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- 2023
- Working Paper
A Welfare Analysis of Gambling in Video Games
By: Tomomichi Amano and Andrey Simonov
In 2020, gamers worldwide spent more than $15 billion on loot boxes, a lottery of virtual items built into video games. Loot boxes are contentious, as regulators worry that they constitute gambling. In contrast, video game companies maintain that loot boxes are...
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- March 2022
- Teaching Note
Skillz: Esports and Skill-Based Mobile Gaming
By: Andy Wu
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-358.
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- 2020
- Working Paper
The Twofold Effect of Customer Retention in Freemium Settings
By: Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer and Julian Runge
The main tradeoff in designing freemium services is how much of the product to offer for free. At the heart of such a tradeoff is the balancing act of providing a valuable free product in order to acquire and engage consumers, while making the free product limited...
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- October 2020 (Revised August 2022)
- Case
Epic Games: Nineteen Eighty-Fortnight
By: Andy Wu, Miaomiao Zhang and Christopher Zhang
In the midst of intensifying public and political attention towards the market power of big technology, Epic Games in 2020 challenged the status quo that has existed for years in the Apple iOS and Google Android mobile application marketplaces and payment systems....
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- August 2020 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Skillz: Esports and Skill-Based Mobile Gaming
By: Andy Wu, David B. Yoffie and George Gonzalez
Founded in 2012, Skillz offered a platform for mobile app developers to monetize skill-based games via prized tournaments. Skillz had over 20,000 registered developers that had created thousands of Skillz-powered games played by over 30 million registered users...
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- December 2019 (Revised January 2022)
- Supplement
Othellonia: Growing a Mobile Game
- December 2019 (Revised January 2022)
- Supplement
Othellonia: Growing a Mobile Game
- November 2019 (Revised January 2022)
- Teaching Note
Othellonia: Growing a Mobile Game
Teaching note for case 520-016
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- September 2019 (Revised June 2020)
- Case
Othellonia: Growing a Mobile Game
In the summer of 2019, Yu Sasaki, Head of the Game Division of DeNA, a Japanese mobile gaming company, is evaluating various growth strategies for its recent game Othellonia. Sasaki needs to decide if he should focus on customer acquisition, retention, or monetization.
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Keywords:
Targeting;
Retention/churn;
Freemium;
Monetization;
Customer Relationship Management;
Games, Gaming, and Gambling;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Marketing;
Customers;
Marketing Strategy;
Retention;
Acquisition;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Japan
- November 2018 (Revised April 2019)
- Case
Nike: Changing the Sneakers Game
By: Anita Elberse, Bryce Aiken and Howard Johnson
“Our goal is to be the kind of start-up that would terrify Nike—if Nike didn’t already own us.” Ron Faris, general manager of S23NYC, a Manhattan-based digital studio owned by sports apparel giant Nike, is on the phone with Adam Sussman, Nike’s chief digital officer....
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- January 2018
- Case
Peak Games: Hiring Priorities in Times of Rapid Growth (A)
By: William R. Kerr and Gamze Yucaoglu
Sidar Şahin, founder and CEO of Peak Games, a Turkey-based global mobile gaming company, must decide on the final list of candidates for the critical global marketing director position the company has been trying to fill for over a year. Since its founding in 2010,...
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Keywords:
Recruiting;
Staffing;
Emergent Countries;
Entrepreneurial Management;
Private Sector;
Business Strategy;
Decision;
Growth Management;
Games, Gaming, and Gambling;
Selection and Staffing;
Talent and Talent Management;
Business Model;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Competitive Advantage;
Value Creation;
Organizational Culture;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Technology Industry;
Turkey
- January 2018
- Supplement
Peak Games: Hiring Priorities in Times of Rapid Growth (B)
By: William R. Kerr and Gamze Yucaoglu
On November 7, 2017, Sidar Şahin, founder and CEO of Peak Games, a Turkey-based global mobile gaming company, had just closed the sale of Peak Games’ card games studio. This sale included three of the company’s top grossing games and half of its team. Sahin was happy...
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Keywords:
Games;
Gaming;
Acquisitions;
Exits;
Private Sector;
Decision;
Games, Gaming, and Gambling;
Emerging Markets;
Acquisition;
Entrepreneurship;
For-Profit Firms;
Business Model;
Business Strategy;
Competitive Advantage;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Decision Making;
Value Creation;
Leading Change;
Management Teams;
Technology Industry;
Turkey
- April 2017 (Revised May 2022)
- Case
King Digital Entertainment
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Davide Sola, Federica Gabrieli and Elena Corsi
Riccardo Zacconi was the co-founder and CEO of King Digital Entertainment, the video game company that had quickly established itself as the world’s leading maker of casual games for mobile devices after the sensational success of its game “Candy Crush Saga.” Zacconi...
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- March 2015 (Revised September 2016)
- Technical Note
Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent: The Three Kingdoms of the Chinese Internet
By: Feng Zhu and Aaron Smith
This note provides an overview of the Chinese Internet by describing its leading three companies: Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (BAT). While BAT had previously focused their respective businesses on distinct sectors of the online economy—Baidu for search, Alibaba for...
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- March 2013
- Article
For Mobile Devices, Think Apps, Not Ads
By: Sunil Gupta
Many companies envision mobile ads becoming an integral part of their communications strategies. But there's a growing consensus that ads don't work on mobile devices; consumers just don't like them. Instead of creating tiny banner ads, smart marketers will turn to...
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- March 2012
- Case
Angry Birds
By: Sunil Gupta and Dharmishta Rood
Within months of its launch in December 2009, Angry Birds, a mobile game created by a small Finnish company, Rovio Entertainment Ltd., became an international hit. By late 2011, Rovio was not only making Angry Birds games for the iPhone, Android and other mobile...
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- October 2009
- Case
Digital Chocolate
By: Linda A. Hill and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Trip Hawkins founded Digital Chocolate in Silicon Valley in 2003 to develop outstanding games for mobile devices. By 2008, the company had expanded its operations into four countries, and Digital Chocolate was one of the top developers of soloplayer games for standard...
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- April 2008
- Background Note
Broadband and Video Games: Playing and Winning Together
By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett
This note examines the relationship between video gaming devices (console, handhelds, mobile and PC) and gaming software development. The impact of broadband, wireless technologies and other innovations are also presented.
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- September 2003 (Revised March 2004)
- Case
Bharti Tele-Ventures
By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Ingrid Vargas
Following the liberalization of India's telecommunications service industry in the early 1990s, Bharti Tele-Ventures grew from a small entrepreneurial telephone equipment importer and manufacturer to become India's largest private-sector telecommunications service...
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- Teaching Interest
Competing in the Age of Digital Platforms—Virtual (Executive Education)
By: David B. Yoffie
Summary
Without exception, the most valuable companies in the world today are platforms. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and many other firms have built their fortunes by facilitating innovation across global ecosystems or... View Details
Without exception, the most valuable companies in the world today are platforms. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and many other firms have built their fortunes by facilitating innovation across global ecosystems or... View Details