In the first half of 2024, game developers earned more on Odnoklassniki, VKontakte, and Yandex Games than they did the previous year. Path of Exile set a new online record, and a studio co-founded by the Bungie co-founder attracted $2.25 million for game development within Fortnite. Here's what happened in the gaming industry over the weekend.
Path of Exile
- The newspaper Kommersant asked game web platforms how they were handling developer payouts in the first half of 2024. All respondents reported an increase in payouts. For example, representatives of Odnoklassniki mentioned that over six months, the social network paid developers a total of 1.6 billion rubles, which is 10% more than the previous year. VK representatives did not name a specific amount but stated that advertising payments to developers for VK Projects increased by 62% compared to the first half of 2023, and payouts from in-game purchases rose by 39%. It was also reported that in the first half of 2024, developer payouts on Beeline Games grew by 67%, and on Yandex Games by 35%.
- The release of the "Siege of the Atlas" expansion helped Path of Exile achieve a new record level of online play. Grinding Gear Games announced that over the weekend, more than 350,000 people played Path of Exile simultaneously—more than ever before. The number could have been even higher, but the console version of Path of Exile encountered several issues in the first few hours after the expansion's release (these have since been fixed).
- Look North World studio received $2.25 million from investors. Investors included London Venture Partners, Bandai Namco Entertainment 021 Fund, Overwolf, Crush Ventures, Hasbro, Pix Capital, and Hibbard Road Partners. The studio will use the funds to develop and publish new games based on Unreal Engine for Fortnite. Remember, Look North World was founded a year ago by Bungie co-founder Alex Seropian along with a group of veterans from Electronic Arts, Kongregate, and Disney.