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Each week I compile a gaming industry insights newsletter that I share with other Rioters, including Riot’s senior leadership. This edition is the public version that I publish broadly every week as well. Opinions are mine.
Hi, my name is Kenny Liu, and I work in Revenue Strategy at Riot Games. Each week I compile a gaming industry insights newsletter that I share with other Rioters, including Riot’s senior leadership. This edition is the public version that I publish broadly every week as well. Opinions are mine.
See more or subscribe at: https://tinyletter.com/kliuless
Diablo Fans Feel Blizz-Conned
Summary of last weekend's BlizzCon announcements, which included mobile Diablo Immortal and WarCraft 3: Reforged
Related: Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans To Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal
Related: "How to handle entitled gamers when announcing a mobile game"
[KL: Note, I vehemently disagree with the author's tone, especially his word choice of "entitled" to describe players, but the article's content value was worth sharing]
Related: Blizzard is working on bringing multiple franchises to mobile
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Blizzard's developers, so there is not much I want to add beyond what others have already said
However, for me the most unfortunate facet of Blizzard's weekend was encapsulated by these pictures
As an avid mobile gamer myself, I generally prioritize playing on my phone not when I have the freedom to play on other platforms, but when I have no other choice: I'm on-the-go, I have an awkward downtime, I'm multi-tasking, etc.
At BlizzCon the list of opportunities to have fun mobile experiences are everywhere (just think about all the long lines)... but near the bottom on that list would probably be on someone else's stationary smartphone in a demo booth
Perhaps the demo could not support any other execution, but a more interesting tactic might have been to allow BlizzCon attendees to download and play Diablo Immortal on their own phones wherever they go throughout the weekend
In this way, Blizzard may have been able to better showcase their keynote game on terms that best highlight the advantages of the mobile platform instead of its disadvantages
Design
Detailed systems breakdown of Nintendo's Dragalia Lost
Cultural Concepts as Principles of Design
"No More Tutorials! How to Convey Information Through Design"
Game UX Style Guide: Why Do You Need One?
Mobile
Singular: Mobile marketers waste money by spending at wrong times
Epic Games is working on controller support for Fortnite mobile
Bloomberg: Japan’s gacha game makers are losing out to Chinese & Korean companies
China
Rainbow Six Siege is changing its "aesthetics" for China, causing uproar among current player base
WeChat reaches 1M mini programs, half the size of Apple’s App Store
Overtime
Fortnite launches in South Korea, and reaches 8.3mm concurrent players globally (vs. 3.4mm CCU in Feb.)
Ex-EA design chief Patrick Söderlund unveils Embark Studios, a partnership with Nexon
The 35 greatest horror games of all time
A look back at the top-selling games of the '90s
The Story Of Super Mario Bros. 3: 30th Anniversary Retrospective
Drivetime raises $4mm for voice-based trivia game for drivers
Disney’s big Millennium Falcon ride faces a classic game design problem: balancing difficulty
Exploring Japan’s Virtual YouTuber phenomenon
Self-driving taxi service launches in China
November 11 is China’s Singles’ Day, a national online shopping feast. Started by Alibaba in 2009, its sales volume now is bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined
See more or subscribe at: https://tinyletter.com/kliuless
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