Karol Severin

Karol is a co-founder and Research Director at MIDiA. With over a decade of experience in consumer research, industry analysis, and consulting, Karol oversees the direction, coverage and quality of all MIDiA’s research output. Prior to co-founding MIDiA, Karol gained experience in TMT market research and consulting, as well as an entertainment industry startup founder. He holds a business management degree from Queen Mary, University of London, with specialisation in strategy, quantitative methods, and entrepreneurship.

Game Consumer Segmentation
Aficionados Drive Adoption

Cover image for Game Consumer Segmentation

Karol Severin

July 2017

passive majority

consumer segmentation

forgotten fans

Barriers between the traditionally isolated PC, console and mobile games formats are gradually breaking down. This is happening on the device level (Nintendo Switch), title level (e.g. multiplatform Minecraft gameplay), the development level (Unity) and the corporate level (Console gaming companies buying their way into mobile and vice versa).

Zynga Teams Up With MGM To Create ‘Words With Friends’ Game Show

Karol Severin

20 Jul 2017

cross-format entertainment

MGM Television and Zynga have announced a collaboration to develop a new television game show based on Words With Friends , the world's most popular mobile word game. The show will also incorporate aspects from Zynga's larger portfolio of With Friends word and puzzle games.

min read

Can Oculus’s planned $200 VR headset move the needle for VR in gaming?

Karol Severin

14 Jul 2017

So far, VR hasn’t exactly taken off in they way many would have predicted 2 years ago. MIDiA Research consumer survey data reveals that just 4% of consumers own a VR headset (weighted average across US, UK, Brazil, Japan, Sweden and Germany).

min read

How A Month With Spectacles Changed My Outlook On Snap’s Future

Karol Severin

7 Jul 2017

When the SnapBot finally popped up in Berlin, I eagerly trekked to the location to see whether the product would change my existing opinions about the company’s future. It did. I made my way to the SnapBot on a sunny Friday afternoon.

min read

Why The Time To Bet On Nostalgia Is Now

Karol Severin

29 Jun 2017

Nintendo has captured the headlines over the past week with regards to bringing back its SNES consoles. Nintendo is not the only one betting on nostalgia. Within and outside of games, many companies have made similar nostalgia-infused plays.

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Daily Active Gamers: Diversity Is The Name Of The Game

Cover image for Daily Active Gamers: Diversity Is The Name Of The Game

Karol Severin

22 Jun 2017

Daily active gamers

Daily Active users

The Daily Active User (DAU) is a common engagement metric, often used in gauging companies’ performance and value. In gaming, DAUs vary markedly across mobile, PC, console and social. The differences are seen in penetration rates, demographics, engagement and spending trends.

min read

What Switch’s Games Offering Tells Us About Nintendo’s Strategy

Karol Severin

15 Jun 2017

ARMS nintendo switch

Games subscription services

Nintendo made a number of game title announcements in recent days and weeks. They include an array of game deployment models: an exclusive release of Arms; the first Pokemon-themed title Pokken Tournament; a Pokemon RPG game for Switch, as well as Nintendo’s own Super Mario Odyssey and third party games, like Rocket League or Fifa 18.

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Mapping Daily Active Gamers Across Platforms
Diversity Is The Name Of The Game

Cover image for Mapping Daily Active Gamers Across Platforms

Karol Severin

June 2017

Xbox

Facebook

PlayStation

The Daily Active User (DAU) is a common engagement metric, often used in gauging companies’ performance and value. In gaming, DAUs vary markedly across mobile, PC, console and social. The differences are seen in penetration rates, demographics, engagement and spending trends.

The App Store Wants To Become A Mobile Gamer Hangout Spot

Cover image for The App Store Wants To Become A Mobile Gamer Hangout Spot

Karol Severin

8 Jun 2017

app store revamp

Apple has introduced a revamp of the App Store as a part of its upcoming iOS11 launch. The announcement reveals an array of changes and upgrades, all of which are ultimately geared towards increasing consumer time and money spent on the App Store.

min read

The Differentiation Of Nintendo Switch Is A Double-Edged Sword

Karol Severin

1 Jun 2017

comptitive gaming landscape

Nintendo is attempting to nearly double its Switch supply, in light of better than expected sales. However, as the Wall Street Journal points out – the request to nearly double production may be met with difficulties, as the supply possibilities of certain components are limited.

min read

Call Of Duty Fan Profile
Hardcore Gamers Become Video Fans

Karol Severin

June 2017

aaa title fans

triple a title fans

Call of Duty

Though Call of Duty (CoD) fans show similar behaviours to the fans of other AAA Games titles, demographically they more closely resemble hard-core gamers. What is more, the amount of time they spend gaming causes them to under-index certain non-game, mainstream digital activities like mobile messaging.

Xbox Starts Rolling Out $9.99 Games Subscription Service, Game Pass

Karol Severin

26 May 2017

Xbox has announced that its subscription service, Game Pass , will be launching on 1st June to all Xbox Live users. Xbox Live Gold members receive early access from 24th May. Game Pass offers over 100 Xbox One and backwards compatible Xbox 360 games, which users can download and play.

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Tencent’s Online Games Revenue Understates The Company’s True Gaming Power

Karol Severin

19 May 2017

financial results

games companies

Tencent published its financial results for Q1 2017 this week. Online Games revenues grew by 34% to RMB 22.8 billion (approximately $3.3 billion at the current exchange rate). To illustrate the degree of its dominance in the gaming world, this alone is more than EA’s and Activision’s revenues combined during the period.

min read

Grand Theft Auto Fan Profile
The Mainstream Hardcore Gamers

Karol Severin

May 2017

YouTube

Deezer

Apple Music

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is among the most popular console game title franchises in the market. Despite the controversy, the brand has managed to establish a solid fan foothold across genders and ages. GTA fans are digitally sophisticated and engaged users (albeit under-indexing in messaging app usage) with a strong affinity for online video and for mobile gaming.

How Tencent’s Appeal To Western Games Companies Drives Its Global Gaming Domination

Karol Severin

12 May 2017

games acquisition

games industry in china

gaming landscape

Tencent announced a $90 million investment into Pocket Gems, a US-based studio best known for its major titles Episode and War Dragons. It is hardly news that Tencent has been on a gaming acquisition spree over the past few years.

min read

Why Facebook’s Instant Games Could End Up Eating Apple And Google’s Lunch

Karol Severin

4 May 2017

messenger games

Facebook has started rolling out its non-download Instant Games globally, after having launched in the US in November. The announcement has come after additional new developer features were introduced to Instant Games developers during last week’s F8 conference.

min read

State Of Freemium Games In Q1 2017 – Regional Analysis Of Top Charts

Karol Severin

28 Apr 2017

freemium game dynamics

freemium publishers

The sheer importance and popularity of the freemium games model in the app economy is evident across the globe as they capture the lion’s share of both the top 100 grossing overall apps as well as gaming charts globally.

min read

State Of Freemium Games Q1 2017
A Comprehensive Assessment Of Freemium Game Dynamics In The Top 100 Grossing Charts

Cover image for State Of Freemium Games Q1 2017

Karol Severin

April 2017

Apple

Freemium

google play

The sheer importance and popularity of freemium games in the app economy is evident across the globe as they capture the lion’s share of both the top 100 grossing overall charts, as well as gaming charts globally. But behind the global popularity of freemium games are individual regions at various levels of market maturity, platform penetrations, publisher competitiveness and consumer preferences, which together drive regional nuances for freemium game economy dynamics.

Google Rumoured To Plan A Built-In Ad Blocker In Chrome

Karol Severin

20 Apr 2017

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Google may be planning to introduce an ad blocking feature to its Chrome browser on desktop and mobile. The article clarifies that this is not a confirmed move yet – it may or may not go ahead in the upcoming weeks.

min read

Quick Take: What’s Next For Brick And Mortar Game Retailers

Karol Severin

30 Mar 2017

brick and mortar game retailers

Last week GameStop announced the closure of 150 stores. This action is part of a wider strategy implemented by the company over the last few years. GameStop is focusing on improving per store performance and is diversifying from pure game shops towards more pop collectibles, technology and geek culture brands and stores.

min read

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