Blog: Product Strategy - Page 2

Companies building creator hardware are used to disruption. The last seismic shift came in the shape of the smartphone. Mass market point-and-shoot cameras were met with an existential crisis when lenses and microphones capable of capturing high-quality video footage began making their way into mobile devices.

Microsoft’s Q3 2024 results (fiscal Q1 2025) continue to reflect Xbox’s shifting strategy: Xbox’s gaming revenue grew 43% year-on-year , but essentially all of this growth came from the Activision Blizzard acquisition (43 points of net impact) Xbox content and service revenue grew 61% , with 53 revenue points of net impact from the acquisition Xbox’s hardware sales fell 29%, continuing a trend from previous quarters Black Ops 6 has performed well so far , setting records for day one players, new Game Pass subscribers on a launch day, and increased unit sales off-platform Xbox’s Activision Blizzard acquisition is doing its job Let’s address the elephant in the room: In terms of overall gaming revenue for the quarter, Microsoft’s growth would have been flat if not for the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

The vinyl resurgence is among the top music industry narratives of the past few years, especially given the recent focus on monetising fandom. The elephant in the room is the question of how long this resurgence will last.

Podcast advertising has existed for more than a decade, but it is only just beginning to evolve. For much of its existence, it has resembled radio advertising more than other digital ad formats. A lack of scale has kept podcast advertising out of its digital prime.

Adobe wrapped its creativity conference on Wednesday after a slew of product announcements for creators. Much like last year’s MAX event, artificial intelligence was front and centre. Many of the demos focused on tools being brought to bear by Adobe Firefly, the company’s family of generative AI models.

There is an inherent tension between tech-enabled accessibility to creation (good), and the ability for that entertainment to become successful (challenging). Music and other entertainment industries typically have one half of this conversation at a time.

As more sustainable acquisitions come to podcasting, according to Podnews , Spotify is again looking to spend up to seven figures on creator investments. This time, video is the primary focus. Per Bloomberg , Spotify’s content acquisition strategy is shifting from podcasters to video creators: “ What’s different in today’s news is Spotify seeking YouTube-oriented creators and specifically looking for them to simply put their show on the service ”.

“AI video generators are just another tool in the box”: this statement has been circulating in recent months as AI adoption gathers pace. It is mostly used to soothe concerns regarding AI disruption to video creator workflows.

It’s no secret that the bulk of AAA games market revenues come from in-game purchases , mostlyfrom live-service games. It’s also impossible to ignore that the live-service market is fiercely competitive.

During the first two decades of the 21st century, companies in most industries competed on features and user interface. Snapchat was once the only social app with Stories, and the iPhone used to sit alongside the Motorola Razr and T-Mobile Sidekick.

The music creator economy has been long in the making but was thrust into the wider music industry’s limelight with the Covid lockdowns triggering a surge in new creators. As with any bubble, many creator tools companies saw their ensuing surge flatten post-lockdown.

TikTok has announced that it plans to shut down its music streaming service, TikTok Music, at the end of November (per Bloomberg ). The company has cautioned users that they should migrate all their playlists to other streaming platforms.

Sony just announced its worst-kept secret, the PS5 Pro. It's launching for $700 in November 2024, four years after the debut of the original PS5. Compared to the original, PS5 Pro will offer better visuals and performance: Larger GPU with more speed : Sony says the PS5 Pro’s GPU will render 45% faster than the current model, with substantial improvements to ray tracing (three times better in some cases), a favourite of graphics aficionados CPU improvements : An “enhanced mode” will allow for more CPU power.

There has always been tension between the goals of creators, social platforms, and creator tools companies. As the creator economy has evolved, a push and pull has ensued between what creators’ feel is fair remuneration for their work, and what the industry feels is the right commercial framework for sustainability.

On Aug. 22, Bloomberg ’s Ashley Carman described how Apple lost its lead in podcasts , pointing to the platform’s lack of video adoption as the likely culprit. YouTube, meanwhile, has climbed to the top precisely because of its strength in video.

Social platforms have brought a significant number of new creators into the market. With this has come a whole host of creator tools companies looking to capitalise on the opportunity. While their features may vary, they share a common goal: each app wants to secure steady, long-term engagement as a user progresses from a beginner to an advanced creator.

Every podcast platform has a search function. Type “conspiracy” into most and you will probably see a list of podcast titles with the word conspiracy in it, but there may be hundreds of episodes related to the word “conspiracy” that fail to surface.

Video creation has never been more accessible. More and more entertainment consumers are shifting from passive to lean-through consumption by creating their own content. However, those creators have different priorities from professional editors and videographers who have made up the video creator economy for decades.