regulation blog by MIDiA Research

Blog: regulation

Why the ‘Game Pass cannibalising games sales’ story does not change anything

Blog post by Karol Severin

16 Feb 2023

This week it has been reported that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report includes Microsoft sharing that its “ internal analysis shows a decline in base game sales following 12 months of...

PlayStation and Xbox exchange PR blows amid the Activision deal approval process

Blog post by Karol Severin

19 Aug 2022

Playstation

xbox

Activision

Sony and Xbox exchanged PR salvos last week as Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision came under regulatory scrutiny in Brazil. Within it, companies got an opportunity to comment on the impacts of the...

What pay-for-play podcasting says about the creator economy

Blog post by Annie Langston

11 Aug 2022

Podcasts

pay for play

Guestio

Podcasters are operating in the grey area of payola, as creators are charging guests to be featured without disclosing it to their listeners, according to a new Bloomberg expose. Apparently, this practice...

Quick Take: Regulation and war are leading the global games industry's trajectory to diverge

Blog post by Karol Severin

11 Mar 2022

regulation

Russia

China

Over the last few years, the traditional unit sales-based model in games has been increasingly moving towards engagement-led models. In other words, we are moving away from costly price points to buy complete...

Reflections from PG Connects London 2022

Blog post by Karol Severin

25 Feb 2022

PG Connects

industry events

games industry

PG Connects London 2022 was the first in-person games industry event that I attended in over two years. Having spent the best part of the pandemic on Zoom, which quickly blurred the lines between a call...

Why the rise of a (former) political leader in the ranks of Meta spells regulatory compromise ahead

Blog post by Hanna Kahlert

17 Feb 2022

facebook

metaverse

Microsoft sets the scene for regulator scrutiny around Activision deal

Blog post by Karol Severin

10 Feb 2022

acquisitions

Microsoft

Activision

Brad Smith, president and vice chair at Microsoft, published a post on Microsoft’s website yesterday , outlining the company’s new Open App Store principles and addressing key questions around exclusivity...

Quick take: Another blow for Epic Games as Fortnite shuts down in China

Blog post by Karol Severin

4 Nov 2021

Fortnite

Epic Games

regulation

It has not been the best year for Fortnite. Following the fiasco with its Apple lawsuit, as well as year on year consumer penetration having declined , the Fortnite maker announced that it is shutting...

The social reckoning is nigh: The Haugen testimony and Facebook blackout hint at imminent regulatory changes

Blog post by Hanna Kahlert

7 Oct 2021

social media

TikTok

facebook

The race between social media (and broader tech) innovation and governmental regulation has been a bit of a hare and the tortoise situation for the past decade-plus. However, the digital-first transition...

Chinese limits on gaming are more about the long-term, rather than short-term impacts

Blog post by Karol Severin

31 Aug 2021

China

regulation

audience engagement

A new regulation announced by the National Press and Publication Administration issues new rules around games engagement of under 18s. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the new rules will allow no...

The new chair of the FTC and antitrust 2.0

Blog post by Tim Mulligan

22 Jun 2021

Anti-trust

Monopoly

Lina Khan

The appointment of Lina Khan on June 15th to chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is poised to be a transformational one in the history of the world wide web. Khan came to prominence with an article...

Facebook faces anti-trust lawsuits, sounding a warning to big tech

Blog post by Hanna Kahlert

16 Dec 2020

ads

data

facebook

Last Wednesday, 48 US State attorneys general and the US Federal Trade Commission filed lawsuits against Facebook, echoing the hearings before Congress earlier this year in declaring that the company’s...

Developers versus distributors: The App and Play Stores see challenge on the horizon

Blog post by Hanna Kahlert

7 Oct 2020

Apple

google

app store

Six months ago, Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store were the unquestioned gateways between app developers and consumer devices. Today, the unshakeable foundations of the fortress walls are, well,...

The MIDiA Research Podcast: Episode 1 – What Next for Tencent?

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

7 Aug 2020

Video

Music

Media & Marketing

We are excited to announce the first episode of the MIDiA Research podcast: What Next for Tencent? President Trump's executive orders concerning Bytedance and Tencent set the cat among the pigeons. In...

Take Five (the big five stories and data you need to know) October 14th 2019

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

14 Oct 2019

CDbaby

Fortnite

fortnite blackhole

Fortnite black hole: In what may be the most audacious global games marketing stunt ever, Epic Games killed off Fortnite in Sunday’s end-of-season event , which one million people viewed...

The Next Web 2018 – A New Sense of Tech-Driven Purpose

Blog post by Georgia Meyer

30 May 2018

Alphabet

Blockchain

Last week, 15,000 people converged in Amsterdam for The Next Web’s annual two-day conference. This year’s event comprised streams covering music, the workplace, sport and social media. AI and blockchain’s...