Karol Severin

WMG invests in Roblox, a major step in bridging music and gaming

Blog post by Karol Severin

11 Jan 2021

Warner Music Group has invested an eight-figure sum in Roblox as a part of its $520 million fundraising round. This in an important strategic move for the label, as it marks a milestone on its journey…

Can Roblox get a better value out of its IPO postponement?

Blog post by Karol Severin

16 Dec 2020

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Roblox is delaying its IPO to 2021. WSJ states that “…company officials decided that the gravity-defying performance this week of Airbnb and DoorDash made…

Next-Generation Consoles
PS5 Starts in Pole Position

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Report by Karol Severin

23 Nov 2020

The 20,000 Foot View: The winter holiday season has always been important for next-generation console launches, but this one is different. Negative effects of the current recession will intensify, engagement…

2021 Predictions
The Year of the Immersive Web

Report by Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Alistair Taylor and Hanna Kahlert

23 Nov 2020

The 20,000 Foot View: In this report MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech across music, video, brands, marketing, games and sports…

Why Take-Two Interactive does not need to adopt games subscriptions yet

Blog post by Karol Severin

10 Nov 2020

Take-Two Interactive (T2) reported quarterly results, with revenue dipping slightly, but profitability improving. On the call, T2 reiterated scepticism over the future of the games subscription models.…

PS5 and Travis Scott partnership illustrate PlayStation’s/Sony’s cross-entertainment future

Blog post by Karol Severin

29 Oct 2020

Over the last year we have written a number of times that Sony’s future is cross-entertainment , while Xbox’s future is cross platform . This stems from their respective strengths and weaknesses. Sony…

More consumers intend to buy PS5 than Xbox Series X, but both companies will be content with their trajectory

Blog post by Karol Severin

16 Oct 2020

With both PS5 and Xbox Series X having sold out their pre-order stock, the winter holiday race is heating up. Following Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media, we wrote that the acquisition is unlikely…

Microsoft’s Zenimax acquisition is about the future of Games Pass more than console sales

Blog post by Karol Severin

30 Sep 2020

With the acquisition of ZeniMax Media, Microsoft is gaining an important content asset for its portfolio – Bethesda’s games. And while the timing of the announcement certainly won’t make Sony too…

Quick Take: PS5 pricing unveiled – an important milestone in its cross-entertainment future

Blog post by Karol Severin

17 Sep 2020

Sony’s PS5 Showcase event unveiled a number of upcoming titles and pricing for its upcoming console. At $499 and $399 it confirmed expectations. The top range is the same as Xbox Series X, with the PS5…

Post-Pandemic Programming
Surviving and Thriving in the Recession

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Report by Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Alistair Taylor, Keith Jopling and Hanna Kahlert

9 Sep 2020

The 20,000 Foot View: COVID-19 caused dislocation and disruption to the global entertainment business. Now, the recession and the prospect of further pandemic peaks have created an unprecedented outlook…

Is it time for the music industry to rethink how it wants to participate in the gaming opportunity?

Blog post by Karol Severin

4 Sep 2020

Music consumption, particularly in the West, is commoditised. Transforming from the economies of ownership to access and the removal of production and distribution barriers led to the devaluation of, not…

The Esports Viewer DossierQ2 2020

Report by Karol Severin

28 Aug 2020

The Esports Viewer Dossier Q2 2020 covers: Demographics and penetration Genre and sports preferences Time and money spent Service usage Entertainment behaviours…

Epic Games takes on the media giants in #freefortnite fiasco

Blog post by Karol Severin

21 Aug 2020

Conflict between the gaming world and the tech giants erupted last Thursday, with Fortnite being removed from the App Store and Play Store, two lawsuits being registered, and a (niche) viral outbreak of…

Could gaming kill the video star?

Blog post by Karol Severin

12 Aug 2020

The Video Games Entertainment & News Network, or ‘ Venn’ , was launched on the 5th of August – marking another important milestone on entertainment’s journey of intertwining across formats…

Profiling Esports Viewers
The Synergy of Spend, Ad Receptiveness and Engagement

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Report by Karol Severin

11 Aug 2020

20,000 Foot View: As live events have halted, attracting non-endemic brands to esports via digital content has moved to the forefront for esports companies. But attracting the largest brands often requires…

Quick take: Xbox’s future is cross-platform, PlayStation’s is cross-entertainment

Blog post by Karol Severin

30 Jul 2020

If Fortnite showed us anything, it’s that the future of entertainment is about monetising fandom – not just consumption and access to content. Games are perfectly positioned to help monetise fandom…

How games continue to drive a cultural shift

Blog post by Karol Severin

24 Jul 2020

The strides gaming has made in recent years regarding its cultural relevance are hard to ignore. Twenty years ago, consumers defined their cultural image through the music they listened to, the clothes…

The hidden value of esports audiences

Blog post by Karol Severin

20 Jul 2020

Esports video viewers are becoming more interesting to brands and media companies. Increasingly more focus is now put on accurately valuing esports audiences. Gamers (and even more so, esports viewers)…

Sony buys stake in Epic Games: Small equity, large impact

Blog post by Karol Severin

13 Jul 2020

Sony has made a strategic investment of $250 million to acquire a minority stake in Epic Games. According to Venture Beat , Sony will own 1.4% of the company, valuing Epic Games at $17.86 billion. While…

Quick Take: Amazon’s pull-back of Crucible is a setback, but don’t sign it off just yet

Blog post by Karol Severin

6 Jul 2020

Amazon has decided to pull the release of its game, Crucible, back to beta following feedback from early users. Much of the games community is taking jabs at Amazon about its lack of gaming DNA and deeming…