Every new mobile game is now a copy of a copy. And that's

not a complaint — it's the strategy.

We dig through the soft launch charts to surface 15+ new games released in the last three months. Voodoo's Block Pals (which is literally just Block Jam 3D again). Moon Active's two new merge games are chasing Gossip Harbor. Spike's Hexa Out, Quick Send, and Solitaire Sort. Grand Games hiding its new Aerogem on the Zimbabwe App Store to dodge takedowns. SuperSend's template-driven creative-first approach with FROZIA and

Daily Farm Harvest Empire. Plus the bigger structural question: is Overwatch Rush actually going to make it?

The pattern is clear - 80% works, 20% iteration. Every serious studio is following the same playbook. The question is who executes it best.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Cold open — merge is the new match-3

04:04 Field Day by Bitod — ex-Supercell startup goes GTA

06:15 Overwatch Rush — Blizzard's mobile play (high CPI face)

09:53 Moon Active's merge wave — Reality Bay + Family Bay

12:43 Voodoo's Block Pals + Century's DakiMage Color Puzzle

15:35 Turkish section — Rolik, Spike, Grand Games dominance

25:16 Aerogem hidden on the Zimbabwe App Store

27:00 Arrows hits 6.5M DAU — the new template everyone copies

28:38 SuperSend's creative-first templates: FROZIA, Daily Farm

— "80% works, 20% iteration" is now the default soft launch

strategy. Every game in this episode is an iteration on a

proven winner — Block Jam, Gossip Harbor, Pixel Flow,

Lesmore's Arrows, Township, Last War Creative.

— Merge is officially being treated as the new match-3. Moon

Active alone has two new merge games in soft launch.

Caveat: merge is much harder to balance and live-ops than

match-3, so most of these will fail.

— Grand Games is hiding its new game Aerogem on the Zimbabwe

App Store specifically because legal teams from incumbents

(likely MiniClip / Lesmore) don't operate there. This is

apparently a real soft launch tactic now.

— Spike has abandoned its main App Store account and is

publishing everything from a new "testing" account,

releasing Hexa Out, Quick Send, and Solitaire Sort in

rapid succession with the same template strategy.

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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

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

Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

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Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

Soft Launch Sonar: 15 New Games, 14 Are Iterations, 1 Is Probably Doomed?!

two &amp; a half gamers

Soft Launch Sonar: 15 New Games, 14 Are Iterations, 1 Is Probably Doomed?!

two & a half gamers