Blizzard Selling Overwatch Credits in China
In accordance with the new regulations in China that require online game operators to disclose probability rates for random-chance loot boxes, Blizzard (through their JV with NetEase) announced their probability data. However, they are now taking a step beyond this effort and no longer selling loot boxes. Instead, in a clever work-around, they are now selling the in-game currency and tossing in the loot boxes as free gifts, depending on the number of credits purchased.
Niko Partners at E3
Niko Partners will be attending E3 next week in Los Angeles – please contact us for a meeting appointment.
Pokemon Profits Up By 2,400%
Thanks to Pokemon Go, Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon, The Pokemon Company generated 26 times its previous fiscal year profits from February 2016 through February 2017. While the launch of Sun and Moon were a success and the year saw Pokemon’s 20th anniversary celebration, much of the profit is attributed to the release of Pokemon Go in July. The game was a huge hit in the US but also in Southeast Asia (and not launched in China).
China Mobile Game Trends
Niko Partners is happy to announce collaboration with Sensor Tower to analyze their detailed data analytics about mobile game apps in the country markets we cover. As part of this, we will publish a monthly column on the trends we see in their data each month, looking at a different country each month.
We just published our May column in Pocket Gamer, and it was based on April data for China – the most important market in the world for mobile games. In addition to Tencent’s continued market dominance with several titles in the Top Ten rankings based on iOS downloads and revenue, other trends are compelling as well so check out the column here.
Xbox Launches Game Pass Service
Microsoft has launched a Netflix-style monthly subscription service called Game Pass for the Xbox One, giving players access to old and new games for $10 USD a month.
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