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WHAT GAMING STUDIOS CAN LEARN FROM
HOLLYWOOD’S PLAYBOOK
THE GAMING INDUSTRY TODAY finds itself at a crossroads, not unlike Hollywood. A space where creative ambition meets commercial reality. Both industries rely on a winning formula. Sequels are stretched. Success gets replicated. Originality often takes a back seat.
By Adam Smart, Director of Product, Gaming, Appsflyer
But gaming has something Hollywood does not. Real-time feedback. Studios can see what is working and what is not as it happens. That kind of insight can sharpen decisions and fuel growth. But it can also risk flattening the creative edge if it becomes the only driver.
PREDICTABILITY THROUGH DATA Mobile gaming figured out the growth formula early. From first concept to global launch, every step is mapped around KPIs – retention, monetisation, ROAS. Studios like Supercell and King did not just make hits, they built scalable machines.
It is all about iteration. Early testing. Fast feedback. Everything from creative to monetisation gets tuned to maximise results. That kind of precision works. But often at the cost of diversity. A lot of mobile games look and feel the same, and that is not by accident. Hollywood has its version of this. Studios build sequels, cinematic universes, and spin-offs because they are reliable. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been meticulously planned, with character arcs and release schedules mapped out over a decade or more. Yet, Marvel has seen signs of fatigue. Familiarity sells, but only up to a point. We have seen how this risk-averse approach can backfire. Disney’s Solo: A Star Wars Story*,
52 | MCV/DEVELOP June/July 2025
for example, did not perform to expectations. Not because it was poorly made, but because audiences were oversaturated. When every release is engineered to hit the same beats, even the most beloved franchises can lose their magic.
CREATIVITY MEETS BUSINESS REALITIES Traditionally, PC and console games were built from a different mindset. More vision. More story. More passion. More experimentation. Titles like The Last of Us, Baldur’s Gate 3, or Elden Ring were not just hits, they helped define the medium. Those boundaries are shifting. As budgets rise and timelines stretch, even AAA teams are leaning into the tools of mobile: earlier marketing input, deeper data use, performance metrics guiding design. Business fundamentals are meeting creative ambition earlier in the process. In film, we have seen similar shifts. Directors once hailed for auteur-style storytelling – like Christopher Nolan or Denis Villeneuve – now work within massive commercial expectations. They still push boundaries, but marketing and data play a much bigger role in how their work is released and monetised. Even passion projects need a box office strategy. The success of Dune: Part Two or Oppenheimer
proves that you can balance scale and substance. But it is not easy. These films were supported by strong creative leadership and clear marketing alignment. That is the formula game studios are starting to follow.
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