My.Games CEO Elena Grigorian: “The mobile market is fighting for margins at all costs”

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Maintaining with business developments is essential to staying forward within the video games business and guaranteeing you do not fall behind.
At Pocket Gamer Connects, we usually run our ‘World Developments’ monitor, offering an expansive view of the sector’s newest ttrends, info, figures and insights from around the globe. In actual fact, the monitor will return as soon as once more at PGC London 2025 on January twentieth to twenty first.
On this sequence, we have reached out high business leaders to share their insights and expectations on the state of play and the way they see the following few years shaping up.
We spoke to My.Video games CEO Elena Grigorian about her ideas on the most recent high business developments, and why direct-to-consumer methods are an enormous alternative for builders.
PocketGamer.biz: May you inform us a bit about your organization and what you’re at present engaged on?
Elena Grigorian: My.Video games is a number one European writer and developer headquartered in Amsterdam, with over one billion registered customers worldwide.
The corporate develops video games for cellular, PС, and console platforms. Struggle Robots, Hustle Fort, Rush Royale, Left to Survive, and lots of different video games are produced by My.Video games. The corporate unites 10 growth studios and a robust group of specialists working collectively from throughout the globe.
Our main focus is on key initiatives in areas important to our enterprise — significantly cellular growth, publishing midcore initiatives, and buy-to-play titles for PC and consoles.
“The previous 12 months has been transformative for My.Video games, marked by strategic expansions and launches of recent titles throughout varied markets.”Elena Grigorian
We intently analyse recreation efficiency to determine titles with distinctive market potential, permitting us to focus on our efforts on optimizing and increasing these video games. We proceed experimenting with new mechanics and monetization methods, and naturally, with new launches, with latest releases of Zombie State and Fort Duels serving as nice examples of this.
We’re additionally targeted on additional increasing our presence within the Asian marketplace for each cellular and PC initiatives. The profitable launch of Struggle Robots in China has been particularly encouraging, and this optimistic reception motivates us to maintain broadening and enhancing our merchandise throughout the Asian area.
How have the final 12 months been in your firm?
The previous 12 months has been transformative for My.Video games, marked by strategic expansions and launches of recent titles throughout varied markets. 
In April, we celebrated Struggle Robots’ tenth anniversary. With over 270 million registered gamers and $900 million in lifetime income, Struggle Robots has constantly proven year-over-year progress.

My.Video games’ Struggle Robots has surpassed $900m in income

Our group’s dedication and dedication to increasing into new markets, equivalent to China, had been instrumental to this success. Acquiring an ISBN and relaunching the sport in China had been key steps, permitting us to faucet into a brand new viewers even after a decade.
Our portfolio additionally grew with the launch of two new cellular video games: Zombie State and Fort Duels. Zombie State combines rogue-like and first-person shooter parts for the F2P cellular market, breaking new floor within the PvE cellular shooter house.
Fort Duels, our dynamic tower protection recreation, has already surpassed a million installs worldwide since its beta launch in July, providing a novel twist on basic tower protection with real-time PvP battles.
“The cellular market is preventing for margins in any respect prices, because the market turns into more durable.”Elena Grigorian
A serious spotlight was the launch of our new publishing label, Knights Peak Interactive, devoted to premium PC and console video games. Whereas My.Video games has huge expertise in free-to-play publishing, this transfer represents our strategic entry into the premium house.
Led by business veterans Eugenio Vitale, Mario Gerhold, and Jan-Eric Lauble, Knights Peak is already supporting six thrilling titles, together with Starship Troopers: Extermination, Hela, and Pathfinder: Kingmaker, with extra initiatives within the pipeline.
This label underscores our dedication to reaching new markets and supporting rising and established studios alike.
What do you suppose the largest developments within the business have been over the past 12 months?  
Once we’re talking of developments making a direct impact on the cellular video games market, I can undoubtedly spotlight D2C (direct-to-consumer) communication; modifications in laws in the case of app shops. The cellular market is preventing for margins in any respect prices, because the market turns into more durable. 
On PC and console, we are able to observe the rise of the doube-A/indie titles, and the final wrestle of F2P titles releases. Premium appears to safe itself as a main enterprise mannequin on PC/console for some years forward. 

Talking of extra normal business developments — AI is an enormous phrase. It’s removed from exhibiting instantaneous outcomes, however the likelihood of this know-how dashing up and enhancing processes is gigantic.
We’re already implementing AI in some features of our recreation growth, and we’re feeling optimistic about serving to our groups turn out to be sooner and extra productive in content material creation. This can allow us to launch higher video games that hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide can take pleasure in.
“The general cooling down of the business would possibly play an excellent position for everybody to concentrate on the sustainable growth of their companies.”Elena Grigorian
From the funding perspective, the market is exhibiting early indicators of positivity, however I wouldn’t count on it ever to be because it was in 2022. Receiving cash now — from traders or a writer—  is a difficult process that requires numerous expertise, and an incredible product.
It feels considerably proper, as the general cooling down of the business would possibly play an excellent position for everybody to concentrate on the sustainable growth of their companies. 
What do you suppose are the important thing developments, challenges and alternatives for the following 12 months, and the way will you be taking them on?
The video games business is going through challenges, however key developments — diversification, intense person competitors, concentrate on present hit titles and franchises, and cross-collaborations — are anticipated to develop additional in 2025.
One main pattern is the shift in direction of direct-to-consumer (D2C) methods, significantly by way of various cost strategies. This method strengthens developer-user relationships by enabling direct advertising and marketing and facilitating seamless, direct interactions as much as the cost stage.
This broadens alternatives for a extra partaking person expertise. With restricted concentrating on skills for paying customers, merchandise more and more have to enchantment to broad audiences. Video games with large enchantment are typically proving extra profitable than these with slender focus.
Collaborations and reboots of fashionable IPs will stay central. Launching new merchandise round established IPs with built-in audiences reduces the dangers of constructing new fan bases from scratch and helps the pattern of prioritising safer, much less dangerous investments.

Builders are returning to long-running profitable titles, leveraging recognized audiences for increased reactivation and monetisation. Thus, in 2024, newly launched video games generated solely 4.88% of whole income.
Talking about essentially the most profitable new releases, hybridcasual ‘puzzle’ video games and ‘idle RPGs’ stood out, making a noticeable impression on their genres.
“In 2024, 78% of recent cellular video games incomes over $500,000 month-to-month had been Asian initiatives.”Elena GrigorianAsian affect in Western markets continues to develop, particularly within the US. In 2024, 78% of recent cellular video games incomes over $500,000 month-to-month had been Asian initiatives.
Asian builders dominate midcore genres like 4X technique video games, with titles equivalent to Whiteout Survival and Final Struggle: Survival Recreation rating among the many top-grossing cellular video games.
Asian informal video games like Love and Deepspace and Truck Star Match have additionally gained traction. These titles are inclined to seize excessive engagement and income from the beginning, pushed by sturdy group engagement, pre-registrations, and monetisation fashions based mostly on gacha mechanics and hero assortment.
What do you suppose is most necessary to a cellular recreation’s success in 2024?
In 2024, a cellular recreation’s success hinges on broad viewers enchantment, seamless onboarding, long-term retention, and sustainable monetisation.
Video games now want to achieve a large viewers, so each easy and sophisticated titles are adjusting their issue to enchantment to a broader person base; the technique of concentrating on solely “whale” gamers has largely light.

Equally necessary is a easy onboarding expertise, specializing in instant gameplay with minimal textual content. With the excessive price of every set up, it’s essential to make each preliminary expertise as partaking as potential.
Lengthy-term retention is important, particularly as high builders, notably from Asia, are sustaining engagement by way of in depth stay ops groups that present various content material from launch onward.
Lastly, sustainable monetisation that balances income with person enjoyment is essential; it’s important to customize monetisation methods by particular person or cohort to maintain gamers engaged and keep away from detracting from the gaming expertise.

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