The mobile gaming industry just posted record revenue

($195.6B) while simultaneously firing 44,000 developers.

Here's what's actually going on.

Matej Lančarič flies solo this week to break down the five

stories that matter most: NTE's massive global launch,

IronSource's official shutdown after one of the worst

acquisitions in mobile gaming history, the State of Mobile

Gaming 2026 report and what its genre data really tells us,

Adam Foroughi's spicy 20VC interview, and Google's ad tech

antitrust ruling that's about to reshape programmatic

advertising.

Five stories, one signal: the market growth is real but

extremely concentrated. If you're not in the right two

genres or one of the live-service giants, you're competing

for table scraps.

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⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Record revenue, record layoffs paradox

00:50 NTE / Neverness to Everness global launch

02:30 IronSource is officially dead — RIP $4.4B acquisition

03:45 $195.6B revenue + 44K layoffs — the concentration story

05:15 Adam Foroughi on 20VC — $83M payday, AI, layoffs

05:45 Google ad tech antitrust ruling — what comes next

06:30 Closing — the week ahead

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📌 KEY TAKEAWAYS

— Global gaming hit $195.6B in revenue in 2025, the highest

annual total on record. Meanwhile 44,000+ dev jobs have

been cut since 2022, with another 2-3K already gone in

2026. One in three US developers laid off, 48% still

jobless.

— IronSource is dead. The $4.4B Unity acquisition is one

of the most controversial deals in mobile gaming history

— Supersonic is being sold off, and three and a half

years later there's almost nothing left of IronSource

inside Unity. Unity Vector grew 48% YoY though, so the

ad business itself isn't dying.

— NTE (Neverness to Everness) launched globally April 29

on PC, Android, iOS, PS5, and Mac with cross-platform

progression. Same team behind Tower of Fantasy. Massive

IP, production values, and gacha — benchmark is Genshin

and Zenless Zone Zero.

— Adam Foroughi's 20VC interview is required listening.

$83M CEO payday after a 92% stock drop, AI vs layoffs,

AppLovin's run as one of the best-performing tech

businesses right now.

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This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

Podcast:

Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA

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Matej Lancaric

User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

⁠https://lancaric.me

Felix Braberg

Ad monetization consultant

⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

Jakub Remiar

Game design consultant

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

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Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

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🚨📢 BREAKING NEWS: Record Revenue, Record Layoffs, Why Only 2 Genres Are Actually Winning in 2026

two &amp; a half gamers

🚨📢 BREAKING NEWS: Record Revenue, Record Layoffs, Why Only 2 Genres Are Actually Winning in 2026

two & a half gamers