Is Hypercasual Dead? The Future of Hypercasual Games

What the talk is about

Aleksandr Kurgan examines whether hypercasual is really dying and what problems the industry has faced over the past year. The main points: install costs have risen sharply because competition is huge (over a hundred new games appear daily, and hits get cloned within days), and after changes to advertising identifiers the tools broke down, including Facebook-based testing. Tests now take longer, cost more, and the data is trusted less. The chance of making a successful game is roughly one and a half percent, yet entry is easy, teams are small, a prototype can be checked quickly, and publishers actively help. Demand has not gone away: people still play in ultra-short sessions to kill a few minutes, so what broke is distribution. The Q&A covers hybrid games, patents on gameplay and borrowing ideas. Useful for anyone deciding whether to enter hypercasual.