🔥🔥🔥 GameOver Weekly
1. AI kills PM, 2. Dev Funds are 💩, 3. Niantic's Exit | Tale of 2 Cities: Apex Legends vs. PUBG
Hello GameMakers,
GDC is next week; who’s excited?
Want to meet and talk game dev? You can sign up for some public events to catch up in person.
Wed, March 19 at 11 AM-12 PM: The future of AI x Gaming Live Podcast @Hathora Hub, 767 Market St. (very close to Moscone)
Wed, March 19 at 4 PM - 5 PM Brave New World @Product x LiveOps Symposium, Terra Gallery
See the sign-up links at the bottom of this post.
1. AI Will Finally Prove That Most PMs Don’t Understand Players At All
Let’s be real: most PMs don’t make decisions, they manage decision-making. They’re middlemen between data, design, and engineering—exactly the kind of thing AI will automate. In the long run, studios will realize that a self-learning AI model trained on player behavior can A/B test, predict retention curves, and balance content faster than any human PM. So, what happens when AI can design better monetization models, generate roadmaps, and optimize engagement automatically? PMs go from ‘critical’ to ‘overhead.’ The few survivors? The ones who understand how to train the AI that replaced their colleagues.
2. Developer Funds are BS
"Developer funds" are one of the biggest and best marketing/PR gimmicks out there; as long as you give at least 1 studio greater than $0 and announce it publicly, no one will ever know how much money you actually gave out to devs. $1B game developer fund - why not?It was a great way to get hundreds of inbound leads from developers, I can imagine these days even higher volumes, with 90% being a waste of time, but 10% being interesting and from which you could find "other ways" to work together if you wanted.
JK Note: I’m sure he is just talking in theory, not about any recent company announcement. 😂😂😂
3. Niantic’s $3.5B Exit: The Final AR Illusion
Remember when augmented reality gaming was supposed to be the future? Yeah, about that. Niantic just cashed out for $3.5 billion, selling its gaming division—including Pokémon Go—to Saudi-owned Scopely. And that, folks, is your big, flashing neon sign that AR gaming was never the goldmine investors thought it was. Let’s be real—Niantic had one success (Pokémon Go), and after that? A trail of dead projects (Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, NBA All-World, Catan AR—anyone? No? Exactly.). Pokémon Go worked because it was Pokémon—not because AR was some magic formula. Every other Niantic game proved what should have been obvious: people don’t actually want to walk around outside to play video games.
So what happens now? Scopely takes the reins, but let’s not pretend that means some revolutionary new era for Pokémon Go. More likely, we’ll see more aggressive monetization, more gacha mechanics, and a heavier push to squeeze every last dollar out of its aging player base. Meanwhile, every AR startup still chasing the dream should take a hard look at why Niantic got out while they could. The hype cycle is over. AR gaming wasn’t the future—it was a one-hit wonder that got lucky. And now, Niantic is getting paid to leave before the illusion wears off completely.
Top 5 Gaming News
Saudi-Owned Scopely Buys Pokémon Go in $3.5 Billion Gaming Deal (Financial Times) – Scopely, a Saudi-owned game developer known for Monopoly Go!, purchased Pokémon Go and other apps from Niantic for $3.5 billion as Niantic shifts its focus to artificial intelligence. The acquisition will boost Scopely's total audience to over 500 million players.
Parents Should Stop Children Gaming on Roblox if They Are Worried, Says CEO (The Guardian) – Roblox CEO David Baszucki advised parents concerned about their children's use of the platform to restrict access. Despite concerns about bullying and exposure to harmful content, Baszucki emphasized Roblox's efforts to protect users through vigilant monitoring and cooperation with law enforcement.
AppLovin in Talks to Sell Gaming Unit to Tripledot Studios for $900 Million (Business Insider) – AppLovin, an ad tech company, is nearing a $900 million deal to sell its gaming unit to London-based Tripledot Studios. The potential deal includes $500 million in cash and $400 million in equity, allowing AppLovin to focus solely on advertising.
Skich Launches Alternative Mobile Game Store on iOS in Europe (PocketGamer.biz) – Skich has launched a third-party mobile game store for iOS in the EU. The store offers personalized, genre-based game recommendations and a 15% lower developer fee than Apple’s App Store.
Discord's Pivot Led to Employee Departures (Andrew Chen on X) – In an interview with Discord CEO and founder Jason Citron, Andrew Chen highlighted the challenges Discord faced during its pivot from a video game studio to a communication platform. Discussion on the complexities and internal resistance companies may encounter when altering their business focus.
Top 5 AI x Gaming News
Generative AI Set to Transform Game Development (CNET) – Generative AI may significantly reshape video game creation by automating dialogue, artwork, and environments, cutting costs, and speeding up development. However, concerns about quality and job losses remain.
Microsoft Launches 'Copilot for Gaming' AI Assistant (The Verge) – Microsoft's new AI-powered assistant, 'Copilot for Gaming,' available via the Xbox app, provides real-time gameplay tips and strategies to enhance player experience and skill development.
Niantic Spins Off Gaming Unit to Pursue AI Mapping (Barron's) – Niantic has sold its gaming division, including Pokémon Go, to Scopely for $3.5 billion, pivoting to an ambitious AI-driven project focused on building detailed, ground-level geospatial maps.
Sony Tests AI-Powered PlayStation Character Interactions (The Verge) – Sony is experimenting with AI-driven conversations between game characters like Aloy from Horizon Forbidden West and players, using technology such as OpenAI's Whisper and GPT-4 to boost immersion and interactivity.
AI Struggles to Accurately Replicate Pac-Man Gameplay (The Guardian) – Efforts to recreate Pac-Man with AI, including Elon Musk's xAI chatbot Grok, highlight ongoing challenges in faithfully reproducing classic games and demonstrate current technological limitations.
A tale of two cities: PUBG vs. Apex Legends.
Somebody needs to take a look at this and do a deep dive. For a large part of 2022 - 2023, we essentially had performance parity, and then, from 2024 onwards, PUBG and Apex Legends’ performances began to split.
We saw from Brawl Stars last year that LiveOps can make a HUGE difference in performance.
What lessons can we learn from PUBG vs. Apex Legends liveops?
Uhh… what in the actual F??? 🙈🙈🙈
Come on, TipWorks/Netease… not cool. Just remember, karma is a bi-yatch. 🔥🔥🔥
Anthropic: “AI is gonna nuke engineering jobs.”
😂😂😂