Netflix Earnings, Microsoft and Netflix’s Ad Deal

Netflix’s earnings beat expectations, but were still concerning; then, why Netflix made a deal with Microsoft, and why Microsoft is the biggest winner

Gaming the Smiling Curve

The spate of recent acquisitions in the gaming space — Take-Two and Zynga, Microsoft and Activision, and Sony and Bungie — make sense in the context of the Smiling Curve.

Activision Blizzard Buys King Digital, EA and the Disruption Narrative, Apple TV Gaming

Activision Blizzard is buying King, the makers of Candy Crush Saga; the mobile games maker is probably worth more to a company like Activision Blizzard than they are by themselves. Plus, both EA and Activision Blizzard beat earnings expectations — does that mean the gaming disruption narrative is wrong?

Daily Update: The New Structure of Mobile Gaming, The Hidden Cost of Microsoft’s Devices, Amazon Affiliate Links in the Washington Post

Note: I put the wrong link in the Daily Email for Tuesday, September 2, 2014. The daily update for that day can be found here. Good morning, I’m really glad to be back in Taiwan and look forward to being back on a regular schedule – you’ll note how much earlier this update is arriving!Subscribe […]

Additional Notes on Casual Games

This series of posts is about enabling sustainable businesses on the App Store. In Part 1, I discuss why Paper and other productivity apps may not be doing as well as you might think. Part 2 explores why casual games, in contrast, are a sustainable business, but not a differentiator for platforms (I added a […]

Casual Gaming is a Sustainable Business, but Not a Platform Differentiator

This series of posts is about enabling sustainable businesses on the App Store. In Part 1, I discuss why Paper and other productivity apps may not be doing as well as you might think. Part 2 explores why casual games, in contrast, are a sustainable business, but not a differentiator for platforms (I added a […]