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.

What happened with EA and FIFA and why both are probably going to be fine

Cover image for What happened with EA and FIFA and why both are probably going to be fine

Karol Severin

12 May 2022

As we warned in October 2021, the divorce of EA and FIFA has come into fruition. EA’s FIFA series has been rebranded to EA Sports FC and FIFA (the organisation) is taking its brand away to expand on the games opportunity more effectively (at least, so it believes).

min read

Quick take: Spotify to connect artists and fans on a Roblox island

Cover image for Quick take: Spotify to connect artists and fans on a Roblox island

Karol Severin

5 May 2022

Spotify launched a digital island in Roblox yesterday. The destination enables players to take part in interactive quests, buy virtual merchandise, mingle with artists, and create their own sounds and music powered by Soundtrap.

min read

Why games could be the winning entertainment sector as disposable income tightens

Cover image for Why games could be the winning entertainment sector as disposable income tightens

Karol Severin

28 Apr 2022

attention recession

Inflation, as well as macroeconomic and geopolitical developments (from Brexit, through chasing Covid-induced debt, right up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) will likely drive disposable income (and therefore entertainment spending) down in the near future.

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You can play Snoop Dogg in Call of Duty, but you can’t PLAY him

Cover image for You can play Snoop Dogg in Call of Duty, but you can’t PLAY him

Karol Severin

21 Apr 2022

Call of Duty dropped the ‘Tracer Pack: Snoop Dogg Operator Bundle’, costing 2,400 COD Points ($19.99). It comes with Snoop’s playable skin, his own voice lines and progression path towards unlockable weapons and rewards including sprays, stickers, emblem, weapon charms and four operator outfits etc.

min read

Sony continues investing in Epic Games

Cover image for Sony continues investing in Epic Games

Karol Severin

19 Apr 2022

Sony continues investing in Epic Games Although Microsoft stole the headlines with its acquisition of Activision early this year, Sony is certainly not just standing on the side-lines. Last week, it announced a significant $1 billion investment into Epic Games.

min read

Unreal is evolving from a games development tool to a story-telling tool

Cover image for Unreal is evolving from a games development tool to a story-telling tool

Karol Severin

7 Apr 2022

Unreal Engine 5

games development

Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, launched Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) this week. Despite being in works for a few years and in private Beta for most of 2021, the overall product strategy focusses on tapping into the latest consumer and creator trends.

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Gamer brand fandom
Assessing partnership suitability between games and entertainment brands

Karol Severin

March 2022

Gaming

Entertainment

mobile games

Entertainment partnerships in games are booming, with games companies being approached with opportunities from all directions. This increased level of opportunity puts pressure on the available time and resources to properly evaluate each proposal. Simultaneously, the continuous influx of opportunities, coupled with ongoing games release deadlines, make it hard for games companies to step back and apply macro frameworks for partner assessment and prioritisation effectively.

Games companies’ video opportunity
From marketing to monetisation

Cover image for Games companies’ video opportunity

Karol Severin

March 2022

Streaming

Gaming

Games

MIDiAs head games analyst, Karol Severin, discusses a key games video opportunity for games companies and games video creators alike, alongside two panellists - CEO of Wormhole Labs and a Twitch content creator. Find the full webinar here Let us know your thoughts on this groundbreaking opportunity via email: info@midiaresearch.

Quick Take: Regulation and war are leading the global games industry's trajectory to diverge

Cover image for Quick Take: Regulation and war are leading the global games industry's trajectory to diverge

Karol Severin

11 Mar 2022

Over the last few years, the traditional unit sales-based model in games has been increasingly moving towards engagement-led models. In other words, we are moving away from costly price points to buy complete games – instead the industry is turning towards a set-up, where access to games is more commoditised, with engagement and fandom becoming the key ways to monetise (e.

min read

Webinar: Games companies’ video opportunity

Cover image for Webinar: Games companies’ video opportunity

Karol Severin

3 Mar 2022

Traditionally, games companies predominantly used games video for marketing purposes. This made perfect sense in the era of unit sales and early-adoption stages of games-related video. Today, 30% of console gamers view games-related videos every month.

min read

Reflections from PG Connects London 2022

Cover image for Reflections from PG Connects London 2022

Karol Severin

25 Feb 2022

industry events

PG Connects London 2022 was the first in-person games industry event that I attended in over two years. Having spent the best part of the pandemic on Zoom, which quickly blurred the lines between a call and an event, walking into a physical venue was truly reinvigorating.

min read

From marketing to monetisation
The games video opportunity for games companies

Cover image for From marketing to monetisation

Karol Severin

February 2022

YouTube

Twitch

facebook gaming

Games-related video consumption is now as big as established TV and video genres. Despite games companies providing the fuel for the games video sector (i.e., games experiences, processed into content by creators), the monetisation is mostly enjoyed by established games video platforms.

Quick take: Roblox is another victim of the attention recession

Cover image for Quick take: Roblox is another victim of the attention recession

Karol Severin

17 Feb 2022

attention recession

Earlier this week, Roblox announced its fiscal year (FY) 2021 results. The market response was stark, wiping 20+% fromRoblox’s market cap. While the media is citing Roblox’s slowing growth (particularly in key markets such as the US), extended loss, and underperforming analyst expectations, Roblox encouraged investors to take a long-term view.

min read

Microsoft sets the scene for regulator scrutiny around Activision deal

Cover image for Microsoft sets the scene for regulator scrutiny around Activision deal

Karol Severin

10 Feb 2022

Brad Smith, president and vice chair at Microsoft, published a post on Microsoft’s website yesterday , outlining the company’s new Open App Store principles and addressing key questions around exclusivity going forward.

min read

The ‘attention recession’ just showed its teeth to Facebook – and took a $200bn bite

Cover image for The ‘attention recession’ just showed its teeth to Facebook – and took a $200bn bite

Karol Severin

3 Feb 2022

peak attention economy

For the first time in its 18-year existence, Meta reported a drop in daily active users from 1.930 billion to 1.929 billion. This is the ‘attention recession’ we at MIDiA have been warning about since Covid broke out.

min read

The games video opportunity for games companies

Cover image for The games video opportunity for games companies

Karol Severin

27 Jan 2022

games streamers

Traditionally, games companies predominantly used games video for marketing purposes. This made perfect sense in the era of unit sales and early-adoption stages of games-related video. Today, 30% of console gamers view games-related videos every month.

min read

NFTs and entertainment
Opportunity assessment

Cover image for NFTs and entertainment

Karol Severin

January 2022

mobile games

Epic Games

games streaming

NFTs are taking the media and entertainment worlds by storm, but we are still, arguably, in early-adoption stages. The media and supply-side frenzy is kicking in, posing more noise and challenge for companies that wish to soberly assess the opportunities that NFTs can bring.

Acquiring Activision is Microsoft’s big bang in games

Cover image for Acquiring Activision is Microsoft’s big bang in games

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, thanks to Microsoft acquiring Activision for an eye-watering $68.

min read

Hybrid futures
MIDiA 2022 predictions

Cover image for Hybrid futures

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

January 2022

Social media

Business Strategy

MIDiA Research Predictions

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

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

Karol Severin

12 Jan 2022

take two interactive

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 for the founder and early backers in the end , while those who bought into the company on the day of its IPO will still be coming out short, as the final price point is still less than at the IPO ten years ago.

min read

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