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The abbreviation NFT is becoming one of the most discussed topics in the world not only among crypto enthusiasts but also among teenagers, students, and even elderly people. Individuals have started realizing that the NFT market has already accumulated millions of USD and there is a high possibility that this figure will continue increasing thereby exceeding the state budgets of some developed European countries. However, due to the unprecedentedly fast growth of the NFT market, many people including crypto professionals, do not exactly know what NFTs are and what the factors are behind the NFT boom. So, let’s start diving into the current state of the NFT industry. NFT Boom 2.0: Is There Any Proof? The first massive explosion of the NFT popularity was observed in February and March 2021. The average daily volume of NFT sales reached more than $19 million, according to . At that time, almost every crypto enthusiast started hearing active discussions about NFTs. The NFT sale figures observed in March 2021 were treated by industry enthusiasts as a real boom, but there were sceptics who strongly considered that the NFT market is overheated. Of course, after rapid growth in Q1 2021, there was some kind of correction in the NFT market that was also referred to as cooling. The sale volumes decreased to a few million USD per day. However, the industry needed this cooling to prepare for… nonfungible.com Real boom!!! When we look at daily sale volumes observed in August 2021, according to , there has been no day in this month when the figures have been below the level of $10 mln. On the contrary, there were some days when the daily sale volumes reached more than $60 mln, $70 mln, and even $80 mln (3-4 times higher than the figures observed during the first NFT boom in March 2021). nonfungible.com Of course, one may argue that sale volumes are not the best indicator of the market boom since, for example, a single deal may make for the whole volume. That is why let’s look at the daily number of sales. In August 2021, on average, the daily number of sales has been 2 times higher than for any period in the first half of 2021. In August 2021, this figure has been constantly above 5K while for the whole first half of 2021, there were only when this figure exceeded this level. a few days Generally, in all segments and by all indicators, the state of the NFT market in August 2021 is 2+ times stronger than in March 2021. That is why we call this very hot period the NFT boom 2.0. The Factors Behind the Current NFT Boom One of the key factors behind the strong popularity of NFTs among is the possibility to make huge money. For example, in March 2021, digital artist Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann sold his NFT called Everydays - The First 5000 Days for . In August 2021, the top NFT sales price has been . For example, the recent NFTs created by and have been sold for more than $1 mln. People make real money by working with NFTs and it’s a proven fact. investors and art lovers $69 mln above a few million USD CryptoPunks ArtBlocks The second factor boosting the popularity of NFTs is that they revolutionize the sphere of art. Artists, as well as collectors, have been strongly interested in meeting innovations in the sphere of art since this field has been developing in a traditional way for decades or even centuries. That is why all parties consider NFTs as a new great opportunity that can make art accessible to everyone. Like with every revolutionary solution, the first ones to accept and use it are likely to get the highest returns in case of its successful implementation. Thus, we can observe a real race among crypto enthusiasts and art lovers: everyone wants to be an NFT pioneer. And the third factor that has emerged quite recently is the support from the side of large institutional players. For example, in the middle of August 2021, the payment giant VISA purchased the piece of art created by CryptoPunks for . The deal has been facilitated by the newly licensed bank . As a result, the NFT market players have objective reasons to believe that mass NFT adoption can take place in the coming future. $150,000 Anchorage And, of course, we should not forget about digitization. The average amount of time spent by people online in 2020. In this way, the NFT boom may be considered a natural long-lasting trend. Such spheres as music, sport, and fashion are becoming increasingly digitized and NFTs are only facilitating this transformation. Consequently, the current NFT boom is not a phenomenon but rather a logical consequence of the recent technological changes that have taken place worldwide. doubled The Place of New Projects in the NFT Boom In August 2021, the global NFT community saw a lot of news about the launch of innovative NFT solutions to meet the needs of artists and collectors as well as other market players.  Such new projects as , , , , and others are some of the most expected NFT projects to be launched by the end of 2021. ArtWallet Epik Piñazza Piñas vEmpire As we can see from their websites and social media pages, all these projects, except ArtWallet, are focused on gamification of NFTs while ArtWallet is the solution aimed at ensuring fair rules of the game for artists and creators in the digital art world. The core teams behind these projects have realized the potential the NFT boom has created for them and that is why the launches are planned for the coming period. One of these projects, ArtWallet, was initially planned to be launched at the beginning of Summer, however, due to the cooling observed in the NFT industry during this period, the project’s team has decided to reschedule the launch. The situation around ArtWallet demonstrates how strongly NFT projects depend on market trends. When we look at the founders of the NFT projects, we can see that highly reputable industry leaders shift their attention to NFT. For example, the former Art Director for Nickelodeon Animation Studios developed the concept behind Pinazza, and the founding member of the wallet is the founder of ArtWallet. Thus, we can make a logical conclusion that new NFT projects are led by professionals, not by amateurs. Michael Lennicx MetaMask Joel Dietz Also, when looking at the goals set by these projects, we can see that they are focused on addressing real issues existing in the modern NFT industry or creating value for common people. For example, ArtWallet addresses the key challenges existing in the global NFT industry such as data persistence, hardware integration, protection against security threats, etc. The other project, Piñazza Piñas, will donate to mental health charities at the end of the sale of its NFT token. New NFT projects realize that interesting texts and interactive marketing campaigns are not enough to achieve great success. Users and investors want to see real solutions behind great brand names. It’s a new NFT reality. $50K Generally, the NFT industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom. The NFT community is likely to face the entry of dozens or even hundreds of innovative projects in the coming months. That is why the level of competition will be very high and will bring many benefits to real art lovers. The projects like the ones listed above need to be prepared for this race and highly functional solutions are the main weapons at their disposal! Disclaimer: This material is not sponsored by any organization mentioned in the article.

NFT Boom 2.0: Is There Any Proof?

Let's learn about via these 69 free stories. They are ordered by most time reading created on HackerNoon. Visit the to find the most read stories about any technology. Digital Art /Learn Repo 1. Is MangaDex Getting Shut Down After Being Targeted by The DMCA Subpoena? Sites offering manga comics, like MangaDex, allow users to access Manga without paying. This, of course, interferes with the business plans of Manga creators. 2. Actor Jordi Molla Plans Genesis NFT Drop with Krew Studios and Raini Krew Studios and Raini to launch Jordi Molla's inaugural NFT drop with a star-studded collaboration to accompany their highly anticipated new NFT release. 3. Is Value of NFT Fake or Real? An Economic Interpretation Does NFT actually represent something with genuine value? 4. Can NFTs Truly Impact The Art Market? (Part I) 5. Urpflanze JavaScript Library for Generative Art and Creative Coding Urpflanze is a javascript library to approach creative coding and generatve art 6. What Will Improv Comedy Look Like in the Metaverse? Two technologists work to bring Improv Comedy into the metaverse for the first time, raising the question of what the future of this artform will be. 7. This 2-Year-Old Artist Has Her Own NFTs Two-year-old Xenia Rose has already started working towards her dream of being a professional artist, with the launch of her first collection of NFTs. 8. Why NFTs Are The Future Of Online Art Trading? The art world is a highly lucrative industry, with a reputation for being both exclusive and enigmatic. 9. Metablaze to Introduce NFT based Perpetual Royalties on Ethereum Metablaze is introducing perpetual royalties to the Binance Smart Chain. 10. Exploring the Intersection Between Art & Technology In this piece, we’ll be discussing the various technological
revolutions that have directly impacted the world of art. 11. Nameless NFTs No More: The NCT Story NFTs shouldn't be nameless. Projects can use the original ERC20 utility token created for naming with ease. Explore why NCT is the ideal value added solution. 12. Blanket Statements Do Not Help Define NFTs Most people (bloggers and journalists included) don’t have the time or the dedication to dive deep into it or really think deeply about blockchain. 13. “I Don’t See NFT As a Bubble”, Sebastian Clej on NFT Art And Blockchain Technology Sebastian Clej on NFT Art And Blockchain Technology 14. Trials and Tribulations for AI Artist to Be Human Disappoints Human Girl AI artist, Al Gahaku, will “paint” more in a second than an artist's lifetime but the depth of human to human experience is lost until AI becomes human. 15. How To Create A Custom Digital Cartoon Character Drawing What can you do with your digitized art? 16. Colexion a Celebrity NFT Platform Raises $5 Million from Polygon, Titan Ventures and Maven Capital Colexion NFT Platform Raises $5 Million in Funding to expand operations in Asia. 17. Famous 3D Artist Gal Yosef Announces Meta Eagle Club Collection Backed by Fine Art Eden Gallery Famous 3D Artist Gal Yoseh Launches 3D NFT Collection as the NFT’s Become Mainstream. 18. NFTs Challenge The Art Industry's Dominance By The Wealthy Elites NFT's disrupt the legacy art world by giving power directly to artists and buyers. 19. Purr-fect New NFT Collection Who Keeps Waving Good Luck Back to its Collector Meow! The Lucky Maneki NFT is prowling around the blockchain spreading good luck and fortune to all who collect them! 20. NFT Boom 2.0: Is There Any Proof? The abbreviation NFT is becoming one of the most discussed topics in the world. Read about the impact this is having on the world. 21. How to Become an NFT Artist: a Step-by-step Breakdown of an NFT Plan Looking to become an NFT artist? Here is how you can become an NFT artist and fulfil your dreams to live a good life! 22. "NFTs Are The Perfect Bridge Between In-Game Items & Real-World Value" - Nick Rose of Ethernity In this article, Nick Rose discusses the future of NFTs and the collectables industry in the context of blockchain-based innovations. 23. How to Create Digital Generative Art With Python We create Generative Art with Python. No paintbrush required! In this tutorial, we're going to be using four pieces of code - painter, utils, numpy, and more. 24. Rediscovering the EverDragons, the First Cross-Chain NFTs With a group of friends and crypto archeologists, digging into the early history of Ethereum NFTs we discovered the EverDragons, minted in June 2018... 25. Software Development still seems a craft, but beautiful coding makes it an art. Although a lot of subjects in the field of software development reached a common understanding, one continues to be a matter of controversy: software development, is it craft or science? 26. Epix Industries' CBDO, says "in just a few days we gained 3,000 [NFT] collectors" Interview with Epix Industries. Epix Industries is building solutions, tools, and multiverses for the future of the professional NFT industry 27. Stickers NFTs Sold on Secondary Markets for as High as 50,000 USDT Stickers platform has become a very popular NFT platform when it comes to digital art. Stickers NFTs Sold on Secondary Markets for as High as 50,000 USDT. 28. Future of NFTs - why art is just the beginning Why NFT is a real revolution not only in the field of art but also in our digital identity. 29. Non-Fungible Tokens Are The Future How NFTs are the changing the game for owning a piece for true art. 30. Bitcoin NFTs are Getting Easier Every Day: Introducing Ordinals Bitcoin NFTs - technically called "Ordinals" are now available. This article will explain where to find them, how to buy them, and how to make them. 31. Right Click Save While it's true that you can just right-click-save an image rather than buy the NFT, this overlooks a couple of important things: provenance and the market. 32. What it Means to be a Creative Coder Programmers rarely agree on whether or not coding is a creative profession. My interest in coding always stemmed from what I could create with the code. Seeing an interesting visual result from my efforts is usually the most satisfying part. Most programmers are less concerned with how their app looks and more concerned with the functionality. Usually, as long as the app works the way it is supposed to, most programmers are satisfied. 33. Assessing the Impact of AI on Fine Art: Threat or Opportunity Last October was something of a watershed moment for contemporary generative art with the first sale by auction of a portrait generated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) for $432,500, titled “Portrait of Edmond Belamy”. The event garnered a huge level of public interest, and received widespread media coverage across several major outlets, including the NY Times, the Washington Post and the Miami Herald, and from leading online Art news platforms Artsy and Artnet, among others. Aside from the final sale price greatly exceeding the original estimated sale price of $10,000, one of the most interesting aspects of this episode was how it was characterized by the media at large. 34. ‘My Nightmares Inspire My Art,’ Says NFT Artist kertburger I interviewed kertburger, a 2D and 3D digital artist on finding one's creative expression and how he got started with NFTs as a digital artist. 35. Some NFT Projects Have Weathered the Storm but the Majority Failed There have been poor outputs from much-hyped projects. Thankfully their day in the sun is over, making space for projects with tangible and intrinsic value. 36. Meet Tobias, the Creator of DALL·E's Game Tobias W. Kaiser, the creator of DALL·E's Game, speaks to HackerNoon about Web3, technology, and DAO. 37. Exploring NFT Galleries with Benjamin Agostini In this NFC interview, we spoke with Benjamin Agostini, Co-Founder of TheSafeBox.io. We discussed NFT art and galleries, and the future of NFTs and marketing. 38. Ayesha Mubarak Ali: A Pakistani Digital Artist Setting New Horizons with Her Unique Work Today’s rapidly evolving technological advancements and inventions have given a new meaning to the field of arts. 39. ATTENTION NFT Artists: Now is The Time to Buckle Down and Build The markets are down and crypto has been falling — so it’s the perfect time for artists to get to work on their next creation. 40. Soulbound Tokens — the Ultimate Proof of Belonging Proof of belonging is a commonly used concept in the crypto space and it more or less refers to a method of ascertaining that an individual is a legitimate..... 41. The Importance of Digital Assets and their Valuation Well, this article provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of digital assets and how to value them. 42. Non-Fungible Tokens Simplified: What Does NFT Really Mean? A simplified breakdown of non-fungible tokens (NFT), using easy-to-understand analogies and non-technical terms. 43. Building a Whole New World for the Fine Art Community ArtMeta is a metaverse designed to serve as a meeting place for artists and connoisseurs of fine art from all around the world. 44. Devised for Design: Top FIGMA Plugins Figma has been top of its game since its launch in 2016. Here's a list of our team's 12 most used plugins. 45. Putting the Art in Artificial Intelligence There are plenty of detractors who dislike the idea of AI-generated art, decrying it for its immediacy or availability to the masses. Others, see such tools as 46. Top 3 Most Expensive Meme NFTs Ever Sold The heroes of memes have recently returned from the past. And not for nothing, as you can see, the forgotten stars have already made thousands of dollars. 47. Blockchain + ART = Crypto-Art: An Analysis In 2019, the art market value was estimated to have crossed USD 64.1 billion, with close to USD 20 billion used on ancillary and external support services for the art market. 48. I Bought This Image For $1,500 (and I sold it for +50% in two weeks) Using NFTs NFTs are the newest hype. Millions of dollars in transactions and to tell you the truth, I love how they disrupted the art gallery space. 49. Whither NFTs? An Overview of The Progress of Non-Fungible Tokens in 2021 A stream of celebrities have released NFTs on marketplaces such as OpenSea, Rarible, and NBA Top Shot; capitalising on the boom of the incipient NFT market. 50. Non-fungible Sentiment: Exploring the Value of NFTs NFTs designed and run by real world crypto women are setting the bar high for digital art and the diverse use cases for identity-driven PFPs. 51. From Warhol to NFTs: The Evolution of Digital Art Digital art conjures up an image of something seemingly unrelated and totally extraneous to art: cryptocurrencies. 52. This Neural Network Paints Depressing Russian Cityscapes Russian doomer neural network creates paintings and music videos. Tutorial. Stylegan2 was trained on thousands of images of soviet architecture. 53. Conversation with an NFT Artist An interview with Pierre Bourque, NFT artist and founded of Blockchain Radio. 54. Blurring The Lines of Realism: Vancouver's First Outdoor Augmented Reality Art Gallery VMF connected artists with technical minds who transferred the artists' graphics into Spark AR. They curated Vancouver's first open-air AR Art Gallery. 55. Making a Music Visualization with P5JS I had the immense pleasure of attending several creative coding workshops on April 4th. They were streamed live on the SpacyCloud Twitch channel. There were additional sessions involving Hydra, Raspberry Pi, Haskell, and more. However for this post I want to focus on the first session which was a P5JS tutorial. In this post I hope to translate the P5JS tutorial into a written format, for posterity and to share what I learned. I'm going to review what was taught in the live session. Hopefully SpacyCloud will have another live stream in the future so I can catch up on what I missed. Here is the landing page for the event schedule. 56. Top 10 Potential Use Cases of NFT For Business NFTs could also be used as a form of currency. For example, businesses could issue NFTs that could be used to purchase goods and services from other businesses. 57. Predicting An Image Being Doodled, in Real Time - How We Built It. (Mind you, this is not a tutorial, I will be posting one soon though!) 58. Senshi: 5,555 Unique NFTs Inspired by 3D Art Senshi is the newest NFT project that is set to disrupt the industry. This project has 5,555 unique 3D NFTs and collectibles. Senshi is the latest project that 59. The eCommerce Turn of The Art Market: Trust, Transparency, And Trustworthiness Now that the online art marketplaces are finally going mainstream, how can the experience be matched to other online marketplaces? Data might be the key. 60. Generative Art: The Past, Present and Future Generative Art: The Past, Present and Future is a guide that explores the world of generative art, covering its history, techniques, tools, and future. 61. How Technology Enables Visual Artists to Create and Monetize Digital Art What are hottest NFT trends and what to expect in the field of digital art? 62. How NFTs and Museums are Creating A Digital Art Revolution NFTs (and their derivatives) are the future of art, and museums are the perfect place to start. Explore the latest trends in NFTs and how they're changing 63. Moving Beyond OpenSea A look into some of the issues with OpenSea, and some of the disruptors out there providing solutions 64. How To Protect Online Art Platforms From Cyber Attacks The potential cybersecurity threats that can thwart the long-awaited momentum of the online art market and how to avoid these risks. 65. What the Heck is a Numiz? As of 2021, there are three topics you don't discuss over polite conversation; politics, religion, and NFTs. But CryptoNumiz is here to change all that. 66. Facilitating Creativity with Expressive Programming Programming for art is easier than ever before with the help of high-level programming languages and programming libraries. Learn about some of the exciting Jav 67. Want to Buy NFTs!? Here Are 7 Reasons You Should! Why do I have to invest and buy some NFTs? Let's explore some objective reasons to get an NFT! 68. What You Don't Know About Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) With the rising popularity of cryptocurrency, the rise of a new generation of crypto-lovers has also fueled the growth of a new beast: non-fungible tokens. 69. How to Succeed in the NFT Art World as an Artist This article talks about NFT based digital art and how artists can succeed in the world of crypto art by selling their artwork to users. Thank you for checking out the 69 most read stories about Digital Art on HackerNoon. to find the most read stories about any technology. Visit the /Learn Repo

69 Stories To Learn About Digital Art

HackerNoon Reporter: Please tell us briefly about your background. I am one of the Co-Founders of Epix Industries. I have a Master’s Degree in International Relations and 10 years of experience in Business Development and Sales in different corners of the IT industry. Over the last four years, I’ve been in the blockchain industry. I started as Senior Business Development Manager in the biggest media - Cointelegraph - where I could develop my blockchain industry networking and meet my, now, Co-Founders at Epix. We are united by a passion for art, collectibles, and belief in the value of blockchain technology for solving the problems of the art and collectibles industry. What's your startup called? And in a sentence or two, what does it do? built along its 3 years of existence a technology suite to properly address the register of property, user-friendliness, and security for NFT applications to be as accessible as any top performing eCommerce platform in the market. Epix Industries Epix Industries team is building games, marketplaces, individual custom collections, and a myriad of applications for the showbiz, pop culture, and entertainment industries in a gamified and engaging long-lasting strategy. What is the origin story? Our CEO Fred is an art collector for more than 20 years. So it all started with his not always pleasant experience of collecting art, and exclusive collectibles - figurines, cards, etc. While collecting those assets, from time to time he faced counterfeits, authentication bottlenecks, and a lack of reliable information. Generally, counterfeits and scams are a huge problem to the physical collectibles world with losses accruing in multiple billions, and this brought Fred to the idea of solving those issues with the help of blockchain that he was already exploring. Our white paper, first community members, and initial steps of the project building are dated October 2018. Beginning of 2020 we have launched the first product. Our history took another turn when . we closed our pre-seed round with a $10m valuation What do you love about your team, and why are you the ones to solve this problem? Oh, where do I even start! From the management perspective, I am surrounded by two geniuses, my co-founders: our above-mentioned CEO and visionary Fred, and our CTO Mario, who I dare to say is the most advanced software engineer with the will and capacity to solve the problems that others call unsolvable. These two set no limits, create ideas, and most importantly implement them in life. Other team members fill the picture with various experiences, out-of-box crazy vision, and some mad skills. We have team members in 10 countries, all hardworking and with a huge passion for what we do. Besides team us being one of the pioneers of the NFT industry definitely makes us capable to solve the problems of the world of collectibles as we had time to learn, see the mistakes and flaws of the ‘real-world’ art'/collectibles industry, and now we implement this knowledge for the solution that fits mainstream brands, IPs, and professional artists: no hassle, no blockchain complications, simple and beautiful e-commerce experience for their fan-base. If you weren’t building your startup, what would you be doing? I’d be getting myself busy with sales and business development while being sad that I am not building this startup. At the moment, how do you measure success? What are your core metrics? We measure user engagement as we are preparing to launch Foundation NFT packs sale on the 4th of August. Enemy Metal is our first IP, it’s a long-term game project. The first stage is exclusive NFT cards that players will be able to trade, and later down the line, upgrade to create new NFTs. The final stage of the project is a space-themed arcade game where the NFTs upgraded earlier will be used for resources, etc. Enemy Metal We have announced the preregistration, and the Enemy Metal Discord channel grew x10, and the people keep joining. The community is super active, constantly asking and answering questions, sharing their anticipation of the launch, and bringing more and more people onboard. This was definitely great and completely organic growth for us. What’s most exciting about your traction to date? Mentioned pre-registration is definitely mind-blowing, , ready to buy once the sale is open. For us, as Enemy Metal is our own IP, this means a lot. in just a few days we gained 3,000 collectors in line What technologies are you currently most excited about, and most worried about? And why? Blockchain technology is the most exciting, and NFTs in particular. However, the same technology worries me the most too. While the opportunities that it brings are amazing, and many issues can be resolved with the help of blockchain, the number of scams in the industry is certainly unsettling. What drew you to get published on HackerNoon? What do you like most about our platform? I think this is certainly The Platform when it comes to innovation, technology, and the ‘what’s next’ questions. What advice would you give to the 21-year-old version of yourself? Don’t waste your time, focus more, let’s become successful earlier. What is something surprising you've learned this year that your contemporaries would benefit from knowing? I’ve learned so much about investment processes, and fundraising challenges this year. I also realized that not every investor is necessarily the right one for your startup. Might sound obvious but I think so many people in their first startup might miss it and just keep running for numbers, instead of just focusing on the right angels, and VCs. Also to my fellow BD and Sales people - the investor pitch does look like our normal pitch but sooo different at the same time. Research thoroughly. Epix was nominated as one of the best startups in Lewes for Startups of the Year 2021 hosted by HackerNoon.

Epix Industries' CBDO, says "in just a few days we gained 3,000 [NFT] collectors"

Hi, folks, my name is Todd Feathers, and I’m an enterprise reporter here at The Markup. Last month, reporters at Lighthouse Reports and Wired published a tremendous exposé of the fraud-detection algorithm used by the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands, to deny tens of thousands of people welfare benefits. “Inside the Suspicion Machine,” The investigation showed that the algorithm, built for Rotterdam by the consultancy Accenture, discriminated on the basis of ethnicity and gender. And most impressively, it demonstrated in exacting detail and the algorithm behaved the way it did. how why (Congrats to the Lighthouse/Wired team, including Dhruv Mehrotra, who readers may recall helped us in 2021.) investigate crime prediction algorithms Cities around the world and quite a few U.S. states are using similar algorithms built by private companies to flag citizens for benefits fraud. Not for lack of trying, we know very little about how they work. Lighthouse and Wired were able to demonstrate how much a single input variable, such as being a parent, affected a Rotterdam applicant’s risk score. But in many places, we don’t even know what the input variables are for these high-stakes decision-making systems. a fraud detection algorithm makes its calculations and it was designed to operate that way aren’t merely questions of interest to journalists. People automatically denied benefits to appeal decisions when their right to due process has been violated. How why need that basic information “A lot of the time there’s an overall cost-cutting happening [by welfare agencies], and an algorithmic determination is used to paper over the real reason benefits are being reduced and to offer a seemingly neutral reduction, but in order to challenge it, you need to be able to pinpoint the reason. Without that information, you can’t mount a challenge,” said Hannah Bloch-Wehba, a Texas A&M School of Law professor who studies how . algorithmic opacity threatens fair government “That’s what we are owed as citizens of the state: that, when it takes away something to which we are entitled, at the very least, they should tell us why.” People denied food and rent benefits or placed under investigation because of Rotterdam’s algorithm can now begin to understand how the system failed only because Lighthouse did something epically, mythically difficult: It obtained what it described as the “holy trinity of algorithmic accountability: the training data, the model file and the code.” “It took nearly two years to acquire the materials necessary to carry out this experiment,” the reporters wrote in their . methodology “We sent FOIAs (Freedom of Information requests) to governments across Europe requesting documentation, evaluations, code, and training data for machine learning models similar to the one deployed by Rotterdam.” Rotterdam was the only city to provide the model file and other technical documentation, and that was after a year of negotiations. In the end, it still took a stroke of luck for the reporters to get the training data: City officials unknowingly included it in the source code of histograms they sent to reporters. It took six years, from the algorithm’s deployment in 2017 until “Inside the Suspicion Machine” published, for the public to get a full picture of how it worked and what went wrong. Rotterdam stopped using the algorithm in 2021. Unfortunately, we never get close to obtaining the “holy trinity” for most government decision-making algorithms. And the more cities and states turn to government by private algorithm, the less effective the tools of transparency used by journalists, activists, and people harmed by algorithms seem to become. It’s been 10 years since the state of Michigan launched the Michigan Integrated Data Automation System (MiDAS), a fraud-detection algorithm with a that tens of thousands of qualified applicants their unemployment benefits, leading to and . 93 percent error rate automatically denied bankruptcies home foreclosures Lawyers fighting on the front line against MiDAS’s determinations still don’t have full clarity into how the system—which after —was designed and operates. remains in operation some reforms What information they do have has largely been gleaned through state and federal lawsuits brought by Michiganders who had their tax returns garnished after MiDAS automatically flagged them for misrepresentations and initiated collections on their accounts. “I still don’t know if we’ve actually seen the formal algorithm,” said Tony Paris, an attorney with the nonprofit Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice who has represented unemployment applicants caught up in MiDAS’s mistakes. that, when algorithms are used to deprive citizens of liberty or property, governments should be required to disclose input variables and how they are weighed. Several states are that would require agencies to document the automated decision systems they use and perform algorithmic impact assessments. Bloch-Wehba has said considering bills But across the country, lawmakers’ prior efforts to mandate greater transparency for government automated decision systems have largely . In 2021, more than 30 Michigan legislators co-sponsored a that would have mandated the state hire an independent expert to audit MiDAS’s source code and algorithms. The bill didn’t make it out of committee. sputtered out bill Meanwhile, FAST Enterprises, one of the companies primarily responsible for MiDAS, says in that six other states use its unemployment benefits software: Massachusetts, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Tennessee, and Washington, which has . promotional material had its own problems with the company It’s not clear whether all those states’ systems include algorithmic fraud detection. And FAST isn’t the only vendor of these systems. For several years, the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has been of technologies from Pondera Solutions, which sells its “Fraudcaster” algorithm to cities and states. Thomson Reuters acquired Pondera in 2020. tracking the spread Like the reporters at Lighthouse, those in Michigan, and many of us here at The Markup, EPIC’s staff has primarily used public records requests to try to pull back the curtain on government algorithms. covering MiDAS Every U.S. state and many national governments (including the U.S.’s) have a freedom of information or open records law that allows the public to request documentation of government business. It’s an amazing system and the backbone of a lot of investigative journalism. But when it comes to getting information about algorithms that governments have hired private companies to build, freedom of information laws are falling short. Lighthouse’s success is a notable exception, and it took a long time. EPIC’s Ben Winters and Tom McBrien said that many government agencies they made information requests to about Pondera simply never responded (which is illegal). Some agencies that did respond gave EPIC copies of their contracts with Pondera, which listed specific deliverables like validation tests of the fraud-detection system. But when EPIC subsequently requested the results of those tests, the agencies “stonewalled or there was pushback to say that’s proprietary or confidential” information, McBrien said. In my own reporting, I’m regularly turned away by agencies claiming trade secret exemptions. Despite their extensive public records work, EPIC, and by extension the rest of us, still don’t know all the input variables that cities and states feed into Pondera’s Fraudcaster system. We don’t know how exactly Fraudcaster calculates risk or what decisions humans made about how those predictions should be used. Winters and McBrien didn’t even ask agencies for Pondera’s code or training data—pillars of that holy trinity of algorithmic fairness—and I don’t either in most cases. At least in the U.S., government agencies and public records appeals bodies have held that the most detailed but vital information about privately built algorithms are shielded from public view, even when those algorithms were created for the sole purpose of performing a core government function. In all honesty, this column has been a 1,500-word subtweet about several government agencies and benefits-fraud-detection companies that—at least for the time being—will remain nameless. Suffice it to say, I’ve been trying to learn more about a particular algorithm used to detect fraud in several government benefits programs—and not getting nearly as far as I’d like. Sometimes you get the holy trinity, sometimes you get pages of this: But this topic has implications that go well beyond my own challenges as a reporter. This particular kind of public-private partnership and the opacity and stonewalling it creates threatens the due process rights of tens of thousands of people. There isn’t going to be a journalistic exposé for every fraud-detection algorithm out there. And even if there were, the information isn’t getting to the people who need it fast enough. As Bloch-Wehba told me, “The big question is not ultimately ‘How do we know what’s happening.’ It’s ‘How do we know it before it’s too late.’ ” Thanks for reading, Todd Feathers Enterprise Reporter The Markup By Todd Feathers Also published here Photo by on Michael Dziedzic Unsplash

Why Is It So Hard to Learn Basic Facts About Government Algorithms?

is of critical importance for technology startups: given the limited budget typically available to early-stage startups, making the right product development decisions can make the difference between success and failure Product development In a report* by CBInsights, failure reasons such as ‘ ’ and ‘ ’ feature at the top of the list. According to the same source, 42% of the startups analyzed, stated that there was ‘ ’ for their product, while 17% delivered ‘ ’. Non-friendly product Product without a business model no market need a non-user-friendly product Other reports, articles and blogs from startup founders, seem to agree that most of the major failure factors are strongly connected to product management. Product-related startup risks Product-related risks could refer to both the and the of Minimum Viable Product_._ A poorly-defined product, regardless how well-built, will probably fail to solve the problem and deliver value to its users. A poor implementation of a well-defined product, will also fail to create value to the user. definition actual development/ implementation Startups need both (the right focus, connection to the real problem, an MVP addressing the actual and ) and (agile engineering, right priorities, quality, great user experiences) to succeed. great product definition user needs pain-points great product execution Based on my experience with startups I would identify the following as the top : — risks product execution The risk of over-engineering the product Engineering-heavy startups tend to put more effort than needed on the technical aspects of the product; while it is great to achieve engineering excellence, over-indexing on such technical aspects — at an early stage — might come with additional costs: consider the missed opportunity from features that didn’t make it to the market due to prioritization for purely engineering work. I’ve seen startups putting extra effort into sophisticated super-scalable infrastructures only to get a few hundreds of users when they finally launch the product. How to run a successful Design Sprint When in an ‘early startup’ mode, you need to have the ability to and ; this way you can from user feedback, and ; at fast pace. Normally, scalability, concurrency and related architectural concerns can wait — as it might be more important to than a sophisticated back-end to support theoretical traffic and growth scenarios. build features fast release frequently learn adapt iterate deliver additional features to your early customers To address this risk, you need to apply and ensure that you are all the resources you have, in the right order and focus. wise feature and task priorities intelligently utilizing The risk of misinterpreting user feedback When you are passionate about your product, you need to be open to all feedback — and the negative signals and criticism: do not allow to affect your judgement — it’s easy to get destructed and focus on positive comments which simply confirm what you want to believe. especially confirmation bias To ensure that you are objective, you have to become data-driven — introduce the right to help you understand the performance of your product — the patterns and the dynamics; the real user engagement levels; what they like and what they don’t; and why. product performance measurement framework The risk of the expanded (or disrupted) product scope There is always the ‘risk’ to get enthusiastic about ‘just in time’ ideas or features; and this is great, as soon as you manage to retain the right focus. The actual risk comes into play if you fail to maintain good prioritization — in this scenario you might end up disrupting your product backlog and the current execution. To avoid this risk, you could all these new features ideas, to a queue of Then, re-apply your strategic feature prioritization logic, while trying to avoid disrupting towards your MVP. append features for consideration. product execution Modern product development can help managing the above risks, by setting the right focus and leveraging agile engineering practices. Focus on the Product You can manage the above-mentioned risks, by properly your and according to . The process of must start with a clear, solid articulation of the you need to solve_:_ begin by framing the problem and attaching the right context — insights describing the market, the impacted users and the competitors. defining Minimum Viable Product (MVP) executing agile engineering principles MVP definition problem Moving from a problem to ideas, solutions and products; through prototypes and MVPs Having clarity about the and allows you to generate which could evolve to potential . Clarity for the solutions is also key; consider using Epic and low-fidelity wire-frames to summarize how it is addressing the problem; visualize the key user interaction scenarios and attach high-level technical information — for instance, architecture diagrams of the components and the processes involved. You can then prototype your solution/product to test its potential and validate your assumptions with real users. problem, the involved users the the market ideas solutions user stories Consider building a Prototype Modern product management is based on experimentation and feedback loops — learning from your end-users and improving your product, continuously. One of these cycles could refer to a . build-measure-learn prototype implementation Building a prototype, to test a concept with real users, is a great idea — provided that is and . Also, the prototype will only generate real value and insights if there are regarding the product — significant questions to be answered and hypotheses to be tested; otherwise it might only confirm what you already now. For example, you should consider a prototype if the technology involved in your product definition is or it is ; or when the solution is defined on top of . prototyping fast inexpensive big unknowns not proven not highly adopted multiple assumptions Apply Agile and Experimentation principles Testing a concept or a feature via a prototype should not be seen as an isolated activity: experimentation needs to be at the core of your product development culture — an effective way to improve your product and create value to your users. Of course, prototyping/ experimentation is not the only way to learn from your users. As denoted in the diagram below, each of your releases uses feedback loops to provide user insights and engagement metrics: modern, digital products, use and to capture detailed user interaction data, while it is very common to embed feedback forms and customer satisfaction measuring features such as the Net Promoter Score — NPS. instrumentation telemetry An overview of a modern product development function A key role of a modern ‘product management function’ is to systematically process and interpret this feedback and usage data, to convert them to and about the product and its users. actionable insights knowledge This allows product managers to better manage the product by accurately , and ; to define , and ; to refine the and ensure a fast and smooth execution, with frequent releases and no disruption to the users. measuring success setting the right priorities steering the overall development process what to build next when to prototype when to run A/B tests product strategy Empower your team with essential Product Management skills Whatever the actual title is — Product Manager/Architect, Chief Product Officer etc. you need a in your team — one with a and deep understanding of the opportunity and the environment. Product Leader bold vision Your team also needs a wide range of product-related skills and competencies — including , and ; you need members with the and use data to make informed decisions. deep technology understanding product sense agile product development expertise ability to prioritize strategically If you don’t have and cannot afford someone with this profile in your startup, make sure you to master at least the basic principles of , and . educate your team agile product development feature prioritization experimentation Cover image: pixabay * The Top 20 Reasons Startups Fail

Startups and the Importance of Agile Product Development

**SHERMAN OAKS, United States, March 7th, 2024/GamingWire/--**Introducing a new era of simplified and flexible tools for monetizing and getting paid across the creator economy. Xsolla, a global video game commerce company, announces Xsolla Wallet, highlighting its commitment to empowering the global creator economy within the video game industry. Our mission is to provide equal access for developers, creators, and everyone in the creator economy with embedded finance solutions for the video game industry. The Xsolla Wallet is a game-changing solution offering embedded finance options specifically designed for developers and creators. The initiative helps developers overcome monetization and engagement challenges and simplifies the process of providing attractive incentives for creators. It enhances the efficiency and immediacy of their earning and spending experience while ensuring global compliance. Recognizing the complexities of managing successful global creator programs, Xsolla will help alleviate these pain points, enabling developers to focus on what they do best: creating engaging gaming experiences. For Developers: Xsolla Wallet simplifies access to embedded finance services and streamlines onboarding and compliance, integrating these critical aspects within the creators' wallet accounts. Simplify Creator Incentives: Tailored to ease the complexities of managing creator programs, Xsolla Wallet ensures developers can provide attractive and compliant earnings for creators across different regions. Ease Compliance Burdens: With integrated KYC (Know Your Customer) and tax interview services, Xsolla Wallet significantly reduces the complexity associated with global compliance, allowing developers to focus on innovation rather than administrative tasks. Expand and Accelerate Influence: Leveraging the vast reach of the Xsolla gaming ecosystem, developers can use the Xsolla Partner Network (XPN) to attract, manage and incentivize creators and influencers. For Creators: Xsolla Wallet empowers creators and influencers to pay, get paid, and manage earnings, transforming their content into viable revenue sources. Pay: Creators will have a direct, immediate, and convenient way to spend their earnings using the Xsolla Mastercard. Get Paid: Creators can choose an instant virtual Xsolla Mastercard, amongst other payout options, to enable easy and immediate access to their earnings. Manage Earnings: Creators can seamlessly aggregate their earnings from platforms. This means creators can manage diverse income streams, from merchandise sales to crowdfunding, in their Xsolla Wallet. "By bringing together our expertise and the Xsolla Wallet's embedded finance functionality, we are bringing developers and creators together in an unparalleled financial ecosystem tailored for video games," described David Stelzer, President of Xsolla. "We aim to provide an equal opportunity for every developer, creator, and influencer to have fast and secure access to ways to monetize their work in the global creator economy." “As a long-standing supporter of the video gaming community, Mastercard is thrilled to continue building on our partnership with Xsolla, delivering choice and value to creators and developers alike with the launch of the Xsolla Mastercard,” said Sherri Haymond, EVP, Global Digital Partnerships at Mastercard. “Together we’re enabling convenient, seamless payments options that add tools to developers’ toolkits, help solve challenges for creators and foster an inclusive gaming community for all.” Xsolla Wallet is a key component in a new suite of tools empowering game developers and creators. It reflects Xsolla's dedication to creating solutions that address content creators' immediate needs and foster a more supportive and productive environment for their creations through an embedded finance partnership with Paysafe and a card for creators partnership with Mastercard. "We are proud to strengthen our partnership with Xsolla to provide value and exceed customer expectations with our payment solutions, further enhancing gamers' playing and payment experience globally," said Aaron Gale, VP of Sales & Account Management, Video Games at Paysafe. "Every gaming experience starts with a payment, and we are dedicated to turning these transactions into part of the overall experience, to fuel the fun and champion customer engagement and loyalty." For more details about Xsolla Wallet, please visit: xsolla.pro/wallet About Xsolla Xsolla is a global video game commerce company with a robust and powerful set of tools and services designed specifically for the industry. Since its founding in 2005, Xsolla has helped thousands of game developers and publishers of all sizes fund, market, launch, and monetize their games globally and across multiple platforms. As an innovative leader in game commerce, Xsolla’s mission is to solve the inherent complexities of global distribution, marketing, and monetization to help our partners reach more geographies, generate more revenue, and create relationships with gamers worldwide. Headquartered and incorporated in Los Angeles, California, with offices in London, Berlin, Seoul, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and cities around the world, Xsolla supports major gaming titles like Valve, Twitch, Roblox, Epic Games, Take-Two, KRAFTON, Nexters, NetEase, Playstudios, Playrix, miHoYo, and more. For additional information and to learn more, please visit: xsolla.com About Paysafe Paysafe Limited (“Paysafe”) (NYSE: PSFE) ( ) is a leading payments platform with an extensive track record of serving merchants and consumers in the global entertainment sectors. Its core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and transact seamlessly through industry-leading capabilities in payment processing, digital wallet, and online cash solutions. PSFE.WS With over 20 years of online payment experience, an annualized transactional volume of over $130 billion in 2022, and approximately 3,300 employees located in 12+ countries, Paysafe connects businesses and consumers across 100 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world. Delivered through an integrated platform, Paysafe solutions are geared toward mobile-initiated transactions, real-time analytics and the convergence between brick-and-mortar and online payments. Further information is available at . www.paysafe.com Contact Global Director of Public Relations Derrick Stembridge Xsolla d.stembridge@xsolla.com 919-971-7855 This story was distributed as a release by GamingWire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here.

Xsolla Debuts Xsolla Wallet To Provide Access To Embedded Finance Solutions And Instant Earnings

In a groundbreaking move, DYPIUS has officially the integration of CoinMarketCap into its rapidly growing Metaverse, World of Dypians (WOD). This collaboration places CoinMarketCap in an elite group of WOD neighbors, including Chainlink, BNB Chain, Avalanche, KuCoin, CoinGecko, and Conflux Network. Notably, the World of Dypians has just launched in , a leading platform for today's hottest games. announced early access on the Epic Games Store Exclusive NFT Release and Diamond Listing Event DYPIUS is unveiling 10,000 unique “CMC Beta Pass NFTs” exclusive to the World of Dypians Metaverse as part of the partnership. This initiative coincides with a special Diamond Listing event from December 21st to 25th. Users can sign up on CoinMarketCap to , paving their way to winning NFT Passes for one of the most promising Metaverse games. start accumulating Diamonds CoinMarketCap's New Home in the Metaverse World of Dypians, since its inception, has attracted major industry players to its vibrant, player-driven virtual world. The Downtown area, a hub for players, crypto enthusiasts, and investors, provides a rich, interactive experience. CoinMarketCap's entry adds to this dynamic environment with its dedicated space featuring 27 interactive billboards. These billboards display real-time data and news, including the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, live prices of major tokens, trending tokens, and a crypto events calendar. Benefits and Opportunities for Players This collaboration offers several benefits for the community: : These unique digital assets symbolize the holder's journey in the World of Dypians. CoinMarketCap Beta Pass NFTs An engaging quest-like experience within the Metaverse, featuring a $20,000 BNB reward pool. The 90-day event, starting December 26, invites players to uncover hidden treasures and earn rewards. CoinMarketCap Treasure Hunt Event: Early Access to World of Dypians on Epic Games Store DYPIUS has made another significant stride by making the World of Dypians available in early access on the Epic Games Store. Players can delve into this immersive Metaverse through the Closed Beta Version. Access can be gained via several avenues, including owning a Cats and Watches Society (CAWS), holding a World of Dypians (WoD) Genesis Land NFT, possessing a Beta Pass NFT, or being a Premium Subscriber. About CoinMarketCap, Epic Games Store, and DYPIUS The leading price-tracking resource for crypto assets, visited by over 340 million people monthly. CoinMarketCap: Launched in 2018, it is a popular digital distribution service for video games, catering to millions of gamers globally. Epic Games Store: A decentralized ecosystem focusing on DeFi solutions, known for its Metaverse project World of Dypians, offering an unparalleled gaming experience. DYPIUS: For more information, visit the , , and their social media channels: | | . World of Dypians DYPIUS Website Twitter Discord Telegram

World of Dypians Welcomes CoinMarketCap to its Dynamic Metaverse, Now Available on Epic Games Store

ডাইপিয়ানদের ওয়ার্ল্ড কয়েনমার্কেটক্যাপকে তার ডায়নামিক মেটাভার্সে স্বাগত জানায়, এখন এপিক গেম স্টোরে উপলব্ধ

World of Dypians heißt CoinMarketCap in seinem Dynamic Metaverse willkommen, das jetzt im Epic Games Store erhältlich ist

World of Dypians da la bienvenida a CoinMarketCap a su metaverso dinámico, ahora disponible en Epic Games Store

World of Dypians accueille CoinMarketCap dans son métaverse dynamique, désormais disponible sur Epic Games Store

वर्ल्ड ऑफ डिपियंस अपने डायनामिक मेटावर्स में कॉइनमार्केटकैप का स्वागत करता है, जो अब एपिक गेम्स स्टोर पर उपलब्ध है

World of Dypians が CoinMarketCap をダイナミック メタバースに迎え、Epic Games ストアで利用可能になりました

World of Dypians는 CoinMarketCap을 다이내믹 메타버스로 환영하며 이제 Epic Games Store에서 이용 가능합니다.

World of Dypians dá as boas-vindas ao CoinMarketCap em seu metaverso dinâmico, agora disponível na Epic Games Store

World of Dypians приветствует CoinMarketCap в своей динамической метавселенной, которая теперь доступна в магазине Epic Games Store

World of Dypians, CoinMarketCap'i Dinamik Meta Evreniyle Karşılıyor, Artık Epic Games Store'da Mevcut

World of Dypians chào mừng CoinMarketCap đến với Metaverse năng động của nó, hiện đã có trên Epic Games Store

《World of Dypians》欢迎 CoinMarketCap 加入其动态元宇宙，现已在 Epic Games Store 上架

Hey guys! In this article, I would like to share how we monetize hypercasual idle game mechanics using in-app purchases and subscriptions. With over a hundred various conducted, I’m not going to delve into details. Rather, I’ll describe our best solutions that you will probably work for your games, too. A/B tests Of course, every game is unique, and successful monetization stems from a deep understanding of the fun and the value for your players. I think you can add purchases to any hypercasual game and thereby increase your LTV. For example, many purchases in single-player games are intended to save time in obtaining new content. Or you can devise mechanisms that can help the players progress faster in the game. But are they ready to pay for this? You’ll know after you try it out :) One of my favourite books on game monetization is The concept of free-to-play games implies Games as a service. If you aim for the hybrid casual style, you need to adopt this paradigm and make your game a service that doles out fun in batches. Free-to-Play: Making Money From Games You Give Away. Background A year after the successful release (in April 2020) of , I decided to develop a sequel, . The main differences were a realistic visual style, instead of cartoon-like low-poly, and deeper metagaming. Originally, the game was called Car Crash Madness but then, during the development process, we changed the focus of the game to airplanes and renamed it. Crash Delivery Airplane Crash Madness For monetization, our main purpose was to increase in-app purchases revenue by up to 50% of the total app income. (I will provide the relative figures we achieved in the conclusion). There were several preconditions for this. Firstly, introduced a request for IDFA access and, with these new rules, destroyed part of the advertising market and reduced the advertising revenue for all. Secondly, hyper-competition in the hyper-casual games market. Creating a game with a high LTV seemed to be the panacea for cloning. We started developing in the spring of 2021, and the latest content update was in the spring of 2023. Apple Airplane Crash Madness Let’s analyze which monetization solutions proved to be the best ones during this period. Please note that this analysis is for iOS version only. Subscription Integrated in Metagaming If you ever played , you probably noticed the game’s monetization strategy. Each season, the developers offer their players multiple new characters and skins for weapons, music, etc. All these “facelifts” are available only during the season, so the players who want a new skin for their character need to buy a battle pass and earn the necessary stars. The stars can be earned with skills, but if you don’t have a battle pass, you can’t spend your stars and unlock great characters. A battle pass is a kind of subscription, but not for a month – for the entire season (i.e. three months). Please see a more detailed analysis of the monetization in . Fortnite Fortnite here After playing for a couple of seasons, I decided to try a similar approach in our Airplane Crash Madness. I was aware that, for a single-player game (rather than a multiplayer one), customization wouldn’t be so popular, with players not being able to boast to others about their new skin. What seemed more important to me in Epic Games’ approach was that players couldn’t spend their in-game currency without a battle pass, with the currency piling up over time, while the battle pass price stayed the same. With such an approach, the deeper a player in the game – the more pressure he feels. And we decided to try a similar approach in Airplane Crash Madness. Fortnite In our game, maps and vehicles are the main components, so we decided to classify all players into premium and regular ones. The former were players who bought a subscription. While maps were available to all, the subscription included such items as: Spending the premium currency on vehicles and their customization, Disabling ads, A daily bonus in the form of a large amount of premium in-game currency, An odd number of accessories (discs, antennae, etc.). We use a weekly subscription with a 3-day trial. The landing page design plays a significant role. In our case, 2D graphics worked better, although I thought that, if you have a 3D game, then a 3D design would be best for the subscription ad, too. Anyway, the landing page is where you test as many design concepts as you can during the whole cycle of product support. It’s also important where and when you demonstrate your subscription ad. Those who work with subscription-based products know about the rule. It means that a user first agrees to something or fills in some information on two landing pages and then is offered a subscription on the third one. It’s psychologically easier for a user to agree to the subscription on the third screen: he has already completed some forms and the probability of conversion rises because he wouldn’t want to consider his previous actions meaningless (such as in a case when a user doesn’t have a choice, as in “ ). Triple Yes subscribe or leave” We didn’t create such a chain of landing pages, which, I think, was a mistake. In , we sometimes show users a landing page in a format similar to interstitial ads (users can’t skip it immediately). Airplane Crash Madness Here is a list of all screens where we offer a subscription: The game's main menu. We sometimes demonstrate a landing page with the subscription information instead of an interstitial ad ( see the screenshot above). The store’s main page. When a user clicks a subscription banner, he sees the subscription landing page (see Item 1). In the garage. When a user chooses any vehicle (or an accessory to it) available only with a subscription. Having clicked the subscription button, the player sees the subscription landing page (see Item 1). Metagaming, additional subscription mechanisms, and gold sold in the game Any destruction of the environment wins points to a player: ruining a tree, demolishing a house, etc. So, throwing a vehicle wins the player points that convert to the player level. The higher the player level, the more content is available to him for purchase using gold, while, for vehicles, the players can have a limited number of them for free. A player earns gold for each new level, for completed quests, as a daily bonus if subscribed. In addition, a player can buy gold for the in-game currency. A player can spend the gold either on unlocking new vehicles, their customization, or on… purchasing a level for gold. It is a legal way to unlock any player level and any vehicle in the game. That’s how we get monetization from the richest players. A player needs to subscribe and pay for the new level and a premium vehicle. The screenshot demonstrates the button with the price next to the level. unlock If a player doesn’t have enough gold, the game will make an attractive offer to buy some. Why does a player need to go to the store if the store can come to him with a good offer? A popular solution to cut steps in the buying journey. If a player opts out of the subscription, he can’t spend gold anymore but retains the current player level, all unlocked vehicles, and customization. I think the players would have hated the game too much if we took away everything when they canceled the subscription. In our solution, a player can always reactivate the subscription later to spend the gold on new content. Direct sale of vehicles without a subscription PLANES PACK Not all players want to dig into metagaming. Many are not ready to subscribe in any way. But they still want to buy some vehicles. We offer them an opportunity to buy PLANES PACK for a fixed price. The pack includes two most popular plane models and one helicopter. For this, I decided to replace a standard banner ad at the bottom of the screen with our PLANES PACK ad, and I have been very pleased with the result. Our banner has a simple, eye-catching animation. Also, we use the garage main page as an ad placement to promote the pack. Direct sales through limited-time offers. We also introduced a system of 3 offers effective for 12 hours. 1) A plane bundle sold at a discount, 2) A sports cars bundle, 3) A bundle with a discount for upgrades. The sports cars bundle landing page. We tested backgrounds featuring a city, forest, and canyons. The canyons had the highest conversion. The three offers are shown one after the other continually and updated every 12 hours. A timer button appears in the main menu. After clicking it’s showing the landing page of the active bundle. Selling upgrades Since a vehicle's skin is not related to the vehicle’s speed performance, the players need to buy upgrades to boost the performance (engine, fuel, extra income). They can do this either using the in-game currency received for free for every throw or for actual money. 100 upgrades are the most profitable item. The 70% discount works wonders. Resulting income We were able to achieve the 60/40 ratio, where 40% is the income from in-app purchases (including subscriptions). For all purchases, the income can be divided into groups as follows: Subscription -  34 % Upgrades - 20 % Disable ads - 17.1 % Planes pack - 8.8 % Time limited Offer all = 16.8 % Only Upgardes - 7.41% Only Cars - 7.76% Only Planes - 1.6 % All gold packs -  3.2 % Several general recommendations for transitioning from hyper-casual games to hybrid casual ones: Use your traditional ad placements (interstitials and banners, and even rewarded ads) as a place to promote your in-game purchases. Focus mainly on the top sale items. Improve and test different designs on your banners and landing pages. Think of ways to add a subscription to your game. Thanks for your attention! I hope the article has been of use to you. See you next time! The lead image for this article was generated by HackerNoon's AI Image Generator via the prompt "Idle games".

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EPIK SOLUTIONS

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201-500 employees

Since 2015

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