Peter Oliver

Now in its fifth year, the initiative trains aspiring African game developers with the skills, tools, and mentorship to build global gaming careers.

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The Community Manager acts as a bridge between the community and the developers. It’s often not an easy job. We’ve discussed this topic in an interesting podcast 🫂 🎉

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5 things AppMagic's Monetisation report says about hybridcasual market 1️⃣ The hybridcasual market continues to grow. IAP revenue has increased by 84% on the App Store and by 93% on Google Play. 2️⃣ The market remains vibrant. Despite a 43% oligopoly index, top titles still change regularly, and overall market growth remains strong. 3️⃣ Low-priced hard-currency packs drive most revenue. They can account for up to 20% of total revenue. Main trigger — level failure. 4️⃣ Season Pass becomes the new standard. Most of the popular titles have adopted it. Mob Control’s Season Pass drives 11% of monthly revenue. 5️⃣ This report definitely rocks. There are a lot of things I would like to list here as point #5, but go see for yourself: https://lnkd.in/eW66txkp

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*Please read and act on this one if you can!* The BBC Charter Review closes next Tuesday. It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to situate video games and interactive entertainment at the heart of the UK's leading public service broadcaster, but the response so far from the games industry is very low. We have provided a short 6-step guide to help you respond (see the comments on the post below). Please do share this post as far as you can for reach! Nick Button-Brown, Alison Lacy, Reedah N. El-Saie, Paul Durrant OBE, Dominic Murphy, María Sayans, Kirsty Rigden, David Gould, Bhavina J., Daniel Dyball, Christopher Garratty, Katherine Bidwell, Anna Kozlova, Claire S., Harvey Elliott, James Brooksby, Stuart Dinsey, Ukie

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I was at a session about this fund in Belfast last year and it could really make a difference to your international marketing, think about the US, China, Japan - this is the fund that means you can access marketing power all over there world. Also consider the B2B potential.

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"Cornwall’s games industry is proven, cost-efficient, entrepreneurial, talent-rich, export-focused and culturally significant. What it lacks is structural backing proportionate to its demonstrated return. Its high potential ceiling with strong local talent and creative culture coupled with lower average running cost and burn rates makes it an incredible slice of the industry to invest in and engage with on work-for-hire projects." Opportunity in the West for smart investment. Great report Cornwall Games.

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As someone who used to sit on the fence between both the Games industry and Music Industry, I understand where this comes from yet also see it as a potential negative that will only hurt both games publishers and ultimately music artists. A number of artists may no longer be considered for sync deals if the cost of including their music becomes too high. As someone who ran a couple of record labels and represented a number of bands / artists there were a couple of instances we waved rights to get tracks into Playstation projects that ultimately generated more from the initial sync deal than any PRS royalties that would come later on. Yet those same royalties had the potential to completely tank the game project if they were in place. I'm a firm believer "if it ain't broke don't fix it" and I think PRS could cause more trouble then good here. https://lnkd.in/eYrhuDhX

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Join Declan Cassidy and me this Friday as we explore access to opportunities in games, as well as how economic pressure and rapid technological change are shaping that. I’ve really enjoyed diving into the data for this, and even been surprised by some of the findings 🤓 If you’re interested in access to talent, diversity, and how the industry is evolving, it should be a great session. Expect actionable insights on widening access and building more resilient talent pipelines. Whether you're an HR leader, talent acquisition specialist, hiring manager or studio founder, this session will equip you with the knowledge to strengthen access and future-proof your workforce. Don’t forget to sign up. Attendees will also get early access to a dedicated mini-report on 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗼-𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱, in partnership with Into Games 👉 https://lnkd.in/etKG_N5q Thanks to Ukie for creating this opportunity with their upcoming 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 #EDI #DEI #VideoGames

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A great read, full of great, simple, structured tips written by one of the best PR people I’ve worked with in games. No notes.

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When we built Playbook Football we focussed on loyalty and retention in every single part of the user journey and in every single GDD as a core principle…. Why would I play this game and why would I come back to play again? 9 months after launch we are close to launching v11 having spent months mining the data to see where we can tweak the game economy and the user journey to optimise every single step and iterating the game as we go New features, new reward structures and new reasons to keep coming back And that’s what we are in the top 10 games across 3 territories in the last month It is actual rocket science 🚀

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Two weeks of improving our community services taught me something I can’t unsee I was able to achieve in two weeks what I had been trying to do for three and a half years, using a small amount of tooling Not because the ideas were new. But because the execution layer has changed In my BD strategy and operations roles, this kind of work was never solo It was teams. Software. Data. Operations support. Often 4 to 20 people Same at AWS. Same in finance roles earlier in my career What I did in two weeks would have required many people before. I know because I managed them This time, it didn’t I automated large parts of data collection Improved scraping and ingestion Continuously structured and cleaned data Built dashboards directly on top And iterated in real time In 2 weeks All by myself All for a few hundred dollars in data costs And to be clear I do not make money from this community I never have I never will So this isn’t about efficiency for profit In my frame, it was about what’s now possible for public service This is the only reason I could do it I could never have built and sustained this before. The sustain part is key: many will help build things like this, but if you cannot code and aren't a data professional, maintaining something like this for months and years is very hard without help Having now done this up close, it doesn’t feel theoretical In many BD strategy and operations, sales planning, and finance contexts, I can see how a smaller number of people could handle work that used to require teams. Especially for structured, repeatable work Not universal, but directionally, hard to ignore. At least in some rote, non-generative, non-creative contexts At the same time, I can now help this community faster, better, and at a scale I couldn’t before There is a world of a different experience for tens of thousands of unemployed people for a few hundred bucks and two weeks of effort - that is amazing So I’m holding both truths This is a powerful shift in how work gets done. And a consequential one for how work is distributed

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Great to see this from UK Government. Creative Industries Minister Ian Murray is right: “Video games are not only great fun, they are big business – and for too long their value to the British economy has been overlooked.” https://lnkd.in/eMF_UYvp

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Next week, I’ll be in London for the Gaming Marketers Leaders Forum, and I’m already armed with the data from our recent research on the industry marketing channels.    We all want to reach decision makers and thought leaders with our messages, but do we choose the right channels? Our iGaming Future 2026 report showed that there’s a notable difference between the executive suite and everyone else.   While the general public gives an absolute preference to social media as their main channel of information about the industry (54%), C-levels attribute almost equal importance to social media (49%), in-person networking (48%), and events and conferences (47%). In Europe, events and conferences are even showing their utmost importance (61%). The balance between digital activities and personal connections is no longer optional if we need to reach the right ear.    Insights like this can change your whole marketing strategy for 2026. Get more of them in our free-to-download report on trends and challenges: https://lnkd.in/dWYuRg46

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A partnership deliverable doesn’t have to be “check-the-box.” It can spark real impact. As part of the Complexity Gaming partnership with Halo/Microsoft, one of our objectives was to host online community events. I wanted to do more than run another standard tournament—I wanted to create something that genuinely supported and elevated the community. One major challenge in esports is how often women competitors are overlooked. That’s when the idea clicked: Let’s build an event that spotlights the top women players in Halo. A few months ago, with the support of Women of Halo, Celeste Anderson & Spencer Clarke of DSA, and LVTHalo, we launched an amazing women’s Halo Infinite Free-For-All tournament titled "For The Throne". The results: - 1,000+ concurrent viewers tuned in live - $5,000 prize pool funded - GameSir joined as a sponsor, providing new G7 Pros for top performers Seeing dozens of women competitors get active and excited about the event, absolutely dominate on game day—and watching the community rally behind them—was a reminder of what thoughtful partnerships can accomplish. I’m proud we turned a basic deliverable into something meaningful, exciting, and beneficial for the esports community. Grateful to everyone who helped bring this to life and I can't wait for the next opportunity to create something like this!

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The UK Video Games Council is pushing for further government support. While tax reliefs are essential, the real crisis we need to address is the talent drain. The UK has a wealth of talent but receives less support than other regions, risking the loss of our best seniors to markets like Canada or the Nordics. From a recruitment perspective, this signals a need for UK studios to focus heavily on retention packages. You cannot rely on "passion" when other countries are offering stability and government-backed incentives. Review your benefits. Review your remote policies. The competition is global. #UKGamesIndustry #TalentRetention

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Any recognition and support for the UK's #games industry is very welcome and the new £30M funding from GOV.UK is very welcome. Especially as it will be delivered through proven partners: The UK Games Talent and Finance Community Interest Company (aka #UKGamesFund) and London Games Festival. However, there are more challenges facing the sector than #funding. That's why funding was only one of five recommendations within Level Up: Scotland's Games Action Plan. We also need to focus on #education #skills tailored #BusinessSupport and the role of #games across every other key sector and industry. I'll post my full thoughts separately later today, in the meantime, let's enjoy the fact that the UK's #videogames sector has something really positive to celebrate.

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Took a chance to speak about homegrown tech, hiring junior engineers and how studio business model impacts their engineering org, among other things, on the latest Evo Gaming podcast. Thanks for the opportunity Grace Moody Thanks for the conversation Anton Lapshin Javier García de la Cita Henry Lunabba

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The full schedule for Games for Change London was announced earlier today and I’m delighted to announce some of the highlights for you here. The event is taking place on Wednesday 15th April at the Leonardo Hotel Tower Bridge in Central London. We’re bringing together 200 industry professionals to discuss how the power of video game communities can be channelled to deliver positive IRL impact. There are nearly 50 speakers, panellists, roundtable hosts, workshop facilitators, and fireside chatters attending the event. I’ll be showcasing them all next week. But for now, I’m highlighting ten fantastic speakers for the event including: 👩‍🏫 Justin Edwards, who is running a roundtable about how to use video games to support educators and students. 😁  Anna Rafferty, who will be joining panellists from Roblox, Jagex, UNICEF, and Preloaded to discuss how to build prosocial video game communities. 🏗️ Ben Gascoigne and Amy Jenkins-Le Guerroué, who'll be joining reps from Arup, Publica, the Block by Block Foundation, and Brightwild Ventures to talk about the use of video games to shape our real world effectively. 🤝 Laura Higgins, who will hop from our prosocial panel to hosting a roundtable about cultivating civil game communities. 🎙️ Mathias Gredal Nørvig and Jude Ower MBE (mentioned in our advisory board announcement) chatting to Anjali Bhimani about the importance of video game story-telling in fostering inclusive communities. ✊ Meghna Jayanth, who'll be joining a panel featuring ustwo games, Trailmix, Sona Bona and the European Video Game Observatory to discuss the power of games as a form of advocacy. 🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Ben Golant, who'll be joining a panel of parenting experts and Susanna Pollack to talk about raising the next generation of positive players. 🧰  And Shuli Gilutz, Ph.D., who'll be running a workshop about the UNICEF-backed RITEC toolkit to help video game developers make games that respect and promote the rights of children globally. The event is only possible with the support of some fantastic partners. Thank you to Roblox, Xsolla, Ubisoft, The Good Game Club Podcast, Tiltify, and Catalyst from the Christchurch Call Foundation for all your support getting the event off the ground. We also want to thank FuturLab, YRS TRULY, and The Games Angels for funding our scholarship partnerships to provide discounted and complimentary access to the event for professionals from a range of backgrounds. If you’d like to read the full plan for the day, check out the latest edition of Video Games Industry Memo. You can find it in your inbox if you subscribe, or online via search or Substack. And if you’d like to grab a pass to the event for just £99+VAT (or £69+VAT for concessions), we’ll be dropping the link to the conference microsite in the comments below. We’re really excited to bring Games for Change to London for the first time ever and we can’t wait for some fantastic conversations to begin in a couple of weeks. #G4CLondon2026

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Games, Grants and VGEC I had an excellent meeting today with Andrew Lewin MP for Welwyn Hatfield. We discussed last week's exciting announcement about the increase in grant funding for games. The UK Games Talent and Finance Community Interest Company will be administering three new funding tracks: 🔹 An Entry Track, with grants of up to £20,000 available to newly formed companies with limited track records but strong potential for growth. 🔸 An Emergent Track, with grants of up to £100,000 for prototyping new games. 🔹 An Expansion Track, with grants of up to £250,000 – the largest ever provided by the government – available to take games forward to completion and enable studios to scale up. For more information on the Government's announcement see: https://lnkd.in/euwZTEfN We also considered the challenges facing the UK video games industry, including TIGA research that showed: 1️⃣ employment in the sector falling for the first time in 14 years; 2️⃣ a decline in start-up numbers; and 3️⃣ the fact that the UK is not competing on a level international playing field. We had a good discussion about TIGA's proposals to enhance the existing Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC). Our report on VGEC with the University of Portsmouth, authored by Homagni Choudhury, Joe Cox and Alan Leonard showed, for example, that a higher rate of relief on games with budgets of up to £23.5 million could: ✅ create almost 7,000 jobs; ✅ help more small studios to scale-up and grow; and ✅ be revenue positive for the Government. Thank you Andrew Lewin MP for your time and interest in TIGA and the UK video games industry.

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