6 Things from 24 Hours at Mobidictum
1. Sweden really screwed the pooch
King's founders could have had the legacy Peak's founders have in Turkey: a giant that grew a country. Instead, King fell victim to espionage paranoia and a reluctance to invest in the ecosystem.
Americans, hold your jaw, because it might drop: it can take as much as six months to hire a King employee, after a three-month notice period and another three months of garden leave. The company was so paranoid about secrets leaking out that it aggressively enforced this even when employees left for studios or firms operating outside puzzle games.
One friend tells the story of King reading his work and paying to have it analyzed to ensure it leaked no King secrets. Of course, and most importantly, there's the reluctance to reinvest in the ecosystem. What puzzle startups from King alumni can we point to as successful? MAYBE, the only one is Snowprint, the studio that made Legend of Solgard with King; and that holds nothing to what's come out of Turkey since Peak's sale.
2. Royal Match is passé
This was a great observation by my co-founder at The Experimentation Group, Tom Storr. Royal Match used to be the default benchmark for anything and everything, but, as I've written, Match-3 has basically reached its end of history. No one thinks the next hit is going to be another Match-3 title, or at least that's not where a startup can provide something new. Pixel Flow, hybrid casual, and an array of ways the farm system for puzzle games works are the focus, including more and more ad monetization.
3. The Turks are a serious puzzle people
When people talk about puzzles, the Turks take it seriously. It's where all the top graduates want to go, because it's the part of the Turkish economy that can pay the highest wages. Firms compete for talent everywhere, including in Turkey. There's a strong belief that puzzle games are a way to build wealth and achieve big success. It's the kind of inspiration and vibe early Silicon Valley had. Maybe that's what Istanbul is: Puzzle Valley.
4. The most gender-balanced genre in gaming?
The game industry skews male, but this specific subgenre, puzzle, is more gender-balanced, closer to reflecting its audience. That was reflected at the conference too.
5. UA, UA, UA
I wrote previously that I was a UA fundamentalist, and Mobidictum renewed my vows. It's simply the nature of the puzzle genre that the marginal cost curve will coincide with the marginal revenue curve. All UA functions in an ad auction, and if LTVs increase, UA firms are going to eat those gains. The market is always optimizing down. This problem is inescapable, but new equilibria can mean the market grows; it feels like the first time in history that the market is stable. AI is largely seen as a supply-side tool, but I think there's less understanding of how platforms like ChatGPT and Claude will supply ad inventory, given that they're becoming the dominant surface area for engagement.
6. Turkish tea is the best tea
Swapping my 9:00 double espresso for Turkish tea is one of the best decisions I've made for my health and for inviting peace into this world. The Turks absolutely killed it with the tea ceremony and sand coffee.