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All 50 startups from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day 1

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Re: All 50 startups from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day 1

#111

Post by Kpourdeilami »

bpicolo wrote: post #102
indescions_2017 wrote: post #97

On GameLynx: Gamedev studio targeting mobile device platforms with an emphasis on hardcore, competitive league style play. Backed by "one of the largest game companies in the world." Honor of Kings, Clash Royale, Vainglory, Hearthstone and Supercell's upcoming Brawl Stars create a crowded marketplace. Interested to hear what will differentiate GameLynx's game? How is it planning to innovate and compete? What is the s…

I'm somewhat surprised there's no demo/preview/marketing for any game yet. Seems like it would be hard to approach YC with "we want to make a game that makes tons of money", because there are a crazy amount of variables involved in that. Perhaps they applied with more info, but it's not public yet?

They don't have any games on their website currently but as far as I remember, they published their first game in January this year and generated a good amount of revenue

Re: All 50 startups from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day 1

#112

Post by imaginenore »

matt4077 wrote: post #79
imaginenore wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't opt out while being in public. That's unreasonable.

"That's unreasonable" isn't an argument. What's reasonable is decided by society. New technologies may change what's possible, and make something that was ok before the means to achieve something entirely new. If, for example, these gadgets, or existing security cameras started to pool their data, run (accurate) face-detection on it, and start publicising everyones' location history online, I'm pretty sure most peopl…

It is an argument, what a "reasonable person" thinks is a standard judicial system consideration

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_person

You have no expectation of privacy in a public space, and the courts have agreed with that many times

https://www.wired.com/2010/09/public-privacy/

Re: All 50 startups from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day 1

#113

Post by k__ »

smcnally wrote: post #54
CJefferson wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Games sales, like movie sales, are mostly made in the first month. I can imagine like Netflix, lots of people with good 18 month old games might be happy to put them on this service. Further, I might seriously consider using it if they ban in-app purchases (or at least psy-to-win in app purchases), because they are increasingly hard to avoid.

If "psy-to-win"'s not a typo, would you please explain. If it is, it's the best typo this month.

well, a and s are next to each other...

Re: All 50 startups from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day 1

#114

Post by Kpourdeilami »

hood_syntax wrote: post #109
mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of those games make money by time-gating content with the option to buy your way past that. I don't think hardcore gamers like games with pay-to-play features. How can that be competitive if people can purchase their way past things? If they aren't building the game platform that way (time gated content w/pay-to-play) then its hard to even compare against companies that make a fortune that way. Also, hardcore g…

> I don't think hardcore gamers like games with pay-to-play features They do not. They really do not. I, along with several of my friends, would easily be considered part of the "hardcore gaming" audience and everything I know of the people on the forums I frequent and the games I play points to the fact that dumping cash into a game in order to progress is just about the most despised trend in video games among that…

Games like Fifa generate lots of money from selling "packs" in their ultimate team mode. When you buy a player pack, they have a guarantee of containing a fixed number of gold, silver, or bronze players but since the gold, silver, and bronze players can have vastly different ratings, it doesn't disturb the balance of the game.

People spend hundreds of dollars buying packs in that game and end up winning not a single useful player while someone can win the best player of the whole game through a free pack they received from an in-game tournament

Re: All 50 startups from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day 1

#115

Post by contingencies »

boyce wrote: post #69
contingencies wrote: post #48

Feather seems very solid. If you guys want a China partner let me know. It's Ikea's fastest growing market.

Do you think? There are already plenty of companies in the UK at least that rent furniture and home electrical goods to people who can't afford it Are they bringing anything new to the party?

We've seen the replacement of a globally fragmented sector with a well funded and executed global technology-heavy upstart before. What did airbnb bring that was new to the party? UX and a marketing budget.

Re: All 50 startups from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day 1

#116

Post by georgeecollins »

indescions_2017 wrote: post #97

On GameLynx: Gamedev studio targeting mobile device platforms with an emphasis on hardcore, competitive league style play. Backed by "one of the largest game companies in the world." Honor of Kings, Clash Royale, Vainglory, Hearthstone and Supercell's upcoming Brawl Stars create a crowded marketplace. Interested to hear what will differentiate GameLynx's game? How is it planning to innovate and compete? What is the s…

This is a great business, but typically game companies don't make good startups. They are typically about cultivating teams that can create compelling content, and not defensible technology. They typically don't need capital as much as they need talent.

Re: All 50 startups from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day 1

#117

Post by bb611 »

VHRanger wrote: post #81
eps wrote: post #30

Gopher is a poorly chosen name for a platform - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol) Dropleaf (Netflix for indie games) - at $10/mo for a 50-game bundle I can't see how this can attract any of the quality games and devs.

> Quality games and devs You don't know the games industry, do you? Tons of amazing indie games make a pitiful amount of money. Mostly because of lack of exposure. In the world we are, where the consumer is drowned with options, paying up front for a game requires some serious convincing of the consumer. Which is also why so many games are turning to F2P monetization (it's all that works if you're not a Jonathan Blow…

> Tons of amazing indie games make a pitiful amount of money. Mostly because of lack of exposure.

Is it lack of exposure, or extreme excess of supply vs demand? As a lifelong gamer, what I've seen is a ton of high quality content being released that I simply don't have time to enjoy. There are several orders of magnitude more decent games than anyone has time to play, and frequently very little differentiation between whole swathes of indie releases.

Yes, they lack exposure, but that's because the indie game market is unbelievably competitive, and as a result their game isn't worth that much. These game bundles are great for increasing numbers of sales, but at $0.50/sale - fees, they're still not going to be making much money, and they're still competing with 600 games this year for your attention.

This is just an extension of the many existing game bundles that are available, but with higher density and a lower price.

Re: All 50 startups from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day 1

#118

Post by bb611 »

hood_syntax wrote: post #110
dagw wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't see how this can attract any of the quality games and devs. Humble Bundle consistently gets great, high quality games that they give away for basically free.

Most of those have already been through the initial sales period. It's mainly a way to gain additional revenue, not be the main avenue of money-making

Yup.

They'll get high quality games, 1-2 years after they have their mainstream release.

Re: All 50 startups from Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 Demo Day 1

#119

Post by hood_syntax »

Kpourdeilami wrote: post #114
hood_syntax wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't think hardcore gamers like games with pay-to-play features They do not. They really do not. I, along with several of my friends, would easily be considered part of the "hardcore gaming" audience and everything I know of the people on the forums I frequent and the games I play points to the fact that dumping cash into a game in order to progress is just about the most despised trend in video games among that…

Games like Fifa generate lots of money from selling "packs" in their ultimate team mode. When you buy a player pack, they have a guarantee of containing a fixed number of gold, silver, or bronze players but since the gold, silver, and bronze players can have vastly different ratings, it doesn't disturb the balance of the game. People spend hundreds of dollars buying packs in that game and end up winning not a single…

I appreciate your reply, because sports games are actually something I have little to no experience with. I wasn't aware of the current trends in that area.
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