Revitalizing Game Discovery: Navigating the Evolving Landscape

As the business development lead at Plarium, a company under the Modern Times Group umbrella that develops and publishes games like Raid: Shadow Legends and Stormfall: Saga of Survival across mobile, browser, and PC platforms, Guy Ulmer reflects on the industry's prevailing narrative: the supposed demise of organic discovery. This notion, often discussed in conferences and on LinkedIn, suggests that curation has failed, the App Store model is outdated, and even substantial marketing budgets can't escape the escalating ad-bidding war. A recent survey among game developers found that nearly a third anticipate discoverability to be their main challenge in 2026, likely due to the overwhelming number of daily releases across platforms. However, from Ulmer's perspective, gained from a decade of managing platform partnerships, discoverability is not dead but has evolved into a more complex, social, and demanding process for games. Applied wisely, this new landscape can yield rewarding outcomes. Developers who rely solely on storefront placements for global launches are using outdated strategies. While being featured by Apple or Steam is still valuable, the gaming landscape has become more fragmented. Players now discover new games primarily through YouTube, followed by TikTok, Instagram, and word of mouth, surpassing traditional storefront promotions. This shift signifies that the battleground for game visibility has expanded into social media. Studios that invest in social traction, creator ecosystems, and player advocacy are better positioned to maintain visibility in a crowded market. The store cut, a much-debated topic, presents new opportunities for developers to maximize their storefront presence through understanding the update cycle of stores, which are partially algorithmic and prioritize new, updated, and on-sale items. For instance, in 2026, it's anticipated that Google Play will emphasize games compatible with its 'You tab' features, Apple will promote its dedicated Games app, Valve will focus on the Steam Deck Verified program, and Microsoft will encourage Xbox Play Anywhere support. Developers can benefit from the additional exposure these initiatives offer. Every game now operates as a game-as-a-service, requiring constant sales events, content updates, and optimization for new platform features to maintain visibility and revenue. Successful developers in 2026 will design games with marketing in mind from the outset, rather than merely marketing existing games. Recent trends show the emergence of 'discoverability hacks' that are changing the game. Incentivized referrals, where players are rewarded for bringing in new players, have proven crucial. Stream integration, designing games that directly interact with platforms like Twitch and Discord, is another strategy, as seen with the co-op hospital simulator Cure, which uses Twitch APIs to engage audiences. Generative AI also offers a solution for managing the content needed for platform discoverability tools and social channels, allowing for the automation of promotional assets. Myth Maker, a game with on-the-fly generated adventures, is an example of how a GenAI native approach can be extended to create shareable promotional content. Ultimately, while being discovered is just the beginning, developers must focus on building an amazing game. Discoverability has transformed from a launch-focused endeavor to an ongoing optimization process throughout a game's life cycle, necessitating that developers view it as a core design pillar rather than a marketing challenge.