Stefan McGarry

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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The End of the Xbox we knew Phil Spencer is stepping down as the CEO of Microsoft's gaming division, and is being replaced by Asha Sharma. This feels like the final nail in the coffin for the Xbox era we grew up with. The gaming industry is already in a bad spot. The Nintendo Switch 2 has seen poor sales over the holidays, and is reportedly set to have a price hike because of high component costs. We just watched Highguard launch and immediately crater, leading to massive layoffs within just two weeks of release. Microsoft is still reeling from a 32% hardware sales drop from last quarter, despite their multi-billion dollar Activision/Blizzard acquisition. It feels like the entire AAA industry is just a waiting room for GTA 6 to save everyone from total irrelevance. Now, Microsoft is putting an executive with zero background in gaming in charge of Xbox. Asha Sharma comes from Instacart, and was president of Microsoft’s AI division before joining the Gaming division. This is a move made by people who love metrics and automation, and seems like a detriment for people who love games. The "AI slop" allegations are starting to look like an end goal rather than an internet callout. When you put a non-gamer AI specialist at the helm, you’re signaling that the future of Xbox is less about creative soul and more about algorithmic retention. We are watching a tech giant pivot away from the art of gaming to focus on a hollow cloud-based subscription model. Gamers deserve leaders who actually play and know about games. If we keep letting platform experts replace creative visionaries, we won't have many real stories left to play. Do you think a non-gamer can actually lead Xbox, or is this the beginning of the end for their creative era? #Xbox #Gaming #Microsoft #TechTrends #IndustryNews

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Studio–publisher relationships can seem simple in early stages…until it's release/update time. In this episode, Sonia Donaire García, Jukka Hilvonen & I traded practical playbooks on 3 things to lock before you sign (and keep tight until live-ops): 📒 Definitions - agree on what numbers mean; 🚪 Gates - decide when a build is "comms-ready"; 🗝️ Keys - clarify who holds Steam/Discord/social admin - and who can hit the kill switch; If you’re weighing on a pub/dev deal in 2025/2026, give it a listen and sanity-check your non-negotiables, it might save you a few headaches! 🎙️Podcast: https://lnkd.in/eutrRePx Thanks for hosting, Melanie! Great insights from Sonia & Jukka ~🌟 #gamepublishing #liveops #marketing #gameindustry #gamedev

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If you know of anyone who would be great on Brain of Britain, now's their chance (especially looking for women). See below for how to enter 👇

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When you ask eno a question, it doesn't write you a paragraph. It opens your document to the answer and highlights it. You read it yourself, in context, with a short annotation from the AI to guide your eye. That's it.

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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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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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Great conversation at #GamesForumBCN about the future of mobile monetisation. My main notes? here you have: - What’s new? Not necessarily new models — but smarter execution. Better segmentation. Faster AI-driven testing. Stronger player trust. More regulatory constraints pushing optimisation. - On IAP, the focus is shifting toward scaling mid-spenders to reduce volatility risk. On hybrid models, complexity only works if it expands the payer base without cannibalisation. - One idea I strongly believe in: monetisation should make the player feel smart. If engagement drops after purchase, we’ve designed it wrong. - Looking ahead, sustainable strategies in 2026 will be balanced, optional, AI-supported — and built together with retention from day one, never ideally added as a layer. Thanks Gamesforum for the invite — great discussion with brilliant peers. #GamingIndustry #DigitalMonetisation #D2C #ProductStrategy #Growth

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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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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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This was a dream come true for me. I remember listening to the SubClub podcast almost 2 years ago as I prepared to move from the gaming industry into apps. It was THE BIBLE for me back then, and continues to be my go-to industry podcast. I had the pleasure of talking to David Barnard live in Austin, Texas. And oh boy did we get into it… This episode is a full hour of…. - When do you take your single app business to a multi app business? - Should you buy or build? - What multiples is the industry paying for apps right NOW? - Is it possible to make millions of dollars within 12 months in apps? And if so, how are people doing it? Big thanks to RevenueCat for having me, and thanks to BlueThrone for helping me get here. (Link to episode in top comment) At BlueThrone we are on a mission to become the #1 app portfolio company in the world. We buy great app businesses and take them from single digit ARR to multidigit ARR. #mobileapps #appgrowth #founders #appexits #techexits #learning #personalgrowth

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🎮 𝗔𝗱 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲 According to SocialPeta Ltd report, SLGs (Strategy & Simulation Games) lead the pack, with over 300 new creatives per advertiser each month, significantly more than other genres. For casino, RPG, and arcade games, more than 60% of creatives are brand new, highlighting a strong focus on fresh and engaging ad content. For a deeper dive and detailed insights, download the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gzCv6uWa #SocialPeta #MobileGames #GameMarketing #AdCreatives #UserAcquisition #GamingIndustry

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A great reminder of what “on the record” really means, not just for people in the games industry, but for anyone doing interviews. This piece is a solid nudge to prep properly, set clear expectations and remember: journalists aren’t your PR team. They’re doing their job. Their job is to inform, question and report. Not to make you or your company look good. If you want to avoid anything negative, it starts with being prepared and knowing the rules of engagement.

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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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Great to see the push for faster, more flexible “fast-track” apprenticeships, so training can keep up with what industry actually needs, especially in fast-moving sectors like tech and games. I’m a huge advocate for apprenticeships. They gave real credibility and validation to my own skill set early in my career, and that recognition made a big difference to my confidence and progression. Now working in games, I see how powerful this still is. Apprenticeships open doors, help studios grow talent, and give people opportunities they might not otherwise get. This stuff works and we need more of it. #Apprenticeships #GamesIndustry #Skills #LearningAndDevelopment #Careers 🎮

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Things aren't getting any easier for gamedevs in the UK - the folks at FluxDigitalPolicy have done a review of the impact on the proposed UK Social Media Ban for under 16's...

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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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TIGA LAUNCHES REPORT CALLING FOR STRONGER VGEC SUPPORT TO POWER THE UK GAMES INDUSTRY   TIGA has published a new report demonstrating the contribution of the video games sector to the UK economy and setting out a case for strengthening the Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC).   The report, Economic Impact Assessment of the UK Video Games Industry, was commissioned by TIGA and authored by Homagni Choudhury, Joe Cox and Dr Alan Leonard of the University of Portsmouth.   Key findings include:   1️⃣ The UK video games industry generates £12 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) annually, supports more than 73,000 jobs (including approximately 28,000 developers), and contributes £2.2 billion in tax revenues. 2️⃣ The sector supports regional economic growth, with most of the economic activity outside of London. 3️⃣ The UK video games industry is not competing on a level playing field and is at a disadvantage in competition for inward investment. Many overseas jurisdictions provide more generous tax incentives for games production than the UK. The UK’s VGEC provides an effective rate of relief of 20.4 per cent. Conversely, Quebec has an effective rate of 31.9 per cent. 4️⃣ Many SME studios struggle to access funding and struggle to grow: 78% of UK studios employ four or fewer staff.   The Government could consider the following three proposals to drive growth across the UK video games development sector:   ✅ Introducing an Independent Games Tax Credit (IGTC) with a rate of 53% on 80 per cent of qualifying costs for projects up to £23.5 million could boost GVA by £482 million and create 6,952 jobs (including 896 development roles). An IGTC would reduce capital constraints on SME studios, enable more studios to develop their own IP and help more studios to scale-up and develop games with higher production values. ✅ Raising the rate of VGEC from 34% to 39% could boost GVA by £436.2 million and create 6,291 jobs (including 760 development roles). ✅ Increasing the proportion of qualifying expenditure from 80 per cent to 100 per cent could increase GVA by £731.7 million and generate 10,551 jobs (including 1,292 developers).    Crucially, each proposal is self-financing. For example, the IGTC would provide a return on investment of £1.16 in tax revenue for each £ paid out to developers.   The most effective way of driving growth in the UK video games industry is to enhance VGEC. VGEC reduces the cost of games development, which in turn encourages investment and the creation of high skilled jobs in the sector. Strengthening VGEC will promote economic growth and ensure the UK remains a leader in games development.   You can download the report here: https://lnkd.in/eJKQpjxH  

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UK games folks: the BBC Charter Review consultation is closing tomorrow and there haven’t been many responses from people in the games industry yet. This is a chance to highlight that games are a major part of the UK’s creative and cultural landscape, and that the BBC should engage more with the sector through partnerships, programming, and digital storytelling 💫 If we want games to be recognised alongside other creative industries, it’s really important our voices are included. I’ve just submitted my response, it only took about 10-20 minutes 🤞 Link to contribute: https://lnkd.in/ejAuYrMe

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