Karol Severin

Acquiring Activision is Microsoft’s big bang in games

Blog post by Karol Severin

19 Jan 2022

Only last week we wrote about Take-Two acquiring Zynga for $12.7 billion in what was the largest games acquisition in history. But that was last week. This week, that record is beaten more than five-fold,…

Hybrid futures
MIDiA 2022 predictions

Report by Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Srishti Das, Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

13 Jan 2022

Free Report

MIDiA analysts dive into our 2022 predictions, and why we believe it will be ' the year of the creator '. Watch the webinar here .…

Time for diversification for Take-Two as it bids to acquire Zynga

Blog post by Karol Severin

12 Jan 2022

Take-Two Interactive announced an acquisition deal to buy Zynga (pending a 45-day shopping window for Zynga) for $12.7billion. The deal Who got a great deal? It depends on who you ask. It worked out well…

Fandom drivers
From fan psychology to NFT demand

Report by Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin, Srishti Das and Tatiana Cirisano

9 Jan 2022

£3,000.00

Fandom is entertainment’s growth currency, yet it remains both under-valued and poorly understood. While other entertainment currencies can be accurately measured (number of streams, number of sales,…

Ubisoft+ is coming to Xbox as shifts in distribution continue

Blog post by Karol Severin

6 Jan 2022

Ubisoft has announced that its subscription service Ubisoft+, currently available on PC, will come to Xbox in the future. It will also make its upcoming title Rainbox Six Exploration available on Xbox…

Gamer consumer deep dive Q3 2021

Report by Karol Severin

23 Dec 2021

£3,000.00

About this report: This report presents a deep dive into gamers across five areas: Gamer segments Console owners Services and apps Games behaviours Entertainment behaviours Including more than fifty slides…

2022 MIDiA predictions
The year of the creator

Report by Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Srishti Das, Kriss Thakrar and Tatiana Cirisano

16 Dec 2021

£5,000.00

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 in 2022 and beyond. …

Gamer penetration: Two findings from end-of-year health check

Blog post by Karol Severin

16 Dec 2021

Gamer penetration is one of those stats that most people are intuitively aware of – mobile is the largest, followed by PC and console gamer bases…However, when we get complacent with existing knowledge…

PlayStation Plus overhaul: a defensive catch-up move, or foundation for growth offensive?

Blog post by Karol Severin

9 Dec 2021

According to Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter, Sony plans to weave PlayStation Now (its on-demand games streaming offering) into PlayStation Plus (subscription necessary to access multiplayer…

Games worlds
Assessing audience reach, value and relevance

Report by Karol Severin

25 Nov 2021

£3,000.00

As more online games worlds enter the market, brands and marketers need to focus more on monitoring the nuances of each games world community to identify the most effective partnership opportunities.…

Labels could have helped Epic reimagine music – now Harmonix will do it instead

Blog post by Karol Severin

25 Nov 2021

Epic Games announced it is acquiring Harmonix, the maker of Rock Band. While this makes sense for the Fortnite maker and its entertainment metaverse, it has the risk of diluting the potential music expertise…

Quick take: Bridging IRL and digital – the next phase of entertainment consumption

Blog post by Karol Severin

19 Nov 2021

We are entering a new phase in the evolution of consumption. Traditionally, IRL dominated entertainment consumption. With the advent of the internet, smartphones and other technological innovations, companies…

Reality check: NFTs are still niche, but they do have mainstream potential

Blog post by Karol Severin

11 Nov 2021

The rise of NFTs has certainly been one of the talks of 2021. Looking at emerging trends and then separating the hype from the substance is MIDiA’s specialty. This is particularly pertinent as the most…

Quick take: Another blow for Epic Games as Fortnite shuts down in China

Blog post by Karol Severin

4 Nov 2021

It has not been the best year for Fortnite. Following the fiasco with its Apple lawsuit, as well as year on year consumer penetration having declined , the Fortnite maker announced that it is shutting…

FaZe goes public – what to watch out for

Blog post by Karol Severin

28 Oct 2021

FaZe is going public via a SPAC merger. It is positioning itself as the company who can help brands reach Gen Z. Can it succeed? Every generation or so, there is a company that builds its narrative to…

EA’s exclusive FIFA license is under threat as games go cross-entertainment

Blog post by Karol Severin

22 Oct 2021

Last week it was reported that FIFA and EA are at an impasse regarding the renewal negotiations of an exclusive license deal. EA stated that it is considering renaming its flagship football title, while…

The key winners and losers of the Covid-bounce effect in games

Blog post by Karol Severin

14 Oct 2021

As we have covered before, games engagement began to experience effects of the Covid-bounce . As usual, however, there are winners and losers within the wider micro-dynamics. The following graph demonstrates…

Why games-related video warrants a specific category on mainstream video services

Blog post by Karol Severin

8 Oct 2021

In Q2 2021, 11% of US consumers stated that they watch games-related videos every month. This is now nearing the same penetration rate as fandom of reality TV shows or the news (both at 12%), and greater…

Games discovery and conversion
Navigating between generations in the 2020s

Cover image for Games discovery and conversion

Report by Karol Severin

30 Sep 2021

£3,000.00

The 2020s population is split between digital natives and older digital migrants, which shapes how consumers discover and convert to new games. Younger consumers are more likely to discover via channels…

Opportunity for entertainment companies as the ‘Covid Bounce’ effect is in full swing for games

Blog post by Karol Severin

30 Sep 2021

Following the pandemic breakout in March 2020, MIDiA predicted that Covid-19-induced games engagement growth was temporary and will face a correction as the world starts coming back to life. Indeed,…