the ESL Pro League evolved?

We’ve learned so many lessons about how you treat and work with players, and how you balance the gameplay experience. It’s been nice to have ESL as a partner and a guiding light through the whole process.

The Cups we held in the past were casual tournaments with small prize pools. The World Tournament was more strict with regions and larger prize pools and more structure. But they were more sporadically placed. For competitive players, not having big beats to look forward to was detrimental. With Pro League, we were able to lay out a calendar for the entire year, so they know what to expect for competitive play.

What’s the breakdown for the World Championship?

There are eight teams per region in North America and the EU that compete for seven weeks. The top teams go to the Pro League Season Finals June 25 for Season 2.

How will the world championship work?

The world championship will be scaled down to six teams (three from North America and three from the EU) and feature the largest prize pool in Guild Wars 2 history—$200,000 for a single day event. The six teams will be decided through qualifier on August 6-7.

Why are you opting for a smaller studio instead of a large arena?

We’ll have fans inside the ESL Burbank studio. The main thing is making sure the venue scales to where you’re at. Certain games are booking Madison Square Garden, but we’re not there right now.

The one thing we gain in-studio is increased production value. We were fighting for space at Gamescom with other games at previous eSports events. Our competition will be as top quality as it can be.

Will you add more teams in the future?

There are more teams who could compete through the Challenger Series, but we’re comfortable with eight teams per region now.

How has the Twitch audience grown since Guild Wars 2 eSports was introduced?

We’re happy with our Twitch viewership. We weren’t expecting Dota 2 or League of Legends numbers. ESports is a slow growth endeavor, and it all comes down to consistency.

What’s the challenge of breaking into the eSports arena?

Ever year, new games get launched in the market and have varying degrees of success. MMOs in eSports are very rare. Blizzard has its World of Warcraft annual tournament, but there’s not a lot going on. One opportunity in eSports is presenting new genres and types of play. Clash Royale and Vainglory on mobile is another new area.

How has making Guild Wars 2 free-to-play impacted eSports?

We’ve attracted a lot of new users across the entire game. Play-for-free isn’t only about competitive gameplay; it’s about getting people to jump in regardless. We saw a huge spike initially. Player vs. player in Guild Wars 2 has a low barrier to entry. Once you join, you have all equipment and max level, and there’s no grinding for power. It works out really well.

How has eSports attracted new players to Guild Wars 2?

With MMOs, we can use the eSports initiative without worrying about the core game. We have a lot of features in Guild Wars 2, including raids, open world, a living world, and world vs. world. The Pro League lets us prioritize player vs. player. We can forget all the other elements and focus on combat. We’ve done some test campaigns around promoting player vs. player as a stand-alone game. It’s nice to talk about all these different gameplay components with players.

How has the game evolved since launch?

We work with the development team to prioritize the elements of player vs. player. Over the past six months, we’ve improved the visuals of the game to make it easier to follow combat, watch a game, and understand what’s going on. The Heart of Thorns expansion introduced the League System, an in-game progression for player vs. player that starts at Amber and goes through a Legendary division. This helped us increase the competitiveness through tangible goals. Players are taking it more seriously, and there’s been a shift to the right in skill level. On a professional level, it’s been an interesting problem balancing the game to make sure we move gameplay in the right direction, as players are always trying to one-up things. We’re constantly staying on top of things.

What are the marketing benefits of eSports?

Having tournaments adds visibility to our game. Occasionally, we’ll be on front page of Twitch. Having new fans research the game and maybe go into the game is a benefit. Most games on Twitch are competitive-skewed. A couple of games aren’t, but MMOs usually don’t have a large audience on Twitch.

What type of infrastructure is there for teams to compete in Guild Wars 2 today?

We’ve taken more of an organic approach. We don’t want to solicit ourselves to them. We had our first pro team come in three or four months ago, Astral Authority, and they’re sponsoring a team, The Abjured. We decided to let them come into the game when it was the right spot. It’s cool to see a team come in based on a competitive initiative this year.

What are your plans for Season 3?

We haven’t made decisions on next year yet. There are still two major beats this year we need to get through.

What role does Asia play for Guild Wars 2 eSports?

KongZhong handles all operational stuff in Asia. They opted out this year. They manage their own region. We’re not officially launched in Korea, in that we don’t support their language. This year we did open up our competition worldwide. We even have players from Antarctica competing. We have a number of players on teams in North America from Brazil and on EU teams from Thailand and Korea.

Zynga’s ‘Ice Age: Arctic Blast’ Features Cool Movie Integration

Zynga made its reputation with games like Farmville, and now it’s about to send a refreshingly cold chill with its latest free-to-play mobile game, Ice Age: Arctic Blast. The game was made in partnership with 20th Century Fox, as part of a tie-in for its upcoming animated film Ice Age: Collision Course, set to debut in theaters on July 22.

In Arctic Blast, players work with familiar characters from the film, including Manny and Sid, to clear through match-3 puzzles while using special power-ups. Additionally, users can sign into Facebook to earn in-game currency, as well as connect with friends to send extra lives as needed. The game will also soon become a hub for the film, as it will mix in content from Collision Course. This includes two upcoming exclusive clips from the film, in a deal with Regal Entertainment Group, will let players purchase tickets to the movie from within the game.

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Arctic Blast will also get exposure in the real world, as the game trailer will run for two weeks following the film’s release in over 570 Regal Cinema theaters. A game download call-to-action will also be included with each Collision Course ticket sold.

“Our key goal with Zynga was to produce a fun and exciting game that immerses players into the world of Ice Age and its wonderful characters,” said Rick Phillips, executive VP of Fox Digital Entertainment. “Whether you’re a longtime Ice Age fan or a newcomer just learning about Scrat, Sid, Manny and the rest of the herd, Ice Age is one of the top animated movie franchises of all time.”

Arctic Blast is also benefitting charitable organizations. John Leguizamo, who voices the character of Sid for the films and the game, posted on Twitter that with every download of Arctic Blast, Zynga will donate $1 (for up to $50,000) to the Fresh Air fund.

 

‘Kill Shot Bravo’ Takes China’s Mobile Gaming Market By Storm

China has the largest mobile gaming market in the world, so it’s no wonder why so many developers are eager to enter the market. That’s no easy task, given how there’s no Google Play store to centralize Android app purchases. However, the Canadian studio Hothead Games, maker of the hit action shooter Kill Shot Bravo may have the key to taking on this important market. In partnership with Cheetah Mobile, the company is winning over Chinese players. The developer announced today that Kill Shot Bravo debuted at #5 on the Chinese iTunes App Store, demonstrating the game’s global appeal.

Vlad Ceraldi, Hothead co-founder and director of development, talks to [a]listdaily about how Kill Shot Bravo is taking hold in the Chinese market, and how the free-to-play game has become a global phenomenon.

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Vlad Ceraldi, Hothead Games co-founder and director of development

What is Kill Shot Bravo about?

Kill Shot Bravo is one of the most popular first-person shooter games on mobile in the world, enabling players to step into the role of a Special Forces soldier who must navigate secret missions across the globe while eliminating hostile forces that stand in the way of a peaceful world. The game includes a very unique real-time player-versus-player mode that allows players to test their skills against other snipers in live ranked matches, as well as a new Alliance Mode that takes social multiplayer FPS action to the next level.

How is Kill Shot Bravo the ideal game to bring over to Chinese audiences?

Chinese audiences love fast-paced action games with intense graphics, and that’s exactly what Kill Shot Bravo provides. In fact, the game seems to have universal, worldwide appeal, as we have noticed that players have been finding it in the app stores from countries all over the globe. But it was the game’s mix of heart-thumping action and extremely detailed graphics that made us decide to bring it to China.

What do you think Chinese players are looking for in a shooter?

Aside from action and graphics, a good shooter game must also deliver a compelling storyline and a plot that really engages the player. This is true in China and throughout the world. Chinese players, in particular, go through content much faster than most other players, so it was important that we created a faster release schedule that gave Chinese players the new levels and content they craved.

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Did any significant changes to Kill Shot Bravo need to be made in order to appeal to Chinese players?

Along with the new publishing schedule, we also had to tweak the economy a bit to better fit the payment behaviors of Chinese players, and we reduced the difficulty of the first several levels so that Chinese players could get deep into the gameplay a little faster. We also worked with Cheetah to create a custom pricing, sales and promotion schedule specific to Chinese audiences.

What are the challenges of bringing a mobile game to China, compared to publishing it in Western countries?

One major challenge was working with so many different Android app stores to get the game published, as opposed to just being able to focus on Google Play here in the West. So it was important that we work with a partner like Cheetah, who had contacts at all of the major app stores, including the iTunes App Store, to make sure it got noticed and received the attention it deserved. These efforts were very successful, as the game was featured by several of the app stores and garnered lots of very positive reviews.

With multiple Android stores in China, how do you promote a game in such a large country with no central store like Google Play?

That’s exactly right. You have to work with Android stores like those on Tencent, Youku, Baidu and many others. So it’s a lot more work, but in the end, it creates an advantage if you can master all of them, because so many game developers just focus on maybe one or two.

Will other Hothead-developed games soon be making their way to China?

Our China team is actively working with new and our existing partners to publish all of our new shooter titles that are currently in development. Watch this space as we will be announcing our schedule of new games very soon. We believe that they all have potential in this very important market for us.

Super Evil Megacorp Exec Discusses Amazon ESports Partnership

Super Evil Megacorp continues to prove that mobile eSports are here to stay. The game developer, which has raised over $26 million in funding to date, has just signed a deal with Amazon. The leading e-tailer is the platinum sponsor of the 2016 Vainglory Summer eSports season, which runs today through September 11.

The new season introduces two separate tiers of competition. Twitch and Super Evil Megacorp are debuting the Evil Eight, presented by Amazon Appstore, a new tier of elite competition in North America and Europe featuring only the region’s top eight teams at any given time. These elite teams will battle each weekend on Twitch in eight-team tournaments, earning points in championship standings.

Alongside will be a community-run “Challenger” tier of competition, with regular Evil Eight challenger battles. Kristian Segerstrale, COO of Super Evil Megacorp, said this two-tiered competitive structure creates many more opportunities to broadcast clashes of elite teams such as Team SoloMid, G2 eSports, Team Secret, mousesports, and SK Gaming, while giving up-and-coming teams a path to their own tournament victories and ultimately the seasonal championship.

“This is the first time both top-tier teams and new teams are applying and competing,” Segerstrale said. “It all culminates with the top three teams from the Challenger series facing off against the bottom three teams from the elite structure. The competitive landscape has grown so rapidly that we can now support full-time Vainglory teams that deserve a league of their own, and also give amateur teams that are improving an opportunity to challenge the best teams.”

Segerstrale added that Vainglory-first teams such as GankStars and Halcyon Hammers have been able to build professional organizations, complete with business development representatives, sponsorships, and part-time team psychologists. Amazon’s home city of Seattle is likely to host the “Battle for Seattle” North American Summer Live Championships September 2-4 while the European championship will be held September 9-11.

“We’re hoping to work the North American championship into the broader PAX fabric, which takes places that weekend,” Segerstrale said. The summer season is poised to have 5 million viewers tune in to the action, doubling the number of viewers from the Winter 2016 event. He also expects to see a larger live audience attend the event, topping the 500-700 people who attended the recent Spring North American Championship.

In addition, the Amazon Appstore will be rewarding players throughout the season with discounts and bonus Amazon Coins, the digital currency that lets customers save up to 25 percent off in-app purchases.

Super Evil Megacorp signed a multi-year, multimillion deal with Amazon-owned Twitch in March to take over its Vainglory eSports business. “We’ve had a relationship with Amazon before the Twitch deal, and worked with them on the first season in a small-scale collaboration,” Segerstrale said. “That’s grown. We’ve launched Vainglory on the Amazon Appstore and the relationship has grown into this significant Summer Season. The Twitch deal has helped. All sponsorship and sales come through Twitch. The team working on Vainglory eSports there has quadrupled. Both the live audience and broadcast quality of these events significantly increased.”

Segerstrale also commented on how this new deal is about more than the sponsorship monetary component. “It’s a deep marketing collaboration that helps promote the Amazon Appstore and helps spread the word of Vainglory and the competitive scene, which is rapidly becoming a fun, fast-growing new thing for the touch screen generation,” Segerstrale notes. “There are millions of folks growing up with touch screens as their primary device for gaming, entertainment, communication and information. This Amazon deal will help invite more people to be part of the competitive scene.”

Super Evil Megacorp has been updating Vainglory to connect with a more mainstream audience like the one Amazon caters to. “We believe multiplayer touch screen gaming will be mass market in the next few years,” said Segerstrale. “It’s new for this generation now, but the Summer Season update has many features that make the game more approachable. We’ve added broader options to play with or against bots, so you don’t have to play with real people. We’ve introduced the shorter Battle Royale game mode for learning to play different heroes. And we’ve added more tutorials and learning materials.”

This 2016 Summer Season is a small step in a long journey toward making multiplayer play more approachable on touch screens. “At its core, Vainglory is a highly competitive game, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to just have fun playing with friends,” Segerstrale explains. “Amazon will help spread the word.”

SuperData: ‘Overwatch’ Crushes May Digital Game Sales

The previous SuperData revenue report showed Dark Souls III as the biggest game for April. However, the May 2016 worldwide digital game sales have made room for a new champion: the multiplayer shooter, Overwatch. The competitive game has accounted for $269 million in earnings across both PC and console. In addition, the game is currently the fifth most commonly broadcast title across livestreaming platforms, according to SuperData CEO Joost van Dreunen.

Overwatch has also done suitable business with “a hefty quantity of vanity items, including skins and graffiti tags.” This is on top of the initial $60 price of the game. The shooter also had no trouble running loops around its nearest competitor, 2K Games’ Battleborn, which managed to only earn about $11 million for the month of May. While those are still reasonable earnings, it was nowhere near Overwatch‘s numbers.

Overall, the digital games market showed an increase of 11 percent year-over-year, earning an estimated $6 billion for the month of May—primarily due to the success of Overwatch. Mobile gaming took a slight drop, down from the almost $3 billion in monthly sales noted back in February, to around $2.6 billion, which is still a nine percent increase from 2015.

While Overwatch may be a noted success story, it’s not the only game that did well for the month. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End did great business for Sony, scoring $56 million for the month and pushing past Call of Duty: Black Ops III as the highest earning console title in May. The game sold almost six times more digital copies at launch than its predecessor, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, when it released last October, according to van Dreunen.

In addition, the report showed that multiplayer gaming is a major part of console gaming, with the market “on track to reach $17.4 billion in revenues, in part driven by consoles now offering cross-platform gameplay.” While not a lot of titles have embraced this opportunity yet (mainly Rocket League), many developers are looking into the option.

Van Dreunen was also made note of Facebook’s interest in the gaming video content market, particularly with its deal with Activision Blizzard and Overwatch. “Facebook’s entry into the space may serve as a catalyst for competitive gaming, which is a major content category across livestreaming channels, and on track to earn $892 million this year.”

Facebook Signs New Media Partners, Celebrities For Live Video

Just days after signing former League of Legends pro player Stephen “Snoopeh” Ellis to help bolster eSports for its video division, Facebook has made some major moves to bolster its Live library.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the social media platform has signed on nearly 140 media companies and celebrities to create new video content for its Facebook Live service. The deals reportedly total more than $50 million, and the goal is to keep its 1.65 billion monthly users engaged with livestreaming, exclusive video productions and more.

A number of big outlets are on board, including CNN and The New York Times, as well as digital publishers Vox Media, Mashable and Huffington Post. A number of celebrities are also on board, including TV super-chef Gordon Ramsay, comedian Kevin Hart and NFL quarterback Russell Wilson.

These arrangements will keep fresh video content coming while Facebook formulates a plan for compensating video creators, which may include some form of ad revenue sharing.

“We wanted to invite a broad set of partners so we could get feedback from a variety of different organizations about what works and what doesn’t,” said Justin Osofsky, Facebook’s vice president of global operations and media partnerships, in a statement regarding video content.

The Wall Street Journal also posted a chart showing the value of the highest contracts signed. BuzzFeed takes the top spot with $3.1 million, followed by The New York Times ($3 million) and CNN ($2.5 million). While celebrities aren’t making nearly as much (around $200,000 apiece), their content should still bring in quite a number of community members.

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Considering how users watch over 100 million hours of video daily through their news feeds, Facebook no doubt hopes that these deals will keep them further engaged while possibly increasing viewership numbers at the same time. Facebook Live isn’t just about livestreaming, as the Journal reports that about two-thirds of Facebook users watch a video after it has been broadcast. Those that do watch live tend to stick around for the long haul as well, as the average Facebook user will watch a live video three times longer than those that don’t.