Other nations can learn much from Canada when it comes to artificial intelligence advances. For one thing, “the focus and nurturing of AI needs ongoing attention and investments; otherwise, that leadership in AI can be lost,” an industry analyst said Wednesday. Bill Wong, research fellow at Info-Tech Research Group, was responding to the recent appointment of MP Evan Solomon, a former journalist, as Canada’s first Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation in the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Carney. In the past, he said, “Canada has been viewed as an AI leader around the world with respect to AI research, especially with thought leaders like Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, and Richard Sutton.” However, he noted, “despite the recognition, critics would cite that [it] has fallen behind and challenged when it comes to monetizing  AI investments. As part of the government’s election platform, the government promised to move fast on building data centers, introduce a tax credit to incentivize AI adoption by small and medium-sized businesses, and push to expand programs at Canada’s artificial intelligence institutes to drive AI commercialization.” In a commentary on the appointment, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a policy think tank based in Ottawa, Ontario, stated that it “signals a consolidation of federal focus on a field that has historically been spread across numerous portfolios … Solomon’s challenge will be to distinguish between productivity enhancing AI and ‘so-so’ automation — harnessing the benefits of AI, while ensuring adequate regulation to mitigate associated risks.” AI is a ‘geopolitical force’ Canada, the organization stated, “must close the gap between AI innovation and adoption by pursuing policies that encourage productivity-boosting AI — applications that augment workers and make them more efficient, rather than simply replace them. The answer is a multi-level policy framework that accelerates the uptake of AI in ways that enhance output, job quality, and workforce participation.” Wong noted, “Canada was the first country to deliver its national AI strategy; the appointment of the country’s first AI minister can be viewed as a natural evolution of Canada’s adoption of AI at a national level.” The appointment of Solomon, he said, “demonstrates just how important AI is to the future of Canada and its people. While AI is considered a technology disruptor, its impact is far-reaching, and it will impact every industry and the national economy.” And while having a government ministry of AI is not the norm for most countries today, he said, “the importance of this role to the country’s economy and national security is growing. Internationally, AI has become a geopolitical force; an example of this would be the US imposing export controls on high-end AI chip technology to China.” The upcoming  G7 meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, from June 15 to 17,  said Wong, “provides an opportunity for Canada to demonstrate its AI leadership on an international stage. While it’s a short runway to that event, Canada should promote its best practices for deploying AI in the public sector, its plans to democratize the benefits of AI to its people, and demonstrate its thought leadership by sharing research and data.” The Carney government, he said, also has a “mandate to improve its use of AI to improve productivity as well as increase the adoption of AI by private industry. A recent Deloitte study cited that only 26% of Canadian organizations have implemented AI, compared with 34% globally.” AI compute fabric in the works In the private sector, Bell Canada on Wednesday announced Bell AI Fabric, an investment, it said, “that will create the country’s largest AI compute project.” The telco plans to create a national network that will start with a “data center supercluster in British Columbia that will aim to provide upwards of 500 MW of hydro-electric powered AI compute capacity across six facilities.” The first facility, a release stated, will come online this month in partnership with AI chip provider Groq, with additional facilities being operational by the end of 2026, including two at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, BC. Bell said that the data centers at TRU “will be designed to host AI training and inference, providing students and faculty with access to cutting-edge compute capabilities, both at TRU and nationally through integration with the BCNET network. The data centre is also being integrated into the district energy system, with waste heat being repurposed to provide energy to TRU’s buildings.” Further reading: AI and economic pressures reshape tech jobs amid layoffs Microsoft cements its AI lead with one hosting service to rule them all Real-world use cases for agentic AI AI vs. copyright How to train an AI-enabled workforce — and why you need to > >

Kai Cenat became Twitch’s top showman long ago, but the secret to his ongoing success is continuously finding new ways to take his streaming stunts to the next level. Last year it was turning a 1,700-death-filled Elden Ring marathon into the gaming event of the season. In 2025 it was a riff on reality TV and Hogwarts called Streamer University that crammed a bunch of streamers into a dorm and let the algorithm-fueled drama unfold. Suggested ReadingGameStop Doubles Down On Crypto With Massive Bitcoin Purchase As Stores Close Share SubtitlesOffEnglishSuggested ReadingGameStop Doubles Down On Crypto With Massive Bitcoin Purchase As Stores Close Share SubtitlesOffEnglishGameStop Doubles Down On Crypto With Massive Bitcoin Purchase As Stores CloseThe multi-day event got underway on May 22 with 120 rising streamers handpicked for an all-expenses-paid stay at the University of Akron to participate in Cenat’s Saw-like social experiment of watching his peers and protégés vie for attention, clout, and maybe learn something about getting famous monetizing that fame in the modern creator economy along the way. There were fights, expulsions, late-night parties, and actual classes. It was heavily manufactured and also brought in tens of millions of views. Streamer University Best Moments!A great report by Vulture interviewed some of the participants and offers an incisive recap of the entire spectacle. One “student” named Winston Groves recalled getting hazed with a hot dog in a condom left around his doorknob and said the cafeteria food tasted like it was gruel out of Minecraft. One of the floors was called the “demon floor” because of the stink. “The whole floor smelled like wild fumes, mysterious funk,” Groves told Vulture. Nobody slept. Everyone was constantly filming. There were apparently a lot of hot dogs and baby oil, seemingly the modern-day prank comedy equivalents of whoopee cushions and cream pies. “They had this prank where they made fake poop with fart spray and it had literally stank up our room to the point where my roommate’s eyes were tearing up,” said attendee Kieya Jennings, “There was water everywhere, baby oil, baby powder, noodles,” recalled Mari Franklin.There are over 10 hours of streams on Cenat’s Twitch channel from the weekend-long saga, and many, many more from the channels of the individuals in attendance. Comments on a video for the final day’s awards ceremony were filled with nothing but love for the streaming world’s current master of ceremonies. Streamer University’s valedictorian was Tylil James, a rising star with a big following that’s still only a fraction of Cenat’s. “Kai put on so many different type of creators and let them just create and do whatever they was great at,” reads the top comment. .

Posted on : May 30, 2025 By Tech World Times SEO  Rate this post Starting a blog can feel confusing at first. Many platforms are available, but not all are straightforward. If you’re new to blogging, Blogsternation-com is a good place to start. This guide will help you begin your journey. Step by step, we’ll cover each part. You don’t need any tech skills to follow along. Step 1: Visit the Blogsternation-com Website Go to Blogsternation-com in your browser. Wait for the homepage to load. The design is clean and simple. You will see a clear “Sign Up” or “Join Now” button. Step 2: Create a New Account Click the “Sign Up” button. You will be asked for basic details. Enter your name and email address. Choose a strong password you can remember. Make sure your email is active and correct. You’ll need it for verification. Step 3: Verify Your Email Address After signing up, check your email inbox. Look for a message from Blogsternation-com. It will contain a link. Click on that link to verify your account. This step helps keep your account safe. Step 4: Log in to Your Account After verifying, go back to the website. Click “Login” at the top right. Enter your email and password. Click “Submit.” You are now inside your dashboard. This is your control panel. You will use this area to manage your blog. Step 5: Set Up Your Blogger Profile Click on your name or profile icon. Select “Edit Profile.” Add a profile photo. Write a short bio. Let people know who you are. This builds trust with your readers. Choose a username that fits your blog style. Step 6: Pick Your Blog Niche Before writing, decide your niche. A niche is your blog’s main topic. It could be travel, health, fashion, tech, or anything else. Stick to one area for now. This helps readers know what to expect. Pick a topic you love. That will keep you motivated. Step 7: Create Your First Blog Click “New Blog” or “Start Blogging.” A writing editor will open. Add a catchy title. Then start writing your content. Use short paragraphs and simple words. Make your blog easy to read. You don’t need to write long articles. Quality is more important than length. Step 8: Format Your Blog Post Use bold text for headings. Use bullet points or numbers for lists. Add images to make posts engaging. Blogsternation-com allows you to upload images directly. Use free stock photos if you don’t have your own. Always credit the source if needed. Step 9: Preview Before Publishing Once you finish writing, click “Preview.” This shows how your post will look. Check for grammar mistakes. Make sure links work. Edit anything that looks off. Take your time to make it right. Step 10: Publish Your Blog If everything looks good, hit “Publish.” Your blog is now live. Share it with friends and family. Use social media to get more readers. Keep sharing whenever you post something new. Step 11: Stay Consistent Try to post regularly. Once a week is a good start. Don’t disappear for months. Regular posts help build an audience. Over time, more people will visit your blog. Consistency also improves your writing skills. Step 12: Engage with Readers Reply to comments on your blog. Thank readers for their feedback. Ask them questions to start a conversation. This builds a community. Loyal readers are key to blog growth. Step 13: Learn from Other Bloggers Follow successful bloggers on Blogsternation-com. Read their posts. Notice their style and structure. See what works for them. Learning from others helps you grow faster. Step 14: Share Useful Content Your blog should help people. Give tips, guides, or real stories. Add value to your readers’ lives. Useful content gets shared more. That means more traffic and readers for you. Step 15: Use SEO Basics SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Use keywords people search for. Add them naturally in your post. Include keywords in your title and headings. Blogsternation-com has basic SEO tools you can use. These help your post show up on search engines. Step 16: Join Blogsternation-com Communities There are groups and forums on the site. Join communities related to your niche. Ask questions. Share your blogs. Support others. Networking helps you grow faster. Step 17: Check Your Blog Analytics Go to your dashboard. Click on “Analytics” or “Stats.” You’ll see how many people read your blog. You’ll also see which posts get the most views. Use this info to plan future posts. Step 18: Monetize Your Blog (Optional) After you gain some traffic, think about monetizing. You can add ads or affiliate links. Some users also sell products or services. Don’t rush into it. Focus on building good content first. Monetization can come later. Step 19: Stay Updated Technology changes often. So does blogging. Blogsternation-com often shares updates and tips. Read their blog and help guides. These help you stay ahead. Step 20: Keep Improving Blogging is a journey. Don’t stop learning. Watch free YouTube videos on blogging. Take online courses if possible. Read other blogs for ideas. The more you learn, the better you blog. Bonus Tips for Success Always check grammar before posting Avoid copying content from others Write from your heart Be honest in your posts Keep your layout clean and easy to read Use headings to break long sections Back up your content regularly Final Thoughts Starting a blog can seem hard. But with the right steps, it gets easier. Blogsternation-com makes blogging simple. It’s beginner-friendly and full of helpful tools. Whether you’re sharing tips or stories, your voice matters. Start today and grow with time. Remember, everyone starts small. Your first post may not be perfect. That’s okay. The important thing is to keep going. The more you write, the better you become. Take that first step now. Good luck and happy blogging with Blogsternation-com! Tech World TimesTech World Times (TWT), a global collective focusing on the latest tech news and trends in blockchain, Fintech, Development & Testing, AI and Startups. If you are looking for the guest post then contact at techworldtimes@gmail.com

Bitkraft Ventures, an early-stage game investment firm, has added new leaders who will double down on Web3 gaming investments. Bitkraft, which raised its third fund in 2024 and has $1 billion in assets under management, announced promotions for Carlos Pereira and Jonathan Huang to general partner and partner, respectively, helping bolster their Web3 investment strategy and further committing to the blockchain segment of the gaming market. Additionally, Matt Halstead, former director of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (Texas Teachers) Investment Fund and an early Web3 investor, has joined the firm as a venture partner. Pereira has been instrumental to the growth of Bitkraft’s Web3 Strategy, which he has led since 2022. To date, Bitkraft has backed many category leaders at the intersection of interactive entertainment, tech and crypto. It has led rounds in Immutable, the gaming-dedicated blockchain; Eve Frontier, a new blockchain enabled game by the creators of the epic EVE Online; Karate Combat, a fast-growing tokenized MMA league with over 100 million monthly impressions; and, Mira, a 2025 CB Insights Top 100 company in AI building verification infrastructure that’s processing three billion tokens a day in support of 4.5 million users. It is a bold bet by Bitkraft — started by Jens Hilgers in Berlin — in part because the path to success in Web3 games has stretched out and mass market acceptance isn’t guaranteed, even as many crypto bets in non-gaming spaces have turned out to be better investments. Some gamers in the West have had an allergic reaction to Web3 and that has stalled efforts by the big game companies to adopt blockchain solutions. And about 93% of Web3 game startups have failed with their token launches. Still, Web3 game companies are hitting milestones and a number of big bets are still under way. Web3 game investments, accordingly, are starting to come back after hitting a trough (with scores of investments per quarter) — perhaps because U.S. President Donald Trump favors an unfettered crypto market. Why double down? Carlos Pereira has been appointed a general partner at Bitkraft Ventures. As the Web3 market matures, Bitkraft is doubling down on its thesis that blockchain-enabled digital rights, property, identity and economies will redefine gaming, creator monetization, anddigital experiences.I asked Pereira why Bitkraft is doubling down, given Web3 gaming’s challenges. He replied in a message to GamesBeat, “Because we think we have an edge in the category, not just in games but in consumer applications that increasingly lean on gamification and financialization as a generational trend.” He added, “Our numbers tell a compelling story: up to now we’ve been less than 5% of our category funding, and yet the quarter or so of our portolio companies that have a token represent almost half of the category’s overall market cap.” He said that an abundance of funding, if anything, is a leading indicator of compression of returns going forward as valuations get pushed up. To shy away from a category because it’s too contrarian or under-funded would be in a sense anti-VC. “The lack of mass market successes shouldn’t be a surprise considering the general time it takes to build hit games vs how long Web3 games have been investable, the general ‘hit rate’ of VC investments, and the fact that in Web3 you’ve had to build a game and figure out non-trivial distribution and infrastructure challenges that only really in the last year or two have gotten a jump in quality/capacity,” Pereira said. He noted there are several emerging examples of apps at a quality bar that is broadly competitive, for example Boxed in Bitkraft’s portfolio with almost $30 million in ARR, Cambria with high monetizing seasons that are deeply engaging to whales, Karate Combat with over 100 million monthly impressions and strong awareness in Web2, Mythical with its sports properties with high value partners and strong unit economics, and Gunzilla with strong daily active user retention. “Good things take time, but the direction of travel is clear,” Pereira said. Leadership backgrounds Bitkraft Ventures has $1 billion in assets under management. Huang joined Bitkraft in 2023 and brings a decade of experience across Web2 and Web3 investments out of Asia, including SEA Capital and Temasek, where Huang drove their Series G investment into Roblox. He focuses on consumer platforms, mobile studios and creator ecosystems across Asia, with an emphasis on next-generation user behavior, use-cases, and emerging monetization models that are reshaping the industry at scale. Huang’s elevation to partner helps strengthen Bitkraft’s position in Asia and reflects Bitkraft’s continued investment in the region’s potential as a global epicenter for innovation across both Web2 andWeb3.Halstead brings a rare blend of traditional asset management and Web3 experience to Bitkraft. As one of the first institutional investors in crypto, he spearheaded blockchain investment strategies for the Texas Teachers, an investment institution managing over $200 billion in assets. The firm believes his move to Bitkraft is a powerful endorsement of Web3 gaming’s legitimacy as an investable category—and a sign that seasoned institutional capital allocators are seeing real value in this space. Bitkraft launched its Web3 Gaming fund in 2021, which was a key catalyst in the firm’s evolution — expanding beyond Early Stage equity investing into new asset classes, emerging markets and diversified financing solutions broadly serving the Interactive Media industry. Since then, Bitkraft has grown to $1 billion in assets under management, welcomed a strategic minority investment from Blue Owl, and broadened its global reach last year with a new presence in India. Mythical Games is making FIFA Rivals under license from FIFA. “Web3 has unlocked new creative and economic models for developers, players, and communities, and Bitkraft has long been committed to its potential,” said Pereira, in a statement. “As we enter the next phase of growth, we are expanding our reach with experienced investors like Matt, whose institutional experience and deep roots in crypto can only strengthen our Web3 strategy. Matt isn’t just a respected investor, he’s a peer and a visionary in the space, and I couldn’t be more excited to have him join Bitkraft.” “Bitkraft has built a track record of Web3 successes across the US, Asia, and emerging markets,” said Huang, in a statement. “With blockchain adoption continuing to scale and new economic models proving sustainable, this is a pivotal moment to back the next generation of Web3 founders. We’re doubling down on our Web3 strategy to help build the future of gaming, digital assets, and interactive experiences.” “I joined Bitkraft because I believe their vision for Web3 isn’t just forward-thinking, it’s transformative,” said Halstead, in a statement. “Web3 has the power to bridge the digital and physical worlds, unlocking new experiences and economic models that put control back in the hands of creators and players.” He added, “Bitkraft doesn’t just invest in this future; they help build it as active participants, deeply embedded in Web3, gaming, and emerging technologies. This makes them the ideal partner for those shaping the next era of digital entertainment, and I’m excited to help them reach and support innovators in the space.”

Today, we announced that our merger with ironSource is complete. It's a big day for Unity, and we’re excited because ironSource’s team and complementary capabilities will help us deliver even more ways to help game developers bring their vision to life:The leading end-to-end platform – The combination of Unity and ironSource is transformational in that it will give mobile game developers the tools they need at each stage of their development journey: from building, publishing, and operating mobile games to monetizing them, if they choose to, and growing their player base across multiple channels.Integrating creation and growth – It’s not just about having all of these tools in one place but also about connecting them so that they work together to simplify the whole development process. Together with ironSource, we can transform the linear mobile game development process into a deeply connected and interactive one. By integrating ironSource's products into Unity's platform, developers will be able to get real-world player and market feedback earlier in the development process, which means that they can learn what players really want, make better games and be on track for a more successful game businesses.When we announced our intent to merge with ironSource in July, we heard a lot of our community members sharing some concerns and I’d like to address the main ones directly:“Is Unity no longer focused on games?”Helping developers create great games that reach players where they are has always been and will stay at the heart of what we do (read our Games Focus blog series to learn more). Our goal is to make the tools that make it easier for developers to realize their vision – and that includes supporting that vision with resources to help them turn their games into sustainable businesses, if and when they choose to do so, which ironSource will help us do as they, too, are heavily focused on games.“Is Unity now only focused on mobile game developers?”While mobile is, of course, a huge platform for games, with 70% of all top mobile games globally made with Unity, we also remain committed to developing features for PCs, consoles, and XR. We want to ensure that all developers, from early learners working on their first game to the largest studios in the world, can rely on us regardless of the platform they choose to deploy their games on.The benefits from the merger with ironSource are, indeed, particularly strong for mobile game developers who choose advertising as their business model. Gamers are a highly engaged audience but only a small minority (less than 2%) utilize in-app purchase in the games they play. Advertising and in-app-purchases are the ways most mobile game developers choose to monetize their games. And most players welcome ads as a way to discover new games to play. This provides developers with the revenue to not only pay the bills, but also fund their growing teams - and build more beautiful games.We know you will have a lot of questions about how Unity will integrate and introduce these products. We are committed to moving quickly and transparently to integrate our technologies to deliver the best tools and services and over the course of the next week will share more about the short-term benefits for mobile game developers in particular.Unity’s mission remains the same: We want Unity to be the best development engine for creators to create what they imagine – no matter what they want to do.Keep an eye here on our blog for more updates about product integration and roadmap over the next few weeks.

Aiming Inc. is a Japan-based game developer responsible for hits like Dragon Quest Tact and CARAVAN STORIES. They wanted to bring in more revenue from their newest hit, Charast Magical Academy a spin-off app of the hit game "CARAVAN STORIES, but had never used an ad monetization model - so the ironSource team helped them get started.ironSource’s Yusuke Toyoshima and Shuichiro Mine sat down with Aiming, to learn all about why they chose ironSource rewarded video and the Tapjoy offerwall, what they learned, and how they managed to boost their engagement rate 80% in the process.Choosing to work with ironSourceMine: This was the company’s first time using ad monetization, right?Saito: Yes. Aiming has a stance that when we see good market trends, we want to adopt and test it by ourselves - so it was only natural to start monetizing with ads. Originally, our company specialized in midcore games, but there were already many competing apps in the market. To generate a stable source of revenue, we decided to develop a hybrid revenue model (in-app purchase and ads) based on "CARAVAN STORIES," which already has a large fan base.Mine: Now you’re monetizing with ironSource and using Tapjoy’s offerwall - why did you decide to go with us?Sakaino: This was our first time integrating ads into our app, so we needed a platform that offered extensive support and a full suite of products. We compared companies from all over the globe, but ironSource was the only one completely that fulfilled our needs.Yusuke: We're glad you chose us! Sakaino: We felt the support immediately - the ironSource quickly responded and drafted financial projections for us.Mine: Publishers who integrate ads in their apps for the first time often don’t have enough information about performance benchmarks. Since ironSource has experience across all game genres in Japan and globally, we can provide our customers with practical ad monetization plans.Sakaino: There were other local options with good products for early-stage companies, but we wanted to get as much operational know-how as possible. That's why we chose ironSource - they offer a variety of report data with a UI that allows us to intuitively understand what’s important at first glance. There was a strong connection between Aiming’s attitude of "challenge new trends and accumulate know-how" and ironSource's push to "provide actionable data for publishers."Mine: At ironSource, we care about providing actionable data. In the long run, we think it is very important to understand the factors behind fluctuations - not be overwhelmed by the ups and downs of CPMs. Ad revenue is always important, but what’s most important for publishers is the success of the game itself. We provide data in a format and UI that every publisher can understand - not just the specific person in chargePerforming beyond expectationYusuke: How was the integration process?Sakaino: It took about two weeks to develop and integrate rewarded video and offerwall into our game. Since the dashboard was easy to understand, even for beginners, we were able to issue and set up placements in one day.Suzuki: From the planning phase, everyone on the team had a shared strategy of how to put ads into our game - so I think it went really smoothly.Mine: I feel that your monetization and game management teams work seamlessly together. For many publishers, this can be challenging - different teams usually have different goals and opinions.Sakaino: Since I joined the project, from the game planning phase to leading ad monetization, I think everyone, including the development team, shared a common goal.Suzuki: It may seem unusual to have someone in charge of ad monetization during the planning phase. Normally people tend to give higher priority to their own department, so perhaps our company's strength is the way that each department can share and coordinate all goals.Yusuke: How was the ad revenue performance?Sakaino: The result was much better than we expected. eCPM for ironSource rewarded videos was more than double our original estimation, and engagement rate reached 80% - even though our original estimation was 65%.Mine: Since the players are mainly from "CARAVAN STORIES," the user quality may be different from the other casual game players. If your game has been around for a while and has a certain income level, eCPM might be higher as a result.Sakaino: I think that’s right.Suzuki: Since the game story is a prequel about the lives of popular characters, fans are highly motivated to play.Mine: It's a successful app strategy for using IP (intellectual property).Sakaino: Tapjoy’s offerwall also performed better than we originally expected. Especially in the beginning, it performed better than the rewarded videos.Yusuke: Since Offerwall provides bigger rewards than rewarded videos, it’s particularly compatible with games that have many users who are willing to pay.Saito: In particular, Android has good KPI compatibility with the offerwall. Android users usually have a lower retention rate, but the offerwall increased revenue and stabilized it.Showing ads to domestic and global usersMine: Did you get any negative user feedback about ads?Sakaino: I don't think there were any noticeably negative reactions.Mine: The key to user-initiated ads like rewarded videos and offerwall is motivating the users to see the ads. "Charast Magical Academy" was designed to use ad monetization from the start, so I think it shows ads to users in the best way possible.Suzuki: Since we set the right rewards for both the offerwall and rewarded video, users connect with the ads and feel satisfied with them.Saito: The rewards we offer are valuable to users. To ensure that users who want to receive rewards don’t miss them, we added badges to places where there are ads that have not yet been seen, and added a jump button that auto-scrolls to that point. However, it seems that some new users thought that they couldn't progress in the game without clearing the ads, so now we only display badges for users who have progressed to a certain stage.Yusuke: I see.Saito: Impressions grew about 2.5x the normal rate during the offerwall's currency sale, but when we displayed the badge on the game screen and directed users to the ad page, it grew 8x - a huge revenue increase.Yusuke: It's a device that tells users that an offerwall event is currently being held.Sakaino: Also, Charast Magical Academy is only available on Japan’s app store, but some overseas fans download and play it. Thanks to the Tapjoy offerwall’s global support, it’s been great to be able to show global ads and rewards to overseas users.Yusuke: Global support is the Tapjoy offerwall's strength. There is no need to separate campaigns, and global ads are automatically displayed for access from overseas, to accommodate overseas users. Also, the offerwall is optimized with an algorithm to automatically display ads that users are interested in on the top of the list, so publishers can maximize their revenue without spending too much time and effort.Continuing to use ad monetization modelsMine: What are your plans for the future?Sakaino: We are satisfied with ironSource’s usability and profitability, and will continue to use both their rewarded video and the Tapjoy offerwall. For the offerwall, thanks to their global support and compatibility with Apple/Google’s regulations - we’re sticking with Tapjoy.Yusuke: That's great news for us.Saito: We plan to continue releasing games with an ad revenue model. Thanks to our new know-how from Charast Magical Academy, I'm including ads in all the proposals for our new games. Since it generates additional revenue and doesn’t discourage in-app purchases, there’s no reason to not use it.Sakaino: In the future, it would be nice to have a verification function that can segment users according to their in-app purchase status and level of loyalty, and optimize ads accordingly.Thank you to Mr. Sakaino, Mr. Suzuki, and Mr. Saito for participating in the interview. And congratulations on your half anniversary!

Since coming onto the scene just a few years ago, hyper-casual games have experienced an exponential surge in growth. From Q1 2017 to Q2 2021, for example, the share of voice of hyper-casual installs among all total US mobile game installs grew from a few percentage points to 40%. Where this category emerged from, its position now, and its likely path in the future can help you understand how to take advantage of its success and prepare for impending industry shifts - no matter what genre your games are.To provide these insights, Nadav Ashkenazy, SVP & GM Supersonic, shares his take on the hyper-casual genre and its past, present, and future. Catch his full presentation from AppFest at the end of this article and keep reading for a comprehensive overview of the state of hyper-casual.The past: Evolution of the hyper-casual industryTracing back the hyper-casual genre to 2013, this is the year Flappy Bird was published. It was the first game to show off hyper-casual characteristics, like short levels and simple, accessible gameplay.From 2013-2016, most hyper-casual games scaled with cross-promotion campaigns and organic installs - a shift that you can learn more about in Omer Kaplan’s Gamefest presentation. Then in 2017, developers managed to grow hyper-casual games just like other genres - using paid user acquisition. Despite their low LTV compared to casual or mid-core games, hyper-casual games proved they could be profitable at scale. As a sustainable business model for growing hyper-casual games emerged, more publishers began focusing on this genre and the market became more competitive.Over the next few years - and particularly after 2017 - sub-genres within hyper-casual emerged. For example, 2019 saw the rise of the ASMR hyper-casual games and 2021 was the year of TikTok-based concepts.As these games evolved, the depth of the content grew, too. The first hyper-casual games were on an endless loop, focusing on simple gameplay that repeated itself. The rise of sub-genres and new hyper-casual concepts introduced more complex level structures, a larger amount of content, and new ways to progress. Additionally, meta features, like providing skins as rewards for progressing instead of as a default monetization approach, added another layer of complexity and depth to the core game loop.With the evolution of hyper-casual games, the processes of developing, monetizing, and marketing them improved, too - as a result, the entire business model evolved further:Development: Faster development time, better-quality execution, and more accurate marketability prediction tools and approachesMonetization: Deeper meta, more in-app purchase and rewarded video monetization opportunities, late retention and LTV optimizations, greater variety of A/B tests UA: Predict LTV up to day 180, bid granularly based on user quality, and access enhanced creative optimization capabilitiesThe present: Hyper-casual games boost growth in overall mobile marketToday, the hyper-casual market earns $2-2.5 billion in revenue and achieves approximately 17 billion installs per year - about 1.8 billion of which come from the US. This amount of revenue and scale fuels growth in the larger mobile market, indicated by the fact that as hyper-casual installs increase, non hyper-casual installs do, too.This comes down to the fact that as hyper-casual games became popular, more non hyper-casual titles relied on hyper-casual supply for their UA campaigns, rather than social media channels. In fact, about 20% of the installs for casual and midcore games on SDK networks now come from ads displayed in hyper-casual games and 51% of apps advertising in hyper-casual games are IAP-based titles. Meanwhile, hyper-casual advertisers represent 30% of the video ads shown on SDK networks - more than any other genre, indicating their importance in the market.As the success of non hyper-casual games becomes more intertwined with that of hyper-casual games, the growth of hyper-casual becomes fundamental to the growth of the overall mobile market - these install and advertising numbers show that it’s not just correlation, it’s causation.The future: Hyper-casual is here to stay, with a twistLooking to the future of the hyper-casual industry, we can break it down into two main themes:Short-form entertainment will keep user demand for hyper-casual highHybrid-casual games will emerge from the foundations of hyper-casual as a new category Demand for short-form content keeps attracting hyper-casual usersThe demand for short-form, snackable entertainment is higher than ever - just look at the popularity of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. This is precisely the type of content that hyper-casual games provide and why they’ll continue to grow in popularity well into the future. The execution level of these games is also increasing and the ad experience is improving, which is further helping to attract and retain users.The demand for short-form, snackable entertainment is higher than ever, which is precisely what hyper-casual games provide.However, as costs rise and LTV will need to increase with it, a new category will emerge alongside hyper-casual: hybrid-casual.The rise of hybrid-casualThe hybrid-casual genre maintains the fundamentals of traditional hyper-casual games, including:Quick prototypingSimple and engaging gameplayEmphasis on high marketabilityShort sessions And it evolves upon these foundations by introducing deeper gameplay, a greater reliance on IAPs, and more advanced LiveOps. With their hybrid monetization strategy, these games get the best of both worlds:Ad monetization for quick, high-converting revenueIn-game purchases for higher retention and LTVAs the hyper-casual genre evolves with the market, expect its growth only to increase and continue driving forward the larger mobile industry.

At Appfest 2022, Noelia Lopez, Blockchain PM and Senior Monetization Manager at Tilting Point, shared her ad monetization strategies for midcore and hardcore mobile games. Read the summary or watch the full video.She kicked off her presentation with the main challenge facing free-to-play games: less than 3% of gamers actually pay for in-app purchases. But, Noelia explains, just because 97% of users aren’t paying, doesn’t mean you can’t monetize them.The pillars of monetizationAs Noelia explains, many hardcore and midcore game developers are concerned that ad monetization may negatively affect retention and/or revenue. She’s heard them say that:“paying users will churn if they see ads”“in-app ads might cannibalize in-app purchase revenue”“ads attract low-quality players or decrease the quality of the game”But, according to Noelia, none of these concerns are true - in fact, it just means these developers aren’t implementing their ad placements the right way (or, as she puts it, “you aren’t doing your job well enough!”).The roadmap of ad implementationSo, how can you monetize with ads in a way that promotes revenue growth and [tooltip term="user-engagement"]engagement[/tooltip]? Follow a roadmap, implementing placements throughout the development lifecycle, from prototyping, soft launch, global launch, and finally live ops.PrototypingMany developers think the prototyping stage of the game is too early to begin thinking about ad monetization, and would rather focus on other in-game features - but in fact, Noelia says it's critical to begin here.That’s because during the prototyping phase, your entire studio is conducting the necessary market research to understand your competition - making it a critical time to also understand the monetization strategies your competitors use and the strategies you’d like to adopt.From here, conceptualize putting these placements into your game and how much revenue they could bring. Understanding each ad placement’s revenue potential will help you prioritize which placements to focus on first. By getting started this early, you can also encourage the product team to prioritize placements and align on your exact strategy.Noelia emphasizes the importance of conceptualization, or mentally preparing yourself and your team for an ad placement, even if there’s no space for it in that moment. You can start preparing by asking yourself: where exactly a placement should go, what it looks like, and what else it needs, like a tutorial.Soft launchAfter prototyping, it’s time for the soft launch, or the testing phase. Noelia broke this phase down into three parts: integration, goal setting, and testing.First comes your ad placements. This starts with integrating ad networks - whichever ones you find perform best - and a mediation platform. The best ads for hardcore games are rewarded videos and offerwalls.In the next stage, you want to always consider your goals - like fill rate, boosting LTV, and finding the balance between in-app ads and in-app purchases that maximizes revenue. As she explains, there’s no need to push for CPMs, or make a complex waterfall because soft launches often run in countries that tend to have lower impressions. That’s why it’s important to focus on fill rate, so you understand your engagement and impressions per day, and that your fill rate is good.As for tests, Noelia suggests conducting multiple tests for your ads - it’s important to test the most challenging ads, or the ones that might cannibalize in-app purchases, affect retention, etc. As you determine your game economy, this is also the time to test the ideal reward amount you want to give - increasing or decreasing it accordingly. Even after launch, you should continually be testing and optimizing to ensure the highest performance.Global launchNext comes the global launch - time to finally monitor how your in-app ads are performing. Noelia recommends viewing the metrics of all your ad placements, like engagement and ads per [tooltip term="daily-active-users"]DAU[/tooltip], on one page so you can see which perform best. The ad engagement rate for hardcore games, according to Noelia, hovers around 60%, ads per DAU ranges from 0-3, and ad revenue can get up to 15%. The goal is to have a 95% fill rate, to ensure there’s the highest opportunity possible to serve impressions.To drive home her point, Noelia shared successful examples of placement strategies from her games, like Warhammer: Chaos and Conquest. For example, they offer a welcome package of hard currency every time a user logs on, which boosts players to get started in the game and keep playing. To get non-paying hardcore users to experiment with your game’s ads, she also recommends using offerwall ads - which also helped increase Warhammer’s engagement rate.Live operationsFinally comes the live ops, or the post launch period, where you should be adjusting your ad placements to optimize performance. Before making any adjustments it’s important to be mindful that these changes don’t impact users’ ability to engage with ads.The live ops period can even be an opportunity to increase revenue. For example, if you establish a leaderboard to incentivize non-paying players, you can use ad placements as “tickets” for getting in. Due to increased competition with non-paying users, paying users can also be motivated to invest more to stay on top.Ultimately, ads are a major asset to monetizing your midcore or hardcore game, but placement strategies can only succeed with the right amount of monitoring and optimizing - even from the initial stages of your game’s development.

It's easy to stick with strategies that work - but incremental growth comes from balancing exactly that with constant testing and experimentation. That's why at Appfest 2022, Samantha Benjamin, Director of Growth at Supersonic, explored four ways you can break old patterns and be more experimental with your monetization strategy - or, as she puts it, “get off of autopilot."Get inspired by successful creativesFirst, Samantha recommended getting inspired by features in what she calls “booster creatives,” or creatives that give you 3-5x more installs for the same cost as other creatives (and can even change the marketability power of your game).For example, her team saw that creatives with realistic obstacles performed significantly better than creatives with cartoonish ones - so they decided to take those realistic obstacles and actually add them to their game Going Balls. As a result, LTV grew on both iOS and Android, and D7 ARPU jumped 5-7%.As your creative team finds these “boosters”, make sure they pass them directly to your monetization team. This way, with every new idea, you can consider and optimize any potential monetization opportunities.Building a sophisticated interstitial player experienceThough interstitials are a major source of revenue, the potential impact on retention sometimes deters developers from monetizing with them . So to ensure players have the best possible interstitial experience, it’s critical to adjust it to your players’ engagement behavior.No-touch interstitialsFor example, when a player hasn’t touched their screen for at least 20 seconds, Supersonic displays what they call “no touch interstitials”. This player is likely taking a break - but they’re going to return to their phone eventually, so the ad will be the first thing they see. CPMs are high with this placement, and it’s a win-win - LTV is high, advertisers get installs, and players can enjoy a more sophisticated interstitial experience.Before or after end-level screenAdditionally, Supersonic tested adapting interstitials for users who reject rewarded video offers. Usually, developers just show interstitials when this happens, but clearly these users don’t want to engage with ads. Supersonic tried a different approach: showing interstitials to this segment during natural pauses in the game, like commercials. They tested this by putting interstitial ads for these users right before or after the end-level screen - and engagement boosted as a result.Looking at other genresNext, try broadening your sources of inspiration - beyond just games competing in your genre. Other kinds of games might seem drastically different, but if they have similar motivations, they can be an ideal learning opportunity.Highlighting progress with a leaderboardInspired by PvP games, Supersonic decided to add an automated leaderboard that pops up at the end of their hyper-casual games. By creating a competitive atmosphere and displaying players’ progress, they boosted LTV and ARPU lifted 12% on average.Celebrating wins with confettiThe Supersonic team noticed other genres creating excitement within their games, so they decided to add a burst of confetti in their games whenever players achieved something (like shooting a basketball through the hop). Simply by emphasizing their players’ success and making them feel like winners, Supersonic saw their ARPU jump by 15%.The power of musicAs Samantha puts it: “never underestimate the power of music,” especially in ad-oriented games. When Supersonic tested incorporating more music into their games, they saw a 10% ARPU uplift - simply by tweaking the music and testing different volumes and sound effects.Staying open to ideasFinally, Samantha explains the value of having dedicated time to think of new ideas. In fact, when one growth operations manager at Supersonic pitched an idea, it inspired a real change in their games: timed treasure chests. To increase session length, as the user was approaching the average session length, they would see a pop-up chest with a timer - encouraging the user to keep playing and wait for their prize to be available. This proved so successful at increasing session length that Supersonic implemented this into three of their biggest games.Ultimately, new monetization ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere - so it’s crucial to stay on the lookout, trust your data - and, when the opportunity strikes, don’t be afraid to try going off autopilot.Watch the session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMqiWKAFENY

Adobe will be giving its priciest subscription tier an AI-first rebrand—and adding an even higher price tag. Adobe’s Creative Cloud All Apps subscription, which includes access to more than 20 Adobe apps, will soon be known as “Creative Cloud Pro,” the company announced last week. The renamed subscription plan will give users expanded access to Adobe’s AI-powered tools and apps, but for a price: For subscribers on an annual plan, the cost will increase from $59.99 to $69.99 monthly, or from $659.88 to $779.99 annually. Beginning on June 17, any members of Creative Cloud All Apps will be automatically opted into Creative Cloud Pro. According to Adobe’s announcement of the plan, Creative Cloud Pro pricing will be effective at your next renewal on or after June 17. Currently, these changes are only rolling out in North America. This follows better-than-expected first quarter 2025 financial results for the software company, which reported a record revenue of $5.71 billion, equal to 10% year-over-year growth. Still, Adobe’s shares dropped after the report, as several experts and investors noted concerns that the company might be falling behind competitors with its AI efforts. Creative Cloud Pro appears to be the next step for Adobe to monetize its newly robust suite of AI tools by making them a mandatory investment for the company’s most dedicated users, even as it rolls out “made without generative AI” image labels. Here’s what to know about the new plan. What’s new on Creative Cloud Pro? To start, Creative Cloud Pro comes with all of the features that were included under the Creative Cloud All Apps umbrella. The plan includes a portfolio of more than 30,000 fonts, unlimited Creative Cloud libraries, millions of stock photos and videos, and 100 gigabytes of cloud storage. In addition to these perks, the upgraded plan will include several new AI features. First, users will gain unlimited access to “standard generative tools” like Photoshop’s Generative Fill, which can essentially “deepfake” anything within a composition, and Lightroom’s Generative Remove, which eliminates unwanted details in a photo. Creative Cloud Pro users will also have 4,000 monthly credits to use for Adobe’s class of “premium generative features,” like Premiere Pro’s Generative Extend, which uses AI to add frames to the beginning or end of any video. The rebranded subscription also includes the most recent Firefly app, which Adobe bills as its “one-stop shop for exploration and ideation with creative AI.” The app comes with Adobe’s new text-to-image generator Image Model 4, as well as its Firefly Video Model, which first entered public beta testing last month. Another feature called Firefly Boards allows teams to do some Pinterest-style mood board brainstorming.  For any Creative Cloud Pro users who have a different AI model of choice, they can also choose to import Google Imagen 3 and Veo 2, OpenAI image generation, or Flux 1.1 Pro into Firefly. More details on Creative Cloud Pro features are available here. How much will it cost for different kinds of users? Prices are set to rise across the board for all kinds of Creative Cloud All Apps users.  For rolling subscribers (those not on an annual plan), prices will rise from $89.99 to $104.99. For teams, prices will jump from $89.99 to $99.99 per month. And for student and teacher plans, renewal prices are set to increase from $34.99 to $39.99 monthly. What if I don’t want to join this new plan? If you’re a current Creative Cloud All Apps user but don’t want to be automatically shuffled into Creative Cloud Pro, Adobe has created another subscription tier called Creative Cloud Standard. This tier is the same price as the former Creative Cloud All Apps ($54.99 per month for annual users), but it comes with a bit less value.  Whereas All Apps included 1,000 monthly credits for the aforementioned standard generative features, Creative Cloud Standard only includes 25 credits. It also limits access to premium features on mobile and web apps, and, of course, does not include premium generative features or Firefly.  While Adobe’s web page states that Creative Cloud Standard is “only available to existing customers,” an Adobe spokesperson clarified that new users can actually join this tier by contacting customer support. It’s a trade-off that essentially means you’ll be paying the same amount for a subscription with fewer bonuses, but it might be the option that makes the most sense for users who have no interest in Adobe’s AI features. On Reddit, plenty of users have already expressed displeasure with the new plan. It’s easy to see why. Adobe is automatically upgrading subscriptions to the more expensive Creative Cloud Pro tier, a UX pattern that makes it less likely for users to opt out than if they had to make an active choice and tick a subscribe box, for instance. Both this and the Creative Cloud Standard journey for new users could be seen as dark patterns, which are UX pathways that manipulate users into taking actions that they may not have intended but are in the business interests of the company. The U.S. sued Adobe over its hard-to-cancel subscriptions last year. The goal of the automatic upgrade, in combination with the decreased appeal of the Creative Cloud Standard tier due to its reduced features, seems to be to draw more daily active users into the company’s existing AI products. That would be in close keeping with its recent focus on monetizing generative AI tools following its last earnings report, which was plagued with fears that Adobe isn’t staying ahead in the AI race. An Adobe spokesperson declined to comment on the reasoning behind the subscription tier rebrand and whether users will be personally notified before the change takes place.