What VCs Don't See: Why We're Bullish on Gaming Startups

Despite skepticism, gaming is big & rapidly growing: $152bn and ~10% CAGR. Netflix said “We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO”. Very few business models work in gaming other than simply building successful games: most of the money in the industry stays with the game developers/publishers and the major gaming/streaming platforms.

While there is definitely a creative element to gaming, the tech/data side is just as important to constantly iterate until you find your “game-market-fit”.

In 2019, the average American gamer is 33 years old (!). There’s an opportunity for gaming startups to build games targeted at a maturing gaming audience with spending power.

Investors consider the gaming industry unpredictable: building a “hit” game is a mixture of art/magic, a bit like investing in movies.

Pre-internet games were sold in stores and teams that had worked on it moved on. With the Internet came “connected games” that allowed ongoing updates. Latest trend: games adding many meta layers which are aimed to keep users engaged often with no real connection to the game itself (live concerts in games, a card collection or virtual pet layer whi... See more

All the major gaming platforms are getting crowded. Unexpected success stories where games become viral are becoming further apart. Gaming founders need to be data driven even in their early creative iterations, have marketing professionals embedded in their team from the get go and carefully and ensure a healthy CAC-LTV formula from the early days... See more

To maximize chances of success, Founders need to be aware of the major trends in the industry right now.