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Kliuless #20: Netflix vs. Fortnite... Competitors in Content & Influence

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.

Kenneth Liu, Blogger

January 24, 2019

3 Min Read
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Kliuless? Gaming Industry ICYMI #20

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

Netflix vs. Fortnite: Competitors in Content & Influence

  • Context

    • Netflix: "We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO"

    • Director Steven Sonderbergh has made a film for Netflix shot entirely on iPhone

    • Opinion: The Rise of The Influencer — And Why Epic's New Store Approach Is Huge

      • Related: The Epic Games Store as described by Sergey Galyonkin, Director of Publishing Strategy

    • Epic Games acquires digital character specialist 3Lateral

      • Related: More investors are betting on virtual influencers like Lil Miquela

  • Commentary

    • The tools now readily available to everyone make it easier than ever before for individuals to create and broadcast personalized content. No longer does one need a fancy camera nor even an attractive appearance to be an overnight star

    • From a reach perspective, Netflix of course eclipses Fortnite or any other entertainment service. However, its business model, predicated on persistent expenditures to continually create content, results in poor profitability

    • With a close eye already on Fortnite's success, perhaps Netflix will choose to experiment with similar "Support-A-Creator" partnerships to evolve its content engine into a more financially sustainable form

  • Further reading

    • HBR: Why Some Platforms Thrive and Others Don’t

    • Stratechery: Netflix Flexes

Design

PC/Console

  • After a long back and forth, Improbable confirms future Unity support for SpatialOS

  • Microsoft CEO laid out company's vision for its 'Netflix for games'

  • Opinion: Changing industry economics let Bungie forge a new destiny

  • NPD 2018: The 20 best-selling games of the year

Mobile

  • App Annie's State of Mobile 2019: TL;DR and full report

  • Data is so cheap in India that smartphone users average over 8 GB/month, and binge on video

  • Royole’s FlexPai could be the world’s first foldable phone you can buy

    • Related: Xiaomi's foldable smartphone tease

  • How Mediatonic is bringing Gears of War to mobile

China

  • Tencent, NetEase miss out again as Chinese government approves third round of video game licences

  • U.S. direct-to-consumer brands are eyeing China

Tech

  • a16z's Benedict Evans on 5G, AR/VR, and other topics

    • Related: NYMag opinion piece on AR/VR

  • Google is buying Fossil’s smartwatch tech for $40mm

Overtime

  • Games and Crowdfunding in 2018

  • The Best New Music Festival Is in 'Minecraft'

  • NASA Turns to Games For A New Generation of Space Art

  • The Grand Tour Game is a bad game, but an interesting vision for interactive TV

  • NYTimes: A Real-World Battle Over Dancing Avatars: Did Fortnite Steal the Floss?

See more or subscribe at: https://tinyletter.com/kliuless

Twitter: @kliuless
LinkedIn: @kliuless

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