With so much rapid technological progress focused on increasing the graphical capabilities of phones, tablets and web browsers, how important is visual quality to the success of a game in this sphere? The console business became an...

In 2012, both F2P and mobile gaming did amazingly well, until pretty well everyone would admit that they have their upsides and are here to stay. Legions of ex-console developers have dived into mobile. How much of a...

What do you think is the most important, influential or interesting game that was released in 2012, and why?

I’m toying with the idea of defining whales as “those players who represent 50% of your revenue”, meaning that you can quickly get a sense of how whale-dependent your business is. Is this a good idea and/or benchmark,...

Is energy over? Zynga uses energy as a monetisation method, and as a result, many players now see energy as a cynical money-grabbing ploy that typifies the cynical exploitation endemic in free-to-play games. Yet Boss Alien, the...

One of the GAMESbrief design rules is that players must not fail, using examples such as Backbreaker and Bejewelled Blitz. It has also been one of the more controversial, with comments via Twitter and the web saying...

It was recently reported that Zynga’s market value was less than the value of its cash holdings and the property it owns in San Francisco. If you were suddenly asked to replace Mark Pincus, what would you...